E-Flite Blade mCP-X
Length 235 mm
Height 93 mm
Main blade diameter 245 mm
Tail blade diameter 36.5 mm
Weight 45.5 gram
Battery 3.7V / 200 mAh
FBL (flybareless)
The helicopter can preform aerobatics as inverted flight, loops, flips, rolls, funnels, hurricanes.
The Blade mCP-X is a great way to get used to flying more agile CCPM helis without having to invest a lot
in expensive equipment or repairs.
I sold my transmitter MX-12 and bought a Spektrum DX7 DSM2 transmitter for binding with the Blade mCP-X helicopter.
After this I bought the E-flite Blade mCP-X as a BNF version. The binding process was easy and didn't give any problems. In the manual
are settings for the DX6i, DX7 and DX8 computer transmitters. The online community on different forums who have way
more experiance with flying and programming found some tweaking in the settings. My settings are listed below:
Elevator Expo: +25%
Elevator Dual rate: 75%
Aileron Expo: +25%
Aileron Dual rate: 75%
Elevator Travel adjust: 80%
Aileron Travel adjust: 80%
Pitch Curve normal: 40-INH-50-INH-75-100
Everything else is the same as in the manual, Except the must do modification (read about it further down this page).
There are a some things that you must pay attention for:
1.
For take off do not give any aileron, elevator or rudder commands or the
helicopter may crash during takeoff. If you do so while sitting on the ground
the FBL system will try to correct it becouse the heli doesn't move.
Because nothing happend the FBL system want to correct it some more and after
enough servo movement the heli (can) tip over.
2.
The screw in the feathering spindle isn't secured with thread lock from the factory.
Check the feathering shaft screw and secure with a small amount of thread locker. If the
screw comes loose a main blade will eject.
Horizon Hobby made a Pre-Flight Checklist Supplemental for this
3.
The main gear can slip down the main shaft. This is a feature to absord the energy from a crash.
When you fix the main gear by glue or otherwise this energy probably will break something. So I
believe this is a good feature despite occasionally pushing it back into place.
Horizon Hobby made a Pre-Flight Checklist Supplemental for this
4.
The screws that attach the main motor to the frame can be loose from the factory. Remove the screws
one at a time and apply a small amount of thread lock to each of the motor mount screws (I didn't do
it thought. just tighten it up and it never came loose).
Flying.
The first attempt was a instand succes. Just give more power and it takes off into the air. The
aileron and elevator input are very smooth. The piroute rate is the same both ways. And the FBL system
performs fantastic. Even hover for 3-5 seconds hands off. I'm not ready for arobatics yet because I'm not
that experienced. This summer I want to preform some basic aerobatics though. I'm now flying figure 8, circles,
nose-in all in my backyard. It gives me compared with the King V3 100% more flying space in the backyard.
For trying to preform a first time loop or flip some bigger field is a must. Some people from the online community
on different forums can even flip in the livingroom!
The only minus point is the flying time and of course the described points above. There are always issues when you
buy a heli. The issues for the Blade mCP-X can easy be fixed, so I'm very happy with this helicopter. If you would
crash there is likely little damage, because of its light weight.
Tried flying a flip without success. The tail blow out and I lost control. No damage after a crash into the grass.
Put it back up and tried again. This time it flipped more or less. Far from perfect though. The third time ended
into another crash in the grass. This time the main gear slipped because of the impact. No damage, just pushed the
main gear into place. The collective management isn't easy when you never flown a flip before. I need
more practice. For now just some figure of 8 and next time I will try a loop with some build up speed. Hopefully this
is easier than a flip.
Flight log:
Flight so far: 30 (without failing main bearings)
Light crashes: 4x into the grass (no damage)
Bigger crashes: 2x after trying a flip (no damage)
(hit TH as fast as you can to stop the motor)
Maingear loose: 3x after a crash, just push it back
(the main gear is suppose to absorb the crash energy)
i now have about 200 flights with the mCPX without any problems. I cleaned the servo's ones and repaced the feathering shaft ones.
So this is by far the most cheapest CP heli you can buy IMO.
Must do modification IMO
The stock mCPX have a tendency to blow out the tail when performing aerobatics. This accours when you asks to much from the stock motor.
Therefore I changed to brushless (see the brushless mCPX section on the website), but this isn't necessary and reduce the flight time alot.
The way to go for ramaining stock (and cheap) is to extend the tail boom. This can easily be done with a solid carbon rod.
Extent the boom with 1,75 - 2,00 cm. The tail don't blow out anymore with normal aerobatics. However with stick banging it still
can blow out. The best way is to use collective management but not as much as with a complete stock setup.
Collective management means when you do (for example) a flip you have to steer the pitch. When you got vertical reduce the pitch to
zero. When you start to go upside down give negative pitch and catch the helicopter for falling down. The same goes for the other side.
I can perform a flip with the extendend tail boom but I'm not so good with collective management (yet). So if I can do it you can do it to,
it is not that difficult.
Backflip in the backyard. By the second flip the motor bogs an the tail breaks out. It landed hard on the ground
but no broken parts though. filmed by my friend Robert wit his telefone.
Flying a backwards circle in my backyard. filmed by my friend Robert wit his telefone.
Data sheet
To use throttle curves and so on you can't without a programmable transmitter. When tweaking with the settings it is easy to
forget your first settings. It is easier to write it down in a Data-Sheet.
Download your Data-Sheet for free and keep track of your settings:
