Replacement Blades - What would you use?

[edmo]

Hey Freaks...

I have just noticed some damage on one of my tail rotors, how it has happened is beyond me as I haven’t crashed. It looks like the rotor is coming away at the edge of the blade... quite worrying really...

My question is... Since I have to replace the tail blades I may as well think about the blade combination and instead of just buying the same replacement Align ones maybe take the opportunity to get some Edge or V-Blades or something else.....

What blades (make and size) would you recommend?

My flying style is currently mild 3D but hoping to better this with time (currently flips, roll's loops, ugly tick-toc's :) inverted etc...)

Many Thanks,

Edmo

[Justin Pucci]

I just switched out my entire bird to Curtis Youngblood Radix products, Edmo. I'd been flying the CY tails and mains on my 500 ESP and really liked them compared to the stock Align blades.

I'm running the Radix 600's (non-stickbanger version) on the head and they're noticeably more poppy than the Stock Aligns with 5mm more in chord length. Much more floaty in autos, too...

I replaced the stock Align CF 95mm tail blades with the Radix 95's and I also switched out the Align black CF paddles with the CY Stubz 393's. I'm at about the same level of flying as you and the bird feels more responsive and a bit faster with the whole set on there. Though, I must admit that I changed them out all at the same time, so I can't specifically attribute the change in feel to any one set of blades.

I've heard a ton of good things about the Mavrikk blades too though. Good luck with it and let us know what you end up with! :)

[edmo]

Hey Justin,

Thanks for the information, did you consider going longer on either of the blades?

I recently replaced the head and tail blades on my 450 for the CY Radix and if I am completely honest I don’t know if I can feel any difference over the standard Align ones, but then again this is a much smaller machine.

Thanks,

Edmo

[Justin Pucci]

Edmo,

I can't tell the difference between one tail blade and the next other than the slight tweaks that I need to make to gyro gain when I switch them out. For me, the Radix tails are more of a bling thing... :o

That having been said, I can definitely tell the difference with the mains and the paddles. The mains add such a collective pop to the bird compared to the Align blades...it's pretty amazing, in my opinion. On the paddles, I actually like the Align black CF ones, but I can tell that the Stubz 393's feel a bit more smooth and stable in FFF. There's not a huge difference that I can tell when doing tricks, but then again I don't do all that many tricks yet... :)

[Bob O]

I just ordered some Maverick G5 Pro 600 wide chords. I'm going to swap my stock Align blades out as soon as I get them. :)

[edmo]

Hey Bob,

What made you choose the Mavrikks over other brands on the market? Have you used them before of is it based on advice form others? and are you changing the tail and paddles as well?

BTW the UPS fairy brought me some new CY tail blades today (and some 30% Optifuel and an align super starter :))

god bless online shopping

Edmo

[lepton ex123]

If I was picking some new blades I would probably go for the new SAB red devils just because they look nice,but I can't tell the difference as I don't fly any 3D yet.
Danny.

[nwmtech]

I'm currently in the stages of learning mid-level 3D I guess you could call it (tic-tocs, piro flips, hurricanes, etc.) and I flew my first set of Radix SB's last weekend. Wow, huge difference. With my "not so stellar" collective management skills I was always fighting bogging (in comparison to the older Align 600D blades) and there was an immediate improvement with the SB's. I eneded up lawn darting the heli boom first in a backwards hurricane (way too low on a windy day) and didn't even second guess ordering up another set.

[BenHeli]

Get the G5 widecord, especially the cosmetic defect ones. They are priced reasonably and the wider cord results in these blades being a bit more floatie making the transition from one move to the next a bit easier.

[ZzEther]

Get the G5 widecord, especially the cosmetic defect ones. They are priced reasonably and the wider cord results in these blades being a bit more floatie making the transition from one move to the next a bit easier.

+1 Before I went FBL I loved my G5 wide chords.

[Felt]

I had a set of G5 wide cores until I piro flipped into the ground. They have about the same pop as the Radix SBs.