First off, I have to admit that I’m getting addicted to RC helicopters which if I don’t watch myself is going to get quite expensive! Now that I have that off my chest, I’ve now purchased my third helicopter, this time a Blade CX3
When I first got the helicopter, I was a little afraid to fly it. The bigger the helicopter, the more it would cost to repair. I flied it around my office a little bit, but due to its size, it’s pretty hard to do much with it. However, I did get the hang of it (it’s quite loud) and decided to give it a whirl outside. Well, I was a bit overconfident and on my first flight outside, it ended up on the roof and I caught it as it came crashing down on me. Luckily I was able to repair the fuselage damage with some clear tape and it was as good as new.
I’ve been having a lot of fun with it and am excited to fly it outside. However, there has to be very, very little wind to do anything with it. The times I’ve flown it outside, the wind is just a little too strong so that when I try to go forward full speed, it goes no where. It is teaching me how to control it in adverse conditions which is kind of interesting.
One of the maneuvers that I’ve pretty much perfected on the mCX2 is landings in a single spot. On the CX3, this is much harder because of the ground effect created by the blades; flying it low is kind of difficult due to this (the blades are pushing down a bit of air causing the helicopter to go up). This is something that I’m keep attempting.
The CX3 doesn’t use anything that is the same as my mCX2, so I’ve already started collecting spare parts in the event of a crash. I’ve also had to pick up an extra battery as the 6 minute flight time is a bit short when it takes 2 hours to recharge the battery.
Many of the points below are similar to what I wrote about the mCX2. The two helicopters are quite similar as beginner helicopters.
Pros
- Not too hard to control.
- Moderate size allows me to fly outside.
- Replacement parts aren’t that expensive.
- Comes with battery charger.
- Heading hold gyro attempts to keep the nose facing in the direction of travel.
- It’s quite fast when flying inside.
Cons
- Size makes it a bit large to fly inside and do anything interesting (very small circles).
- Only comes with 1 battery.
- Long recharge time (2 hours).
- Navigation lights are optional (they look cool on the mCX2).
- It’s noisy. In the house, it’s hard to really hear anything when it’s flying.
- Time consuming to disassemble. I added a heat sink to it and it took me about an hour to take it apart and install the heat sink. Maybe it was just me, but I had a problem removing one of the motors to get the heat sink in.
Summary
The CX3, like the mCX2, is a beginner helicopter. I kind of see it as a stepping stone from the mCX2 as it is larger and can fly outside. I’m glad that I got the mCX2 first as it let me learn to fly and maneuvers. I haven’t abandoned my mCX2, but I find the CX3 a bit more challenging and more exciting. If you’re interested in RC helicopters and don’t have much room to fly, the mCX2 is the way to go. If you have more room and want to fly outside, the CX3 is the better choice.
I’m having a great time with my helicopters and am getting pretty good at flying.