Axe CP blade covering

[JEB123]

Hi guys, I'm brand new here, so bear with me if I'm posting in the wrong place or something. I did see a related thread, but there was no actual reply to the question which is: Can you use Axe CP blades without the heat shrink covering? Is there any danger if you re-balance and use them as wood finish blades?
Thanks for your patience and help in advance!
jeb123

[b_haydon]

Well, I dont know for sure but Ive been told if you fly then with the covering off you can take a chance of the blades delaming and coming apart in flight, I personally dont take the chance, blades are pretty cheap compared to rebuilding the whole heli.....

[JEB123]

Thanks for your reply, you used the exact word I was concerned about, delamination. Do you really think that would happen? I mean, don't they make all wooden laminated blades, albeit, designed for that, but I wonder if anybody has tried? I tried applying the heat shrink Helimax sells after sanding and re-balancing, but it comes out pretty lousy. I hate to throw these out since they're almost perfect!
JEB

[atomicplatypus]

I can’t say for certain but it seems to me that the heat shrink covering would be too weak to retain blade splinters if there was something wrong with the wood itself. In my untested opinion I suspect you’d be just fine without the heat shrink covering however there might be something to the aerodynamic properties of the heat shrink surface vs. wood.

I’ve used these blades with frayed heat shrink on the tips due to minor tip-overs during my first hovering stages. I never ran into any problems with the wood exposed. The only concern I can suggest is the exposed wood to the elements might cause some problems. Since you’re probably not flying in the rain it’s probably a non-issue. ;)

I have seen larger blades that sport the wood look as seen here:

http://www.mfis.net/microflight/shop/product_info.php/products_id/69?osCsid=3c76405bcae8132c94458040572f5cae

[JEB123]

Aha! I have seen those blades on a friends' machine as well. That's what led me to believe I could still use them. What scares me is no bushing on the hub, and one pair that took a hit have a little play in the holes. I'm going to re-balance and try them (a little further away from my legs!). I'll let you know how it goes. This might save everyone from tossing good blades. Thanks a lot for your replies.

[JEB123]

Hey, is that your video on blade tracking andpitch gauge? I don't understand why you would want to hover at full stick, just for practice maybe? You would have a hard time getting out of trouble by using hard collective, wouldn't you?
JEB

[atomicplatypus]

Hey, is that your video on blade tracking andpitch gauge? I don't understand why you would want to hover at full stick, just for practice maybe? You would have a hard time getting out of trouble by using hard collective, wouldn't you?
JEB
The higher your head speed the more stable your heli is against wind. This is normally set in your transmitter through throttle curves. The stock AXE transmitter doesn’t have this option but if you lower your blade pitch you can set the throttle close to full. You achieve the higher head speed and the heli doesn’t fly straight up due to the lower pitch.

[JEB123]

Right right, but you decrease your max lift to a hover, no? I mean, you can't save yourself if the Axe drops suddenly like it loves to do with the stupid NiMHs I have, right? BTW, just got the Heliartist N23CP, arrived today, what a gorgeous fuse and paintjob. Hey, I'm not wastin' any time man. I'm an old plank guy, which helped immensely in learning, and I can just hover my axe fairly stable in high wind, but on RF G3.5 I can hover all 4 points and even do inverted funnels, hovers, and some inverted forward and backwards flight. I've put a few hours in! Now to buy my TRex. What's better in your opinion for scale flying and high stability, CDE or HDE? I'm considering the 450S, but can't decide on which head type. Of course I'll just hover this baby with training gear until I can FF the Axe! I'm no dummy! Thanks AP

DOhhhh!!!!
Wait, I see, you're only decreasing your rate of climb and increasing RPM, now I got it!