default wood blades with an align 430L

[xStatiCa]

Finally decided to upgrade my power system from the HeliMax 2580kv motor and HeliMax 25A ESC (sold my xbox360). I am getting an align 430L motor (gold caps so I will need to do the mod) and a jazz 40A ESC.

How well can I expect the mx400 pro (short boom, default 275mm wood blades) to perform with a 430L? Is anyone doing any aerobatics or maybe some light 3d with the default wood blades? As long as I keep the headspeed below 2700 will I be ok using them? (Determining this is going to be tricky without a tach. Anyone have one and close to the tampa bay area ?? :).

I plan to stick to the wood blades for awhile. I am still practicing forward flight so if I crash hopefully they will break and absorb more of the crash force than with the carbon blades(Cheaper too :). Unfortunately I am still very slow at going to throttle hold during crashes(usually 2 or 3 seconds after the crash) which lets more damage happen :(.

At some point way in the future I plan to go with the long boom and get carbon blades (315 or 325) but for now I need the lower cost crashes. I want to spend my leftover money on an Eagle Tree micropower e-logger instead of upgrading to the costly longer boom stuff(carbon blades, etc). $13 to replace the main blades is very nice at this point in my learning stages.

Anyone know of some stiffer 275mm blades to replace the default blades with that would also not cost that much to keep crash costs to a minimum?

[kgfly]

$13 to replace the main blades is very nice

The Align 325 Pro blades are fantastic and only $12! Get the longer boom and move up to the Align Pro blades, you will be happy you did and you will save money too :D

[Raven_darkcloud]

I have found the align 315's are great on the 400 useing the 430l and an 11t pinion. The 13 will give good hs for 3d but Im running the 11 and plan on geting the 12t for the eco, it will fit the 3mm shaft of the motor. The stock 14t of the x400 is too much at 3550kv.

[xStatiCa]

Can the 315 blades be used on the helimax blade holders using some kind of spacers? If so where can I get the spacers(home depot?) and what size?

[Raven_darkcloud]

I moded the blades to fit the x400 plastic things. I'll show with the 315 cfs that arnt on it.

[Raven_darkcloud]

Oh ya dont forget to epoxy the wood blades after drilling. dont want them to break in flight. also you may need a longer screw for the small hole.

[xStatiCa]

So the 315 blades are not too long for the mx400 short boom then? The blades will not touch the tail rotor blades if they were to flex downward too hard? I noticed that align makes a 305 blade for the cheaper 450 but they do not seem to have a 305 pro wood blade. Also are the measurements equivelent from align and HeliMax/Ark? Is a 275 helimax blade the same length as a 305 align blade?

[Raven_darkcloud]

the align 315's are realy 305mm. Align starts at the root not the bolt hole like other blades. It gives them 10mm more by faking it.

[xStatiCa]

Yea but the default wood blades are 280mm (not 275 like I thought). It does not look like there is 25mm of clearance at the end. Looks more like 15mm to me. That is why I was thinking an align 305 (295 in helimax length) would be ok. Are you sure align 315's are not too long?

[xStatiCa]

Well. Got the 430L (11 tooth pinion) installed with a Jazz 40A ESC. I borrowed a tach from a friend and my governed headspead was at 3000 at 85% throttle. To get a governed 2600RPM I had to adjust throttle to 58%. Anything above 2640rpm was very unstable with the mx400 almost like the cyclic servos couldn't keep up or the cheap default wood blades were not able to handle the stress but I really don't know... just a guess.

I need to get a 10 or 9 tooth pinion to get the head spead down to a sane level for the default wood blades and get my throttle up to around 80% at 2600RPM

Throttle:
100 - didn't want to try it :)
90 - didn't want to try it :)
85 - 3000 RPM
80 - didn't want to try it :)
70 - 2790 RPM
60 - 2640 RPM
50 - 2430 RPM

[RayB]

It will cost you about 15 buck to upgrade to a longer boom and belt. Just use the Align boom and belt. Its cheaper than the Helimax CF boom.

Dont get me wrong. I cant complain about the Helimax CF boom. Thats what I bought initially and it lasted me a long time....until I crashed.

Helimax or Ark doesnt do the cheaper aluminum booms but Align does. Its 7.50 for the boom and 7.50 for the belt. I have a CF boom waiting to be used but for now, the aluminums do just fine.

Hope this helps,

Ray

[xStatiCa]

I did upgrade to the longer boom and modified some align 325 pro woodies to go on the mx400 pro grips. There is plenty of clearance now.

I could not get the blades to track (2550rpm) even though it flew just fine with one blade almost 1/2 to 3/4 inch higher without any wobble. Every once in awhile the tracking would get better and then go back out again. I don't know if it is caused from needing to modify the pro woodies and not getting the helimax wood blade spacers put on the align blades good enough or if the plastic head parts(aluminum hub though) just can't cope with the 325 pro woodies.

I have since dumped the heli in the pond out back of my house doing inverted hovering too low which fried the Jazz ESC :(. I plan to get the mx400 back up and running I just don't know when. It sucks that it burnt up the most expensive component. Everything else still works without issue. Not even the blades were damaged. I am trying to wait and see if I can find another Jazz used for $125 or lower like I did last time.