General Main blade efficiency

treff

Active Member
Hello all. Another question I'm afraid which everyone probably knows the answer. Why are cf main blades better than say plastic ones which I am using ( when the weather improves) at the moment. Is it the stiffness or are there different sections i.e. symmetrical, semi-symmetrical, flat bottom etc. like wings? Are some blades better for hovering, more stable, for speed, inverted etc. Would appreciate any thoughts. Cheers
 

Tony

Staff member
It's the stiffness. The less flex you have, the less wasted energy. I would get rid of the plastic ones and get atleast fiberglass blades (glass fiber over there I think lol). You will notice a difference.
 

murankar

Staff member
Yeah, now two manufactures are the same. I fly with revolution blades by Horizon hobbies, they are about $36 a set for 325mm fly bared. I love them and would not think of gett anything else in its price range. Youngbloods are great but costly, align 3g blades are cheaper (not by much) than mine and I have read they are good blades too.
 

Karubah

Member
I've been buying Align 3G carbon fibre blades here in Aus for around the $20 mark. been through quite a few of them, comunication breakdown between brain and thumbs is the usual cause. cheers Andy
 

Lee

Well-Known Member
The standard blades are symmetrical in profile to give the same lift whether upright or inverted. For the scale flyers there are A symmetrical blades to give more lift at lower head speeds, and those guys aren't worried about inverted. With Flybarred helis you have the weights in the flybar which add stability to the heli. On Flybarless helis, to give more stability, the main blades are weighted in the tips to give the same effect.
As for the construction, as mentioned already, the stiffness will reduce the energy loss and give a crisper feel to the controls. The disadvantage in a crash, would be the stiffness. A lot of energy would be transfered to other parts of the head, causing more damage. When learning to hover a set of Fibre glass blades will do the job, or even a good set of Align wood blades to reduce the risks of head damage. But nothing beats the carbon blade for performance.
 

treff

Active Member
Thanks very much gentlemen for all that info. RChelp is definitely the place to come for the best of information. I am now getting to be an enlightened one. The analogy is that I am learning on a old ford pickup truck. I will move onto the Ferrari F430 at a later stage. LOL
 

Slobberdog

Well-Known Member
Yeah Graham, was looking on there earlier, they have the Align 3G for 13.50 and the 3G seconds for 10 pound something, that have slight blemishes on them, I recon they would be ok to learn with, gotta be better quality as a second than some of the cheap s**t you can get from china copies dot com

Gonna get a new set for mine if all my fixes work
 

Lee

Well-Known Member
£30 not $ Tony. But they are the ones I use from Thunder Tiger on my 600.
 

Tony

Staff member
I know, but still, that is still less than $40 USD. Bitchin price seeing as 600 blades are $80.
 

coolgabsi

Super Mod & DEAL KING!
I know, but still, that is still less than $40 USD. Bitchin price seeing as 600 blades are $80.

I have some of those .. If I am correct they say "pro 3D" on them :)

If you want ill just give you those when needed . They are 55 bucks in lhs carbon fibre.

Fly safe!! :) have fun!
 

Tony

Staff member
Gaba, hopefully I won't have to take you up on that offer, but I'm afraid I will. Seeing as you DON"T have a 600 anymore lmao. Just had to go big time on me... lol
 

coolgabsi

Super Mod & DEAL KING!
Gaba, hopefully I won't have to take you up on that offer, but I'm afraid I will. Seeing as you DON"T have a 600 anymore lmao. Just had to go big time on me... lol

I do have a 600 lol my vibe! :)

Fly safe!! :) have fun!
 

treff

Active Member
Thanks again. I have purchased a pair of Align 325 seconds and await the postman and also the weather. Its very windy and wet here at the moment so its back to building gliders. At the moment I am building quarter scale ASk18. Loads of wood and balsa so the dust is really flying (excuse the pun) Getting near the covering stage. I will post a picture soon. Cheers
 

Lee

Well-Known Member
Yeh Treff dont; hold out on us. We want to see all your gliders and the build process :)
 

treff

Active Member
My cheapo 450 is beginning to look expensive decked out with new Align main blades.............well they are seconds but to a amateur like me I cannot see anything wrong with them. Just waiting for the weather to improve to work on my 4 second hover record LOL. I have also down loaded Heli-x sim and having great fun with that although I have killed my self a number of times. LOL Does anyone know how to get it registered I have looked at their site but being an old duffer I am missing something. Probably paying for it LOL cheers
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Top Bottom