MARKZR7

Thinking about getting the blade 400
Can anyone tell me if this is a good pick
I have the axe cp I can't seem to get it
to fly very well. I already have the dx6i
also is it hard to set up with dx6i. the price looks
good at this site http://stores.channeladvisor.com/ine...R%20W/O%20DX6i

theecoop

Im not familaiar with the Axe cp , But have seen a couple of locals with the blade 400 from watching them and talking to them they seem very pleased with them.

jlaffin

I bought the Blade 400 and taught myself to fly. At first it seemed like quite a handful, but if you take it slowly it can be done. Now I'm having a great time with it. I can't judge compared to other helis but so far I have not had any problems. The stock servos seem like a big weakness. I replaced them with Hitec HS-65MG servos because the e-flite ones have crappy plastic gears that strip out. You can replace the stripped out gears, but I found that it was always the same gear stripping out, so you're stuck with a useless set of spare gears everytime. I have yet to upgrade the stock gyro. So far it has served me well. Good luck with it.

Julian

dilipc

Good find! I haven't seen a Blade 400 sell for this price anywhere (without DX6i). Anyone has experience buying from this site??

theecoop

several sites are offering with or without the DX6i now

dilipc

I couldn't find any besides the above selling the Blade 400 without DX6i. Can you please point me to some? thanks...

theecoop

http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...rodID=EFLH1475

theecoop

http://cgi.ebay.com/E-FLITE-BLADE-40...914102008r2740

neilg.

EFLH1401. i wonder how much it will cost to get this worthy. you can put better servos in from the beginning.

just a thought

Jeremy1981

I (finally) got myself a B400, and took a couple hours each day for a couple days to pick over everything, make sure it looked good, test the controls, and adjust the tail servo linkage a little bit. In the end, I had it where I was comfortable with the setup, and took it out for a cautious maiden today. Bear in mind I'm a complete noob, and I can't fly yet, but it handled quite as expected. I am impressed with the out the box flyability and decent quality of it. I realize the servos are a weak spot, but I'll wait until they die to upgrade them. Unfortunately, my LHS has limited parts support- they don't even have wood blades in stock, only some carbon ones, so I didn't bother buying any spares yet. (what can I possibly break that doesn't also break the blades???) It is not a competition quality heli (although I'm sure SOMEone could manage to compete with it, their skill making up for its shortcomings) but it can't be beat for out of the box and into the air simplicity and reasonable cost/quality!

Jeremy

singingperry

Unless you have experience with programming heli radios you might want to get the Blade 400 with the Dx6i since its already programmed. I got into a real mess changing settings off the web and it was a nightmare getting it straightened out. It was after this I learned to copy the stock settings onto another model file in the tx so I had 2 separate but identical files in case somehow I accidently screw it up again. I've crashed or bumped blades so many times I learned always to haveseveral sets of spares of the following parts (after upgrading to metal geared servos):blades, feathering shafts, main gears with the one-way bearings, and main shafts. Those are the parts I need to replace almost every time even after bumping the blades on the ground. The flybar I just straighten out, but you'll need a spare fly bar to use as an invaluable tool to replace the feathering shaft. See the Blade 400 Bible, don't have the address off hand, you might google it, there are also repair videos on YouTube that surely saved my butt! Repairs for a newbee are very intimidating but if you do it enough it gets pretty easy, almost fun.Note: Jasmine is working on the vids and the "Bible" is mentioned on this forum.

Twmaster

That's a darned good price for that heli less the DX6i. As long as the RX, battery and charger are included. E-Flite sells the PNP version (no TX. RX, lipo, charger) for $279.99 (see below link)

This is the PNP version from E-Flite. As above, does not include TX. RX, lipo or charger.

Twmaster

I should add you will need to replace the servos sooner or later. While the servos they include in the heli is not junk, it is most definitely -not- up to the job on this airframe.

I replaced my cyclic servos with Hitec HS-65HB's and my tail with a Spektrum DSP75 digital servo set to 'tail' mode.

Also note, while the servos that come with the B400 are 'digital' they are not programmable nor are they compatible with gyro in digital tail mode.

MARKZR7

I do not have experience with programming heli radios
I was told I should be able to do it. I hope this to be true
as I already have the dx6i. The gent from inethobby said
he would help on the phone if I got into a jam. Is it that hard to
set up. Plus we have a pro in the area $25.00 an hour so if things
get to bad I'll pay him to set it up

dilipc

I'm a noob and have been able to successfully set up my DX6i with CX2 and mCX. I'm sure setting it up for a 400 isn't that difficult.

carhop

I have the same set with servos as you. When you put the Hs 65 hb servos in did you do the reverseing in the swash mix or in the setup menu in the servo reversing menu. I just reversed my swash mixes and everything moves as it should. Only thing that bothers me is I had to bump up my pitch in the swash to 110% so I could get my pitch to 10+ with the left stick all the way up.
Carl

Found my problem, I had the wrong arms on and the links wrer in too far. Had the + links on and changed to the stright ones. Measured the stock links to get the correct hole spaceing put them on set my swash pitch back to 86% and got my pitch curves back to 10 and 10.
Carl

singingperry

I just let my lhs do it (I spend lots of $$$ there) He copied the settings off of a B-400 Dx6i for free. You could do it if you can find someone locally with the programming in the same radio for the same heli. When I try to get settings off the web there is always some aspect of the figures that are either missing or worse, wrong! The settings for a 3D machine are VERY complex, not at all like a coaxial.

Twmaster

Apples to Oranges. CP helis are complex to set up. Setting up a BCX2 or BMCX is stupid simple.

Twmaster

Right now I cannot remember what exactly I had to reverse but I for sure did have to reverse some settings for the new servos.

Glad you found your swash issue.

TexasRCFlyer

Just curious. I am considering the PNP version and I have the DX6, not the DX6i. What is the difference and would mine work?
Thanks

benovisoff

I bought the B400 about 3 months ago. I went straight to it from the ezstar. Boy, was that a big miistake! I had also upgraded most parst new carbon fiber blades, feathering shaft...... In one flight I knew I cannot fly helis, so I am selling it now PNP for 200, but its really a done deal, PNP. I at least need a CX2