Nano CP X Maiden

[Coyn]

I purchased a brand new Nano CP X today to fly around during the holidays. I got the RTF package, so am using the DX4e. I decided to rebind the TX to the heli (holding the rudder to the left) to make sure it was set up in non-computer radio mode. I spooled up the heli up and brought the throttle up a bit. I noticed that it wants to drift around quite a bit as it is lifting off, so I pushed the throttle up and got it up in the air quickly. The controls felt a bit mushy and the power seemed to oscillate a bit. I had to chase the heli with the collective to try and keep it level. The heli then started to drop and I tried to pick it up with some extra collective, it then drifted off sideways and it bumped lightly into a table. I cut the throttle before it hit, so I figured no big deal. I stood it up it and tried to spool up again, but the tail motor went crazy and the heli spun around in circles. I disconnected the battery and reconnected it to let it reinitialize. It no longer responds to controls from the radio. All I get is a slow blinking blue LED. I can hear the servos buzzing intermittently as the LED blinks. I read in another thread that this could be due to a broken solder joint on the 3-1 from bumping into something. I was under the impression that the Nano CPX was supposed to be quite robust and can take a beating. Mine flew for about 5 seconds before it took a dump. I have flown the MCPx with my DX7s and it is very responsive. The Nano felt like a pig compared to the mCPX. I have to admit that I am thoroughly underwhelmed by the performance of the Nano CPX. I wish I just kept the $200 and put it towards my next large heli build. Is it possible the board was defective from the start? Do the controls just feel soft with the DX4e? What are other people's impression of the Nano? Am I stuck having to ask HH for a new 3-1? I was hoping to be able to fly this thing to keep myself busy for the next couple of weeks, but now I am just bummed.

[What]

Damn, talk about bad luck!

Seems like your having the same issue with the 3-in-1 board as I did... only mine lastet 3 weeks of crashes. Sent the board to HH and recived a new one the same week.

Is it harder to fly with the DX4e then a DX6i etc?

[daneger21]

Look up megasmicros.com. They fixed mine and its waaaay better and beefer than stock, and half the price of a new 3-in-1.

And to answer your question...I love my nano

[targetingxmod]

well! I got a xmas nano cpx!

My fist heli. I am virgin on helis. Hardcore on cars only!

I hate it! First minute i broke the land gear, canopy is rotten on botton already!
hum... don't know even how to start it!
but i shall be there.

there was a time i was virgin on cars to... so... no worries.
glue the land gear with tire ca from cars, and taped the canopy with transparent tape.

But some silly questions i should make....
the left stick is for up and down... but the dam thing just spins all over the place...

it should stand when hiting the up stick?

i need a free open space for it, maybe grass to learn how to fly it....
for now i am hating it... but i kind of like it, heli!!

[tchilds]

Get a new 3in1 from HH. Should only be a few days wait to 2 days wait.

Send your old board off to get repaired if the new board fixes the issue. This puts you almost $45 ahead of the game. Make sure your new board isn't shorting out because of something stupid like tail wires or antenae wire.

Spend $50 on upgrades w/shipping on metal swash, airtime skids, and some solid CF tube for better booms.

This is not an MCPX, it is basically a collective pitch MSRX if anything. It uses the same tail as the MSRX and the MCPX. It does not like to piro due to the fact that the tail motor is so powerful on a heli this size. If the technology was available to run a much lighter electric tail, much higher up more level with the main rotor, these heli's would fly amazingly but I'm not buying a $500 nano. Already did that with my MCPX not going there again. You can't make filet outta chopped beef tips.

The quality control seems like it was higher on the MCPX too. We're getting a lot of junk nano parts. I have two brand new main gears that are completely uneven won't even fit on the heli, TWO. If I can't get reliable parts when I buy two of everything then there is no point in buying eflite parts. I just order chinese knockoffs now. If anything the chinese "junk" gets better every day and the eflite "quality materials and craftsmanship" get worse.

This is the current draw back of electric tail motors and why a 6 channel like your big heli's you're talking about will fly much better and more accurately. I got my nano to replace my MCPX, getting 130x to replace brushless MCPX.

Trust me the MCPX sucks. Why aren't you using your DX7S for the nano???? I would! You were probably flying in low rate mode if the controls felt mushy on the dx4 btw.

[Iskareot]

I do not think the DX4e is a good radio for it.

I have one and messed with it a bit and it was HARDER to fly then with the DX6i -- with that said I have two BNF nanos and both were perfect out of the box.

Both have flown amazing since the launch day.. like 0 day here on the forums I had one.. then I got a second.

Blue and Yellow I have broke some skids and I stepped on one boom BUT they are solid and take one hell of a beating.

Sorry to hear you bad luck.

[timdknowlton]

Originally Posted by targetingxmod

well! I got a xmas nano cpx!

My fist heli. I am virgin on helis. Hardcore on cars only!

I hate it! First minute i broke the land gear, canopy is rotten on botton already!
hum... don't know even how to start it!
but i shall be there.

there was a time i was virgin on cars to... so... no worries.
glue the land gear with tire ca from cars, and taped the canopy with transparent tape.

But some silly questions i should make....
the left stick is for up and down... but the dam thing just spins all over the place...

it should stand when hiting the up stick?

i need a free open space for it, maybe grass to learn how to fly it....
for now i am hating it... but i kind of like it, heli!!

I would contribute much of your dismay to "new pilot" syndrome. Having come from nitro 1/8 cars myself helis are much much different. My hand was moving like crazy at first, as necessary with racing, but that's not a friendly practice for helis. And the Nano really doesn't like stick bashing. Patience is of top precedence. Within 6 month, or less, you'll be hovering inverted and 100% converted to the hobby.

[gdawgs56]

Originally Posted by targetingxmod

well! I got a xmas nano cpx!

My fist heli. I am virgin on helis. Hardcore on cars only!

I hate it! First minute i broke the land gear, canopy is rotten on botton already!
hum... don't know even how to start it!
but i shall be there.

there was a time i was virgin on cars to... so... no worries.
glue the land gear with tire ca from cars, and taped the canopy with transparent tape.

But some silly questions i should make....
the left stick is for up and down... but the dam thing just spins all over the place...

it should stand when hiting the up stick?

i need a free open space for it, maybe grass to learn how to fly it....
for now i am hating it... but i kind of like it, heli!!

left stick:
stick up: heli goes up
stick down: heli throttles down/goes down
stick right: heli turns right
stick left: heli turns left

the right stick is
stick forwards: heli tilts forwards
stick back: heli tilts bakc
stick right: heli tilts right
stick left: heli tilts left

[Coyn]

So I wanted to give an update. I went to the LHS where I picked up the NCPX and explained what happened to the owner. He swapped it out for another one on the spot. Hooray for good customer service! I have gone through about eight batteries with the heli and am pleased with how it is flying. I haven't inverted it yet as I am flying in a cramped bedroom at the moment and it has been raining outside all day today. I am hoping that the tail holds a bit better than the MCPX. I felt like when flipping the MCPX over it was like catching an egg ever so gently to keep the tail from blowing out and crashing. I flew some little circuits around the room and it seems to be a pretty decent flyer. The blades were not tracking so well at first and it was shaking in IU mode, so I removed the feathering shaft and straightened it a bit and adjusted the tension so that the blade grips rotate freely. Has anyone else had a bent feathering shaft from the factory? Not a big deal, but kind of weird. I don't have any blue loctite with me, so I hope that the little nut holding head together doesn't let go on me before I get home from my vacation.

What mods do you all think are must haves for the NCPX? I plan on at least doing the foam protection around the 3-1 board. I also plan to take out that stupid ratchet thing in the DX4e once I can get my hands on a proper screwdriver. I will bind it to my DX7s for flying when I get home, but I plan to use the DX4e at work or to throw in my trunk. I don't like hauling my nice radio everywhere with me. Is the microheli metal swash really worth it, money and weight wise?

Glad HF is back up again, hopefully the DDOS stops soon. I am a happy camper today!

[jps6882]

I tried it out in my living room, and it was pretty squirrelly. Today I had the chance to fly at an indoor soccer field, and it was spot on. I was just doing basic hover and draw the box stuff, but it held the line great. I did have a few crashes due to some rapid evasive maneuver for some inbound foamies, but nothing broke. One was a full throttle side smash. Checked it out, and still flies great. I'm using a DX7S with the downloaded (manual) settings on low rate.

[P@reez]

Originally Posted by Coyn

so I removed the feathering shaft and straightened it a bit

What technique do you use to straighten these tiny feathering shafts?

[targetingxmod]

Originally Posted by gdawgs56

left stick:
stick up: heli goes up
stick down: heli throttles down/goes down
stick right: heli turns right
stick left: heli turns left

the right stick is
stick forwards: heli tilts forwards
stick back: heli tilts bakc
stick right: heli tilts right
stick left: heli tilts left

If i go up the heli goes up but without changing other stick, it never stops, it goes up AND RUN or to the left or to the right or to front or to back....
I CAN'T hover stand still..... Could be a defect?
i do not have any experience, but this way is not the way...

if i get the left stick up slowlly it kind moves to somewhere else right or left and moving more it lifts up but EVERY TIME chrashes without moving other sticks!
grrrrrrrr i feel dummy!

[kingmeow]

Originally Posted by Parees

What technique do you use to straighten these tiny feathering shafts?

Believe it or not, I just use a pair of pliers and just eyeball it. You'll never get it back to 100% straight but close is good enough for this bird.

[StangGuy]

targetingxmod,

Welcome to CP helis. You constantly have to make corrections with a collective pitch helicopter. It will not hover steady on it's own. CP helis are, by their nature, unstable beasts. This is why most new heli fliers start with a co-axial heli (like the Blade mcx) or a 45* flybar (like the Blade msr). Both of those helis will hover hands off and let you learn how to fly in different orientations without working so hard to keep a stable hover. There are those who have started with the nano first and been successful, but it is frustrating. You need to find a wide open area and you really need a computer radio like the dx6i to tame the settings down a bit. The low rates on the stock RTF transmitter are OK, but not tame enough IMO.

[Coyn]

Originally Posted by kingmeow

Believe it or not, I just use a pair of pliers and just eyeball it. You'll never get it back to 100% straight but close is good enough for this bird.

+1

I didn't have pliers on hand so I just used the large end of the feathering shaft tool that comes with the heli to bend the shaft a bit. Insert the shaft and twist to find the kink, then just push on the end thats sticking out a bit to straighten it out. It doesn't take much force. I did that until I could roll the shaft on a table, with the head part hanging over the edge, without wobbles.

[targetingxmod]

Originally Posted by StangGuy

targetingxmod,

Welcome to CP helis. You constantly have to make corrections with a collective pitch helicopter. It will not hover steady on it's own. CP helis are, by their nature, unstable beasts. This is why most new heli fliers start with a co-axial heli (like the Blade mcx) or a 45* flybar (like the Blade msr). Both of those helis will hover hands off and let you learn how to fly in different orientations without working so hard to keep a stable hover. There are those who have started with the nano first and been successful, but it is frustrating. You need to find a wide open area and you really need a computer radio like the dx6i to tame the settings down a bit. The low rates on the stock RTF transmitter are OK, but not tame enough IMO.

Ok, i didn't know that about cp helis! that is a constant fight to hover steady... Blade should make big letters on that on the website,manual and box of helis....for newbies to know...
the beginner or intermediate degree does not offer visibility of the diferences!!
Just a a BIG note!
everybody learns sooner or later... but no ones borns educated!
thanks for the info