MAIDEN BABY!!!

[alienteabagger]

Well.... I finally let Tiny off the ground. Got her up to about 4-5 feet and slid to the left, right, back, and forth (all while tail-in). I find her to be quite nose-heavy. I am going to leave the engine running really rich n slobbery because I have read that these Thunder Tiger engines can be very finicky up until at least a few tanks are run through them.

Question time!!!!
My main blades are some woodies covered in some kind of clear plastic film. What is the max headspeed these are rated for?
Is a stock TT .50 engine (running rich) capable of exceeding the max headspeed limit of these blades?
If the clear film that wraps the blades tears or is removed, are the blades useless?

Thats it for now.










p.s. I'm stoked!

[archiebald]

Question time!!!!
My main blades are some woodies covered in some kind of clear plastic film. What is the max headspeed these are rated for?
Is a stock TT .50 engine (running rich) capable of exceeding the max headspeed limit of these blades?
If the clear film that wraps the blades tears or is removed, are the blades useless?



Congrats,

Thunder Tiger manual states that 600mm woodies should not exceed 1700 rpm, and that is assuming that the plastic blade reinforcing roots have been epoxied on correctly by removing some of the film.
Yes - easily, it really depends what collective pitch you have set. If your hover pitch is at around 4.5 degrees then you are probably hovering at about 1600~1650rpm.
If the film tears, it can be replaced. You can buy it from some model shops but personally I would put a pair of glass fiber blades on as a bare minimum, or treat yourself to some carbons ASAP.


BTW, when you said the heli was nose heavy, are you sure? Was it just the pitch (elevator) trim?

Best way to check the CG is to pick up the heli by the blade holders and roll it 90deg onto its side.

[alienteabagger]

Can I use the blades without that clear film covering?

[Skarn]

Nice job bro, it's a great feeling to see the large heli up and the smoke and the sound.....

Skarn

[archiebald]

Can I use the blades without that clear film covering?

Nitro residue will soak into them = a bad thing.

Some people use varnish to seal them.

Waste of time IMHO. Go for glass fiber or carbon, you won't be so limited on head speed as well.

[vandelescrow]

When you balance your heli as mentioned in a previous post. Do so with a full tank of fuel. Helis with the fuel tank in front (not raptor) are tested empty. The reason for this is so as you use fuel, the heli gains slight nose heavy and is supposed to aid in orientation (when the heli uses fuel, starts to get nose heavy, it will naturally want to go into forward flight).

I used woods while learning how to hover, one time the covering came loose in flight and the sound made me think something was wrong with the heli. I landed, checked everything, nothing wrong, lifted back into the air. Again, weird sound. It took a while to find the slight slit in the leading edge of the covering, man was I relived that’s all it was. Another person I fly with, when his covering came loose it made a loud pop and scared the @#$% out of him. I can see how a crash can be the result. Not by the covering coming loose, but by the pilots reaction.

The reason people use wood for beginning is they are cheaper to replace and when you are first learning the chances of a crash are a lot higher. It’s up to you when you want to put more expensive blades on, just remember, in a crash they are almost always damaged.

[archiebald]

Here in Japan very few, if any people use wood blades that I have seen. For 600mm we have three main choices,

Wood - about JPY2,500
Glass fiber - about JPY3,000~4,000
Carbon - about JPY4,800 up to 7,000~8,000

For the small cost difference between wood and glass, it is just not worth the hassle and safety risk of wood IMO - even for a beginner.

But, I heard before that glass blades may not be freely available in the US. Is that correct?

[alienteabagger]

Nitro residue will soak into them = a bad thing.

Some people use varnish to seal them.

Waste of time IMHO. Go for glass fiber or carbon, you won't be so limited on head speed as well.

So could I go to Home Depot and get a wood sealer like Thompsons water seal and give the woodies a light coat?? But then that would add unnecessary weight to the rotors...

Is it possible to use monokote to redo the film?

[archiebald]

So could I go to Home Depot and get a wood sealer like Thompsons water seal and give the woodies a light coat?? But then that would add unnecessary weight to the rotors...

Is it possible to use monokote to redo the film?
I have no idea what varnish / sealer might work, never done it and never intend to. But if you look around on some of the forums you might find someone that can advise.

I don't think monokote would last more than a flight or two if you are lucky. The original shrink film is much heavier and stronger.

[forjer]

Did I miss something? Why do you want to replace the factory covering with varnish or something else? The factory stuff works well if after you glue the blade roots on you hit the covering lightly with the heat gun to shrink the covering tight. Be careful not to burn a hole in it though. If that happens, throw a piece of clear packing tape over it and continue just around the leading edge. Then balance.

[alienteabagger]

Did I miss something? Why do you want to replace the factory covering with varnish or something else? The factory stuff works well if after you glue the blade roots on you hit the covering lightly with the heat gun to shrink the covering tight. Be careful not to burn a hole in it though. If that happens, throw a piece of clear packing tape over it and continue just around the leading edge. Then balance.


Because she who should be obeyed was trying to help me with the heli, well to make a long story short, she tore a half inch strip of the covering right off the the tip of the rotor :arggg:

[vandelescrow]

for the amount of time you will be using woods, I'd just use some CA to seal the end and rebalance the blades.

[forjer]

Because she who should be obeyed was trying to help me with the heli, well to make a long story short, she tore a half inch strip of the covering right off the the tip of the rotor :arggg:
And you can't even get mad at her either. :roll:

Use the clear packing tape. I melted a hole in the covering on a set and just slapped a piece of tape on (wrapping over the leading edge as well), a quick re-balance and all was good.

[alienteabagger]

And you can't even get mad at her either. :roll:

Use the clear packing tape. I melted a hole in the covering on a set and just slapped a piece of tape on (wrapping over the leading edge as well), a quick re-balance and all was good.


Worked like a charm!!! I covered the exposed part with clear tape and then got out her hair blower and re-shrank all the covering. Nice n smooth, and got them super well balanced! Took it up and she hovered perfectly!!

I'm considering getting some white or yellow monokote to cover the tips of the blades. Just because.

BTW the nose heavy attitude was a trim issue.

[forjer]

I tried some yellow self-adhesive mono-kote-type trim on the bottom tips of a set of blades with some reflective, hologram sticker on the top tips. I really didn't notice the yellow on the bottom...maybe it wasn't wide enough or maybe it should have been several narrower strips. The hologram sticker was extremely visible when the disk banked in a turn. Very cool. Since I upconverted to a 50, I only did the hologram on the top.

[Raven_darkcloud]

Dude get some frps from helidirect. http://www.helidirect.com/product_info.php?cPath=117_120_558&products_id=2559
They are out of stock at the moment but I think they will have more soon. And hay 39.99 is good price. They may not fly like radix but will be better then woodies. Helimax carbons are nice price too, I think around 53. Oh and thats one freaky avatar dude. LOL

[alienteabagger]

Helimax carbons are nice price too, I think around 53.

Do you mean the Helimax carbons for the Kinetic 50?


Oh and thats one freaky avatar dude. LOL

Heh heh... gotta be different :YeaBaby:

[Raven_darkcloud]

Do you mean the Helimax carbons for the Kinetic 50?

No About $53. must not have goten the key hard enough.