Plane Talk: E-flite Blade CP - 2006/01

Plane Talk: E-flite Blade CP
MICHAEL RAMSEY
Pluses:
• Great value that is ready to fly right out of the box.
• Rugged design with lots of potential.
• Good flying characteristics, even in light winds.
Minuses:
• Throttle control on transmitter needs to be smoother.
• Tail-rotor trim drifts in flight.
Pluses and Minuses
THANKS TO THE latest distribution efforts (including those on
eBay), the fixed-pitch, electric-powered helicopter market has been
booming with remarkably low-priced RTF models. I’ve been
fortunate enough to play with a number of these, and the experience
has been challenging and rewarding.
I’ve spent hours practice-hovering such helicopters. Without
going into detail about how I know, let me tell you they are well
Three microservos are used to support 120° CCPM mechanics.
Note simplistic engineering and assembly. Wound antenna around
gear posed no range issues.
The Blade is ready to run once the flight pack is charged and eight AA batteries are loaded into the transmitter. The stock battery is
good for roughly six minutes of sport-flying.
44 MODEL AVIATION
January 2005 45
Tail-rotor control is via N30 motor geared to large single-piece
rotor. Counterclockwise rotor’s speed is increased to turn nose to
the right and decreased to turn left.
E-flite 4-in-1 control unit houses all electronic frequency and
mixing components. An LED next to adjustment controls
illuminates red and green to note status.
Servos are electronically mixed at
transmitter to control cyclic and collective
pitch mixing. Blade spindle is dampened
with O-rings and ball-bearing supported.
E-flite Blade enhancement kit contains
aerobatic wood blades, heat sinks, and new
Speed 370 motor with smaller pinion to
make the system suitable for three-cell Li-
Poly power.
engineered for durability. I also found out
that the lack of ability to adjust the
blades’ pitch angle became an unwelcome
handicap when trying to maneuver the
helicopters in flight.
The short story is that a helicopter
acquires most of its stability by means of
the spinning blades. The faster they spin,
the more stable and maneuverable the
helicopter is.
Fixed-pitch models work well in a
hover since they need a relatively high
head speed to stay aloft. Predictably, push
them into forward flight and the lift
generated from the oncoming airflow
causes the models to climb.
To maintain a desired altitude while
flying forward, the throttle has to be
reduced. This, in turn, decreases the head
speed, therefore decreasing stability. This
flying peculiarity is uncomfortable to say
the least.
Forward flight with a helicopter is best
performed with one that has the ability to
adjust the blades’ pitch angle. This is
called Collective Pitch mixing. The
advantage is that stability can be
maintained even while lift is gained
because the pitch angle of the rotating
blades can be reduced, thus reducing lift
while the head speed is kept at a
comfortable speed.
I call the E-flite Blade CP (Collective
Pitch) from Horizon Hobby a 300-class
micro electric helicopter. The number is
in reference to the Speed 370 motor used
for main rotor power.
This model is an RTF package,
meaning you take it out of the box and go
fly. Hold onto the box because it’s
excellent for storage and transport. To fly
it the first time, all the pilot has to
provide is a bit of helicopter experience
and eight AA batteries for the transmitter.
What do I mean by “a bit of helicopter
experience”? Even though the Blade
package’s price spells “try me,” it is not
intended for the first-time helicopter
pilot. That is not without good reason; the
control response is sensitive.
For the new helicopter pilot, a softer
control feel is typically more comfortable.
So for the pilot with some experience
flying helicopters, the Blade is a great deal
of fun because of its maneuverability.
The other thing is that helicopters of
this size are a challenge to fly in the
wind. The Blade is a delight to fly
indoors, but the typical living room isn’t
the practical place because of its size. If
you’re thinking about making the Blade
CP your first helicopter, consider yourself
warned.
My advice for you new pilots is to get
as much computer-simulator time in as
possible beforehand. In addition, buy a
Training Gear Set (E-Flite item
EFLH1128) that is made specifically for
this model.
Sharp Blade: Now that I’ve gotten the
“disclaimers” out of the way, I can write
Photos by the author
46 MODEL AVIATION
The Blade can be flown indoors or out in mild wind conditions. Stock flat-bottom blades offer excellent sport-flying performance.
Symmetrical blade upgrade smoothes forward (or backward) flight handling.
Rotor span: 20.75 inches
Weight: 11.6 ounces
Length: 27.5 inches
Height: 6.875 inches
Radio: Six channels (included)
Main motor: Speed 370 (included)
Tail motor: N30 Speed 180 (included)
Power: 9.6-volt NiMH battery (included)
Street price: $219.99
about all the fun I’ve been having with the Blade CP.
I took the helicopter out of the box and flew it first thing, as
the instructions suggested. In less than a minute the eight-cell
NiMH 650 mAh battery was fully drained and I recharged it with
the included wall unit.
This charger is quick but it isn’t peak detect, so you have to
keep an eye on it for the 90- to 120-minute charge time. When
the battery gets warm, it’s finished charging.
In that first hop the Blade seemed fairly well trimmed, so I’m
guessing it was factory test-flown before it was packed (as the
ads claim). After that little session I took advantage of the
downtime to go over everything.
With the Blade you get a complete model helicopter with
three servos, a gyro, an ESC, a receiver, and a transmitter. Three
E-flite microservos (item EFLH1030) are securely arranged at
the 120° points around the swashplate to suit the
Cyclic/Collective Pitch Mixing (CCPM) mechanics. The
advantage of this system is that the parts count is low; therefore,
the overall weight is reduced while increasing mechanical
advantage.
The trick is that all these servos need to be mixed for the
system to work properly. Lucky for us, the included transmitter
has all that done and is complete with Idle-Up mixing that makes
it possible to fly the Blade inverted. I’ll get into that later.
Almost the only thing missing on the transmitter is a Throttle
Hold feature. Also, the detents in the throttle stick are coarse,
which makes it difficult to make smooth throttle changes. There
is a trainer switch and buddy-cord jack, so theoretically a dualtransmitter
training system could be set up.
On the helicopter end there’s a little black box inside the
plastic canopy where all the wires from the motors and servos
go. E-flite calls this the 4-in-1 mixer. It’s a compact unit that
contains the receiver, ESC, mixer for the tail rotor, and piezo
gyro.
The Blade is available in six different frequencies on the 72
MHz band. The receiver uses the negative shift deviation, and
it’s FM which means it will work with other transmitters.
The speed control will handle as much as roughly 8 amps but
does not feature a voltage cutoff of any type. The mixer and the
gyro can be adjusted through the side of the 4-in-1 with a small
screwdriver.
This helicopter is as simple as it gets. The frame is essentially
a mix of fiber-reinforced plastic, carbon-fiber rod, and tubing
held together with cyanoacrylate glue and fuel tubing.
Before you start shaking your head, understand that for light
weight and durability this machine has got it all worked out. On
top of all that, very little maintenance is required.
Specifications
I’ve had enough mishaps while
practice-flying the Blade to understand
that it will hold up exceptionally well.
And although it doesn’t have the bells and
whistles of a multidollar 3-D machine,
this helicopter is maneuverable and can be
flown smoothly.
The included flight pack is good for
roughly five to eight minutes of flying.
I’ve gotten longer flights when I’ve slowcharged
the pack on a variable-rate
charger and used it right after the charge
cycle was finished.
There was a little “wag” to the tail,
which I guess I didn’t notice during the
first flight and attributed to a gyro gain
setting that was too high. The 4-in-1
electronic unit can be adjusted for gain
and mixing (P-mix for all you helicopter
people). I backed the gain screw out
approximately 10° and the tail settled
down.
From then on it was a matter of getting
used to the Blade’s feel. The first thing
that took a little getting used to was the
lag in pitch response when advancing the
collective pitch (that’s the throttle to all
you airplane people) for liftoff into a
hover. I would notice that at half stick the
head speed would be going like
gangbusters, but the helicopter wasn’t
coming off.
Moving one click at a time, when 60%
stick travel was reached the machine
leaped from the ground. To keep it from
hitting the ceiling, I throttled back, then up,
then down, bouncing the Blade in the air
until I found a happy place in the collective
stick.
The service team at Horizon Hobby put
together a troubleshooting guide online,
and it suggests that this lag is caused by the
mechanics in the head sticking. Several
options are offered to solve the problem,
including taking the head apart and finetuning
the parts clearances.
The first thing I did was closely
examine the servo response to collective
pitch movement. All the servos were doing
their job, but the mechanics weren’t
transferring the commands because of slop
in the ball link at the lower paddle control
pushrod.
It turns out that the ball ends on the
upper swashplate were undersized. To make
them larger I coated them with thin
cyanoacrylate glue; three coats enlarged the
ball enough to improve the linkage fit.
After that the collective pitch movement
instantly transferred to the head and the
Blade could be smoothly lifted off the
ground.
As far as small helicopters go, the Blade
is a pleasure to fly. Control-stick movement
is a tad sensitive. If I were using a computer
radio, all I would have to do would be to
program exponential into the steering
controls so it would suit my flying style.
The mixer does a good job of
managing the torque created by the
moving blades. Extreme collective
changes, such as when doing a fast
climbout from a hover, cause the
helicopter to swing to the left. Adjusting
the mixer control can adjust the
compensation to the pilot’s liking.
The flat-bottom blades that come with
the helicopter generate extra lift, which is
good for hovering practice. If you plan to
do a great deal of hovering practice, an
ideal upgrade would be to use a two-cell
Li-Poly battery pack and change the motor
to the type with an 11-tooth pinion (item
EFLH1110D).
While you’re at the hobby shop pick up
the E-flite Aerobatic Enhancement Kit
(item EFLH1168). This will be handy for
when you want more performance, but,
more important, the package includes heat
sinks for the main and tail motors.
Installing the heat sinks will dramatically
improve the life of the motors by removing
the damage source of the internal brushes.
A two-cell, 1200 mAh Li-Poly battery is
inexpensive and will double the flight time
the stock NiMH battery provides. By
changing the gear ratio the performance
stays roughly the same for hovering and
sport-flying. As I mentioned earlier, the
ESC doesn’t have a voltage cutoff. Protect
the Li-Poly batteries by landingFor all-out performance the Blade can
be upgraded in a number of ways. The
enhancement kit I mentioned comes with
symmetrical blades and a new motor that
has a nine-tooth pinion.
The change in gear ratio is so that the
battery system can be upgraded to a
higher voltage without overspeeding the
head. A 900 mAh, three-cell Li-Poly
battery is needed to complete the
enhancement. Along with the aerobatic
potential of the symmetrical blades and
the extra power of the 11.1-volt battery,
the Blade will loop, roll, and sustain
inverted flight and hover inverted.
The Idle-up feature on the transmitter
is the key to the Blade’s aerobatic
potential. The switch on the transmitter
changes the collective pitch control so that
zero blade pitch is at the center of the
stick travel.
Moving the stick forward adds positive
pitch; moving the stick down adds
negative pitch. All the while the motor
speed is kept high so stability is
maintained and pitch changes take
immediate effect.
When using a higher-voltage battery,
such as a three-cell Li-Poly, adjustments
to the gyro and mixer must be made. The
extra power to the tail rotor means the
gyro gain needs to be reduced. Likewise,
the higher head speed negates the need for
mixing adjustments in order for the tail
rotor to keep up with the increased head
torque.
Voltage change also seems to have an
effect on the mixing in general, no matter
what battery is used. This is clearly
mentioned in the manual, so the idea is to
expect tail-rotor trim changes throughout
the flight as the battery goes from peak to
drained.
Each flight with my model begins with
the tail-rotor trim on the left. I adjust the
trim as the battery pack is depleted, and
by the end of the flight the trim lever is on
the right. I can understand that electronics
this small have their limitations and am
fairly comfortable at least knowing the
system is predictable.
One of the things that really helped me
smooth out my flying of the Blade was
changing the ratchet effect on the
transmitter throttle control. The ratchet is
there to help the pilot hold the throttle in
position. It’s great for flying an airplane,
but throttle (collective) is the primary
control for maintaining altitude when
flying a helicopter.
In a hover the sweet spot to hold the
Blade at one height was between one of
the notches on the throttle. I voided the
warranty and opened up the transmitter.
Inside I filed down the ridges on the back
of the throttle until it felt about right.
I’ve been flying the E-flite Blade for
approximately three months. In that time
I’ve seen a lot of online chat about it.
Many people feel, as I do, that the Blade
is well worth the money and is
considerable fun.
As an investment, the basic Blade can
be outfitted with more upgrades than I’ve
described here. Even now there are scale
fuselage bodies available.
The service from Horizon has been
great. Although I haven’t needed them,
the Web site lists every part of the Blade
available. That spells value in a product,
and I’d recommend the Blade CP to
anyone. MA
Michael Ramsey
[email protected]
Distributor:
Horizon Hobby Distributors
4105 Fieldstone Rd.
Champaign IL 61822
(217) 352-1913
www.horizonhobby.com

Plane Talk: E-flite Blade CP
MICHAEL RAMSEY
Pluses:
• Great value that is ready to fly right out of the box.
• Rugged design with lots of potential.
• Good flying characteristics, even in light winds.
Minuses:
• Throttle control on transmitter needs to be smoother.
• Tail-rotor trim drifts in flight.
Pluses and Minuses
THANKS TO THE latest distribution efforts (including those on
eBay), the fixed-pitch, electric-powered helicopter market has been
booming with remarkably low-priced RTF models. I’ve been
fortunate enough to play with a number of these, and the experience
has been challenging and rewarding.
I’ve spent hours practice-hovering such helicopters. Without
going into detail about how I know, let me tell you they are well
Three microservos are used to support 120° CCPM mechanics.
Note simplistic engineering and assembly. Wound antenna around
gear posed no range issues.
The Blade is ready to run once the flight pack is charged and eight AA batteries are loaded into the transmitter. The stock battery is
good for roughly six minutes of sport-flying.
44 MODEL AVIATION
January 2005 45
Tail-rotor control is via N30 motor geared to large single-piece
rotor. Counterclockwise rotor’s speed is increased to turn nose to
the right and decreased to turn left.
E-flite 4-in-1 control unit houses all electronic frequency and
mixing components. An LED next to adjustment controls
illuminates red and green to note status.
Servos are electronically mixed at
transmitter to control cyclic and collective
pitch mixing. Blade spindle is dampened
with O-rings and ball-bearing supported.
E-flite Blade enhancement kit contains
aerobatic wood blades, heat sinks, and new
Speed 370 motor with smaller pinion to
make the system suitable for three-cell Li-
Poly power.
engineered for durability. I also found out
that the lack of ability to adjust the
blades’ pitch angle became an unwelcome
handicap when trying to maneuver the
helicopters in flight.
The short story is that a helicopter
acquires most of its stability by means of
the spinning blades. The faster they spin,
the more stable and maneuverable the
helicopter is.
Fixed-pitch models work well in a
hover since they need a relatively high
head speed to stay aloft. Predictably, push
them into forward flight and the lift
generated from the oncoming airflow
causes the models to climb.
To maintain a desired altitude while
flying forward, the throttle has to be
reduced. This, in turn, decreases the head
speed, therefore decreasing stability. This
flying peculiarity is uncomfortable to say
the least.
Forward flight with a helicopter is best
performed with one that has the ability to
adjust the blades’ pitch angle. This is
called Collective Pitch mixing. The
advantage is that stability can be
maintained even while lift is gained
because the pitch angle of the rotating
blades can be reduced, thus reducing lift
while the head speed is kept at a
comfortable speed.
I call the E-flite Blade CP (Collective
Pitch) from Horizon Hobby a 300-class
micro electric helicopter. The number is
in reference to the Speed 370 motor used
for main rotor power.
This model is an RTF package,
meaning you take it out of the box and go
fly. Hold onto the box because it’s
excellent for storage and transport. To fly
it the first time, all the pilot has to
provide is a bit of helicopter experience
and eight AA batteries for the transmitter.
What do I mean by “a bit of helicopter
experience”? Even though the Blade
package’s price spells “try me,” it is not
intended for the first-time helicopter
pilot. That is not without good reason; the
control response is sensitive.
For the new helicopter pilot, a softer
control feel is typically more comfortable.
So for the pilot with some experience
flying helicopters, the Blade is a great deal
of fun because of its maneuverability.
The other thing is that helicopters of
this size are a challenge to fly in the
wind. The Blade is a delight to fly
indoors, but the typical living room isn’t
the practical place because of its size. If
you’re thinking about making the Blade
CP your first helicopter, consider yourself
warned.
My advice for you new pilots is to get
as much computer-simulator time in as
possible beforehand. In addition, buy a
Training Gear Set (E-Flite item
EFLH1128) that is made specifically for
this model.
Sharp Blade: Now that I’ve gotten the
“disclaimers” out of the way, I can write
Photos by the author
46 MODEL AVIATION
The Blade can be flown indoors or out in mild wind conditions. Stock flat-bottom blades offer excellent sport-flying performance.
Symmetrical blade upgrade smoothes forward (or backward) flight handling.
Rotor span: 20.75 inches
Weight: 11.6 ounces
Length: 27.5 inches
Height: 6.875 inches
Radio: Six channels (included)
Main motor: Speed 370 (included)
Tail motor: N30 Speed 180 (included)
Power: 9.6-volt NiMH battery (included)
Street price: $219.99
about all the fun I’ve been having with the Blade CP.
I took the helicopter out of the box and flew it first thing, as
the instructions suggested. In less than a minute the eight-cell
NiMH 650 mAh battery was fully drained and I recharged it with
the included wall unit.
This charger is quick but it isn’t peak detect, so you have to
keep an eye on it for the 90- to 120-minute charge time. When
the battery gets warm, it’s finished charging.
In that first hop the Blade seemed fairly well trimmed, so I’m
guessing it was factory test-flown before it was packed (as the
ads claim). After that little session I took advantage of the
downtime to go over everything.
With the Blade you get a complete model helicopter with
three servos, a gyro, an ESC, a receiver, and a transmitter. Three
E-flite microservos (item EFLH1030) are securely arranged at
the 120° points around the swashplate to suit the
Cyclic/Collective Pitch Mixing (CCPM) mechanics. The
advantage of this system is that the parts count is low; therefore,
the overall weight is reduced while increasing mechanical
advantage.
The trick is that all these servos need to be mixed for the
system to work properly. Lucky for us, the included transmitter
has all that done and is complete with Idle-Up mixing that makes
it possible to fly the Blade inverted. I’ll get into that later.
Almost the only thing missing on the transmitter is a Throttle
Hold feature. Also, the detents in the throttle stick are coarse,
which makes it difficult to make smooth throttle changes. There
is a trainer switch and buddy-cord jack, so theoretically a dualtransmitter
training system could be set up.
On the helicopter end there’s a little black box inside the
plastic canopy where all the wires from the motors and servos
go. E-flite calls this the 4-in-1 mixer. It’s a compact unit that
contains the receiver, ESC, mixer for the tail rotor, and piezo
gyro.
The Blade is available in six different frequencies on the 72
MHz band. The receiver uses the negative shift deviation, and
it’s FM which means it will work with other transmitters.
The speed control will handle as much as roughly 8 amps but
does not feature a voltage cutoff of any type. The mixer and the
gyro can be adjusted through the side of the 4-in-1 with a small
screwdriver.
This helicopter is as simple as it gets. The frame is essentially
a mix of fiber-reinforced plastic, carbon-fiber rod, and tubing
held together with cyanoacrylate glue and fuel tubing.
Before you start shaking your head, understand that for light
weight and durability this machine has got it all worked out. On
top of all that, very little maintenance is required.
Specifications
I’ve had enough mishaps while
practice-flying the Blade to understand
that it will hold up exceptionally well.
And although it doesn’t have the bells and
whistles of a multidollar 3-D machine,
this helicopter is maneuverable and can be
flown smoothly.
The included flight pack is good for
roughly five to eight minutes of flying.
I’ve gotten longer flights when I’ve slowcharged
the pack on a variable-rate
charger and used it right after the charge
cycle was finished.
There was a little “wag” to the tail,
which I guess I didn’t notice during the
first flight and attributed to a gyro gain
setting that was too high. The 4-in-1
electronic unit can be adjusted for gain
and mixing (P-mix for all you helicopter
people). I backed the gain screw out
approximately 10° and the tail settled
down.
From then on it was a matter of getting
used to the Blade’s feel. The first thing
that took a little getting used to was the
lag in pitch response when advancing the
collective pitch (that’s the throttle to all
you airplane people) for liftoff into a
hover. I would notice that at half stick the
head speed would be going like
gangbusters, but the helicopter wasn’t
coming off.
Moving one click at a time, when 60%
stick travel was reached the machine
leaped from the ground. To keep it from
hitting the ceiling, I throttled back, then up,
then down, bouncing the Blade in the air
until I found a happy place in the collective
stick.
The service team at Horizon Hobby put
together a troubleshooting guide online,
and it suggests that this lag is caused by the
mechanics in the head sticking. Several
options are offered to solve the problem,
including taking the head apart and finetuning
the parts clearances.
The first thing I did was closely
examine the servo response to collective
pitch movement. All the servos were doing
their job, but the mechanics weren’t
transferring the commands because of slop
in the ball link at the lower paddle control
pushrod.
It turns out that the ball ends on the
upper swashplate were undersized. To make
them larger I coated them with thin
cyanoacrylate glue; three coats enlarged the
ball enough to improve the linkage fit.
After that the collective pitch movement
instantly transferred to the head and the
Blade could be smoothly lifted off the
ground.
As far as small helicopters go, the Blade
is a pleasure to fly. Control-stick movement
is a tad sensitive. If I were using a computer
radio, all I would have to do would be to
program exponential into the steering
controls so it would suit my flying style.
The mixer does a good job of
managing the torque created by the
moving blades. Extreme collective
changes, such as when doing a fast
climbout from a hover, cause the
helicopter to swing to the left. Adjusting
the mixer control can adjust the
compensation to the pilot’s liking.
The flat-bottom blades that come with
the helicopter generate extra lift, which is
good for hovering practice. If you plan to
do a great deal of hovering practice, an
ideal upgrade would be to use a two-cell
Li-Poly battery pack and change the motor
to the type with an 11-tooth pinion (item
EFLH1110D).
While you’re at the hobby shop pick up
the E-flite Aerobatic Enhancement Kit
(item EFLH1168). This will be handy for
when you want more performance, but,
more important, the package includes heat
sinks for the main and tail motors.
Installing the heat sinks will dramatically
improve the life of the motors by removing
the damage source of the internal brushes.
A two-cell, 1200 mAh Li-Poly battery is
inexpensive and will double the flight time
the stock NiMH battery provides. By
changing the gear ratio the performance
stays roughly the same for hovering and
sport-flying. As I mentioned earlier, the
ESC doesn’t have a voltage cutoff. Protect
the Li-Poly batteries by landingFor all-out performance the Blade can
be upgraded in a number of ways. The
enhancement kit I mentioned comes with
symmetrical blades and a new motor that
has a nine-tooth pinion.
The change in gear ratio is so that the
battery system can be upgraded to a
higher voltage without overspeeding the
head. A 900 mAh, three-cell Li-Poly
battery is needed to complete the
enhancement. Along with the aerobatic
potential of the symmetrical blades and
the extra power of the 11.1-volt battery,
the Blade will loop, roll, and sustain
inverted flight and hover inverted.
The Idle-up feature on the transmitter
is the key to the Blade’s aerobatic
potential. The switch on the transmitter
changes the collective pitch control so that
zero blade pitch is at the center of the
stick travel.
Moving the stick forward adds positive
pitch; moving the stick down adds
negative pitch. All the while the motor
speed is kept high so stability is
maintained and pitch changes take
immediate effect.
When using a higher-voltage battery,
such as a three-cell Li-Poly, adjustments
to the gyro and mixer must be made. The
extra power to the tail rotor means the
gyro gain needs to be reduced. Likewise,
the higher head speed negates the need for
mixing adjustments in order for the tail
rotor to keep up with the increased head
torque.
Voltage change also seems to have an
effect on the mixing in general, no matter
what battery is used. This is clearly
mentioned in the manual, so the idea is to
expect tail-rotor trim changes throughout
the flight as the battery goes from peak to
drained.
Each flight with my model begins with
the tail-rotor trim on the left. I adjust the
trim as the battery pack is depleted, and
by the end of the flight the trim lever is on
the right. I can understand that electronics
this small have their limitations and am
fairly comfortable at least knowing the
system is predictable.
One of the things that really helped me
smooth out my flying of the Blade was
changing the ratchet effect on the
transmitter throttle control. The ratchet is
there to help the pilot hold the throttle in
position. It’s great for flying an airplane,
but throttle (collective) is the primary
control for maintaining altitude when
flying a helicopter.
In a hover the sweet spot to hold the
Blade at one height was between one of
the notches on the throttle. I voided the
warranty and opened up the transmitter.
Inside I filed down the ridges on the back
of the throttle until it felt about right.
I’ve been flying the E-flite Blade for
approximately three months. In that time
I’ve seen a lot of online chat about it.
Many people feel, as I do, that the Blade
is well worth the money and is
considerable fun.
As an investment, the basic Blade can
be outfitted with more upgrades than I’ve
described here. Even now there are scale
fuselage bodies available.
The service from Horizon has been
great. Although I haven’t needed them,
the Web site lists every part of the Blade
available. That spells value in a product,
and I’d recommend the Blade CP to
anyone. MA
Michael Ramsey
[email protected]
Distributor:
Horizon Hobby Distributors
4105 Fieldstone Rd.
Champaign IL 61822
(217) 352-1913
www.horizonhobby.com