SAB 430mm Blades- I like them!

[docjoe]

These days the Align 425mm CF blades are scarce. I kept telling people to consider the SAB 430mm blades but didn't have any flying experience with them. I did have experience with MAH 425mm blades and didn't like the pairs that I had. So I bit the bullet and ordered a pair of the 3d (black/grey/white) blades from GrandRC. I put them on last night and got 3 flights with them today. It was windy today but I was able to do most of my 3D moves. These seem to have more pop and are stiffer than the Align blades. They also seem to auto a little better. However, the cyclic is slightly less aggressive. It was still aggressive but not as aggressive, i'd say, than the Align blades. That said, I think I like them. Because they're a little longer and stiffer than the Align blades, they're a little more stable and seem to be responsive as well.

I give it a thumbs up! If you're looking for replacement blades, I'd recommend these.

Here's a picture of them next to the Align 425mm blades.

http://helifreak.com/picture.php?albumid=401&pictureid=2985

[epl]

Hi Joe, Just finishing getting my 500 back together and the only blades I could get were the Mah 425. Way did you not like them ?

[docjoe]

I am not sure if I got an old pair of MAH blades (actually 2 sets). But when I put them on my TRex 500 (and my Lepton), the MAH blades would bog the head when doing some aggressive 3D. I basically flew them back to back against the Align blades and the Align blades suffered no head bogging. I used to think my Lepton was a POS but since changing the blades from MAH to Align, the Lepton has been one of my favorite helis to fly. If you're doing sport flying, you'll be happy with the MAHs because they're stable and they auto well. If you're doing 3D, I hope you don't run into the same problem as I did. MRC said they were going to send me a new pair of MAH blades to try if I sent them my old pair. I am awaiting the new blades.

[epl]

Thanks Joe we,ll see how the Mah do this weekend. They should be ok for me , just sport flying nothing fancy.

[Ultraviolet]

Thanks for the flight report Joe. With any luck I will be flying mine tommorrow.

They do look like nice blades. Very stiff indeed.

[docjoe]

Thanks for the flight report Joe. With any luck I will be flying mine tommorrow.

They do look like nice blades. Very stiff indeed.

Let me know how your flight goes! I may keep these blades on my heli for a while.

[pootman]

what's the difference between the SABs that are gray and the ones that are blue? (I have a pair of SAB 430s that are blue but have yet to fly them).

pootman

[docjoe]

You know, they don't have the gray/black ones on their web site any more. I know it's very confusing as to which one is which. All I know is that on my box it says FAI/3D and the weight is 60gm. There was a topic on the Lepton forum but it was kind of ambiguous as to which was which.

[Eduardo]

Indeed in the SAB website the blue ones are not as before. i.e. before the were placed close to the grey ones and the description was the same except that the blue ones were marked for hard 3D.

Looking at the website today, I saw the blue ones again in another area but they say nothing like before. If you look to the description it says exactly the same for both blades and most important is that they bear the same reference (0355N). For that reason, I tend to think that the blue and the grey ones are identical. My opinion was different before and certainly laid by the description that stated the blue ones were for HARD 3D FLIGHT.

http://www.sab-compositi.it/english/indexnews.htm

I've used the blue and white ones and I kind of like them, but I just do very soft flying.

Eduardo