RTF? I guess mine was.

[AtomicFlyer]

So the UPS guy delivered my new Blade 400 this evening.

I opened the box, plugged in the battery, and skimmed the manual. Contrary to the really good advice I got on doing a preflight, I instead mounted the partially charged battery and went outside (hey, the sun was starting to go down!). I did go through the control test as outlined in the manual to make sure nothing was reversed.

Once that checked out, I called my wife to film the historic event.

Blade 400 First Flight (3 min 47 sec)

While perhaps the most boring hover video ever made (in lighting that could not have been worse), it does show that the heli can at least hover right out of the box.

I bought a Walkera 4#1 fixed pitch last December and I can toss it around pretty good. But even the sound of this Blade 400 spooling up made me takes things real slow. I guess everything is relative, but this Blade seems wildly powerful compared to my little FP bird.

Marc

[Wolfpackin]

Nice job.

Taking it slow is smart, especially with an untested heli.

[Slyster]

It's a nice heli isn't it! Nice video!

[Roger_15]

Nice job Marc, and without rubber-baby-buggy-bumpers! It does fly a heck of a lot better without them though.


Roger.

[AtomicFlyer]

Originally Posted by Wolfpackin

Nice job.

Taking it slow is smart, especially with an untested heli.

Unfortunately, the neighbor and his kids saw me setting up so they had come over to watch. I put them at a safe distance though!

Originally Posted by Slyster

It's a nice heli isn't it! Nice video!

A whole different machine than my little FP.

Originally Posted by Roger_15

Nice job Marc, and without rubber-baby-buggy-bumpers! It does fly a heck of a lot better without them though.

Roger.

The elevation of my house is 7400 ft ASL. The extra weight of the training kit really made my old heli fly like a hog. So I didn't want to put them on the B400 (even though I see now it could have handled the weight).

I just ran through two more battery packs this morning. Getting more comfortable with hover. I think this is going to be fun!

[Swashmix]

Good stuff! Nothing like the peanut gallery asking you a million questions while trying to concentrate.Favorite one from the neighbors or anyone passing by is "how high will it go?"

I did notice that my stock gyro was fairly sensitive to temp changes especially when going from the air conditioned house to direct sunlight.Once it matches the air temp, settles right down. Not sure if there would be enough of a temp change from the shade into the sunlight though.

[Slyster]

I laughed when my 8 y/o nephew asked "can I try it?"

[Jaysanity]

Nice flyin. I remember the first time I spooled the 400 up after switching from my cp pro and I was like OMG this thing is huge, soon enough you'll be used to it and it'll be good times

[fgauer]

...much better than my first attempt. I just dumped it in less than 3 seconds - and it took me two months of sims and Radd to get the nerve to bring it off the ground. Good job - it's definitely fun once you get it going!

[Flyhighusa]

Nice vid dude. I have had the 400 for 3 weeks and I haven't even charged the lipo. I'm still in the 3G phase. Watching bobs video's etc.

[Wolfpackin]

The elevation of my house is 7400 ft ASL.

Me too.

[marcus21x]

Here's my first post, but hey my fellow Marc, i just got mine two days ago, and i have been flying in FSOne, but i wasn't as lucky as you, mine seemed to lean to the left regardless of trim, so i got light like you but when i finally lifted off, it leaned to much, i've narrowed it down to a bad servo(broken gears) to be an initial problem but not before having to replace the main shaft, hopefully i will have your luck soon. I'm replacing/upgrading the servo today.
Nice vid btw!

[AtomicFlyer]

Originally Posted by marcus21x

Here's my first post, but hey my fellow Marc, i just got mine two days ago, and i have been flying in FSOne, but i wasn't as lucky as you, mine seemed to lean to the left regardless of trim, so i got light like you but when i finally lifted off, it leaned to much, i've narrowed it down to a bad servo(broken gears) to be an initial problem but not before having to replace the main shaft, hopefully i will have your luck soon. I'm replacing/upgrading the servo today.
Nice vid btw!

Hey Marcus. The tail rotor naturally pushes the helicopter to the left when initially taking off into a hover. You have to provide a little right cyclic when taking off to compensate for this. Good luck!

Marc

[Swashmix]

Originally Posted by AtomicFlyer

Hey Marcus. The tail rotor naturally pushes the helicopter to the left when initially taking off into a hover. You have to provide a little right cyclic when taking off to compensate for this. Good luck!

Marc

Yes, absolutely. As soon as you see the heli becoming light on the skids, it will slide to the left and almost hover (ground effect).
As soon as you see it becoming light push the stick forward slowly and continually till it rises about 1-2 feet off the ground. At the same time you will be applying a little right input with the right stick to counteract the left movement of the heli.This stick input will be become automatic with time and you not even think about it.

[AtomicFlyer]

Originally Posted by Flyhighusa

Nice vid dude. I have had the 400 for 3 weeks and I haven't even charged the lipo. I'm still in the 3G phase. Watching bobs video's etc.

I would have been pretty intimidated if this were my first heli. I couldn't find any other heli pilots around here so I spent about 8 months FCRF (flying, crashing, rebuilding, flying) a little Walkera 4#1 fixed-pitch heli first. I told myself once I could nose-in hover, I'd buy a CP machine.

I know many others say the bigger the better at first because it is more stable to hover. But when you are learning by yourself, I guess I'm from the smaller-is-better school. It helped me build my confidence first.

Marc

[Dazz]

I remember my first time with the 400 .............it was an up in size and class .........CR***ED myself ..............welcome to the club ...........