advise not to buy b400

[dwoodworker]

I see a lot of people wondering which helicopter to buy especialy their first collective pitch helicopter. there is so many to choose from. the blade 400 is apealling because of the price especialy with the transmitter that comes with it. believe me I went through the same mental confusion of going back and forth and weighing out all of the options even emailed horizon hobbies with questions before I made my purshase.So here is one mans opinion and suggestion to all of those considering the Blade 400 and with that I will share my experience. The first day out of box the ESC would not arm due to poor solder joint which I fixed I didn't think it right I should have to do that with a brand new unit. called horizon they sent me another one than the baterry charger would not charge third cell it was leaving it at 3.7v and the yellow balance lights did not ever come on first call they did nothing I went and bought new 65.00 battery and it was being charged the same second call they replaced it and than the transmitter had problems had to send it in and wait a couple of weeks they replaced it with new one. the helicopter was not test flown in my opinion for one due to ESC not arming and second nothing was adjusted right.actualy was hovering heli a couple days in a row when a servo went out just as I lifted of ground they replaced servos.right after installing new servos was hovering heli set it down to make gyro adjustment when all of a sudden blades flew off taking out several parts including new servos it appeared as if the screw came out of feathering shaft. Bottom line I hate that I bought this unit because with all the repairs and the down time waiting on things to be replaced I have not got to enjoy this heli at all.BY the time you buy the 400 and spend money on upgrades on the servos and gyro you could have bought a TREX with good electronics to start with including radio for about what you will spend on the 400. For the most part horizon has replaced things that went out but customer service will not make up for this headache I have emailed several times explaining my frustration and faxed them its been 2 1/2 weeks and they have not responded so I guess they just don't care so for me I will never buy another horizon product.

[SkunkyMagoo]

Emailing horizon will do nothing for you. CALL. Not defending them, as I had a bad experience with their CS as well. But you can't expect anything out of any e-mail.

To start, no matter what heli you buy. You NEED to go over everything yourself and make any adjustments to the head, servos, and other things.

You would have saved your self many headaches by setting the heli up correctly the first time out.

A blade 400 fully blinged is CHEAPER than a t-rex 450SA with the same parts.

You get what you pay for, I and most of us have come to this realization. You cant expect a $200 RTF heli to perform like a $700 t-rex.

Just my $0.02

Anybody looking for a blade, do not let this deter you. It is an AMAZING heli once set up correctly.

[Kindling Maker]

Mine flew great out of the box, my dealer Test flew it at his shop, and I went over it with a fine toothed comb BEFORE i flew it. I have alot of flights on it and the only crash I have had was my fault. It is a great heli. I deal with heat and birt issues that most people only dream of. Mine has held up well and the only issue that I have had with it is the Battery itself, I had a charging wire come loose. It is a good heli and flyines well if ste up properly.

[cheifyoda]

SORRY FOR YOUR PROBLEMS:( BUT HE'S IS RIGHT YOU NEED TO SET UP A HELI BEFORE ANY FLIGHT . ALL COMPANYS WILL HAVE SOME SORT OF QUAILY CONTROL PROBLEM FROM TIME TO TIME.:confused: IF YOU CALL HORIZON THEY WILL FIX YOUR PROBLEM. HELIS ARE VERY TEMPERATMENTAL LIKE A WOMAN IF YOU SEND TIME WITH HER AND CHECK HER OVER BEFORE YOU FLY HER SHE WILL PREFORM GREAT.:noteworthy YOU MUST CHECK YOUR HELI OVER BEFORE ANY FLIGHT ITS COMMON SENSE. CHECK THIS SITE IT WILL HELP YOU FROM TOP TOO BOTTOM . READ EVERYTHING AND DO RESEARCH BEFORE YOUR MAIDEN FLIGHTS. HOPE YOU HAVE BETTER LUCK AND SAFE FLYING:banana

[dwoodworker]

first of all the heli is already supposed to be set up. that was another thing that was appealing to someone such as my self who hasn't been in the hobby that long ( of course now I can build this thing with my eyes closed. next I want all of my communications in written form not a phone call which cannot be proven.and final you can buy the least expensive trex with mottor and esc for 199.00 150. on the tail ant 120. on 3 cyclic servos and 189. on dx6i radio that is658.00 by the time you buy the 400 combo at 469.00 and upgrade your servos and gyro you'll spend another 250.00 to 300.00 that around 100.00 more and you will have a better heli. my advise to someone loojking to buy the 400 still stand do not buy

[cheifyoda]

LOK IN THE FOR SALE SECTION I SEE ALOT OF TREX FOR SALE NO B 400 WHY:confused: I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO ASK THAT BUT DIDNT WANT TO START A WAR ON HERE:bomb:

[sokal]

mine was screwed up from the start, servos died gyro is ok not the best
is a trex better in quality maybe in parts cost no. mine flyies perfect once you add a lil tlc the trex also has same issues and you have to set that up as well but for a starting heli pilot its the fastest cheapest way to get you foot in the door and learn this hobby. then you will upgrade to the bigger one we all want wich will be the better name brand helis because our learning days will be over and will not crash the cnc parts as much if not at all


so i will recomment the b400 to anyone that want to get in to this hobby
if the can already fly then i would recommend a rexx or other

[JohnLund]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune, but there's nothing wrong with the Blade 400. Like any product, there's going to be failures. Personally, I haven't seen a single one fail out of the box, and we have gone over almost every one we have sold locally with the customer before they even take it home. It's rare to have to replace the servos and gyro out of the box, and most of the time it's either a crash, or a personal choice, not a necessity.

And your price work up leaves out the battery, +$59, and charger +$100-$200. We had a customer take up his brand new 450SA, main blade grip failed on the first flight, bent frame, two stripped servo, blades, battery, miscellaneous head parts, boom and landing gear. The point is a failure can happen to any bird, from any company.

[Mon_t]

I kinda wished I had bought a kit heli to start off with and not an rtf or arf.
This would have helped me understand what did what a lot sooner and also how to make sure the setup was correct. My main gripe with the blade 400 is that there is no real documentation on setup data. I had to track down ball park figures on linkage lengths online. This information is available in the trex manual and also how to make sure the setup is correct.

I did have an elevator servo die after about my 5th flight, and have to say wasn't impressed at the $100 repair cost afterward (didn't bother with warranty at the time because I thought it must have been my fault somehow and only figured out otherwise later).Keep in mind this was well before Sokal had made his repair/build/setup videos and I was stuck on a 56kbps modem/internet connection.
After waiting a month for parts, as there were none at that stage , I finally got it back in the air, only to have the regulator in the battery fail (which was replaced under warranty). At this stage I was having thermal shutdown issues with the esc..... again had no idea what was going on, as I kept my flight times strictly to 5 min. After seeing my friends blinged out trex and the punishment it took from crashing A LOT. I thought I'd order the copterx stuff and put that on. Had a major boom strike, of which only the boom needed to be replaced (The SAB CF blades were perfectly fine, figure that one out). Then I had a crash completely of my own accord a couple of days after that, at which time stripped all 3 cyclic servos, bent the head block and destroyed my SABs. It was at this time I decided to get the hs65's as I couldn't get gear sets readily.
Back in the air again......... then a dog decided it wants to attack the Betsy....... LVD the poor old mystery battery and have to do an autorotation landing at which time the dog leaps up and grabs the heli by the boom (cost me just a boom to fix). The battery still works, but doesn't have the power it once used to, has been relegated to testing and figure 8 warmup battery.
It's at this time the gyro starts acting up. Thinking it was a setup problem..... it cost me 2 booms, a set of K&B's, my copterx tail case, 2 main gears. This was before it finally died completely. My lhs sent it off to be replaced, and at the same time rather than going through the headache of the g110. I bought a 401/9257 combo, I didn't have to as it worked ok for 4 months and was replaced for nix a couple of days later.

Now Betsy is all good and flying quite happily.

So would it have been cheaper to by a trex probably.
Do I regret buying it NO.
Have I learned a lot in the meantime, hell yeah. There was a time when I was sick of wrenching, rather than flying. But if you think a trex is going to be different.... I would have to argue differently.

Anyhoo, sorry about the novel.
I just wanted you to know that we've all had some issues with this bird, but you do get what you pay for. But once she is setup correctly she's every bit as good as a trex.

Oh yeah, you neglected to tell me whether you had sorted out your problems?

Carlo

[xpower180]

Interesting thread, and one which probably poses questions and thoughts most of us have had or are having...

I bought the B400 as my first ever heli, with no previous heli experience at all (apart from phoenix sim).
I have to say that the heli has stood up extremely well to the inevitable punishment it would receive from a complete noob!

Now that i rarely crash it :roll:, I have carried out several upgrades (see my Sig), and some would say the bird is not really a B400 any more - I want my heli to fly well, and give me consistent flying pleasure, it matters not a jot to me if it's a thoroughbred Blade or a hybrid.

I must also point out that the Blade was the right price to get me flying, and the options I have since purchased were bought over a period of time since - hence not too heavy on the wallet.
If I had bought a Trex 450 instead, I'd have spent all this time (3-4 months) building it to flying state - and have absolutley NO flying experience...

I have bought upgrades, safe in the knowledge that i can now go out and buy a kit / bare bones if I want, and my parts will still be of use.

There is no doubt I would recommend the B400 to anyone - it is a great piece of kit and at a great price! :thumbup:

[Slyster]

I immediately upgraded my B400 with GY401 and HS65-HB servos after reading all the info I could.. no problems to far! Flies just right.. except for my two crashes.. my fault... not the heli's fault!

Blade 400 Bible... to see some tips...

http://www.slyster.com/heli

[gixxerjeff]

I own a blade 400 since last Feb,and a trex 500 since April.I learned on the 400.After 400 + flights on the 400,I have to tell ya,even with 401 gyro and hs65mg upgrade costs,the package is still a great deal.The only things I wear out are motors every 200+ flights and a few bearings here and there.Cheap fixes,as the motors are warrantied for a year.Ive learned a ton about flying and fixing with this thing.If you look at the cost of the kit,then subtract the radio value ($189.00),your looking at like 250.00 for the heli, battery and charger.You just cant touch that if you are just starting with nothing.With that said,Im picking up my trex 450se v2 kit today.Not getting rid of the 400,its just Ive come a long way since last feb,started doing light 3d a few weeks ago,and want the top of the line 450 class.

[neilg.]

LOK IN THE FOR SALE SECTION I SEE ALOT OF TREX FOR SALE NO B 400 WHY:confused: I HAVE ALWAYS WANTED TO ASK THAT BUT DIDNT WANT TO START A WAR ON HERE:bomb:

i got the answer :clappp

it's because when you crash the B400 you don't repair it, u buy a T-rex :tongue

just kidding, my B400 is tempermental probably due to my lack of experience but i ain't gonna get rid of it, NO WAY

[EatMorePizza]

If I hadf a beef with this heli I would agree with you. Iv'e vented much anger with the cp pro, but this heli I love. Its cheap, has cheap parts(available at my LHS) and with a team like Sokal and Skunky helping you if you have problems you cant beat it. Just becareful when you get angry you miss steps on your heli setups and that translates to blades spinning off like shrapnel from a grenade.

[jondabear]

Sorry to hear a bout the bad luck with your heli. I came from the training(HELL ON EARTH-FRUSTRATION) learning curve of a cp pro. When I had to start doing maintenance on my blade I was glad it was nowhere near what I was used to. It was sooooo much easier that for the greater good(FLYING) I could put up with changing servo gears every hard landing till I could land a little better.
The one thing I was hoping for was a "zero maintenance" heli ,when I bought this one. Then I crashed it; found out a little different. What has been a revelation to me in the past 7 months of flying is that there is NO SUCH THING as a "rtf "or even "arf" There is also a discipline of high maintenace compared to other rc vehicles . We probably fly the most demanding vehicles in the air, hands down.
Just as an afterthought ,the day I bought my b400 I took it home and the FIRST thing I did was take it apart LUBE,TIGHTEN,ADJUST(HEAD) and loctite EVERYTHING on this bird.
Should I have to do this on a RTF? Of course not! But then again I beleive that in our discipline of rc HELI'S ..........NO SUCH THING as an RTF exists. Its like looking for a
UNICORN = Youve "heard of such a mythical creature and wish that you could actually find one but in reality there just is no such thing.

Learn your heli, get it in the air, fly it and enjoy it and I promise you, the smile on your face will make you forget about what its taken to get you to that point.
Btw mikemurph did a little vid of me flying my bird and posted it day before yesterday. Its a STOCK machine and has been for the past 2.5 months Ive been flying it. I think it performs pretty well.:YeaBaby:(MAINTENANCE - PRIOR AND POST)
Peace, good luck and dont let this set ya back. Persevere and reep your benefits,your entitled to a huge smile and some beautiful flight time after this "trial by fire"
:thumbup:

[dwoodworker]

probably because most people are to decent to let anyone else be exposed to the nightmare. ha ha look at the forum and you'll see most things are negative about the 400 untill the upgrades are made

[SkunkyMagoo]

probably because most people are to decent to let anyone else be exposed to the nightmare. ha ha look at the forum and you'll see most things are negative about the 400 untill the upgrades are made

Go buy another $200 heli with everything included except the TX and you will find the SAME problems! You get what you pay for!

If you think you are going to get a 450 size CCPM heli with a belt driven tail at this price point and NOT have problems you need to find a different hobby. Just the facts jack.

[dwoodworker]

no not yet. just got in the servo rebuild kits have repaired all the other damage from when the blades flew off. and I am using the trex as an example like I said there are many brands. my oppinions are based on my experience as well as all the problems I have read about. I was told in someone elses post that its all about set up. set up has nothing to do with charger not working or ESC not working or transmitter failure I have had this thing since May 2nd and have gotton in the air about 3 days no more than a total of 30 minutes. I was told by someone at a hobby shop that they were not going to sell it anymore they had 1 in stock and was pulling it because of all of the complaints.

[SkunkyMagoo]

Price price price!

You think you are going to get a quality lipo and charger all wrapped up into this? NO.

A GOOD charger is $200 alone!

[dwoodworker]

i got the answer :clappp

it's because when you crash the B400 you don't repair it, u buy a T-rex :tongue

just kidding, my B400 is tempermental probably due to my lack of experience but i ain't gonna get rid of it, NO WAY
thats funny

[OCD 4 RC]

:arggg: Doing this is about as effective as trying to change this gentlemans mind..... This thread is pointless. Dwoodworker..... Sorry for your headaches man. Everyone else.... lets move on to the threads that actually make this forum what it is, a great place to exchange useful information that add's value to our hobby!!!:cheers

[dwoodworker]

Sorry to hear a bout the bad luck with your heli. I came from the training(HELL ON EARTH-FRUSTRATION) learning curve of a cp pro. When I had to start doing maintenance on my blade I was glad it was nowhere near what I was used to. It was sooooo much easier that for the greater good(FLYING) I could put up with changing servo gears every hard landing till I could land a little better.
The one thing I was hoping for was a "zero maintenance" heli ,when I bought this one. Then I crashed it; found out a little different. What has been a revelation to me in the past 7 months of flying is that there is NO SUCH THING as a "rtf "or even "arf" There is also a discipline of high maintenace compared to other rc vehicles . We probably fly the most demanding vehicles in the air, hands down.
Just as an afterthought ,the day I bought my b400 I took it home and the FIRST thing I did was take it apart LUBE,TIGHTEN,ADJUST(HEAD) and loctite EVERYTHING on this bird.
Should I have to do this on a RTF? Of course not! But then again I beleive that in our discipline of rc HELI'S ..........NO SUCH THING as an RTF exists. Its like looking for a
UNICORN = Youve "heard of such a mythical creature and wish that you could actually find one but in reality there just is no such thing.

Learn your heli, get it in the air, fly it and enjoy it and I promise you, the smile on your face will make you forget about what its taken to get you to that point.
Btw mikemurph did a little vid of me flying my bird and posted it day before yesterday. Its a STOCK machine and has been for the past 2.5 months Ive been flying it. I think it performs pretty well.:YeaBaby:(MAINTENANCE - PRIOR AND POST)
Peace, good luck and dont let this set ya back. Persevere and reep your benefits,your entitled to a huge smile and some beautiful flight time after this "trial by fire"
:thumbup:
thanks for the calming words I look foward to the day I can at least fly a day with no expense

[dwoodworker]

jondabear thanks for the calming words in the time of my frustration dwoodworker rosharon,texas

[dwoodworker]

Am I the only one that considers aprox. 500.00 as hard earned money, and that I should be able to expect that for that hard earned money something should work, and not settle with the thought and say oh well a really good charger cost 200.00 so for that reason I shouldn't be upset when my charger does't work from the get go. or my esc or when my transmitter goes out. Thats why these manfactures supplies us with crap because of attitudes like yours. if you pay your hard earned money for something than you have the right to expect it to work and the manufactures/distributors should be held accountable and if everyone would complain about things that don't work than maybe are products such as a car or washing machine or rc helicopter's and related products would improve. ( and thats a fact jack )

[SkunkyMagoo]

Oh trust me, I had it out with Horizon. Didnt do me any good, they did not replace any of my defective parts. I consider those who have had replacements lucky.

You get what you pay for, this is true for anything that you buy.

My ESC, servo, AND gyro went out. What did they say? Sorry, it has been flown. It seems to be the luck of the draw with horizon. Will I buy another e-flite product? Probably not.

My attitude has nothing to do with the quality of parts you got, and everything to do with the real life nature of of this hobby. It is not cheap, never will be.

I have some bukku bucks into mine now, and I smile every time I take her up, she is a dream to fly.

I REALLY believe that HALF of your problem was not having the prior knowledge of setting up the heli correctly. JMO.

This thing flies like a joke out of the box compared to how it flies when correctly set up.

Sorry for your frustrations but this is not going to change anything. We have all been there...done that.