EXI Fiberglass blades

[buddha2490]

There's also these, as an option:

http://www.xheli.com/cafimablfore.html

Since the fiberglass blades have been out of stock for months, I've been faced with the choice of not crashing, crashing but flying nice blades, or experimenting... These were the experiment, I bought five pair of them about a month ago and I'm on my second set (meaning I've only used two pair, so my sample size is pretty small). Anyway, they seem to work great and are still cheaper than stock woodies. I don't know if they keep other things from breaking, probably not. But the flying i've been trying to learn lately, pretty much any unintentional landing is going to hurt.

Anyway, there were a couple other EXI dealers that sold them, I feel like I found them somewhere for $7. Good luck!

[Helibiker]

The fiberglass blades were such a good price when I found them in stock at xheli I bought 8 sets and then havent had to use any of them yet I do have a set balanced and ready though.

[qcman]

One other thing I'll say about the EXI FRP 335 blades I got that I was pleasantly surprised with is that they look great! Great finish & shine to them....The stock woodies look like a$$ compared to these blades.

I bought 4 pairs & am still on my first set. They were balanced spot on when I checked them & they tracked nicely too. I've only flown 5 batts through my 450 so far & just with the FRP blades but it handled pretty nicely with them.

I originally got these as mentioned here to minimize damage from crashes but I would fly them going forward now just because I really like them. And at $3.70 a pair it was a no-brainer.

Cam

[runtim23]

I've bought a few pairs of the 335mm exi frps and I can say they definitely do not shatter every time. In fact my feathering shaft was bent into an S and my main shaft was bent far worse than I've ever seen while crashing with cf blades. Of course if I break the woodies or cf blades, I have to replace the feathering spindle and main shaft too but it's never been bent as bad as my frp (which I don't think is the same as fiberglass) exi crash... just saying.

[Being]

Originally Posted by runtim23

I've bought a few pairs of the 335mm exi frps and I can say they definitely do not shatter every time. In fact my feathering shaft was bent into an S and my main shaft was bent far worse than I've ever seen while crashing with cf blades. Of course if I break the woodies or cf blades, I have to replace the feathering spindle and main shaft too but it's never been bent as bad as my frp (which I don't think is the same as fiberglass) exi crash... just saying.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibre-reinforced_plastic

Fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) (also fibre-reinforced polymer) is a composite material made of a polymer matrix reinforced with fibres. The fibres are usually glass, carbon, or aramid, although other fibres such as paper or wood or asbestos have been sometimes used. The polymer is usually an epoxy, vinylester or polyester thermosetting plastic, and phenol formaldehyde resins are still in use. FRPs are commonly used in the aerospace, automotive, marine, and construction industries.

Aramid is for bullet proof stuff (and the most expensive). If it was carbon they'd advertise it as such to get the cost differential.

[runtim23]

Read those before. I remember there was another thread on here where they were debating if they were the same blades or not and it wasn't all that clear. I thought the ones I have are fiberglass reinforced with a plastic coat but I don't think they are fiberglass at all now. The only reason I bought them was because the pure fiberglass were out of stock for months and I was hoping they would be better than the woodies.

[Manzooka]

I'm a big fan of my EXI 335mm FG Blades.

I certainly don't count on them to save other commonly damaged parts in a crash, but they do seem to break easier than my woodies and CF blades and there's probably something to be said for that.

The main reason I dig them is the performance/price ratio. I've never felt limited during sport or 3D with my FG blades and they're dirt cheap. The blades I've received didn't much in the way of balancing either.