IonX blade size

[ScotY]

Hello,

From what I've read, 680-690s seem to be the blade of choice for the IonX. Is there any reason why 710s (I already have them) couldn't be used if the pitch range is limited a bit (say +/- 8-9 degrees)?

Trying to reason through this...load is related to pitch, rpm, and disk area. So, by that argument, if pitch was reduced, load would be reduced and all would be okay? Alternatively, for a given rpm (fixed by the gearing), tip speed would be increased with longer blades, and this would increase profile (or is it parasite?) drag.

I guess the bottom line is my brain can't wrap itself around this one and I can't quite figure out if it's going to work okay. My thoughts are 710s will work, but I guess I'm trying to determine how much of a compromise it will be.

Thoughts?

[Russ McC]

Hi Scotty’

710s could work if you plan to fly it easy, if you’re planning to work it over then 680s (SAB) have been the best we have tried so far. Your big blades create more drag even in a hover there for more heat in the motor and less duration, add pilot induced load and you create even more heat. From what I can tell 710s would be a big performance penalty and be harder on the power system. Remember this thing will not be turning 1750 like your glow model but will be turning 1940 to 1980 or better depending on the gearing this extra rpm warrants a smaller disk to keep the drag loss under control :)

[ScotY]

Hey Russ,

Thanks, that pretty much summarizes it well. I guess I was hoping someone has tried 710s without any adverse effects.

[Tabbytabb]

I have 710 Gammas on mine at the moment but also will run a 60T gear. Mine will not be fore 3d, more pattern flying.

Tabb

[Russ McC]

710 Gammas are very good and low drag, these might be great even for 3D with the 60 tooth gear but I haven’t tried it :)

[Tabbytabb]

I will let you know how it goes with the Gammas Scot, although I wont be flying mine like Russ flys his anytime soon :)

Tabb

[ScotY]

Hey Tabb,

Thanks, I'd appreciate the flight report. I guess, though, that we'll be comparing apples to oranges. :D To add to the mix, I'll be using a 50T gear. I have an older B50-16XL that I want to make use of, hence the weird gear ratio. Hope the motor holds together! :shock:

[DrScoles]

I have not tried sabs, but I did have the gammas... The new 690 vblades work very well... the new V's do not rob power like the V2's... The gammas were mushy, didnt like them...

Mike

[ScotY]

Thanks, Dr. Mike. How can one differentiate between the V2 Vblades and the newest type? Anyone flying NHP Razors?

[bob00]

Hey Scotty,

I been flying 710 MAH G1's from one of my Furys - they are not very draggy and don't load up much with reasonable collective management.

It was very windy here this weekend - 40kph+ - the MAH's don't track very well in these conditions, so I wanted to try a more neutral set of blades. I chose the NHP Razors 'cause they load up less than SAB's or V's.

They're a little gutless compared to the MAH's and need a little more pitch to get through stuff, but track and hold position MUCH better. The cyclics were also more predictable than the MAH's - trying to hold piro-flips in one spot required less work - the heli was always where you expected it to be. They didn't lock in a funnel as well as the MAH's nor did they have as much punch for tic-tocs etc., but it was VERY windy to this may not be a fair accessment. Going to keep these on for a while.

- Rob
btw: flying with the 55T gear

[ScotY]

Hey Rob,

Thanks for the info! What size NHPs are you using? I've had similar findings with NHP 600s, they fly really nice but seem to have less punch (and less loading) vs. other blades (TT 600s). Haven't, though, done a comparison with the larger blades yet.

[bob00]

The Razors are 710mm too.

Myself and the guys have been working hard on collective management for the last little while - the rule has been that if the motor bogs bad you've blown the maneouver - so flying the big blades with a tad less than 90 power in a slightly different power band hasn't proven to be a problem.

- Rob

[ScotY]

Hey Rob,

Cool, that's nice to know. I do have some 680 Razors so I may give them a try as well. To add to the mix, I'll be using an older B50-16XL motor that I had laying around with different gearing as recommended by ChrisS. Hopefully, the motor will hold together otherwise I won't have gotten off cheap. :mrgreen:

Hey, curious..."bobOO" is pronounced how?

[bob00]

:) years ago I was trying to join some other online r/c forum - tried the following names...

rob - taken
rob0 - taken
rob00 - taken
bob - taken
bob0 - taken
bob00 - free!

... so bob00 (bob-zero-zero) it was - funny how some names stick.

Be sure to let us know how the 680 Razors work out. Which sec. gear will you be using? 55T?

btw: I'm using the plastic 95mm t/r blades supplied with the kit instead of my usual 105mm NHP's - why? cause the model sits lower than the nitro Furys and the 105's were always cutting grass, so I decided to try 95's and they were the only ones I had. They may not look up to the job, but I honestly can't see any difference in performance btwn them - except they don't cut the grass as much.

[ScotY]

Hey Rob,

Cool...I thought it was pronounced "Bobo" as in Bobo (or is it Bozo) the clown. :D Just teasin', of course!

Because my motor has a lower Kv, Chris suggested and supplied a 50T gear. I think he said it would be somewhere similar to what the stock motor would be with a 54T.

My conversion kit didn't come with tail blades and I'm not sure if I have any 95s on hand. Hopefully, I can dig some up.

The frame is pretty much built. Just need to finish off the motor installation and install the radio gear, then put it all back together.

[sticknruddr]

I am debatinting between running mah g2 690 or ttr680 i have a 54 tooth gear or so Ihave been told when I bought the heli. i am running the C50-15XL motor and 5s3p batteries. Let me know your thoughts
Scotty

[ScotY]

That's a tough call...best to wait Chris comment on this one. I find the Thunder Tiger blades to be kind of draggy (very subjective opinion). I've tested the MAH Gen2 690s and liked them. I've also used NHP 680s on it in the past. Currently, running CXD 700mm tapered blades...I like those a lot. I'm not using the Hacker at the moment and have substituted the Actro 32-3 in it's place on 10s4p. I had a set of 3p packs...you definately feel the weight loss but the packs seemed noticably weaker.

[ChrisS]

I have found that blades up to 700mm work best in the Ion-X. Tapered blades seem to perform best but great performance is still to be had from SAB, V, gamma etc blades. Of the tapered blades I have tried, I think the TG "All 'round 3D's" work the best, or at least there is noticeably less blade noise from them going through manuevers. The MAH G2's are also very good. I have not tried the CXD's but need to at some time. If I am not wrong, the TT's are the same as Gammas (BBT) and should work well.

95mm on the tails is best. SAB's, V's, NHP's or the stock ones all work great.

Chris