Looking at The BLADE 330S in 2022 - Detailed Overview & in-depth Convo

[@jasonwhite6767]

It’s 2024 and I just bought one! It flies great. Still learning but the little 3d I know is a blast with it!

[@stevejohnston8543]

Great job. Very knowledgeable and pleasantly instructive.I’m knee deep in this for awhile now. Could definitely learn a few things from you. Cheers.

[@falconmotorsports8323]

I just picked a crashed one up on eBay for 215 shipped!! The unit itself was a few bucks more than the flight controller

[@ralphfrasier2079]

Thanks for posting! Just purchased the 330s, (on back order again). Really appreciate all the technical info. especially regarding updating the ESC and receiver firmware. Other You-tuber's have been complaining about "out of the box" issues with the BNF versions because firmware's were several revisions behind. (Tail wag and drift issues). It's been years since I was in the hobby, and wanted something 450 size with Spectrum's SAFE technology. I was on the fence on this purchase, as my old Align Trex 450 Plus has a much better build quality, and servo geometry. It still flies and is fairly stable in no wind.

[@mangzrc]

I appreciate the reply, I will post a flight video soon showing just how well my particular 330 performs, it is a great heli to re-learn on.

[@madisonmcmurray1166]

Good video !

[@mangzrc]

Bah

[@crabbiboi5528]

I am looking into this for my first avation RC. I have been into nitro and electric cars and trucks off and on for a decade or so. Would you reccomend this to someone that is new to helicopters but is knowledgeable in RC already? My wife got me a good indoor mini Chinook heli and I got the bug for a more capable machine.

[@mangzrc]

Although this is a good beginner heli, I personally would not recommend it for a few reason: The design and layout of the heli is very outdated (over 10 years old). The outdated design & servo geometry makes it harder to tune, setup & work on in my opinion. The hardware is really poor and will strip in a heart beat if you don’t use the correct JIS screwdrivers which can be more annoying than you would think. It’s not a bad model, it actually flys very well. If you are really set on getting a model around this size and is belt drive w/ a mechanical tail, I would go with the Blade Fusion 360. The 360 has a much more contemporary build with way better geometry. You’ll get an aluminum swash & main grips as well as good old Allen (hex) hardware. The 360 still runs on 3s and has SAFE and isn’t much more in price. That’s if you want a model in the 330-360mm Blade range. I would honestly recommend you go with something that has a motorized tail. Motorized tails are not as good as mechanical tails, but they have great advantages to people starting off. Motorized tails are extremely simple and require no setup, they are extremely low in parts count and a breeze to fix. They do not perform as well as mechanical over all, but someone who is just starting off will never push a motorized tail heli to its limits to where you could even tell honestly. If you crash, they are so simple and frustration-free to fix compared to a mechanical tail setup. For motorized tails I recommend looking at the Blade 150S & Blade Infusion. Other brands you could look at it include OMP & Goosky, but if your a Spektrum user and want SAFE right out of the box, stay with Blade.

[@crabbiboi5528]

@@mangzrc I really appreciate the detailed reply. This is great info. I am a spektrum user, I mostly own Arrma RC trucks. I would prefer to stick with them for now. I will do some research on the blade 150s, it sounds like it would be a great fit for myself. I didn't even know of such motorized vs mechanical tail setups. I will probably be making a trip to my local hobby shop here soon to actually see some in person.

[@mangzrc]

@@crabbiboi5528 No problem, I forgot to mention the Blade 230S, that is another great option that you should look into it. Let me know which you end up getting.

[@garyhandy8540]

I just liked and subscribed to your channel. Are you still open for questions?

[@bradharvy13]

You sound like you know what your talking bout. ! I just sent mine back do to uncontrollable pulling. Not drifting. (In safe.) Love my 450x, no need for 2. Lol. It flew great in idle up/ without safe. Again, so does my 450x. 😂. I only bought to be lazy. Safe. Hopefully it returns new and flying like my 230s in safe. Other wise, i will try to just return for the 360! I should have got it to begin with😢😢😢

[@jponz85]

How much different is this from my old blade 270?

[@mangzrc]

Is it a 270 CFX 6s?

[@jponz85]

@mangzrc no its the yellow BNF basic blade 270.

[@mangzrc]

@@jponz85 So the 270 Fusion then? The 270 Fusion and this heli will have similar performance, however in my opinion the 330 is definitely a downgrade compared to your 270. If you wanted to jump up to something larger, go for the 360 Fusion.

[@jponz85]

@mangzrc thanks for the reply, what do the numbers indicate then? I'd believe the 330 is better just cause it's newer and a higher number? Lol

[@mangzrc]

@@jponz85 The numbers indicate how large the blades are, the 330 swings 325mm blades, the 270 swings 270mm blades. The 330 is actually a very very old helicopter, it use to be called the 450. If you look up Blade 450X, it’s the exact same heli. So the 330 is actually a very outdated design compared to the 270 which is much more modern with a much better layout and servo geometry. Just because it’s a bigger certainly doesn’t make it better. The 360 Fusion is a great design and I would recommend that heli.

[@brohoop]

I’m confused-same chassis, blade length and motor as the 450x? Then why is it called the 330? You explained it and I listened but still don’t get it. Can you expound? Love your videos-very educational! Sorry I seem too dense to get this one part!

[@mangzrc]

No worries man! So back in the day, the heli’s size was labeled off of how large the motor was, now they label the size based off the length of the main blades in millimeters. The 330S has 325mm blades, so they round up and called it the 330. Another example would be the Blade Fusion 180, it has 180mm blades. The 450X still used the same length blades, they just called it the 450 back then because it has a 440 sized motor, so they round up and called it the 450. Align also still uses the old sizing system. I hope this helps!

[@brohoop]

@@mangzrc Well explained! What was throwing me off was the 325mm blades. Both use the same size blades and it drove me nuts. Thanks for taking the time to explain!

[@tlrcamp8009]

I may be wrong but I think the 330s & the 450 align are almost the same size, the align is slightly longer than the 330s but shorter in height

[@mangzrc]

@@tlrcamp8009 The T-Rex 450L swings 360mm blades so it’s a little bigger, but yes they are very close in size.

[@anneudysheredia7540]

This is a blade 400 basically.