Back in 2010 Blade came out with one of the most revolutionary RC helicopters of all times: the mCPX.
It was a genius product, which offered collective pitch capabilities to an economic and micro size.
Suddenly everyone was able to learn to fly CP helicopters, up to 3D moves, down at the local park, their backyard, or even their garage.
Quickly an mCPX V2 followed, and people went mad because WE WANTED MORE! Many of us converted their mCPX to Brushless, and so did I !
Blade came out with the Blade mCPX BL, which had a brushless main motor and a brushed tail. This instalment had some success, but the tail kept blowing out because it was not powerful enough to contrast the main motor.
The years passed and Blade started developing the Nano family, the most recent one being the S2, and a plethora of other helicopters ranging from small to quite large, and the micro family was somehow left behind.
In 2019 the RC forums started to buzz because something was about to be announced, people started to rumour it could have been the long awaited fully BL mCPX...really?!
And it was! Let's see what all this is about
Cheat sheet
• Price for BNF basic version: $199,99 - 199€
• AS3X Flybarless system
• Brushless main and tail motors
• Linear servos
• Full Telemetry
• Weight: 62g (2,2oz)
• Recommended batteries : 2S 280 mAh with PH connector
It was a genius product, which offered collective pitch capabilities to an economic and micro size.
Suddenly everyone was able to learn to fly CP helicopters, up to 3D moves, down at the local park, their backyard, or even their garage.
Quickly an mCPX V2 followed, and people went mad because WE WANTED MORE! Many of us converted their mCPX to Brushless, and so did I !
Blade came out with the Blade mCPX BL, which had a brushless main motor and a brushed tail. This instalment had some success, but the tail kept blowing out because it was not powerful enough to contrast the main motor.
The years passed and Blade started developing the Nano family, the most recent one being the S2, and a plethora of other helicopters ranging from small to quite large, and the micro family was somehow left behind.
In 2019 the RC forums started to buzz because something was about to be announced, people started to rumour it could have been the long awaited fully BL mCPX...really?!
And it was! Let's see what all this is about
Cheat sheet
• Price for BNF basic version: $199,99 - 199€
• AS3X Flybarless system
• Brushless main and tail motors
• Linear servos
• Full Telemetry
• Weight: 62g (2,2oz)
• Recommended batteries : 2S 280 mAh with PH connector
The Blade mCPx BL 2 comes with a more powerful flybarless system compared to its smaller brother, the Blade Nano S2: it allows the pilot to select one of the usual three flight modes:
• Stability, which basically turns the mCPX into a slowed down fixed pitch helicopter;
• Agility, which allows more cyclic movement, and full control of the pitch;• Stunt, which turns the helicopter into a real 3D machine.
In addition to this, one can also configure multiple head speeds, to tame down the mCPX while performing 3D manouvers.
This improved board can also transmit full telemetry to your radio, assuming you have one of the latest iterations. My 1st gen DX8, for example, can take advantage of all the flight modes, but I do not have the full telemetry read out. This feature is quite interesting, as you can have a feedback on
• Flight battery voltage
• Current
• Temperature
• Power output
• Motor RPM
For an helicopter this size and price range, I really think this is impressive.
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| The electronics of the Blade mCPX BL 2 |
The real advantage of this helicopter comes from its dual brushless power system: the main is a 6700kv motor, and the tail is pushed by a 7700kv motor.
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| Front and rear views of the brushless tail motor. A real design feat. |
This new iteration of the Blade mCPX comes designed to fly on 2S batteries, therefore much more power is delivered to the rotors. The frame is not so different from any other micro Blade helicopter, but the landing gear has a wider stance than usual, and it has a beefier feeling to it.
For some reasons it seems that when HH designed it, they got the stock batteries wrong, because the battery floats in the skids and need some contraption to stay snug. Of course many aftermarket batteries are available, and they are much better in terms of performance and fit.
Most pilots use T-rex150 batteries, which works pretty well on the mCPX BL2.
The tail boom is bigger as well, probably to counteract the increased BL tail motor power, but still it is a carbon hollow tube, which will break in a hard backward crash. In time I am pretty sure you will want to upgrade to a solid rod, you can read how here.
The colours of the canopy and tail fin are in the same lines of the Nano S2, and I still really like them. For some reasons the canopy looks "fatter" than the other Blade helicopters, but it makes the mCPX look like a bigger helicopter.
Conclusions
This new mCPX really is a step further from the old BL version: the multiple flight modes offer a wide envelope of possibilities, from advanced pilots to experts.
I probably wouldn't recommend the mCPX BL 2 to a total beginner, it really has lots of power, and even in Agility mode it is a handful to manage. It is quite small, so if you are starting out make sure to pick a large area: it will get small fast!
The tail feels quite locked in, and the cyclic servos are really precise, so once you manage to graduate to advanced moves, the mCPX BL V2 will allow you to train on a relatively cheap platform, in your backyard and to progress quickly.
That's it folks! I'm going out flying! Happy landings and stay safe!
