E-Flight Blade CX Owners Thread

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Links to important information about E-flight Blade CX helicopter
HeliTown's E-Flight Blade CX Owner Organized Link Page
http://www.helitown.com/BladeCX.htm

[Rick]

Just got my CX2 last week, I have only two battery packs thru it so far.
I've already managed to break one landing skid. I've got the training gear on, but have been trying to fly outside since my living room is so small.

One thing that's causing me problems is, on the Picco Z IR helicopters that ive been flying so much recently, the rudder is on the right stick. Trying to get myself oriented and trained to use the rudder on the left stick is causing me issues-I'm having trouble separating rudder input from throttle input. I'm getting better at that, but dealing with the occasional breeze made things real tricky..plus being too abrupt with cutting the throttle and the added stress and drag of the attached training gear meant the loss of the skid.

However, help is on the way. I've got the MicroHeli aluminum head upgrades and "Xtreme" blades, bearings, heat sink, improved BB motors with silver brushes, and the frosting on the cake:

Airwolf/Bell 222 body and working *retractable* landing gear! Pics to follow when completed, of course.

here's the site where I found the last goodies:
http://www.mmanrow.20m.com/prices.htm

[Griffin]

Do you know if there is any connection between E-flight and E-sky? I stripped some teeth on my Esky Lama 4 Main Gear A (the one that drives the top rotor and flybar) The only hobby shop that was open today was out of Esky gears but we found an E-flight "Inner Shaft Main Gear:BCX" part number EFLH1243 that is identical to the Esky gear. Are there any other parts that are interchangeable?

[SCHMOOZE]

where can i get good quality upgrades for my cx2. I'm looking for a new tail, aluminum blade grips and stuff like that.

[eddiemoth]

schmooze, welcome to HeliTown. Where do live? Do you live in USA? There are not a lot of upgrades for Blade CX but check this out http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=MHECX002LH

[XCALBR8R]

Hey guys & gals ,I'm a 2 day old owner of a new E-F Blade CX2 Mode2. I was warned not to take my new Bird out in wind but was a calm evening and was stir crazy from bumping chair legs and such, i had moderate control till breeze kicked up and all i could think to do was take it up before slamming into my car,so one thing lead to another and had to let it go freefall to the next street OR loose my $220 in a tree,powerline,lightpole... anyway by the time i got in car and ran around block to rescue someone/thing had clipped my feathers...$55 later i have it Air Worthy!

here is my issue before clipping and now i have to gently breath on backward stick for hover,I have trim on control all the way back How can i correct this issue so i can hover hands free Es welcome but please no guessing Know what and how to fix please...thanks

[swatson144]

Check that the upper/lower swash plate haven't separated. If it has snap it back.

Steve

[mtpenguin]

Typically, you are able to adjust out any trim in the control rods. That is what I do with all my helis, when they are stable, I transfer the ajustments out of trim and into control rods.

B-)

[swampy]

where can i get good quality upgrades for my cx2. I'm looking for a new tail, aluminum blade grips and stuff like that.
Hi Scmooze, just done that upgrade on my own CX2 (wound up bustin' the lower blade pin, but thats another story) just got into this rc heli thing a couple of weeks ago with a 2 ch apache, knew I needed something more, so bought myself the CX2 last week, my blades lasted all of 2 hours lol so went for the ally blade grips, Exteme blades, and Extreme carbon tail boom (makes her a lot less susceptable to wind when outdoors)
The only reason I found I had a busted lower blade pin on the hub, was when I had to trim her all the way over to left airleron to stop her from floppin over on t/o
next on the list is the ally lower rotor hub and swash upgades 8-) will let you know how I get on :p

[jimtr]

I bought a Cx2 for Christmas for my 10 year old (and me). I am having a REALLY hard time getting it to hover. It keeps wanted to fly forward. I trimed up the left and right and nose drifts- all ok, but it always goes forward. After breaking 2 sets of blades by trying it in the house, I took it outside to a field and we got it flying pretty well. STill with the fwd/back trim all the way back, it travels forward and does not hover. If I pull the joystick on the right all the way back it still does not hover it then pulls to the right. (after breaking the landing gear , and the trainer somehow bent up and got caught on the blades ! I took that off- and it was better without it. I have a few parts to replace. ) I can handle that no problem, but something must be wrong on the hover. Any ideas what is going on or what I can check?

[Skytrek]

Hello and welcome to HeliTown!

Sounds like your CX2 has an issue with CG. Heres how you tell, with the battery instaled lift the heli by it's flybar turned 90% from center. If the nose or tail drops you have a CG issue but this is usually easy to fix. The goal is to get the bird to hang level from the flybar looking at the skids compared to a level surface, lake a kitchen counter.

Try moving the battery as far back as possible, since the heli is going forward in a hover. Do the same for left or right drift. If this is not possible because of the way the battery is mounted try adding a small weight, a small washer placed just right will most likely be the ticket.

Let us know if this works and if not we will dig a little deeper.

[aeproberts]

Hello and welcome to HeliTown!

Sounds like your CX2 has an issue with CG. Heres how you tell, with the battery instaled lift the heli by it's flybar turned 90% from center. If the nose or tail drops you have a CG issue but this is usually easy to fix. The goal is to get the bird to hang level from the flybar looking at the skids compared to a level surface, lake a kitchen counter.

Try moving the battery as far back as possible, since the heli is going forward in a hover. Do the same for left or right drift. If this is not possible because of the way the battery is mounted try adding a small weight, a small washer placed just right will most likely be the ticket.

Let us know if this works and if not we will dig a little deeper.

Thank you....I was having this problem after I crashed and I thought I had bent something, I will try this tonight. This is a lot harder than I thought, but I am loving it.

[aeproberts]

Thank you....I was having this problem after I crashed and I thought I had bent something, but this seemed to have worked (for now).......This is a lot harder than I thought, but I am loving it.

So it took 2 washers, moving the battery backward a little and a lot of trial and error but it did fix the problem. Without the washers the battery is almost falling out the rear of helicopter. I was finally able to get the helicopter to hover for about 15 seconds or so without moving forward. The trim was still towards the rear. I have had no trouble trimming left/right of the spinning.

Of course the copter is brand new and taping 2 washers seems like a poor long term solution. Can I do anything to replicate this result without washers taped to the bottom of the rear tail? I don't think returning the thing is going to happen since I crashed it once.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[eddiemoth]

Can you open the canopy and take a few pictures and post them here? Take some from the side at the same level as your heli. I want to see if the swash is level.

[aeproberts]

Can you open the canopy and take a few pictures and post them here? Take some from the side at the same level as your heli. I want to see if the swash is level.

I really appreciate the help. I will take some photos tonight and post them after work. When you say canopy you are talking about the front part of the fuselage right?

Thanks

[Skytrek]

Yep!!!:D

Try to get level pics if possible.

[aeproberts]

First, thanks again for your help. Below are the pictures. I think I have figured out the problem but I am not sure how to fix it.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_YZ8xp0_WOtI/SzqC6FOiTmI/AAAAAAAACE8/sWJY_Oa3OYs/s400/DSC00213.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_YZ8xp0_WOtI/SzqC65V1zZI/AAAAAAAACFA/iLG88wU4C_s/s400/DSC00214.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_YZ8xp0_WOtI/SzqC7nO3NgI/AAAAAAAACFE/WxiE2BB-mJs/s400/DSC00215.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_YZ8xp0_WOtI/SzqF6QmtsfI/AAAAAAAACFU/7hzut6dZwH0/s400/DSC00216.JPG

Excuse my terminology, but if you look at the main axle at the bottom is a thick ring. The bottom of which is connected to the servos, and top is connected to the blades. There is a thick rubber ring in the middle. The bottom of my ring seems to be detaching from the top part and it seems to happen mostly in the front of heli. If I push them back together then it works (and I can hover without going forward) for a little while until I land at which point they separate again (since my landings are not always the softest).

Picture 4 shows this strange separation which i can temporarily fix by pushing them back together.

Does that make sense?

[Skytrek]

Hummm,

You may be right about the swash being two separate pieces but I'm not so sure thats your problem.

Look at the thick ring as you call it, this is your heli's swashplate. This little jewel needs to be level to ensure you have a stable bird. You can accomplish this but turning the links going to the servos.

Take it slowly and count each turn, so if you go the wrong way or to far you can put things back the way they were.

If you look at the last pic the swash is tilting forward which is making the heli move in that direction in a hover. So, if you shorten the links, checking your progress one turn at a time. I'll bet you will achieve the desired result.

[swatson144]

If the swash is separating a small qty of CA (super glue) carefully applied with a tooth pick will keep it in place.

I don't think it's only separating on one side but as it seps it becomes too tall and the only way for it to fit in place is by tipping. Since it is held up by the links in the back it has to tip forward. So I can see how he could be having this problem. Normally I don't recommend gluing a swash but on these little birds it's probably how they were originally assembled.

Steve

[aeproberts]

So for clarfication.

1) try shortening the links first
2) possibly put little glue to hold together the swash.

If the separation is the problem, can I buy a new or upgraded swash plate to remedy the issue?

[aeproberts]

Ok, it definitely seems to be a symptom of the swash separating. I shortened the posts and got the helicopter trimmed in...was hovering for a good 15 to 20 seconds and then all of a sudden it started moving forward very rapidly again.

When I looked the swash had separated again. I am not sure how I can glue it since the top part spins. Won't glueing it just cause issues and stop the bottom rotor from spinning (or at least make it work harder before breaking the glue)?

If that is identified as the problem, do I just need the swashplate piece or do I need that and the lower rotary assembly? I find it annoying because it is brand new out of the box.

[swatson144]

The first thing I'd do is glue the swash since we know full well it's not supposed to separate. get a tube of CA and put a drop on a piece of scrap plastic. Take a toothpick and pick up a part of the drop. With the heli upside down (and swash separated) place the tooth pick's drop on the exposed bearing's outer race being careful not to get it anywhere else. Smear the CA around until you feel confident you have a nice thin coating on the exposed part. Then press the swash together and allow to dry. You could buy a new swash but in this case I think you'll be good as new if not better. I'm pretty picky about my repairs and that's how I'd repair mine.

If after you fix the obvious problem you still have a problem with the mechanical setup then adjust the links.

Steve

[swatson144]

Oh I see the confusion. The upper swash turns on the outer race of a bearing while the lower swash is connected to the inner race of the bearing. You'll be gluing the upper swash to the outer race of the bearing and leaving it free to turn on the bearing's ball race.

Steve

[aeproberts]

Thanks Steve...upon closer inspection I see what you are saying now. I will try this a report back. I appreciate all the help. I am a noob and your guys assistance was very helpful.

[swatson144]

I find it annoying because it is brand new out of the box.

Welcome to the fascinating world of RC helis. They seem to be able to accrue damage without any rhyme or reason. Last Sat I saw a good 3D guy try and flip his FBL 600 without going to IU the resulting crash should have cost a bunch based on the thunk, but luckily for him it didn't even trash the blades and it flew again Sun. OTOH I've seen simple rough landings / tipovers wad them up pretty bad and cost a bunch. What happens to all the energy in the rotor is the biggest part. Sometimes that energy is directed at the wallet.

Steve

[aeproberts]

So I fixed the moving forward issue by glueing, but I must have done a poor job because now the lower blade spins slower than the top one and causes a nasty Yaw issue.

Thinking about just buying an upgraded swashplate and writing off the one I have. Any recommendations or is the aluminum one from E-Flight the best? Any other upgrades that are really worth it?

[Skytrek]

Yep, sounds like a new swash will most likely fix the issue. I can't stand trying to use Ca in a neat manner! Most of it ends up gluing my fingers together!!

Let us know when you have installed the new part and how it worked out!!

[Skytrek]

Yep, Steve is the bomb! Proud to say he got me where I'm at in the Hobby today!! However, my wife is not quite as happy with Steve for some reason????lollollollollol

Steve(O) may know more about the up grades for this little heli. Personally, I would not put any more money into it than just what's needed to get her back in the air.

If you're like most of us and you really get into the hobby, you'll be a needing the $$ for your next project!!:D:D:D

[strglide]

aluminum swash plate from E-Flight the best way to fix this probl. a very good upgrade worth it helped mine a ton

[ryanscoots]

New CX2. Rookie.... Pretty lucky so far and then crash. Cracked a blade, changed both. Took the gear off and pulled the inner shaft. Looks good. Back together and heli still walks sideways, clearly not a trim issue. Finally the swashplate duh.. it came apart. put that back together. Had the thing apart three times last night. Hovered successfully in the kitchen around 12:00 am. Flew today in a gym. Before battery died heli circled in big loops to the right. I had played with that proportional @%$## whatever that screw is on the 3 in1 that helps with drifting. Finally my questions: Were dying batteries making my rotation problem worse? Should I go to an Aluminum swashplate? Lastly should I try to reset that screw in the 3 in 1? It's a big learning curve. I felt like I've already messed with it too much. Oh yeah are heatsinks a must. Thanks guys, this site seems knowledgeable :)