Blade mSR RTF Electric Micro Helicopter

i just get myself a blade MSR RTF and this little helcopter is very well
made. I have to say that i'd own a blade 400, a walkera fixed pitch
and a esky coaxial helicopter and this little MSR is almost
as stable in the air than a coaxial heli. So for thoses who never flown
a helicopter before, dont spend money on a coaxial helicopter and
get the msr. It also very durable, i hit the wall and the furnitures
many times and never broke anything (still flying strong). the kit
include 2 little lipo battery that give around 6-8 minutes of flight
time (each battery) and it take about half an hours to charge with the included
charger. I think this is one of the best helicopter to learn flying
because it is very, very durable and the fact that the helicopter is so small dont make it intimidating (like a blade 400 or bigger helicopter).
so you learn flying a r/c helicopter much faster than on a big
expensive to repair helicopter.

This review is actually for the bind-n-fly version of the Blade mSR. I can't find the bind-n-fly mSR on this site, so I'm putting my review here instead. I'm using the Spektrum DX6i transmitter to fly the bind-n-fly Blade mSR. I'm keeping this review down to nothing but facts.

I have a few hours flying time on my Blade mSR. Already, it looks like have either a burned-out main motor or something controlling the main motor. Main motors are around $10.00. When the tail motor gets around to burning out, that will be around $15.00.

The trim on the mSR changes during flight. Although the mSR is advertised as being stable, this is only partially true, according to my experience. My mSR oscillates during flight. To me, oscillations are the exact *opposite* of stability. If you hold he stick forward, the heli flies forward and then pauses and then continues forward. You could say that the heli "crawls" through the air like a caterpillar (I have a Blade mCX that does exactly the same thing). When you let up on the stick, the mSR will stop or maybe even fly backward. If it flies backward, then it will start oscillating backward and forward. Other oscillations, such as from side to side, or maybe even in circles, can happen too. It's hard to stop the oscillations. These oscillations were *not* from the rotor head or flybar sticking. I checked all of that.

After carefully reading the manual, I checked all the mechanics on the mSR under a reading lamp. Some of the trouble was pretty obvious. There is a lot of "slop" in the linkages and fittings. For instance, there is a hole in the flybar that allows the flybar to fit over the main shaft. There is "slop" between this hole in the flybar and the main shaft. All the other linkages and connections have "slop" in them, too. I was able to wobble the flybar while holding the rotor head and main rotor blades still. Since the flybar is the stabilizing mechanism, this alone would explain the oscillations. In other words, the heli has to change positions considerably before the flybar even becomes effective. Those change in positions are the cause of the oscillations. The only stability that the mSR has is that it stays right side up with the the joysticks neutral.

I bought 4 extra batteries with the mSR. And using all 6 batteries, I still had one E-Flite 120 mah battery wear out quickly. I could only get 5 minutes of flying out of it before low voltage cutoff. Also, the Celectra charger that came with the mSR bind-n-fly was bad. Port #2 on the charger would not shut off. This might be the reason, or part of the reason, that I lost one E-Flite battery early on. A port on the charger that won't shut off is going to overcharge batteries.

This is only a small part of my bad experiences with E-Flite. Previously, I had bought an E-Flite Blade 400 RTF. The 1800 mah battery that came with the Blade 400 went bad quickly. The battery charger showed one bad cell. The battery would not charge. The battery had the exact voltage that you would expect from two perfect cells. The battery was not swollen.

The main rotor blades on the Blade 400 were severely out-of-track about 3/4", right out of the box! I also noticed that the plastic covering on the main rotor blades was loose! I've read a lot of other people's reviews that pointed out these same problems. I found it very hard to believe that this heli had been test flown before being sold! While I was testing the blade tracking, the heli barely lifted off and hit a sofa. That basically "totalled" the heli. Here is a partial list of parts that were destroyed on the Blade 400 when it hit the sofa:

2 servos
main shaft
feathering shaft
main gear
tail boom
tail boom support

This is not the extent of my probems with E-Flite. One of the trim levers broke inside on my Spektrum DX6i transmitter. This was after about 1 hour of use on the transmitter. I was flying an E-Flite Blade mCX indoors when the trim lever broke. I did some research on this and found that there were people complaining about trim levers breaking on the DX6i transmitters clear back in 2005.

I was thinking about fixing up my Blade 400 just to sell it, but it's probably going to be almost impossible to get much out of it compared to what has gone into it. I actually considered taking it to the dumpster! I lost countless hours on the phone and internet researching these problems. The stress and time lost were much more serious losses than the financial losses. I'm also saying this as a person who isn't rich.

Before I forget, one time it was going to take a *month* just to get parts for the Blade mCX heli. And this is supposed to be one of the most popular E-Flite helis! To me, what all of this seems to add up to is junk products being imported from China and sold at an extreme markup.

Let's face it folks: For the price of a bind-n-fly mSR heli, you could buy a precision Swiss watch. And what you are acually getting is a one ounce pile of far-overpriced sloppy-fitting parts and some motors that have a very short life. All the small brushed electric motors that I used to work on could be taken apart and the brushes and commutators cleaned. Example: servo motors years ago. But the motors in the mSR are cheap expensive "throw aways."

My goal is to get rid of all my E-Flite stuff and never go back to it. If I'm lucky, I'll get my stuff sold. I'm checking out better products now.

I bought the mSR as my first RC heli. After flying about 10 flights I am completely addicted. I am starting to understand how to make it hover. I like that it is a little bit of a challenge compared to co-axial models. I run it down in my den and fly during commercials on TV. Winter will be much more fun this year flying my mSR.

being a big fan of helis but a non fan of fixed pitch and ready built i took a chance on blades mcpx bind and fly ,and wow if you really want some helicopter fun with stability ,you cant even tell that it is helping you stay stable (the helicopter not you) and if you have any desire to go inverted (upside down) the mcpx is there for you.i have told every one i know it is the best bang for your hobby buck ever

I love this little guy! Talk about durable! I have planted mine and my fathers a plethora of times and have only replaced the landing gear. Great for indoors going into the winter months. Cant handle wind at all. But this thing hauls the mail when you get a nice day and open air.

Amazingly stable helicopter, and extremely durable. This is by far the best heli for training and flying indoors. The first day I got mine I flew through 30 battery packs with ease. Get one and you won't be sorry. The only issue to be careful about is to be gentle and use tools when mechanically trimming your heli the ball joints are quite soft and can come off very easily.

Very stable and durable micro. Would buy another in a heartbeat!

Amazingly stable and easy to hover! This one is a perfect indoor flyer that does well even in a small living room (if you can resist the urge to see what it can really do!) Inside an aircraft hanger with lots of "breeze free" airspace it is incredibly fast and I've even looped it! So far the only damage after a few hard impact has been a set of torn-apart blade holders - an easy fix!

I really like the Blade mSR. I've only flown it a half dozen times or so ,after setting the trim its very stable . After hitting walls and furniture it came out ok with only a broken skid [a $4 part]. Very fast controls compared to the coaxel I've been flying. Outside it doesn't take much wind to push it around, after all it only weighs one oz. All in all a very fun and fast little heli.

To begin this is my first Rc heli. all an all its a decent heli but for starters it is very hard to fly. i cant seem to adjust the trim enough for the tail rotor motor always wants to spin to the right and i have the trim adjusted all the way over. and reseting the radio seems to help but you need to make sure nothing gets caught in it like hair or cobwebs. after awhile you need to change the tail rotor blade after crashing so that it has more pull.i have notice that calibrating it while it is hovering and just praticing using the ground that the trim setting change once you try to take off higher. example i am practicing on the ground and the trims are at the best they can be set to. once i am confident that the setting are correct i try to take off in the open and the i have to adjust instantly i am in the air it normally wants to roll or pitch backwards if thats what the terms are? (sorry). but i wish i could adjust the the rear tail rotor more i cant get it to were i want it in the air i have to compensate with the joy stick because i cant adjust the trim anymore. idk maybe i had my hopes up to high. and this is what you get. oh well. as long as you have a decent size room with a smooth floor you should be able to learn how to fly it like i did. beware if this is your first get a bigger heli or a coaxle. this is a good mini heli but it is hard to adjust and can be frustrating for a first timer.