CX2 Outdoors??

[GG07]

I have been pondering the idea of picking up a CX2 RTF package from Amazon.com lately. I really wanted a CX3 to round out my coaxial collection, but I have been unable to find one anywhere. I know nothing about this larger series of Coaxial choppers, so I thought I would pose some questions to those who own one of these.

1) How well can the CX2 do outdoors with calm conditions or a very light breeze?

While I know that these will fly fine indoors, I already have a nice little collection of Blade micros for that purpose, so if I did add one of these to my collection, I would primarily be interested in using it out in the backyard during the spring and summer when the weather is nice and the winds are low.

2) How long does the CX2 run on a battery, and how many batteries do you need for a decent flying session?

3) How much do extra batteries cost, and where is the best place to buy spares? What kind of battery does the CX2 use? (model number/mAh and C factor? )

4) Is there a multi-port charger for the CX2 battery like there is for the smaller micro batteries? (Celectra 4-Port 1-Cell)

Thanks in advance for any input from CX2 owners, and I welcome any additional info beyond my questions posted here.

Cheers.

[]Rick.

[Oldladypilot]

In my opinion, the stock Cx2 can't fly well at all with any wind whatsoever. If it is completely calm, it does okay.
To help it deal with any breeze at all, get these:
Boom kit, helps reduce surface area for the wind to push around.
Pro 180 motors, more power.
Move the servo linkage to the 3rd. hole= more servo throw to fight the wind.
Higher mAh batteries such as the Tenergy 900, or Turnigy Nano Tech's.
You'll get 4-5 minutes from a battery. I'd have 4 or more on hand
.
But despite all this, a light breeze is all you want to fly in.

Then there's moding it to brushless motors which I know little about....wait for some of the other guys like luvmyheli's to jump in here for that option.

You can get everything you need from boomtownhobbies.com except the nano tech batteries....you should try Hobby King for those. I'd stick with 900 mAh and 25-30C 2 cell.

If you are serious about the hobby and want to get the most from your batteries, get a good balance charger such as the Thunder A/C 6 like I have. (around $40-50). A lipo safe bag is a good idea for safety.
Balance charging helps batteries last longer. If you don't plan on using them for a few days this charger will discharge/ or charge the batteries to a storage voltage which also helps battery life.
So far as charging more then 1 at a time, I can do this with my MCPX, and MCX2 batteries with my charger and a 6 battery charging cable from apro hobbies, but I never tried it with my CX2 batteries.

[GG07]

WOW!

Thanks for all that great and useful info on the CX2! I didn't realize that the stock version would be so weak in terms of being able to fly outdoors. Sounds like it would take a considerable amount of extra time, money and effort to get one of these to work for what I had in mind.

I think for now I will just bide my time and see if HH introduces anything new on the coaxial front over the coming months. What I really wanted was a CX3, and I would have been more willing to invest additional capital into that model to get it to do what I wanted, but I am not as jazzed by the look and the specs of the CX2 to make the same additional investment.

Perhaps if I could get a new one for much less than the $179.99 retail price I would take the plunge, but everyone seems to be asking full boat for it at the moment.

Thanks again for bringing me up to speed on this heli!

[Moon007raker]

I'm in the same boat. My CX2 was a pain to fly outdoors. Forward flight was impossible in a light breeze. I had to upgrade to a carbon fiber tail boom, Move the stock servo links three notches and adjust my settings in my Spektrum DX6i. Outdoor flight is possible but you spend time correcting for the wind. I am going to upgrade the blades and blade grips to Xtreme. That's my last upgrade. If flight doesn't improve as I like then I will go with the Blade 120 SR.

[Oldladypilot]

No coaxial I've ever seen did very well in the wind. A few mods help but it will never be great. I think a stock CX3 is worse. The stock scale body looks great, but the wind throws it around even worse then the CX2's.

The MCPX does well but It's a flybarless cp heli, not coaxial. They are crazy fast and take constant corrections on the sticks. A handful, but fun as it gets. One of the most popular helis out there.

500 size, or larger helis handle the wind well because of their size and power. But they're a big step up in cost to say the least...purchase, and replacement parts costs!

[GG07]

Well...In spite of all the reported issues, I went ahead and poppped for a CX2 RTF anyway! Found a deal on one new that was too good to pass up. Comes with a 900 mAh Tenergy battery instead of the stock pack for $139.00 with everything.

We have a few hours in the mornings and evenings up here in the Sierra where I live where the wind is nonexistant, so that is when I plan to do my outdoor flying with this thing. I just thought it would be fun to have a model that I can fly in a nice open space, free from the obstacle course that is the interior of my house!

Looks like there are a lot of options for better blades and other components that may help improve things if I still can't fly the thing in less than 1 mph wind or less.

I should have the CX2 delivered early next week, and hopefully the weather will be condusive to flying it the same day I get it. I don't think I have enough room inside to fly this thing without serious risk of running into stuff, but I may try to trim it up inside before I go out with it.

I had a 120 SR for a few days but sent it back due to a defective tail rotor that would cut out unexpectedly. When it was working properly, flying it brought back memories of my big gas heli flying days, but because of the defect, I found the thing to be a pain in the ass to keep level or from sliding into the ground. Didn't care for the twitchy tail behavior when turning with the rudder when the tail rotor worked, so I sent it back for a refund instead of an exchange.

Hopefully the CX2 flies more like a giant MCX2 than the 120 SR which felt like an under powered gas heli with a lame tail rotor.

[Oldladypilot]

That's a pretty good deal! The 900mAh batteries are much better then stock.

Just keep your altitude low.....there's more wind up higher. My CX2 went for quite a long journey one evening when I got it up too high!

[GG07]

Originally Posted by Oldladypilot

That's a pretty good deal! The 900mAh batteries are much better then stock.

Just keep your altitude low.....there's more wind up higher. My CX2 went for quite a long journey one evening when I got it up too high!

Thanks for the tip! I will definitely be taking it VERY slow until I get a feel for how stable the thing behaves outside with our morning and evening temps etc.

It was a good deal and I liked having the Tenergy battery included to boot! As I said... I had been on the fence about buying one of these for a few months now, and the price on this package I picked up was the same number I had in my head as a BUY IT price.

Now I am looking into what parts I can upgrade right out of the box to get the most out of the model from the get go. Just posted a thread asking which brand of aluminum swashplate is best for the CX2. (E-Flight or Microheli) If you have any experience in that area, please post any opinions about them in there!

Thanks again!

[TDubya]

Originally Posted by Oldladypilot

That's a pretty good deal! The 900mAh batteries are much better then stock.

Just keep your altitude low.....there's more wind up higher. My CX2 went for quite a long journey one evening when I got it up too high!

Hey OLP is this one of the batteries that you are talking about ?
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=20388

Thanks
TW

[newhelicrasher]

Originally Posted by GG07

Well...In spite of all the reported issues, I went ahead and poppped for a CX2 RTF anyway! Found a deal on one new that was too good to pass up. Comes with a 900 mAh Tenergy battery instead of the stock pack for $139.00 with everything.

We have a few hours in the mornings and evenings up here in the Sierra where I live where the wind is nonexistant, so that is when I plan to do my outdoor flying with this thing. I just thought it would be fun to have a model that I can fly in a nice open space, free from the obstacle course that is the interior of my house!

Looks like there are a lot of options for better blades and other components that may help improve things if I still can't fly the thing in less than 1 mph wind or less.

I should have the CX2 delivered early next week, and hopefully the weather will be condusive to flying it the same day I get it. I don't think I have enough room inside to fly this thing without serious risk of running into stuff, but I may try to trim it up inside before I go out with it.

I had a 120 SR for a few days but sent it back due to a defective tail rotor that would cut out unexpectedly. When it was working properly, flying it brought back memories of my big gas heli flying days, but because of the defect, I found the thing to be a pain in the ass to keep level or from sliding into the ground. Didn't care for the twitchy tail behavior when turning with the rudder when the tail rotor worked, so I sent it back for a refund instead of an exchange.

Hopefully the CX2 flies more like a giant MCX2 than the 120 SR which felt like an under powered gas heli with a lame tail rotor.

I am surprised to here that you gave up on the entire heli over an $8 tail motor. If you called horizon they probably would have just sent you one for free.

Then again I struggle with understanding the point of a giant coax too. I love my lil mcx2 but it is pretty unlikely that I will own anymore coax helis in the future....maybe another larger fp before a larger cp.....i am struggling with whether to get a 120sr or mcpx next.

[GG07]

Originally Posted by newhelicrasher

I am surprised to here that you gave up on the entire heli over an $8 tail motor. If you called horizon they probably would have just sent you one for free.

Then again I struggle with understanding the point of a giant coax too. I love my lil mcx2 but it is pretty unlikely that I will own anymore coax helis in the future....maybe another larger fp before a larger cp.....i am struggling with whether to get a 120sr or mcpx next.

Meh... In a word, the 120 SR didn't impress me enough to bother exchanging it.

All the larger models I have flown in the past were gas powered and much larger than the 120, and I could tell that I was never going to get an electric single rotor in that price range that would satisfy me. Coaxials are a different animal and I don't expect the same out of them.

If I ever decide to get into something like I use to fly in an electric config, I would probably go for something like the 500x.

[Oldladypilot]

Originally Posted by TDubya

Hey OLP is this one of the batteries that you are talking about ?
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=20388

Thanks
TW

The one pictured in the link is a 11.1v. I have one for my Honey Bee FP, but it will not fit in the CX2 and is the wrong voltage.
The Tenergy 900 mAh's that Boomtown sells worked good for me.

I use Nano techs in my MCPX, they have a lot more punch then the crap Eflight batteries.

For you guys that are trying to decide on what heli to get, check out what everyone else is saying about them on here. Each model has it's own forum.
I can tell you that the MCPX is the most popular.

The usual progression in learning is: Coaxial, fixed pitch, then collective pitch. There are people who go straight to CP helis but probably spend a lot on replacement parts...CP helis usually cost more to fix. And you will crash, no matter what heli you have!

[TDubya]

This battery is 7.4 2s. Not sure what you saw.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=20388

Spec.
Capacity: 950mAh
Voltage: 2S1P / 2 Cell / 7.4V
Discharge: 25C Constant / 50C Burst
Weight: 46g (including wire, plug & case)
Dimensions: 71x25x14mm
Balance Plug: JST-XH
Discharge Plug: mini-JST

[Oldladypilot]

Originally Posted by TDubya

This battery is 7.4 2s. Not sure what you saw.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dProduct=20388

Spec.
Capacity: 950mAh
Voltage: 2S1P / 2 Cell / 7.4V
Discharge: 25C Constant / 50C Burst
Weight: 46g (including wire, plug & case)
Dimensions: 71x25x14mm
Balance Plug: JST-XH
Discharge Plug: mini-JST

Shoot, I don't know. I guess I vapor locked!
I just checked it again and I don't know why I thought it was 11.1.
My mistake!

[joey_crandall]

hey CG07 what part of california are you in?

[GG07]

Originally Posted by joey_crandall

hey CG07 what part of california are you in?

Hey Joey!

Central Cal. Up in the Sierra Nevada.

[joey_crandall]

close to Georgetown?

[GG07]

Originally Posted by joey_crandall

close to Georgetown?

About 15 miles from Yosemite National Park.

[joey_crandall]

oh crap thats a distance i dont know any other heli nerds thats why i ask.

[GG07]

Originally Posted by joey_crandall

oh crap thats a distance i dont know any other heli nerds thats why i ask.

I'm all alone up here too!

I got my CX2 today! Man this thing is BIG! Looks like it should be able to hold its own outside under calm conditions. Kind of reminds me of a giant MCX2.

I was browsing the web last night and discovered that you can still buy the CX3 body and skid kit for the CX2, so I went ahead and ordered it. Not going to change over right away, but I will probably eventually turn this into a CX3 lookalike.

My next purchase will be the Microheli swashplate for the CX2. I was pleased to see that the top rotor head is blue aluminum. I always assumed that this was an aftermarket part, not standard equipment.

The supplied transmitter was also a lot more impressive looking than I expected! I assumed that it came with the same little black transmitter that comes in the smaller RTF packages.

Not a bad deal all around!