Blade SR RTF Electric Micro Heli

Comment: I impulse bought this heli while on a trip away from home for something to do. I'm proficient enough with the MSR that I if I fly it conservatively I'm in full control close to 100% of the time in any orientation, though it is no where near as precise as my MCX. So I thought for $200 I couldn't really go wrong with the SR as a logical next step.

Well, I'm not sure it was the right decision but I'm going to keep at it. I haven't crashed or really even come that close to crashing after 6 flights with training gear on. It is very challenging to keep the SR in a semi-stable hover compared to the MSR. Changing orientation is far more challenging because the skill set in a hover is about 60% different. What the MSR is to the MCX, the SR is to the MSR x 2.

The disappointing thing about the purchase is that the main roadblock to higher predictability seems to be the bumble bee electric tail rotor. If you have the copter well trimmed out, and are making no input whatsoever, the gyro is still constantly goosing the electric tail motor and it is clear that the control mechanism can't quite keep up--it isn't super precise. So the tail wags and even wonders a bit all the time, even in a hover with neutral controls. Depending on your gyro setup, the tail boom can dart unnervingly. I did manage to improve the setup by plugging in the tail gyro to the empty channel 5, for radio operated gain control. This lets you smooth the tail a bit without turning the gyro set screw between every attempt. I also put another piece of foam tape under the gyro (see youtube) and I moved the fly-bar weights all the way inward for slightly increased motor response. Oh, and I removed the seemingly useless mid-tail fin to make it a tiny bit less tail heavy. All these things have helped the copter be a little smoother and more precise.

That said, I have gotten more used to what tail slop there is, and after a few flights you can mostly ignore it and most errors cancel. But that's not the most rewarding thing either: tolerable bad behavior. But now that the heli is set up and I'm more used to it, it is starting to be a lot of fun.

I did one smart thing and bought the training gear. I would say the training gear is a requirement given how much better my SR is flying now that I have figured out the best battery position, trim and gyro settings--and it still is very difficult compared to the MSR. The first flights to set up both the heli and the radio resulted in a few wild spins and slides on the training gear, and that was being conservative to the extreme. Plus, there is no good throttle setting with the stock radio out of the box, it's either climbing or descending unless you are making repeated one-ratchet throttle changes. So keeping the SR from touching down repeatedly is not easy at all on the first flight. I would estimate a normal experienced novice like me will probably touch down by accident perhaps 20 times dialing in the first low-hover, if not more.

Seems the Blade 400 is probably a higher value way to go for the belt-driven tail alone. Price is not far enough apart to justify the SR's fundamental limitation of an electric tail. All that said, the SR is pretty cheap for what you get compared to the similar price MSR, and the radio is better than I thought it would be. 3 stars seems fair.

Comment: First this is not Toy Helicopter that you can fly the second you pull it out of the box. This Helicopter that you need put yourself with experienced trainer, or follow methodical training system for learning to fly, do not be in rush to get the bird of the ground.. If your interested in getting into the air fast, look at the Blade MSR Fixed Pitch or Blade CX2 Co-axial Helicopter, lot more stable and you can launch them from your hand.

I have to say the build quality is fantastic on this helicopter, and the stock radio is good starter transmitter, one thing if you if you want to learn with this chopper, get extra blades and at least two batteries, and the SR training gear.

I also own the MSR and few other lower cost Co-Axials, But for feel of stable larger bird this great helicopter for the money. It different thrill of spinning this bird from their smaller brothers.

Comment: This Eflite SR is not an RC Helicopter for a beginner. It is for a experienced novice who wants to move up to a single rotor 6 channel helicopter. It comes complete and ready to fly (after you charge the battery). The owner's manual is comprehensive and well written and Must be Read Twice before you fly the helicopter.

I strongly recommend an RC Flight Simulator before flying this helicopter, it will save you a lot of time and trouble by reducing your chances of crashing. You will need a very special Eflite "trainer to USB" cable and software. There is a free flight simulator available, just search for FSM Simulator.
However, I have now found that this particular Spektrum Controller/Transmitter requires a special 4 circuit plug for the trainer/simulator cable. If you use a standard mono (2 conductor) simulator or trainer cable, it appears to short out the batteries or power. There is absolutely nothing in the manual or on Eflite's website about this! I found out which cable it was by calling Horizon Hobby (Eflite), it is EFLH1059 Trainer Cord: BCX2.

The Eflite SR is a complex RC Helicopter system. You cannot just take it out of the box and expect to fly it well(unless you are quite experienced). But that said, it is an outstanding electric RC Helicopter. Well built, well designed and is supposed to have exceptional flying characteristices. And with the options to turn it into a stunt helicopter as you progress in experience level. Best of both worlds! I have looked at a lot of low priced experienced novice level RC Helicopters and this came out the best for price, performance and completeness.
I would shop around for the best price.

But I also crashed it the 2nd time I tried to fly it. It appeared that I had everything trimmed properly so I brought it about a foot off the ground. It initially appeared ok but then quickly flew sideways faster than I could correct it and hit something breaking both blades. I took it back to the Hobby Shop where I bought it. Turns out that 2 other Eflite SR owners had a similar problem! I had an Expert in RC Helicopters to attempt to fly it and determine if it was an error by me or something wrong with this Eflite SR. The expert could not get the SR to remain stable and contacted Eflite in an attempt to correct the problem but was not able to. The hobby shop owner is sending all Eflite SR helicopters back to Eflite for problem resolution. The problem is that the Gyro appears to be unstable and does not proportionally control the helicopter, instead it is on or off, making flying the SR very difficult.

So unfortunately at this time I have had to change my rating to 1 star and strongly recommend waiting until Eflite gets the problem resolved or at least answered. If anyone has successfully flown an Eflite SR, please let me know.

I got both Eflite SRs back from Horizon Hobby and they said they were ok and they test flew them with no problem. I have also seen Eflite SRs flown on U-Tube but I cannot fly either one that I have. I contacted Eflite (at Horizon Hobby) and their customer service was outstanding and very patient. But I still cannot determine if there is a problem with the Eflite SRs that I have or whether they are just too touchy for a inexperienced RC helicopter flyer to handle. I seriously crashed one of them breaking the blades again, stripping teeth off the main gear and bending the tail boom. I'm going to replace the parts myself and then find another expert to fly them or just sell them and write off the loss as cost of learning.