New to collective pitch, blade 230s?

[BoilerMaker712]

I am new to the forum. I have flown collective pitch helis on real flight g4 with alright success, I have a huge understanding for physics and that's pretty much what has helped me to learn to pilot fixed pitch helis with no experience. Anyway, I don't have a ton of money to spend so I was looking at buying the blade 230 s rtf. 300 dollars is my limit right now. Has anyone flown this bird? Is it a good place to start? Pros and cons? Thank you in advance for all the future tips

[Ron_R]

It has not been released yet. HH says mid to end of August.

From what I've read, it sounds like the perfect Heli for someone like you, but it has not been battle tested, yet.

[Imzzaudae]

$300.00 budget.

I'd say find a good used DX6i or DX7 for about $100.00
Then a good used MCPX BL. They are both available.
https://www.helifreak.com/forumdisplay.php?f=6
Add a little shipping. 2-3 new batteries, a canopy, blades and your in about $300.00.

Otherwise save up a little more money and buy new.
MCPX-BL, Extra blades, Canopy, tail boom.
DX6i or new DX6 Contact me for beginner settings.
Lipo and charger for DX6
Better Lipo Charger as seen in link.
http://www.thunderpowerrc.com/Products/Chargers

You don't need safe technology or beginner mode!
This helicopter is getting large enough where it's mass will cause many
problems when you land unexpectedly. You need to learn how to use that nice shiny new transmitter. Then how to fly a collective pitch helicopter and MCPX-BL is just right.

Depending on your situation Nano CPX may be an even better choice.

NANO CPX SERVICE AND FLYING LINKS FOR NEWBIES
https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=596574

Hope this helps you.
Ron

[Ron_R]

The problem with what you suggest Ron is that there have been many documented issues with that micro and things burning out.

How long before he is going to have to start replace expensive components, or if he is not fast on the TH and hits pavement and will have to start pouring money into the thing?

[ryanha]

Congrats on learning basic orientation on a fixed pitch and SIM! Welcome to the CP addiction

+1 on the advice to get an MCPX-BL and a DX6 or DX7.

If you fly it over grass, you can fly and crash that heli a lot of times before you have to buy parts. And when you do have to buy parts they are (relatively cheap) and generally easy to assemble. Anything bigger generally will have some damage with even a minor crash and will have mechanical tuning you have to work through.

I learned all orientation (upright and inverted) hover, figure 8s, and funnels with the MCPX-BL before I outgrew it.

Let us know what you decide and how it turns out!

--Ryan

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by Ron_R

The problem with what you suggest Ron is that there have been many documented issues with that micro and things burning out.

How long before he is going to have to start replace expensive components, or if he is not fast on the TH and hits pavement and will have to start pouring money into the thing?

The untested 230 S vs the mCPX BL.

230 S pros:
- SAFE

mCPX BL:
- Smaller size (should be more durable).
- Currently available.

Both are double brushless (mains ans tail)..

Nano was the motor burn out king. mCPX BL just need care in the wire routing (check the mCPX BL forum).

Op's choice. Remember RC helis is a game for the patient.

DX7 is a good TX choice.

[Imzzaudae]

Funny thing Ron, So far I have owned.
Blade MCX2 mine is 4 years old. Still works great.
Blade rescue helicopter, it's a wall flower
Blade CX2 Fragile blades but it taught me plenty
Blade MSR Fun fun fun
Blade 120SR A1 first single rotor
Blade MCPX great CP trainer have warn out 4 of them
Nano CPX indoor thing of beauty
MCPX-BL The little chopper that thinks it's a 450. Love it.
Blade 4503d Loved this one
Blade 450X Out on student loan. Think he crashed it bad a while ago and it's in peaces.

All of them required a considerable amount of care and tinker time to keep flying well.
I have never had to replace a Major component on any of the above helicopters. Yes I tailed 120SR in and broke the tail boom, had to re solder a few wires. Replace and balance a blade or 2 on MCPX but not one motor or Main board. Just a few blades, canopies / bits and peaces that I broke flying into stuff.

I did tail in my 4503d at the end of it's 2nd year, Flight 400+ it was $250.00 to repair the helicopter also my fault. Looking at TX timer while hovering!

If you take care not to crash and do a little service, I cannot find any reason not to fly any of the above helicopters! But I do know others who have had bad experiences with the same equipment.

[learnedthehardway]

It's good to buy the bl new, that way if you do burn a board HH will ship you a new one for free.

Depending on the OP's flying style and goals the 230 may be a good choice if the electronics are more reliable. My bl developed a drift issue at 80 flights, HH sent me a new one free but doubt they will send me another. Hope this 3n1 lasts longer than the first.

My 180 is close to 400flights and never an issue. Of course the untested 230 could be the best or worst, motorized tail blade cp yet. Won't know till they're released and we see some reviews.

Bl is probably a better choice for learning 3d since it should break less being smaller and lighter. Sport flying the bigger bird should be better in theory anyways.

All I know is, once the lhs has the 230 in stock I'm going to ask if I can fly it. On the u break, u buy plan of course. I want to fly it even though I have no intention of ever buying one.

[Mooncatt]

Tough call. The mCPX seems to be the traditional workhorse for learning CP. Durable, cheap, and small. With being small, it's inherently more twitchy and affected by wind outside (where you'll likely want to fly so you have plenty of room for mistakes). The 230s would be a small step up in size and stability, while being a relatively simple design for beginners to learn on. Having SAFE is a huge plus too. From reading the 230s thread in the main form, which I suggest you do too, it sounds like it should be a good progressive trainer and hit a lot of high points in the design.

If you want old reliable, then look at the mCPX BL. I've never heard anything too bad about it and it has a huge track record with lots of resources. I'm personally a bit more of a risk taker. I'd go for the 230s in your shoes for the added stability, SAFE, and more capable outdoor flight. While reliability and durability are in the air until it sees wide spread use, being able to fly outside easier and higher up while utilizing SAFE and Panic Recovery will likely reduce training crashes substantially. Many pilots don't like bailout functions, but it can be a great tool for people learning and still prone to crashing because they don't yet have the skill to get themselves out of trouble.

[Thorvald]

Owned them all as well, almost the entire blade small heli lineup. Only ones I have kept are the 130x, the MSR X (for house flying and teaching visitors) and my poor abused Mcpx.

The 130x if left basically stock is a great CP trainer and handles inverted like a champ. Mod it up with all kinds of crap and bling and it typically goes south. Just leave it stock and fly it.

180 is too fast/nimble for a new person to CP, it will get out of hand damn quickly.

The Mcpx is awesome as a starter as well (regular model, not the brushless) and is pretty much indestructible over grass. It just doesn't handle the transition into inverted very well (perhaps the Brushless sorts this out).

And don't forget to do Archmages training program on here! What a huge difference even just lesson 1 can make in a few weeks.

[learnedthehardway]

Don't let the bl's size fool ya, it will fly in just as much wind as my 180 cfx can. For what it is the bl's abilities are very impressive. It is a squirrelly lil spitfire but can be tamed with tx settings.

[ks9818]

The mcpx BL is a great heli , I love mine and I never have had any issues with it that wasn't caused by me !!! Very powerful and a blast to fly, has flown great in any wind I've flown it in. just needs to be tamed down at first . Get one , you won't be sorry.

[jhamel]

I found the Blade 130X to be too twitchy and unstable. The Blade mCPX was even worse. I am not saying that they are bad helis, but I don't recommend them as first helis to learn on, unless the pilot's budget is so limited that it's either one of those helicopters or nothing at all. Maybe the 180X is an option, but I've never flown one.

I can tell you that as cheaply as the old flybarred Blade SR was put together, it was very stable. I believe it spun 245mm blades, and it was cheap to fix after crashes. That was my first CP heli. I anticipate that the similar size Blade 230 S with SAFE technology will become the most recommend first outdoor CP heli.

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by curmudgeon

I found the Blade 130X to be too twitchy and unstable. The Blade mCPX was even worse. I am not saying that they are bad helis, but I don't recommend them as first helis to learn on, unless the pilot's budget is so limited that it's either one of those helicopters or nothing at all. Maybe the 180X is an option, but I've never flown one.
....

Or unless parts supply is a problem. Or flying space is a problem.

I started nano -> 130x -> bigger.

It's 5 mins drive to nearest park that can support a 300 size or bigger. nano and 130x I can fly at home (very limited space). Align parts are 5 days in shipping if you can find them (in Aus), where Blade was LHS (10 mins drive) and usually in stock - more expensive than online, but cheaper than shipping 1's and 2's).

nano and 130x now discontinued. mCPX BL good but need a programmable TX to tone it down for beginner. 180 cfx has weak skids, but generally very good (also needs a programmable TX to tone it down).

If you can fly the mCPX BL or the 180 cfx, then anything bigger should be easy. The 230 S looks like the best new entry level, but bordering on a park flyer as yard will seem small with this very quick.

One bad thing about bigger is that crashes are more likely to break stuff. nano and 130x tend to bounce more often than break. I've lost count of the number of times I've picked up the nano after an unscheduled landing and just put it back in the air.

In short, if you are prepared to put in sim time, in my opinion, you can start cheaply and successfully with a mCPX BL or a 180 cfx in small spaces.

[jhamel]

Originally Posted by ArchmageAU

Align parts are 5 days in shipping if you can find them (in Aus), where Blade was LHS (10 mins drive) and usually in stock - more expensive than online, but cheaper than shipping 1's and 2's).

The OP lives in Vermont. Even with cheap first class shipping, if he places an order early in the morning, he can expect the package either the next day or the day after at the latest. He can drive down to HeliDirect, but he would have to pay sales tax if he buys right at the store. If he just orders online from that same store, he saves on gas, pays no sales tax, and gets free shipping if order is over $100.

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by curmudgeon

The OP lives in Vermont. Even with cheap first class shipping, if he places an order early in the morning, he can expect the package either the next day or the day after at the latest. He can drive down to HeliDirect, but he would have to pay sales tax if he buys right at the store. If he just orders online from that same store, he saves on gas, pays no sales tax, and gets free shipping if order is over $100.

Oh to live and learn RC helis in the US. Fast delivery, wider choice, more people close by (or at worst, in same time zone).

The $100 free shipping is a bit of a catch. You tend to spend more that way just to save on shipping.

In Aus, shipping from US is so expensive ($25+ for the small items, more for big and bulky) and you never qualify for free shipping (except form maybe the UK, then shipping time still kills you).

[jbrandt]

Originally Posted by ArchmageAU

Oh to live and learn RC helis in the US. Fast delivery, wider choice, more people close by (or at worst, in same time zone).

The $100 free shipping is a bit of a catch. You tend to spend more that way just to save on shipping.

In Aus, shipping from US is so expensive ($25+ for the small items, more for big and bulky) and you never qualify for free shipping (except form maybe the UK, then shipping time still kills you).

Nothing like spending $25 to save $10 in shipping!

But back to the 230s.

In concept, it sounds like a super cool heli for beginners. The 200SRX is also in that realm of really cool (conceptually).

The problem, like others have said is it's brand new, and untested in the real world. I personally hate being a beta tester. I've done it at work (unintentionally) and it sucks. I'd rather let other people test for me, and wait for the reviews.

And if there's one thing these tiny helicopters have a problem with, it's reliability. Granted, my Nano CPx has been the perfect training heli, and I couldn't ask for anything more, despite the often repeated claims that its motor is "worthless".

If I were to be entering the hobby right now, I'd probably have gotten the 230s. Frankly, the 230s is what I was saying someone should have done a year or more ago. Ever since the quads started coming with SAFE/bailout functions, it seemed that it would be pretty easy to adapt that to flybarless CP helis.

But one issue I see with these helis is that I don't think bailout is the "best" way to learn how to fly. It basically teaches you how to bailout, and not actually recover from a situation, so it can easily turn into a crutch if used too much. The cool thing with SAFE, however, is that you have several flight functions where it limits bank angle, etc... not unlike the 120SR. But as you progress in your skills, flip a switch and do loops, rolls, etc...

As it sits, I started with a 4 channel coax, then a 120SR, then a Nano CPx, then the 450x. But I think if I were to do it all over again, I think I'd still start out with at least a 4 channel coax, noy only to be able to get the fundamentals of heli flight down, but also the cost. My mCX2 cost $60...

But I could very easily see one of the 230s's in my garage even though I've progressed "beyond" the trainer type helis. Seems like a fun little heli to toss around in the sky with less worry than a conventional larger heli. I've had my 450 for over a year, and I'm still on "high alert" when I fly it.

[gallenwolf]

@OP: As mentioned upthread, it's not available yet, so no one knows how it flies. I was also looking forward to the release of the 230S, but you'll also want to get more batteries for the 230S, and those will probably cost a fair bit more compared to say, the batteries used by the mCPX BL I'm currently flying. The spare parts for a bigger bird like the 230S are _probably_ going to cost more as well. So do factor in batteries and spares into your budget, and a nice computer TX if you haven't already.

Hence, for the moment, I'm sticking with my mCPX BL. It's my first r/c heli ever, and while my first dozen or so flights were disasters (probably spent a third of the price of the mCPX to repair), lately I've been crashing far less, averaging one crash a battery, and that's me taking the heli too low for circuits!

I've crashed my BL many, many times with TH onto grass with mainly parts popping out that can be assembled back in under a minute. I really doubt that is the case with bigger helis, but bottom line for me is having a small heli for the small space I fly in (safety!!!), how fast I can get the heli flying again after a crash, as well as crash costs.

The parts that cost me the most so far has been the tail motor, I've replaced two of them One just failed, probably the result of too many crashes, and one had the connectors ripped out in a crash, so the motor is probably working, just no way to connect it!

SAFE sounds really awesome, and I use my bailout even in the sim to when fooling around. Hopefully it will work well on the 230S!

To be honest, I've been lusting for the 180CFX, but after I checked the price of the batteries, spares, and the charger required to charge its batteries - and the fact that it is meant for expert pilots - I decided it cost way more than what I could justify.

Fly safe and have fun!

[jbrandt]

Originally Posted by gallenwolf

To be honest, I've been lusting for the 180CFX, but after I checked the price of the batteries, spares, and the charger required to charge its batteries - and the fact that it is meant for expert pilots - I decided it cost way more than what I could justify.

Fly safe and have fun!

As for the battery cost for the 180, you can get Turnigy 500mAh batteries for that thing ($7 each). I'm sure there are other options, too, but this is what I found with a quick search.

A cheap $50 charger will charge just about any battery. Mine would charge ANY 6s battery. The problem was speed. Once you hit the 450 sized 3s 2200mAh or bigger batteries, more than likely you'll want a more powerful charger in the $150+ range. But for the 180CFX, my $50 charge would have no problem charging 2 or 3 at a time pretty quickly.

You're running out of excuses. GO GET YOUR 180!!!