Blade 400 Honest opinions Please

[Heli24]

Hello guys,

I have learned to hover with the blade cp pro. Now my question? I want a honest opinion on the blade 400. im disabled and on limited funds. Ive been looking at the blade 400 because its rtf out of the box. Honestly what are the good and bad on this heli. I see a lot of guys taking the radio out of the heli and selling it. I know i had to put alot of upgrades on my cppro to get a stable flying heli. Be brutally honest, other than the radio what is the quality of the heli?

Thanks in advance Tom

[mituw16]

I LOVE my 400!

The Good:
- DX6i is awesome and can be used in other things
- i use mine for my 400, and 5 other planes
- Pretty stable using stock setup
- MUCH easier to fly than the CPPRO
- Can fly 3-d I fly 3-D with mine

The Bad:
- The stock servos SUCK!!!
- replace them as soon as you can, they strip gears in mid flight sometimes
- The stock gyro isnt the greatest, but it does a good job
- any time you hit anything, always have to replace the feathering shaft and generally the main shaft and main rotors (unless you go carbon fiber, they are much more durable)


I love my B400, i would recomend it to anyone who does not have the time or the money to put together a TREX.

[Fozy]

The 400 is a great heli. I had a CX and went to the CP and had a hell of a time as I found it very twitchy. My first battery with the 400 I had it in a stable hover. It is a little more ominous than a CP but I have a lot more fun with it than I ever did with the CP.

[Mon_t]

Well if you can hover a cp pro(bleh, spit), in my opinion you should be able to fly anything.....

Yeah I'd agree about the servos they are S#$T, feathering shafts bend if you look at them the wrong way, one other thing I would have handy is extra main gears, I haven't seen a crash yet where it hasn't stripped, well before the brain says hit the throttle hold you twit:YeaBaby:.

I'd also replace the landing gear as it's pretty fragile and has low ground clearance. I used the sonix/trex450 aluminum landing gear..... just bend it straight again after a crash and Bobs your uncle Mike. The Gorilla Gear landing gear is supposed to be indestructable....

+'s
DX6(really nice except only one idle-up mode)
The Boom and Blade grips are interchangeable with the twister pro
You can stick on an after-market trex cnc head and tail with no issues (thats what I did)
Flys very nice when you have it setup properly (even hover hands free with standard gyro)

-'s
Mine wasn't setup at all when I got mine (radio had default programming so was ARF)
Elevator servo is not direct to swash, so very hard to get rid of ccpm interactions
Seems a little more fragile in a crash than my friends trex (he usually does a set of blades and a boom and thats it)
The 1st time that mine crashed (servo failure) it stripped servos, main gear, main shaft, feathering shaft, tail shaft, boom, blades and H-stabilizer (just zip tied the supports on instead)
2nd time (I had a cnc trex head and tail, with hs65s), stripped the main gear, boom, and tail shaft.
Main gear is a real pain to change the oneway even with the removal tool (compared to 4 screws on a trex).

Hope this helps.

[Crashed Monkey]

)
Flys very nice when you have it setup properly (even hover hands free with standard gyro)


Thats the thing,when its set up right.I find you need expo big time ,or its too twitchy,or is it just me :shock: ??

[Mon_t]

Thats the thing,when its set up right.I find you need expo big time ,or its too twitchy,or is it just me :shock: ??
You're probably not used to it yet.
I uses about 10%expo no DR as I fly thumbs only. Also try lowering your head speed a little.... you can do this by using a 9 pinion or by lowering the high values in the throttle curve. When starting out I just found that having a high head speed made it too sensitive, so I lowered it down eg. 0-25-50-60-70 with the standard battery or my 2200/25c which I had it set to 0-30-40-50-65.
As you get more and more experience you can start to up the settings.
My Idle-up curve is 70-65-60-65-70 as I found I just couldn't handle it at full throttle with the more powerful battery, which has an audibly higher head speed than the standard battery (haven't got a tach so no numbers possible).

[Kirkgang]

All the above replies seem to be on target from my experience. The only upgrade I have done so far is to install Hitec HS65mg's. The stock ones are not durable enough except for on the tail. Parts are cheap enough but sometimes supply is limited though not for long. The only other point I would echo is that the 400 is a quick responding bird. You will have to play with the D/R Expo to find "your" sweet spot when learning/flying it. Happy Flying!

[Robb]

what they said

if you can hover a cp you'll love the 400

as Fozy said though, was a bit intimidating for me when I first spooled mine up after my cp, I still shake a little when I fly, (more from excitement than from fear.......I think :roll: )

happy hovering
Robb

[HeliMix]

I LOVE my STOCK 400.

I will upgrade some parts I'm sure as I learn more, but for now, it is treating me very well, and I take care of it too. It is designed to crash and reapir easily and inexpensively.

[Epoweredrc]

what they said

if you can hover a cp you'll love the 400

as Fozy said though, was a bit intimidating for me when I first spooled mine up after my cp, I still shake a little when I fly, (more from excitement than from fear.......I think :roll: )

happy hovering
Robb

LOL ha ha, when I first spooled up my trex450 after flying my blade cpp I was like HOLLY $$$$ its going to eat me... it sounded mean but then found out was running 3,000 headspead, had to tame that beast down.

so whats the problem with the feathershafts bending?

but were not supposed to be crashing right!

[LockMD]

LOL ha ha, when I first spooled up my trex450 after flying my blade cpp I was like HOLLY $$$$ its going to eat me... it sounded mean but then found out was running 3,000 headspead, had to tame that beast down.

so whats the problem with the feathershafts bending?

but were not supposed to be crashing right!


Wait 'til you guys spool up a 600! :wow2: That thing is scary, but you know it will happen, the addiction has you might as well just give in and do it now before you spend your money on useless stuff like your childrens education :YeaBaby:

[Epoweredrc]

Wait 'til you guys spool up a 600! :wow2: That thing is scary, but you know it will happen, the addiction has you might as well just give in and do it now before you spend your money on useless stuff like your childrens education :YeaBaby:

ha ha, I will never have the money to own a 600 but know what one sounds like, A guy in my club owns one. More like what does a Logo 600 Sound like with Matt Botos flying it, it sounds like a glow heli lol, and moves like one too. :YeaBaby:
Children, Do you think I could afford RC if I had kids :clappp yeah right!!

[Fendbass22]

I started with CX2 and went right for the B400. Its been a rough learning curve but right now I have it setup so nice. Still using stock servos cause in my opinion id rather ruin a $13.99 servo or $2.99 gears then a $45.99 nice servo. Down the road when I am better I will upgrade. My advice would be mess with the radio to get it dumbed down a little so its not so expensive!


Other than that I am starting to get really addicted. Lovin it.

[phatchantz]

I went from learning on a CP PRO ( ouch - many many parts replacements ) - to a 400 - right out of the box, love it..........

I am not into aerobatics so I have no need for now to change the servos - and have not crashed so no repairs either - fantastic "out-of-the-box" experience...........

extra batteries are a good call - and maybe some adjusting the Tx to calm it down a little..

would I change anything - " no " :D - "great product"

[alyeemd]

I have wanted to learn to fly RC helicopters since the mid 80's. I had a king cobra then and could not fly it...gave up. In the 90's, I tried again with an Xcell 60...crashed and gave up. In 2002, I bought an Hirobo and never flew it. Last month, I bought a used Blade 400. I can hover now and do some forward flight. I have crashed quite a few times initially. The repair costs are reassonable. I have since upgraded to JR servos and a 401 gyro with stock tail servo. The machine is rock steady despite the stock tail servo. In my humble crash prone opinion, this is a great machine to enter the sport of RC heli flying/crashing. When and if I do get proficient, I do hope to get a higher end machine such as the Trex 500.

[eugenefelisco]

I have wanted to learn to fly RC helicopters since the mid 80's. I had a king cobra then and could not fly it...gave up. In the 90's, I tried again with an Xcell 60...crashed and gave up. In 2002, I bought an Hirobo and never flew it. Last month, I bought a used Blade 400. I can hover now and do some forward flight. I have crashed quite a few times initially. The repair costs are reassonable. I have since upgraded to JR servos and a 401 gyro with stock tail servo. The machine is rock steady despite the stock tail servo. In my humble crash prone opinion, this is a great machine to enter the sport of RC heli flying/crashing. When and if I do get proficient, I do hope to get a higher end machine such as the Trex 500.


Very nice experience. For me I started my addiction to the 400 and still enjoying it everybit of it. And my wife is soooo jealous of it. Now I have a t-rex XL at my table and putting the hand me downs equiptment from my 400.

[Heli24]

Thanks guys for all your input, Ive since gotton a 400, and the first time i spooled it up i hovered the whole battery. Ive got a few extra parts but cant find a spindle shaft anywhere. Might a trex spindle shaft work? and will the 65mg servos swap out with the stock ones? Im pleased with the little heli, lovin it.

Thanks again Tom

[mupchu]

The trex spindle from a V1 (not the V2) will work in place of the feathering shaft. 65mg's will also work, but you may need to file the frame a little to make them fit in correctly (at least I did). Well worth the replacement. I also put in the 9t pinion and that really made my blade fly really nice.

From my experience, the blade is a great heli. I recommend the replacement of the cyclic servo's because the eflite ones developed a deadband right where they were being used . . . of and it developed in flight too which made for an interesting time getting the bird back down in one piece.

[Bone]

It's been covered, but I have to disagree with most of you... I started with the blade 400 about 2 months ago. I have had a really hard time, partially because I had no one to learn from locally. About a month ago, I bought a used trex 450se. I paid about 350 for it, and it had a slow tail servo, so I bought a 401/9257 and MAN!!! There is no comparison!! The trex is heavier, even with carbon fiber frame, so it does not have near the problems with wind and is much smoother. I did change out the tail servo on the blade, after I cussed the gyro over and over... The slow gyro was the biggest problem, so if you do go with the blade, expect to change the tail servo and maybe the gyro. If I could do it again, I would put up the extra coin for the trex450. the SA model is very comparable to the blade, I think. The parts for the trex are pretty comparable in price also.:thumbup:

[keiser BLADE]

i love my 400, it flew out of the box, i crashed it 2 times 1ce was stupidity hovering in the house and it drifted into some flowers, 2 time i was was flying low, and lost like half my power, found out the esc overheated, from the first crash the servo was broken but it still worked , i guess it was just taking to much load, any way i put hs65mg on the cyclic and hs 81 mg on the tail im still fine tuning but it flys great
just my .002
Brandon

[RodneyWimberly]

I agree with Bone. Bought the Blade 400. It wasn't setup correctly. Had lots of problems.:arggg: After changing all four servos and the gyro I said wait I just added 280 (HB-65's, GY401, and 3400G) in equipment for a bird that cost 280, I should have just got a TREX. So I did. I LOVE MY TREX it is so much more stable:thumbup:.I did the full blown SE V2 and now let my friends crash the Blade 400 when they come over

For the same cost as the 479 RTF Blade (500 after you buy the AC adapter) you can git a DX6i and receiver (220), and a TREX S or SA (200) + Battery and Charger (100) for 520. Then just add the servos and gyro you would have to buy for the Blade 400 anyway and then you have a TREX for the same cost.


Just my opinion.