500 My Next Helicopter
- Thread starter liquid1
- Start date
Smoggie
Well-Known Member
Nice heli, but a big word of caution..
The Blade 500 was discontinued a few years ago and is no longer supported with spare parts. From all that i read the main gears are a particular problem. Apparently they aren't available anywhere in the world and gears from other helis are not compatible. If you break some teeth off the main gear (which is very easy to do) your heli is a shelf ornament. The same may well go for a number of other parts which are no longer available.
Unless the heli is so cheap that you can accept that even one minor mishap likely means the heli is grounded for good, or it comes with a pile of spares, I'd advise strongly to not go there. Check out spares availability for yourself if you have doubts.
Sorry if this isn't what you wanted to hear. It's a real shame that Blade let their customers down in this way because the actual helis are ok
The Blade 500 was discontinued a few years ago and is no longer supported with spare parts. From all that i read the main gears are a particular problem. Apparently they aren't available anywhere in the world and gears from other helis are not compatible. If you break some teeth off the main gear (which is very easy to do) your heli is a shelf ornament. The same may well go for a number of other parts which are no longer available.
Unless the heli is so cheap that you can accept that even one minor mishap likely means the heli is grounded for good, or it comes with a pile of spares, I'd advise strongly to not go there. Check out spares availability for yourself if you have doubts.
Sorry if this isn't what you wanted to hear. It's a real shame that Blade let their customers down in this way because the actual helis are ok
Last edited:
liquid1
Member
Smoggie, Thanks for the heads up I’m getting the bundle with 2 spare batts for $450 is this a good price or I can get a blade 450 3D with dx6i same guy for $350 I don’t need the controller , he is a co worker and flys nitro and is building a gasser , I’m just looking to get a better grade heli than the ESKY king 3
Smoggie
Well-Known Member
In my opinion the Blade 500 is pretty much worthless if you cant get spares. Due to the nature of the hobby you will need spare parts probably sooner rather than later.
Try checking the spares situation for yourself but as i understand it critical parts like the main gear simply are not available making the heli almost unusable.
For the 450 3D.. This (like the 500 3D) is quite an old model. Flybar helis dont have much value these days. Here in the UK a guy was selling brand new boxed Blade 450 3D kits compete with DX6i transmitter and charger exactly like the one your workmate has on eBay for £75 recently (that's about $100) : Blade 450 3D | eBay. Prices in the USA are usually cheaper because you dont have the sales tax we have... so make your own conclusions.
Like I said in the last post, used RC helis is very much a buyers market.
Try checking the spares situation for yourself but as i understand it critical parts like the main gear simply are not available making the heli almost unusable.
For the 450 3D.. This (like the 500 3D) is quite an old model. Flybar helis dont have much value these days. Here in the UK a guy was selling brand new boxed Blade 450 3D kits compete with DX6i transmitter and charger exactly like the one your workmate has on eBay for £75 recently (that's about $100) : Blade 450 3D | eBay. Prices in the USA are usually cheaper because you dont have the sales tax we have... so make your own conclusions.
Like I said in the last post, used RC helis is very much a buyers market.
liquid1
Member
Smoggie, Thanks wow ide scarf up a blade 450 3D for $100 in a second I have not seen many good deals like this in the states. I’m wanting to go bigger , my dad has a 80 acre field I can fly in. The heli shops have become drone shops, not much heli stuff around me closest good hobby shop is 1 hour away but it’s worth the drive andersonrc . Guess I just need to concentrate on getting the ESKY king 3 dialed in it’s a pretty shelf heli with the anodized tail and landing gear just gotta get the mix right. I’ll use Tony’s vids . Thanks for the info.