300CFX opinions

[tomatwalden]

Originally Posted by Ric66

Almost bought a 300X a month ago. Glad I waited! This looks to be a great improvement. If I have any nits to pick, I wish it had:
1) DFC
2) the tail servo tucked into the frame vice attached to the boom
3) metal tail parts
I'm still planning to buy one, since it looks like a great value.

Why on earth do you want DFC!? It brings no benefits, but causes extra wear and is a PITA on a small heli to fix things. If you want crisp cyclic response just put in harder dampers. That said, the cyclic servo geometry on the 300CFX may make such measures unnecessary anyway.

Tail servo on boom looks old school, but I think on a heli this small, it's easier to work on. One in the frame would be crammed in so tight it'd be a nightmare to work on.

Agree about metal tail parts...

[tomatwalden]

Originally Posted by spykez

Oh I know lol... Just Tom in the UK's just after telling us it works out over US$500 after VAT etc ; )

I wonder how much we'll be hit for it down under here. Nevertheless, it'll be my next purchase, more than likely.

Yeah, £349 recommended retail price in the UK, whereas $399 would be £240. Even adding VAT @ 20%, that should still only be £288.

As ever, HH/UK seems to be doing it's best to kill of Blade products in the UK. I flagged this same problem with "Pro Series" pricing over here. Priced to fail unfortunately ...

Shame because the products are OK. Luckily for me, I managed to get very good deals on my 550x and 700x - but they were definitely one-offs, and not what most people would pay for them.

[lkagan]

Originally Posted by helibus

Perhaps, but the canopy doesn't "pop" as much as other colors would against the partly cloudy sky Horizon has chosen for the primary product photo on the web site.

Agreed! I have the 450X and never fly that stock blue canopy. I got the red one that's made for the 450 3D. On my existing 300X, I have the same canopy that's in your avatar, the Microheli Evil Eye which is amazingly bright and beautiful.

[Relisys190]

First thing i would do is remove the metal servo arms and go back to plastic. The metal ones will destroy servo's in a crash.

Sometimes Plastic IS BETTER in certain places.

[helibus]

Originally Posted by lkagan

Agreed! I have the 450X and never fly that stock blue canopy. I got the red one that's made for the 450 3D. On my existing 300X, I have the same canopy that's in your avatar, the Microheli Evil Eye which is amazing bright and beautiful.

Yeah, I do like the Evil Eye, which is available as a Blade option. Goes great with certain aftermarket blades available in yellow and orange, too. I understand that the bright fiberglass paint can't be reproduced in the plastic canopy, but...

[Ric66]

Originally Posted by tomatwalden

Why on earth do you want DFC!? It brings no benefits, but causes extra wear and is a PITA on a small heli to fix things. If you want crisp cyclic response just put in harder dampers. That said, the cyclic servo geometry on the 300CFX may make such measures unnecessary anyway.

Tail servo on boom looks old school, but I think on a heli this small, it's easier to work on. One in the frame would be crammed in so tight it'd be a nightmare to work on.

Agree about metal tail parts...

I think we could have a long discussion about whether DFC brings substantial benefits, but you have to agree it is simpler. I'm not familiar with the wear issues that you mentioned. What part wears early, the rod end connection to the blade grips?

[xenophobe]

I thought about getting one of these, but the original 300x can be had for $232 shipped. I didn't think a better frame is going to be worth $170 more.

So...

I bought a 500x for $461 shipped.

[lkagan]

Originally Posted by helibus

Yeah, I do like the Evil Eye, which is available as a Blade option. Goes great with certain aftermarket blades available in yellow and orange, too. I understand that the bright fiberglass paint can't be reproduced in the plastic canopy, but...

I was just thinking that it's probably a good move by Blade to include blue/white/gray canopies on their helis. Blue, in my opinion, looks great on helis. I love the way the 450X canopy looks. It makes for great photos and stationary shots and thus helps marketing. The psychology of blue involves invoking feelings of masculinity, trust, and products relating to air or sea.

Unfortunately, blue is just awful in the air from a pilot's perspective. Because of it's low visibility, that creates a demand for other canopies, possibly developed by Blade which leads to more sales and a greater secondary market. I think Blade knows exactly what their doing. Smart little cookies over there in Champaign!

[David Eichstedt]

Well, you guys haven't seen the canopy in the air. Brian and James tell me the 300 CFX canopy really pops.

[xenophobe]

Originally Posted by lkagan

I think Blade knows exactly what their doing. Smart little cookies over there in Champaign!

Nothing HH does is haphazard or by accident. I guarantee they fully researched the pros/cons of releasing a larger fixed pitch heli and the upgraded 300cfx. They wouldn't do it if they didn't see great profit potential.

[lkagan]

Originally Posted by David Eichstedt

Well, you guys haven't seen the canopy in the air. Brian and James tell me the 300 CFX canopy really pops.

Since we can't address the visibility with hard numbers, it's subjective so there's no 'correct' answer. Just opinions. But I know how my 450X looks and I even have the blue/white canopy on my 130X. They're not easy to see compared to more contrasting colors.

This minor detail is shadowed by the huge leaps in engineering improvements and it's not going to keep anyone from buying it.

By looking at the video, everyone can judge for themselves.

300 CFX BNF Basic by BLADE (2 min 21 sec)

[jchandler]

The blue canopy is very visible with a dark background. I fly the blue canopy on my 130 and love it.

[eltreato]

Originally Posted by jchandler

The blue canopy is very visible with a dark background. I fly the blue canopy on my 130 and love it.

That's my favorite of the stock canopies for the 130x, it is extremely visible against my gray skies here. The 450x stock blue/gray canopy, however, is invisible in many light conditions, though it does look cool when parked.

[kpod]

Dear blade engineers,
Please carry this rotary servo layout over to the 180/200cfx.

[RichKnapp]

[ame]http://youtu.be/NtMZwGqS1I8[/ame]

[lespaulrob]

Originally Posted by lkagan

This minor detail is shadowed by the huge leaps in engineering improvements and it's not going to keep anyone from buying it.

Amen to that! They made HUGE changes to engineering this product. I think that it's going to be a much better flying helicopter out of the box than the 300x ever was, even after adding the mods to a 300x.

I'm excited about this one but (and like a lot of folks) wish I could buy it as a combo that I assemble myself. Though it's probably not really required, I wonder if this is going to be a BNF that most people tear apart and re-locktite all the bolts before flying?

[Sneeky_Pete]

AU$450 from our Australian importer. I want one but... I can get a 450X BNF for less

[spykez]

Originally Posted by Sneeky_Pete

AU$450 from our Australian importer. I want one but... I can get a 450X BNF for less

I expected it to be so. That's not so bad. At least it wasn't $500. They want AU$75 for the nano BL upgrade.

The thing is, and the thing really is, how much better this thing is as a close quarters bird than a 450X is. At least that's what my priority is at the moment. Your priority may be different, get the 450X.

There are places I can get to where I do not dare bring a 450, even with clipped wings at 325mm.

So, despite that price, I will probably get one. And yep, I already also have a T Rex 250 DFC. I'm just loopy when it comes to micros lol...

And look guys, you DON'T have to order from OMP/modelflight. You risk losing out on their looking after you if you don't, that said. If you want the 450X, even with shipping it may be cheaper to import.... Just saying.

[Sneeky_Pete]

Originally Posted by spykez

I expected it to be so. That's not so bad. At least it wasn't $500. They want AU$75 for the nano BL upgrade.

The thing is, and the thing really is, how much better this thing is as a close quarters bird than a 450X is. At least that's what my priority is at the moment. Your priority may be different, get the 450X.

There are places I can get to where I do not dare bring a 450, even with clipped wings at 325mm.

So, despite that price, I will probably get one. And yep, I already also have a T Rex 250 DFC. I'm just loopy when it comes to micros lol...

And look guys, you DON'T have to order from OMP/modelflight. You risk losing out on their looking after you if you don't, that said. If you want the 450X, even with shipping it may be cheaper to import.... Just saying.

Fair point too. I find the shops here in WA seem to be cheaper than them anyway. I may look at importing instead... Time will tell

[spykez]

True, the LHS may be the place, with discounts.

Haven't talked to them yet but I reckon my LHS will bring in a few units, they're all heli nuts and I expect they'll want to give this a bash.