E-flite Blade CX2
The Blade CX2 coaxial electric rc helicopter, from E-flite, follows on from the hugely successful Blade CX, with a sleeker looking body design and the latest 2.4 GHz digital spread spectrum DSM2 radio.
Coaxial electric rc helicopters like the Blade CX2 are an ideal option for (but not limited to) the beginner rc helicopter pilot - they are extremely stable in the air and are much easier to master than a conventional single rotor / tail rotor helicopter.
In fact, quality RTF coaxial helicopters can pretty much be flown out the box, and the E-flite Blade CX2 is indeed one of these.
The Blade CX2 radio system
It's the radio control system that sets the Blade CX2 apart from the rest, but it's inevitable that more and more rc helicopters and other RTF models will use digital radio systems in the future (at the time of writing, the CX2 is the only RTF model supplied with 2.4GHz radio).
This new type of digital rc system is 2.4GHz DSM2 and uses 'spread spectrum' radio technology. It's the kind of signal transmission system used by the likes of NASA and the military. In a nutshell, the transmitter to receiver signal is digitally encoded and it is virtually impossible for anything to interfere with the unique code (1 out of over 4 billion available codes!) assigned to your particular radio system.
As soon as you turn on the tx, the 2.4GHz frequency band is scanned in a matter of seconds, and a free channel (79 available for rc use) is immediately locked onto and blocked to any other signal. That channel is then secure until you turn off the tx.
Other Blade CX2 details
The E-flite Blade CX2 comes with two 180 size motors and a 2-cell 7.4V 800mAh Li-Po battery pack, which combine to give flight times of between 10 and 15 minutes.
The supplied 2/3 cell Li-Po balancing charger is ready to connect to a 12V battery for field use, but also supplied is an AC mains adaptor for charging at home. A full charge takes about one hour so, and as always it's not a bad idea to purchase a second battery pack if you'd rather not wait on charging times.
Each Blade CX2 is test flown at the E-flite factory before being shipped out. Its stability in the air makes it a perfect beginner's choice, and there is a good range of spare parts available should the worst happen, many of which are compatible with the original Blade CX.
See the CX2 promotional video.
In summary, the E-flite Blade CX2 is without doubt one of the most attractive looking coaxial electric rc helicopters available at the current time (early 2007) and is one of the most easy to fly straight from the box.
Its Spektrum 2.4 GHz DSM2 digital radio control system will be used by all rc aircraft in the future, but the Blade CX2 is the first mass-produced RTF aircraft to do so, a very noteworthy credit indeed!
See the E-flite Blade CX2 in more detail.
Do you own or have experience with a Blade CX2? If so, let us know about it here!
Related pages
Coaxial rc helicopters - more info on how they work.
Electric rc helicopters - general overview and examples.
RC flight simulators - the safest way of learning to fly rc helicopters.
Blade mCX - E-flite's micro size coaxial rc helicopter.
Blade CX3 - scale MD 520N version.
