Blade 350QX GPS Quadcopter First Thoughts

Blade 350 QX Night Flight

We just received our first shipment of the new Blade 350 QX. It's a highly sophisticated quad and it's everything Blade has advertised and more. Here is a basic rundown of the features we like and a few that could be improved. 

The Awesome: 

• Super fun to fly and very stable. Handles great in gusty winds. Although you can't really get any good video quality when you are in turbulence because the quad shakes around too much.
• 3 flight modes (Smart, Stability, and Agility) will make any pilot from beginner to advanced thrilled and very satisifed.
• Equipped out of the box for easy night flying. 
• GPS guided stability with automatic return to home and land 
• Very high quality. 4 extra props included in the box
• Ready to fly upon arrival...just charge the battery. 
• Fantastic aerial photography platform
• GPS functions can be disabled or enabled easily.
• Generous flight times of 12-15 minutes with no camera attached.

What could be done better: 

• The camera isolator mount is very high quality and works well. However it's a bit difficult to install because the rubber isolators are hard to get through the holes, and the small wrench included is hard to get inside the recessed holes to tighten the screws. We found it was much easier with a hex driver. 
• Throttle cutoff after landing is a little awkward.  If you are flying with the DX5e you have to trim down the throttle to the point of cutoff to stop the motors. If you didn't happen to read the owner's manual before hand you might have an interesting time stopping the props.

 

You will want to make sure you have at least a DX4e or DX5e transmitter with 3 position switch (it's the switch on the bottom of the photo (not the trainer). This switch changes your flight modes even while you are flying! If you have an older version of the radio you will not be able to access all the flight modes. Any DX6 or above will work fine...even with a 2 way switch because you can program it to toggle between modes.

The Blade 350 QX is pure excitement to fly!

Shot taken during flight in gusty 20mph winds using GoPro Hero 3 camera.

We are in the process of shooting some demonstration videos and will post them here when they are done. In the meantime we have a new Facebook page setup for 350 QX Owners.

Click here to join the Blade 350 QX Owners page

Oregon Ducks DJI Phantom

One of our regular clients Russ from Eugene, Oregon sent us these photos of his customized Oregon Ducks DJI Phantom! Thanks for sharing your photos Russ!

UAV Hunting Licenses?

The Colorado town that will vote in October on a controversial ordinance to issue hunting licenses to shoot down unmanned aircraft over the town has been flooded with applications. It's prompted the town to put a whimsical spin on the plan. More than 1,000 people have sent Deer Trail Town Clerk Kim Oldfield $25 for the license, which, if legalized in a referendum by the 380 registered voters in the town of 600, would give them the right to bring down a UAV over the town. Now, some forward-thinking residents are thinking about ways the town could cash in on the law and perhaps create a festival atmosphere around it.
Oldfield told Reuters there have been proposals for a modified skeet shooting competition in which the targets are remote control model aircraft. And although the referendum, if passed, will technically give people the right to shoot at drones (at least under municipal regulations) Oldfield insists it's all in fun."Our intention is really not to allow people to shoot things out of the sky," she said. But the resident who first proposed the ordinance is sticking to his original premise that Big Brother is not welcome in Deer Trail and the intent of the law would be to keep "the surveillance society" out. Phillip Steel says he's selling his own mock licenses until the real ones come into effect and he'll keep selling them even if the referendum fails. "They can't vote me out," he said. Meanwhile the FAA continues to warn that anyone intent on giving a UAV a belly full of lead will be breaking federal laws, the type of which people go to jail for breaking. "Shooting at an unmanned aircraft could result in criminal or civil liability, just as would firing at a manned airplane," the agency said in a statement issued to Reuters.

Article Source: AvWeb Aviation News
www.avweb.com

Vaterra RC Police Camaro

The New Vaterra Rc Police California Highway Patrol Camaro will be available soon here at Red Rocket Hobbies! Police pursuit anyone?

Lay down the law with the Vaterra™ 2012 CHP® Camaro® ZL1™ sport coupe! This exciting 1/10-scale homage to the men and women of the California Highway Patrol is modeled after a 585 hp Camaro ZL1 super car. It comes ready to run with authentic CHP markings (generic police decals are also included), a working light bar, side view mirrors, a lighted push bar, chrome exhaust tips and more.

Fatal RC Helicopter Accident - New York

This accident brings home the message of safety for all of us. Some of our "Toys" really aren't toys in that respect. Our best wishes and prayers go out to the family of this young pilot who lost his life.

You can read an article about the incident here...