A Bloody Paraplegic
Model Helicopters 2
Blade MSR - Blade 120 SR - Blade 400

I have been bouncing the little Ming Hong 383 off wall, plants and all sorts of other thing without it breaking but then I bounced it off me and broke the Main Rotor.

That was a lesson well learnt as I was downwind of it (bad move) and it came straight at me. I put my hand up to fend it off and had an numb finger for the rest of the day.

I wouldn't do this on a 'real' model Helicopter but I glued (Araldite) it back together again and it worked!

Second lesson was to tighten everything after bouncing off walls. The pin that holds the balance bar was working itself out and instead of pushing it in straight away I left it. Of course forgot to push it in before I took it out for a fly again and lost the bit.

Glue fixed it	Tail rotor motor

The balance bar is now held in place with a split pin and all is well. The whole thing vibrates a bit more but hey she still flies and I have had more than my $49.99 worth of fun so I have retired it.

Then I just had to have a Blade MSR.

Weighing in at under one ounce, the nimble Blade® mSR RTF takes ultra-micro helicopter performance to the next level. It comes from the factory completely assembled and flight tested with everything you need to get flying. At the heart of the Blade mSR’s design is a Bell-Hiller rotor head that provides the kind of speed and agility you would expect of a single-rotor heli but maintains a measure of positive stability similar to a co-axial heli. This blend of agility and stability makes it the ideal “next step” for someone moving up from a coaxial heli, such as the Blade CX3 or Blade mCX.

For single-rotor ultra-micro heli excitement you can fly almost anywhere, the Blade mSR simply can’t be beat.

Even though I had been reading about them and watched a heap of You Tube Videos I was still surprised at how small it was. I couldn't get a BNF (Bind and Fly) MSR from the local hobby shop so had to get a RDF (Ready To Fly) for AUD$235 which meant that I had to pay for a transmitter I didn't need as I used my DX6i. *Do a search for ebay shop johnhobbyword because you can get a Blade MSR BNF for AUD$194 including postage from the USA.
 

I am a dead set novice newbie as far as Helicopters go and I wondered why he bound the MSR with an Aeroplane (ACRO) select on the Transmitter. Anyway I chose the Helicopter set-up and went with that because what would he know right! Wrong.

The first prang I had was on the second battery when I bounced the MSR off a fire sprinkler on the ceiling of a big board room after which it bounced off a door and then spun into a table. I thought that was the quickest AUD$235 I had ever thrown away.

I checked the little thing out and it did look as though the main shaft was leaning to the right from behind but it still flew albeit a little awkward.

Next day was prang 2 which happened when I tried to catch it in flight but missed. The main rotor flew off along with a few other bits and pieces. I put it back together again, checked it with the little red tool thing not knowing what I was looking for and then put it away.

The Next day I flew it again but it really didn't feel right and I finished up smashing it into a table in the boardroom and the main rotor parted company again.

This time after putting it together I thought that I would re-bind it so went back to the Video above and selected the *Aeroplane (ACRO) setting. What a huge difference that made. A few little trim adjustments and I could fly the little MSR hands off. Bonus, and no prangs. *I have since found that it doesn't make any difference if you select ACRO or HELI for the Blade MSR and the fact that she hovered hands off was pure arse at that stage. Then again it is a Heli so why not put it on Heli.

Then I read a few of the comments on You Tube.

After seeing that I thought maybe I should read the book(s) that came with it which I generally don't do at the start of things but at 63 you would think that I would have learnt, but no, I still figure if it fits that's where it goes and if you have any bits left over then they weren't needed anyway. A bit like tonsils.

Then I had a real good look at my little MSR and from the back everything from and including the main gear wheel up, is leaning to the right when lined up with the top of the landing skid and battery mount and the 5-in-1 control unit. Right. Same lean but from the front. I straightened the control unit and it is a bit better.

Now I figure that may not be right but I now need to find out so I am heading to my Forum to ask a few questions.
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/index.php

A couple of answers I got to the above are:

• The msr leans to the right to counter the lean to the left at take off that all single rotor helis have because of basic physics....If you want to see another example look at the hirobo quark....The quark has modified landing gear to help it lean to the right on take off......skizziks
   
• its designed that way ; the tail rotor pushes it to the left (as seen from the tail) and it leans against that to compensate.
  In bigger rc helies the whole heli leans over but to make it eazier (especialy just after take off) they designed it into the heli with the msr......cmulder

continued Model Helicopters 3

The advantages of shopping locally as against ordering via the internet from anywhere in the World.

Apart from being able to pick up what you need on the same day IF IT IS IN STOCK there is none unless your local Hobby Shop owner is prepared to speak to you.

I am a complete newbie to Model Helicopters so I need all the help I can get. Fortunately you can get that help on the various forums.

So far I have had to purchased a Blade 400 online from a shop (over east) because they wouldn't take the order personally.

As a retired business owner I would be value adding like mad as in, would you like large fries with that?

Would you like a Battery charger?Would you like training gear?
Would you like some screw glue?
Would you like a spare battery?
Would you like a nice carry case?
Would you like our recommended simulator?
Would you like a book on flying Helicopters?
Would you like to join a club?

You can only say no!!

Then I bought a Phoenix Simulator from a shop 5 minutes away. The person who served me was minding the shop while the owner was away so we had a bit of time to chat and I left with Training gear and a pitch gauge for my Blade 400 but I talked myself into buying those bits.

Then when I went down to get my MSR the owner was there but he didn't have any time to answer a few questions that I wanted to ask as he was on the computer filling in or making out orders.

He had a real good chance of selling me a case for my Blade 400 but I really didn't think that he was interested.

Can't blame him for being busy as in business that is a good thing but there is a fine balance between personal service and just supplying a product these days.

So I bought a Team JR Australia Case from a shop in the East for AUD$99 plus $25 postage because they wanted to sell me one when I asked if they had any.

Point being that if you aren't going to get personal service then you just go where the item is the cheapest and buy online.

I have found that ZeeJay Hobby's has a good range of Blade MSR parts in stock.