What did you do with your Blade 230s today?

[toadiscoil]

My flying skill is very much on its infancy. Like not even a toddler. I have learned much more about fixing and setting up a FBL unit than I would like at this point.

The 230 S I have regained the love of. Mostly because of Rescue. After I gave up oddly I won. I purchased it last year shortly after its release. I came from a 200 SRX and then a 360 CFX. After crashing and spending lots on the 360 I scaled down to the 230. I crashed it and took me until last Saturday to get it flying properly. I replaced the entire drivetrain looking for an issue that was on the misassembled head after my crash. Then I battled with getting it to fly properly on Stability and although I handled it I hated the almost tipping take off. Turning safe level off and using it as a regular CP Heli with Rescue is where my love for it came back. Not for the low cost and opportunity to crash. I HATE crashing and I almost quit after stupid and bad crashes on the 360. The 230 gives me the opportunity to enjoy the Heli and crash less. And all that time and money actually put to my enjoyment. For me it is like the sim. Learn by mistakes yes but don't pay for them with time, money and repeat if improperly rebuilt.

The 380 is a dream. Quiet, powerful, stable, simple to understand mechanically, and with stupid amounts of quality and engineering. I will take great care of it and my plan is to upgrade my helis to a Rescue enabled FBL. In the meantime my 230 will be my practice bird. But I definitely feel my place is on the 360/380 class as far as size and performance.

Originally Posted by jrman83

Toad, can't tell if you are speaking about your 230 or one of the larger more complex helis you list in your sig. If I am speaking honestly, if the 230 is giving you issues those others are really going to make you want to quit. I have crashed one or the other of my 230s somewhere around 30 to 40 times. I used to think I was doing good if I could go 10 batteries without one. Anyway, both of those 230s still fly perfectly and they are the biggest thing I own. What I don't understand is the feeling you have with the stable you keep. Get over it and go fly those things that many only dream about owning and somewhere along the way you will more than likely advance in skill. Not trying to redicule as I can see whay you mean, but use and abuse the 230, even if you have to get 6 of them to keep them flying, and let's hear how good the 380 flies.

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[Desmond]

Still sitting on the work bench awaiting a shipment of new head dampers. They should get here by Friday.

[Boulder53]

Flew all 6 batteries that I own for a total of over 51 minutes in the air. (Large batteries and sedate flying.)

[Bilymac]

Originally Posted by Boulder53

Flew all 6 batteries that I own for a total of over 51 minutes in the air. (Large batteries and sedate flying.)

What size batteries are you using to get those flight times? Right now I'm using 800-1000Ah, flying for 5 min, and coming down around 3.83v.

[CrashandBurn]

Originally Posted by Bilymac

What size batteries are you using to get those flight times? Right now I'm using 800-1000Ah, flying for 5 min, and coming down around 3.83v.

I can't answer for him but I'm using the 1300mah NanoTech batteries that I have for my 300x which is the same size as the 230s.

I had to change the plug on the esc to a XT60 that the batteries have.

A JST plug is a plug that will eventually fail so changing it is a good thing.

On a stock 230s a 1300mah pack will put it into perfect fore/aft balance.

I suspect that Blade went with a lighter battery for two reasons.

One is to raise the performance,possibly.

The second is that Blade likes to sell expensive batteries for each different model that they put out.

[jrman83]

Originally Posted by Desmond

Still sitting on the work bench awaiting a shipment of new head dampers. They should get here by Friday.

That's a choice. It will fly with worn adapters. You may notice while on a bench but I doubt you will notice in flight. One of mine has a bent feathering shaft right now. It vibrates a little on spool up but flies no different. I am sure the dampers are shot also.

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[Boulder53]

Originally Posted by Bilymac

What size batteries are you using to get those flight times? Right now I'm using 800-1000Ah, flying for 5 min, and coming down around 3.83v.

That was two stock 800 mAh, two 1300 mAh, and two 1500 mAh.

[Desmond]

Originally Posted by jrman83

That's a choice. It will fly with worn adapters. You may notice while on a bench but I doubt you will notice in flight. One of mine has a bent feathering shaft right now. It vibrates a little on spool up but flies no different. I am sure the dampers are shot also.

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Well, I noticed there was a great deal of up/down play in my rotor head and during flight the aircraft had a tendency to shake from side to side. When I opened the head a piece of one of the dampers fell off. Thus far I suspect it was the bad dampers that were causing the flight instability. In any event the new dampers should be here tomorrow so I can install them and give it a test.

[jrman83]

The stock damper will wear where it sticks out slightly. This is probably the part you saw fall off. It is normal because they just a tad oversized for the rotor hub.

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[Desmond]

Originally Posted by jrman83

The stock damper will wear where it sticks out slightly. This is probably the part you saw fall off. It is normal because they just a tad oversized for the rotor hub.

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Ah, OK. Well the new ones should be here today so we'll see if they make any difference.

[JonJet]

Just unboxed My brand new 230S...installed the MicroHeli swash and boom supports...

First test flight was just a quick hover in the apt hallway, but it's butter smooth...an ever-so-slight left drift in stability mode, but no real problem at all

[Awallace24335]

I get frusted with my 230s however that's only because I'm not advanced enough for it yet but I like this size of heli. Smashed the main frame last night so looks like I'll be back using my 200srx for a couple of days

[Desmond]

Well, mine is fixed and back in the air and working better than when I first got it. Now its just a matter of finding the opportunity to fly it.

[Wargamer]

Originally Posted by Awallace24335

I get frusted with my 230s however that's only because I'm not advanced enough for it yet but I like this size of heli. Smashed the main frame last night so looks like I'll be back using my 200srx for a couple of days

I've found it works well to get very comfortable doing things many times on a fairly indestructible micro before trying on the 230S. Wherever you are, push the envelope with something like your ncpx and follow with the 230S.

[d12bn]

Flying inbetween rain

[kona0915]

Originally Posted by d12bn

Flying inbetween rain

Nice and might I add impressive flying over water :-o

[dogguy]

Hi folks, the information here is outstanding from my perspective as a complete noob. I recently acquired a 230S and have it hovering tail in pretty reliably, did a couple of trim flights etc. The machine seems stable, always stability mode so far, in light winds. I got this in May 2016 so may have avoided some of the early problems. It did wander a bit at first but after the trim flights it seems pretty good. I have a blade nano on order because I have a large field with very soft grass to practice on and am reluctant to smash up the 230 through inexperience. Thank you to everyone that has provided feedback on this machine, it is very informative and helpful for me.

Thanks

[toadiscoil]

4 more packs today. I can't really tell but probably it was like 20 or 30 mph wind gusts today. At some point the heli was significantly tilted trying to be on the same place due to the wind. My hands ended up being shaky after I was done because it climbed a lot on wind gusts and sometimes I had to fight the wind to keep it if blowing sideways.

But I am now to a point where mi little heli at full headspeed, full rates and enough empty space can do anything. It was scary at times but I have gotten to where I can just play with collective to get it back to where I want.

I am able to do lunch flights for this month and I plan to take advantage of that opportunity and wind won't stop me

I have to admit I did not do what I would have wanted to do because of the wind. FFF the heli was shaking like crazy trying to keep the heli straight. Hovering even high up no problem and even some flips and inverted hovers.

Today I did think I managed to start getting the timing for tic tocks so that was a big plus. Pretty happy.

[torg]

... Thank you to everyone that has provided feedback on this machine, it is very informative and helpful for me.

Thanks[/QUOTE]

+1 Thanks Freaks

[AndyO]

Originally Posted by flappist

Well I am doing the happy dance.

I took my brand new 230s out to the club field in mild conditions (5-7kts variable) and flew it until I ran out of batteries.

No crashes and of course no damage.

To make it even better this was the first time I have flown a CP heli ever, previously they were FP (200SRx and MSRx) so I am very happy with my effort.

There was not any 3D just hovering, circuits and the like in initially stability and then agility mode. I even got it to land pretty close to spots I picked out, well about 2 feet from it anyway.

I really do like this heli.....

Awesome! I've had a similar evening (although nowhere near as adventurous) and what a rush it is to actually control one of these things in the air! 25yrs since I first got interested in RC heli's and finally it's now a reality, I'm hooked proper!


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