It looks good, but the motor driven tail scares me a bit. They are not saying anything about performance, more about training. Anyway I'm happy they add rescue/panic . I think that helps to cut the crashes a lot

 

Well, the 230S was just released today I believe.... It may be a few weeks if not sooner before we see any reviews on it. The "safe" feature is becoming more common on new models and is the reason I was considering the Ares 300cp, but there again, a new model with not much information on it as of yet.

 

Hey @Beaver, here is the official video!

From the video it looks to be quite capable. Providing its a bit crashable.... and the servos are good... and its not too complicated..(so many per-requisites) it could be a winner! If you go down that path of buying one of these you might have to create one of your custom canopies. Blade must make a fortune out of those small plastic shells..

 

AS3X for helis did not have piro compensation. Did they fix this?

Better option is Vbar clone for micro helis.

I do prefer Oblivion 300+ but building one is much more complicated than getting RTF or BNF Blade.

Plastic swash plate looks weak... alu upgrades will appear soon.

So Blade has 180 CFX l, 200 SR X, 230, 300 CFX. What is next? 190 or 290?

 

I believe they added piro-comp with the 180cfx. There are already aluminum parts available through HH. A kit would be nice, but somewhat pointless... Not many parts there to work with. @smakmeharder , I will be experimenting with fiberglass soon.

 

This helicopter would be really good for learning. What do you think? I struggle doing basic figure 8s

 

If you can learn to fly with little pain on a CP heli, then it would be outstanding . You just skip the fixed pitch and coaxial machines and go straight to hell!

 

Well I saw the Oblivion 300+ web site, and yes It's a helluva machine, no doubt it outperforms this 230s, a TRex 250, B300X, even a B300CFX. But the fact that you need to buy parts from different brands, even print in 3D some others and built them is far more complicated even than buying a TRex Kit (or a HK), so I believe that the 230s is a better choice for beginners and light 3D pilots. But I must say that I'm feeling tempted to engage in the Oblivion project. And yes the AS3X now has pirouette compensation, it's very nice, but still I prefer to setup traditional FBL units, I replaced my 180CFX stock FBL with micro Ikon and now I can have bailout. But it was a nice unit.

 

The "bailout" button is what intrigued me about the Ares 300cp and is even has an automatic "invert" switch to get it flying inverted. 6 axis stabilization and all that.
And now here's the 230s. I wanted a heli with belt or shaft drive tail next, but oh well. With a 230s, I will be able to get parts at a LHS, you can bet Lynx, Rakon, and Microheli will have upgrade parts soon enough, and HH has very good product support and service. Those are 3 good reasons for me to consider the 230s instead of an Ares 300cp. I have never heard of Ares or Firelands until recently, and it seems not many have either. So all things considered, I will inevitably have to go with a 230s. Now, I wait for the reviews to come out once people actually get their hands on and get to fly the helis.

 

Yes inverted button sounds horrible to me, but the self level looks good.. And I was looking on Amazon: nothing, on EBay: 1 Aussie seller so if you crash you'll place the Ares in a shelve for good. So 230s may fit the purpose. The cheap TX of the RTF version is interesting, cause you can set up DR and EXPO from a PC, so being very cheap it can do a bit more than previous non computer TX. Anyway if I buy it I would go BNF since I have a DX8.

 

There is a brand new FBL unit with rescue, French made called Neuron. It has self level plus positive pitch for rescue and is 150 US$. It could fit anywhere cause is small. It can be used for planes, Helis and multi-rotors. Could be another option to train . But yes, for initial training B230s looks good and is for preorders already.

 

Right, I've seen the Neuron in a post here several months ago. Since I don't currently own a heli with modular Rx/FBL, I can't use one. I also need a 6+ channel TX, so there again- another reason for me to get a 230s RTF combo. From there I can eventually get a real heli kit and do a real build.

 

They haven't published anything about the DXe radio other than what it says in the 230s page, so I don't know how could this radio work with other FBL. If you can push a little bit more I would suggest to buy the DX6 and you'll be prepared to fly more models without problems. Anyway the DXe is just $50 if you compare the BNF and the RTF. Usually those non computer radios don't have timers so for me is risky unless you use a chrono or a cheap lipo alarm that starts to beep at 3.8 volts/cell. Anyway my friend make your maths stretch your bucks and jump! It's worth : )

 

Omg! I caught myself already plotting on 4-blade head for this thing. (Rakon 200srx 4-blade head and 300x/cfx 4-ball swash) Rakon is already starting to list 230S parts that are used in common on other models.

 

Be careful re the neuron. Smaller helis are much harder on gyros in general. IE the feedback mechnaism has to be faster and more precise. The neuron may be ok... but I am only making the statement in a general sense.

 

It has size option for 180 through 700. Being 149$ I could try it for my 450 first which I like for new moves and it have rescue with +pitch. Otherwise I'll try Spirit FBL. cause Microbeast and Neo are way more expensive.

 

It will be interesting to see if they have upgraded the firmware for AS3x. They added piro-comp on the 180cfx.

 

I couldn't help myself from sending Rakon an inquiry as to whether or not they had any plans to offer a 3,4, or 5 blade head kit for the 230s. As I stated to them, it would only be a matter of using the correct head, grips, links and a 300x swash plate with the appropriate center hub with 3,4,or 5 balls for the links. Since they already have most of the parts already in inventory, it should require minimal effort on their part. They offer these multi-blade kits for the 200SRx, and the 230s uses the same main motor, it should have enough power... maybe a smaller pinion/larger main gear would be required, but Rakon has those too!

 

That was quick! No specifics, just "Thank you for contacting us and suggestion.We'll develop full upgrade for the Blade 230s in the future."