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(More customer reviews)E-flite markets the mSR as the "next step ultra-micro heli for coaxial pilots" (taken from the mSR's box). While this is true in most ways, if you are new to this hobby or have only flown Syma s107s, AirHogs, etc. you should read on because as good as the mSR is, and it is great, there's some information you should have before investing the time and money necessary to make this bird fun. For reference I had very little experience with helicopters beyond 3ch/gyro helis like the syma s107.
First, I should clear up the concept of indoor. This heli is indoor in the sense that it can't fly well in any sort of wind. Sure, proficient pilots can fly it outside, and people modify the mSR for outdoor flight but if your proficient/modder you're not reading this review. The mSR isn't much bigger than a syma s107 and weighs about the same amount. But unlike any coaxial heli the mSR is INSANELY FAST. You almost can't appreciate how fast this thing is until you experience it. People routinely fly helis like this in gyms because you need that much room to really take advantage of the heli's capabilities. After the first few weeks of frustrating crashes I really thought I had made a mistake and was wishing I had bought the mCX2 instead. And if you are a prospective buyer you should take a minute to consider this alternate possibility. The mCX2 is much faster than a Syma 107, is four channel, etc. and it is controllable for a novice. If you aren't going to progress to the money pit known as collective pitch helicopters, or CP, this is likely what you want. This bears repeating. The mSR is incredibly fast and capable. Sure you can slow it down to the point that it can buzz around from room to room but if that's your goal, why suffer through the learning process of a single rotor heli?
This doesn't mean the mSR is totally unsuited for indoor flying. On the contrary, if you are a very good pilot and you have a programmable radio, you can tame the mSR down to the point that it is very fun to fly indoors while retaining the capability to fly like a bat out of hell when you happen upon a place with enough room to let loose. Maybe that's the value proposition of the mSR? It will take you from beginner to experienced pilot all with the same heli and a big bag of spare parts.
But what if you are just a novice with the radio that came with the RTF kit? Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the radio that comes with the kit is pretty limited. It only adds $20 to the price over the BNF so this shouldn't come as a total surprise. With a programmable radio like the Spektrum DX6i, as a beginner the mSR is much easier to learn how to fly. As an experienced pilot, the DX6i allows you to really tap the mSR's potential. A programmable radio like the DX6i allows you to slow down the mSR's flying to almost that of a coaxial and you can gradually bring up the speed as your ability develops. It allows for things like mixing and dual rates, exponential, etc. If all of these things are foreign to you, don't worry. They are not as complex as they sound. And to fly the mSR well you will eventually learn them. There's a lot of help available online, from horizon hobby, etc. Again, if all of this is unappealing consider the mCX2 who's included radio is totally suited that heli's capabilities.
I don't want to totally dissuade you from buying the mSR without a programmable radio, especially if you might invest in one down the road. Just know it is going to be frustrating and to give yourself some time to learn how to fly, it isn't easy for anybody their first time.
So now you have the mSR and a programmable radio (or not). What next? There's a help guide in pdf available from rchelicopterfun dot com for $8. You can find everything in its 77 pages by combing tens of thousands of pages of rc helicopter forums or you can make the best $8 investment in your new hobby. I have no affiliation with the site, its operator etc. I just found his guide extremely helpful. It saved me countless hours and dollars in setup and repairs. For instance, before I knew what any of the radio settings did, I just copied his easy to follow settings and went from there. It was a good basic setup for a beginner.
Tips for Beginners.
1. buy some spare parts. Specifically landing gear, tail rotors, fly bars.
2. buy a few e-flite 150mAH batteries. the included charger can charge 4 batteries. If you have 4 batteries you will always have one ready to go. it makes learning go faster if you don't have to wait for batteries to charge.
3. the 150mAH batteries come with some shrink wrap. Don't throw this away! it goes around the battery to correctly position it for center-of-gravity.
4. trimming the heli is the first thing you have to do. if it isn't trimmed you can't fly it for more than a few seconds without crashing. Unfortunately, trimming requires good technique which as a beginner you don't have. Watch some of the videos on the blade website. One in particular shows the following: spin up the rotor slowly. You'll notice the heli start to skid to the left-- this is normal. As it skids, don't lift off, pay attention to see if the nose swings left of right or stays straight. If the nose moves, trim it out, retest. Get the nose trimmed before you even take off.
5. Taking off and crashing left. As noted above the heli will skid left on take off, this is normal. if fact it will always behave cooky when it is very close to the ground because of the interaction of prop wash and the ground. I wish someone told me this simple thing when I was learning. When you take off you have to give a little right cyclic to counteract the left skid. Also, you should spin up slowly to reduce wear on the system but once you are up to speed don't be afraid to pull it off the ground with a smooth advancement of the stick. this will minimize the amount of right stick you need to counteract the ground effect.
6. More on trimming. I've read some people's heli was trimmed out of the box. They turned it on, took off and it hovered hands off from the start. Mine didn't. Not even close. I had maxed out the trim adjustment on mine and it still would drift backwards and left. If this is happening to you, to may need to adjust the ball link arms. A little bit at a time. I wasn't sure what controlled what so I just moved the stick and looked at the heli's head. I saw which arm moved when I pulled back on the stick. I popped it off and twisted to the linkage two turns to lengthen the arm. I then popped it back on tested. I wound up having to to lengthen it by three turns and now it flies perfect. if you can get an experienced pilot or a local hobby shop to help, that is preferred. Just know, barring some huge defect, if your bird doesn't fly right it is only a matter of adjustment. if you can't figure it out, find someone who can help.
hope this helps any prospective purchasers.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Blade mSR RTF
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 coaxial 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.
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