Here is my mini web review for you guys.
Enjoy
BLADE 300 CFX BNFMY OPINIONI have flown just about every Blade Heli developed and I still strongly feel any beginner looking to get into the R/C helicopter hobby should start with a Blade helicopter or two. Over the past two flying seasons I have had about six Blade 300 X's in my heli hanger. I've trained a few new pilots on this machine and thanks to the buddy box my father can now solo his 300 X all on his own and this year he plans on learning some sport 3D. The reason I had so many 300 X's is that they were inexpensive back yard beaters and easy to fix if one went in. Though the 300 X was a great training machine there was some I room for improvement when it came to a 3D machine. This is where Blade stepped in to remedy some of apparent issues . With a strong carbon fiber frame, full CNC head, carbon fiber blades, and new servo geometry the 300 CFX can now handle harder 3D maneuvers with ease. The physical size stayed the same and 90% of the 300 X parts are compatible with the CFX. To this day the 300 X is still a one of my favorite small park and backyard 3D machines. With the 300 CFX you can go from box to flying 3D in just minutes thanks to the Bind-N-Fly technology!
PROS• Fully Assembled just Bind-N-Fly
• Strong carbon fiber main frame
• Optimized servo geometry
• 245mm carbon fiber main blades
• Full CNC aluminum head
• Perfect small field/park 3D helicopter
CONS• Servo gears are made of plastic and strip easily
• Same electrical components as original Blade 300 X
• Plastic tail grips
• No auto rotation
Whether it's Blade's fixed pitch 200 SR X with SAFE technology or their biggest 700 X competition 3D helicopter Blade has really stepped up their game over the last few years. You can clearly see this with the new Blade 300 CFX. It is more than just an upgraded version of the popular 300 X. Blade redesigned the frame with carbon fiber and aluminum parts unlike the original plastic frame. The new carbon fiber frame makes it more rigid than before allowing higher head speeds without worrying about frame flex. The CFX comes equip with a full aluminum head for better durability and smoother cyclic control. Blade has also designed new carbon fiber blades for 3D performance right out of the box to replace the original wood blades that came with the 300 X. They also increased the pinion tooth count to 11T for higher headspeed to ensure little bogging during even the hardest 3D maneuvers.
OPENING THE BOXWhen you open the box you find the 300 CFX packed in a hard foam insert which forms to the helicopters shape to prevent shifting during the shipping process and doubles as a great storage and carrying case. The BNF basic versions require you to supply your own DSM2/DSMX radio, battery, and charger. Included is the manual and a separate bag has the bind plug, tools, and a screw driver to adjust the BeastX. Not sure yet if Blade will offer a RTF version like the 500 X but would be great for someone on a budget looking to purchase their first RTF collective pitch 3D helicopter. Blade chose a new CFX color scheme but kept true with their signature Blade shaped plastic canopy. It is easily visible when flying in all types of light and holds up well.
SETUPBlade has always supplied us with very easy to understand and detailed manuals with their helicopters. Just like Blade's smaller BNF collective pitch helicopters you will need to set up your computer radio to the manuals specs before you can bind the radio to the helicopter. After setting up your radio settings and charging the flight battery it is time to bind to your model which is as easy as plugging the bind plug into the BeastX, powering on the helicopter, and turning on the radio while holding the trainer/bind button until you see the servos glitch and the lights on the BeastX turn solid. The entire process takes less than a minute but if you find the bind failed you may need to move the radio farther away from the model and rebind. Make sure all the controls are moving smooth and in the correct directions before the first flight. Consult your manual if you have any questions or concerns.
The recommended DX9 settings in the manual will work fine for beginners, sport flying, and basic 3D flying but by the 2nd flight I was tweaking the radio settings to suite my flying style in the BeastX.
Throttle and pitch curvesNormal Throttle Curve 0-25-50-70-80 / Pitch Curve 30-40-59-75-100
Stunt 1 Throttle Curve 80-70-70-70-80 / Pitch Curve 0-25-50-75-100
Stunt 2 Throttle Curve 100-100-100-100-100 / Pitch Curve 0-25-50-75-100
RatesAileron Normal 90% / Stunt 1 115% / Stunt 2 125%
Elevator Normal 90% / Stunt 1 115% / Stunt 2 125%
Rudder Normal 90% / Stunt 1 110% / Stunt 2 115%
300 CFX FEATURES One of the cool new features of the CFX is the new servo layout and geometry like its bigger counterpart the 700 X. This new layout keeps the swashplate links near vertical throughout their range of motion to increase servo efficiency in cyclic and collective response. You will also notice higher headspeeds due to the fact of an 11 tooth pinion to help keep a more consistent speed and less bogging in big 3D maneuvers. The new carbon fiber frame adds rigidity and strength with lightweight carbon fiber to eliminate any flex while pushing the machine through 3D flight. The CFX is just under an ounce heavier than the original 300 X but goes unnoticed in this size helicopter. The CNC machined aluminum head block is rigid and lightweight which provides maximum precision during 3D maneuvers and durability in the case of a hard crash. The aluminum swashplate is tough enough to handle the rigors of extreme 3D maneuvers and delivers precise cyclic and collective response. The CFX comes equip with Blade's new 245mm carbon fiber blades which require less collective management and provided more power and better performance than the original wooded blades. The new carbon fiber vertical and horizontal fins are more rigid than the original plastic fins and help with any unwanted vibrations. You will also notice the motor, ESC, and battery are in different locations to lower the CG making the CFX fly smoother. The BeastX was also moved to the top gyro tray for easy tuning and to receive less vibrations or residence issues as seen on past 300 X models with the BeastX being pinched inside the lower rear of the frames.
ELECTRONICS The 300 X comes equipped with all the electronics preinstalled and setup. It includes three E-flite DS76 cyclic servos and a DS76T tail servo. The digital DS76-series servos are designed to deliver maximum power and precision yet keep the retail cost down. The DS76T held fine in funnels and high speed backwards and pirouetting hurricanes. The servos performed well for me but in the past I have had them strip out in light crashes or accidental tip overs. The replacement servo gears only cost a few dollars to replace but it would have been nice to see the new CFX come with some Spektrum servos with metal gears. Power is provided by the E-flite 320H 4500Kv brushless motor and is controlled by a E-flite 25A S-BEC speed control. Unfortunately it is the same stock motor as before but with proper collective management you can achieve a large range of 3D maneuvers and is just fine for sport 3D flying. Precise flybarless flight control is provide by the ever popular Spektrum AR7200BX BeastX flybarless system and is preset of you. The Spektrum AR7200BX combines a 7-channel DSMX receiver with a BeastX 3-axis MEMS stabilization system into a single compact unit. The BeastX technology lets you quickly fine-tune stability, cyclic response and tail response without requiring a laptop or special software. The CFX's electronics handled my hard 3D type of flying and will be perfectly fine for 95% of the pilots out there looking for a reasonably priced 3D machine. I know I'm sure some people will turn their noises up at the fact that Blade still kept the same electronics that the original 300 X had. You have to remember though that if Blade included higher end components the retail price would of the machine would go up for the consumer. It would be nice to see a CFX airframe only option available in the future allowing customers to set up their CFX how they choose. After almost 30 flawless flights on the 300 CFX I put her in inverted and stripped out all of the cyclic servos. As a student training machine I'm not looking to rebuild servo gears all season so I searched and found a great 1 for 1 metal geared servo replacement. The Hitec HS5055's are the perfect MG drop in. Plus you can buy them from HH for $18 each
Here are all the pictures from the servo install on my Facebook page
www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.758284580849891.1073741878.393392074005812&type=3IN THE AIRLiving in upstate New York this time of year can be a crap shoot when it comes to the weather. I can truly say I gave the 300 CFX a true torture test. I flew it in the wind, snow, and rain with the occasional nice 50 degree days. Let me speak for all my fellow cold weather pilots when I say winter flying sucks. As you read this article I'm sure your cold winter has disappeared and spring has finally sprung for you all, at least I hope it has!
For the first flight I took the 300 CFX out to the driveway and spooled her up into a 4 foot hover. The built in slow start feature of the ESC is very nice especially if you are a beginner and or accidentally flip into idle up by mistake. The cyclic control felt rock solid, the tail held perfect, and the tracking of the carbon fiber blades was just about spot on. With a turn on one of the links the tracking was ideal. When running the first break in flight or two on a new machine I usually just do some basic hovering and sport flying to make sure everything is working ok. I also flip into idle up 1 and 2 to make sure the throttle and pitch curves were set correctly.
The 3rd and 4th flights are always the best. This is where I start to stretch out the capabilities of the machine and get comfortable to the pitch and throttle curves. The headspeed is higher on the CFX due to the 11 tooth pinion. For a "mini" helicopter right out of the box it flies smoother and more aggressive than Blade's smaller counterparts such as the 130 X.
The CFX is stable when you want a nice slow hover and goes right into forward flight with the push on the cyclic stick. Cyclic response was crisp and responds just as quickly as other 3D helicopters I've flown. Being such a small helicopter with only 245mm blades you have to get your collective management under control. If you try to over fly the CFX you will get yourself in trouble fast and you could lose control of the helicopter.
Don't let the small size fool you though. I was able to pull off maneuvers like walls, funnels, hurricanes, stationary flips, bunny hops, piro flips, and more. Some required more collective management than others but with practice you will see that this is a fun back yard 3D beater.
Flight times averaged around 4-5 minutes with the recommended stock 1350mAh 30C battery packs. It is recommended to set your timer at 4 minutes to prolong the life of your flight packs. The CFX is enjoyable to fly and puts my worries at ease and allows me to really relax and just have fun. The 3s batteries for the CFX range from $15-$35 so you can buy a bunch of them and fly all day without breaking the bank.
Flight Report: I've logged over 40+ flights on the Blade 300CFX in the last couple of weeks. It flies great, motor and ESC holding up fine, no death rolls or BeastX issues as seen in past 300X's. I stripped out the cyclic servo gears messing around doing inverted crop circles and threw in a set of HS-5055MG's ($18 MG servos) and those held up great in another dumb thumb crash that was my fault.
THE LAST WORDMy local hobby shop has been caring Horizon products for years and anytime I see a new Blade released my downfall is walking into the store with a wallet. I have purchased and reviewed many Blade products over the past few years. I found the 300 X to be the best all around student trainer as it is easy on the wallet when purchasing batteries and fixing it after those mishaps when just starting out. The new 300 CFX performed much better than my previous 300 X's and I enjoyed the new rigidity. I don't have patience to sit down and sim and I prefer the real thing so this is where 300 CFX fills that void for me to open up my flight envelope and try new maneuvers. The CFX fits perfect in my field bag so it will surely be at the field every time I go fly and I always welcome new pilots to hop on my wireless buddy box and take it out for a test flight.
If you are looking for a fun, entry level, reasonably priced 3D machine than I recommend giving the new 300 CFX a try. It has the ever popular BeastX installed which supplies the stability of larger helicopters, while maintaining portability and economical operation. These benefits make the 300 CFX a top choice for the weekend fliers, as well as a practice machine for the 3D pilots looking to try new maneuvers without risking their $1000 machines.
For flights videos you can see them at my YouTube channel and for more pics you can see them at my helicopter Facebook page "3D and scale R/C helicopters" folder Blade 300 CFX.
See you at the field!