FBL blades on Mini Protos

[glowster21]

Hey all, I just picked up a very nice used Mini P from a member and have a question for you all. It's already set up for fbl, I have a brandy spanking new MicrobeastX just waiting to go in something, and I'm seriously considering leaving this fbl. My question is, do I really need to go to actual flybarless blades on the Mini P? I know there's all kinds of different theories out there but wanted to ask the actual Mini owners. I have a ton of flybar blades and want to get her in the air today, like I mentioned in the beginning it's already setup for fbl. What are your thoughts/opinions?
Thanks!

[JustPlaneChris]

The Mini P ships stock with SAB blades, which are not flybarless-specific. Works great! I've tried the following blades on my Mini Protos / Microbeast (comments after each):

1. Stock SAB: Work very well, nice linear feeling. Pricey, but nice blades.
2."3D": Truly awful. Vague wandering feeling, strange pitchup/down behavior at high forward flight speeds. Don't waste your money.
3. EXI Fiberglass: Better than the 3D blades, but still feel a bit wandery. OK for flybar machines and sport flying (best bargain out there, IMO)
4. EXI carbons: Quite good, actually. Shockingly low price.
5. Align 3G: I've only got a couple of flights on these, but so far I like them. Very nimble handling, but no weirdness at high speeds. Decent price.

[glowster21]

Cool thanks for the info. I'm a fan of the Maverikk G5 pro wide chords myself, love them on my other 450's and 500. Just wanted to be sure I'd be good to go with standard blades on the flybarless setup for the mini p. Looking at the shiny new micro beast is killing me, want to try her out!!!

[JustPlaneChris]

Mini Protos + Microbeast is a fantastic combo. You'll like it!

[MeekaMoMo]

Yes you cant go wrong with the Mini Protos and the BeastX,I fly mine with the Align 3G blades great combo,I am also using MKS 95cyclic servo's and have a MKS 95i on the tail,recomend to anyone.
Your's,Marty.

[exit44rc]

I couldn't bear to break a set of $45 stock blades so I started using the exi fiberglass ones a while back (refer to post number 2 for link) ... and for sport flying they are just fine. At $3 per set I am not worried about them so I can enjoy my flying a little more.

I usually do lots of inverted backward/forward, upright backward/forward, loops, flips, and a few rolls. Nothing super wild at this point but just a lot of entry level 3d / sport flying.

In addition to being good flyers they are tough and can take a few hits, particularly if you use a relatively low head speed.

[JustPlaneChris]

Yep, and if you do break a set you may be surprised to find that they aren't all fiberglass. The forward half of the blade has unidirectional carbon fiber from root to tip over the foam core, with a fiberglass layer over that. Definitely a good (and relatively unknown) bargain.

[glowster21]

Thanks for all the input guys! I too use the EXI Blades, just wanted to make sure I wouldn't see any goofy issues running regular flybar blades on the FBL head. I didn't want to mess around with any of the whole "cebter of gravity" stuff with the FBL blades.

[ziper_it]

How do you compare the EXI to the 3D Pro blades?

[JustPlaneChris]

Originally Posted by ziper_it

How do you compare the EXI to the 3D Pro blades?

The EXI carbon blades (linked in my post above) are much better than the 3D Pro blades. I've tried the 3D Pro blades on two different flybarless machines in two different sizes and (to be blunt) they suck. Don't waste your money. I literally use them to stir paint now, and for that they are perfectly acceptable.

[buzzsaw 46]

Originally Posted by JustPlaneChris

The Mini P ships stock with SAB blades, which are not flybarless-specific. Works great! I've tried the following blades on my Mini Protos / Microbeast (comments after each):

1. Stock SAB: Work very well, nice linear feeling. Pricey, but nice blades.
2."3D": Truly awful. Vague wandering feeling, strange pitchup/down behavior at high forward flight speeds. Don't waste your money.
3. EXI Fiberglass: Better than the 3D blades, but still feel a bit wandery. OK for flybar machines and sport flying (best bargain out there, IMO)
4. EXI carbons: Quite good, actually. Shockingly low price.
5. Align 3G: I've only got a couple of flights on these, but so far I like them. Very nimble handling, but no weirdness at high speeds. Decent price.

Chris,

Thanks for this post, I just put a micro rondo on my DII Elite and it had some wierdness in pitch pumps and a vague wandering hover. The BX on my Pro is dead solid. I was suspecting the micro rondo but checked the blades on both machines and the MS compsit's on the Pro are ~5g heavier and hang very close to nuetral, while the generic CF's I have on the Elite have/had a fair amount of lead. I put three layers of trim tape on the leading edge of the generics and they hang closer to nuetral now, it also moved the span wise CG towards the tips. I'm going to switch blades between them just to see what the BX feels like with more lead, and the rondo with less. Your notes may have saved me some hair pulling.

Sorry for the non-MP post.

[tacomaster]

thunder power carbons are the best 325mm blade out. try a set and you wont buy another brand of blade