Blade research, 8 brands, what's best...

[jaywhy]

I flew those helidirect `3d pros` a lot this summer and I liked them a lot! I like the price, how they fly, and I haven't had any problems with the sets I've flown.

Gonna' have to check out the Sonix I think...

[JAG1]

Originally Posted by snjbird

Well I just opened my box from good ol' Heli Direct, and took out a set of the 3D Pro blades, I'll do weights and measures after the Fun Fly, all my stuff is packed in the truck right now!

will be good to hear what you think of these blades mate? i think there good for the $$$

have fun!

[Helipsyko]

snjbird, I hope you will test the 3D 335 as well, can be very interesting compared to the TP, specially on a 4-8s bird.

[snjbird]

Wow what a cool event! The Orlando heli Blowout was very cool, in more than one way, Friday was pretty chilli for us Florida boys, and windy too! But Saturday the place warmed up and there was loads of great flying, unfortunatly not much by me, but plenty from the pros and the other talented pilots that showed up!

Well back to work on blades

I took the vitals of the Pro 3D blades

They weigh in at 23.2g
Total length 324mm
CG 160mm
Bolt hole to tip 317mm
LET 4.40mm

I did not get to fly them yet, but I mounted them on the 450SEV2, they were tight going into the grip, but a good fit, I'll try them out tomorrow and let ya know how they fly on all three machines, I was surprised they are pretty nice for 14 bucks... we'll see how they do in the air before I pass judgment!

I had a set of the Edge blades in my greedy paws at the fun fly, that and an ICE lite 50 for my pro, but my good sence must come out in the cold because I skipped them!

When I got home from the Fun Fly, I thought hey I should try some of that stuff I saw those guys doing, and crashed both my 450s, the V1 had the rotor tech blades on and they survived with out a scratch, but the Pro suffered a much more sever crash, I killed a set of Thunder Power 325s and 3 Align DS410M servos. Both crashes were really just dumb pilot moves the V1 I was doing very low side flips, I was holding station next to the pillar at the end of the driveway... and I had a choice, hit it or the grass, I hit TH as I hit the grass. The Pro I was doing some high work and turned into myself, and started down hill fast I was going to skim the grass and then pull up at the end of the yard, well I tied the low record, hit the blade in the grass and turned over

[minimalitia1]

practice makes perfect! sorry about your wrecks

cant wait to hear what you think ab the Pro 3D's. glad i brought them to your attention. the only review ive really seen on them is one guy said they break at the grip roots. that was on the helidirect website. i did crash a set and in the crash one blade broke at the root but i also crashed practicing backflips and on pavement.

they also always tracked perfect for me. once set i never touched them.

[snjbird]

Hello Freaks,

Sorry been neglecting this thread a bit as of late, bad weather, a fun fly, and the holidays?

So I tried the 3D Pro blades on my V1, fitment and looks are up to par, I have only flown them a couple of times and have not tried them on the other two helis. They track pretty well, they seem quite stiff but I was a bit surprised that they seem slower than most on roll and flip, I'll need to do more flying and try them on the other two helis to be sure, the last blades I had flown on the V1 before these blades were the sonix. so my first impression is these will make good CF blades for people who are just starting to fly CF, they are more stable but still flip better that woodies, and will be ok for higher HS than woodies. I did see a few threads that had negative comments about these blades, but they seem OK to me? I'll look for the threads and post a link if I can find them?

[Michaelinpr]

snjBird! Sorry if you already mentioned this, but what head speeds are you running on the three helis. Specifically the head speeds you used with the Sonic 325 blades. They are what I use and I want to step up the pinion for some more power. I am only using a 12 tooth on an Align 3700Kv SP and Align 35 ESC. I havent Tached the speed but the HS Calc. says just under 3000 avg. HS. Could you let me know.

Thanks. Michael

[snjbird]

I like 3300-3500 I have only been doing the HS calculations, never tacked the head. I have the 430XL 3700KV with a 13T, and the Pro motor 450M with the 14T, and a Scorpion 2221-8 3595KV with a 14T. The Scorpion will give a little higher HS than the others, but they all average 3300ish. The heli I borrowed from a friend has the -6 scorpion and it is even faster on an 11T, but I need to do more work to integrate that heli into the testing, it has gyro issues... All three have the Align ESC

[Michaelinpr]

Thanks for the reply. I think for the moment I will step up to a 13 tooth and I will get the 14 for the days I really want to get a crazy HS. I just dont seem to have the pop and stopping power that I want with the 12 tooth.

It seems fairly easy to bog the motor on this setup. Will increasing the HS help with this issue??? Sorry to post this here. It was just a follow up to my original reply.

Michael

[snjbird]

In theory, a larger pinion gives the motor less leverage, so it will be easier to bog... On your motor I like to stick with a 13T, it seems to be the best for my style of flying?

[Michaelinpr]

Thanks bird. I will try the 13 tooth.

[Helipsyko]

I got a set of 3D Pro 335 blades and did a test today, allmost lost my fingers, -11c and a little wind.
I was hoping the 3d pro blades would be ok to fly with, they are cheap, white and 335 (325mm from hole to tip).
I crash to often to feel ok buying G5 or TP once a week, even thoug G5 are my favorite blades.

As im using Vbar, I was not too worried about 3d speed, you can just tweek it as you like, and what I wanted was a precise bird with max hangtime so I can really learn/do 3d without the $$ hanging over my head.

Hang time it was, the 3D Pro 335 deliverd exact what I wanted, the feeling of flying a bigger bird was very strong, and 3d was fast and presice. Looong and smoth rainbows, very similar to the behavior of my 650, not kidding, it was my best flight in a very long time. 3300hs.
They are 25g a piece, and I used 80% of the pack in 5 min @3300hs instead of @3400hs with the Torsion 325 and a bit less with Align stock.
I just hope the root of the 335 is not the same as the 325

[CanyonThompson]

I've only tried the TP's on mine and I love them!

[ChrisH]

What'd you guys think of the Align 325D's? For stock blades on a Pro they're actually pretty crisp. Going to try some Radix cosflaws soon but for $32 they aren't bad at all!

[snjbird]

Yes the 325Ds are great blades, they are fast crisp and precise, they work well on the Pro and the V1, one of the better blades to be sure.

[Fierce]

saw your fleet the RC Heli mag. Impressive.

[snjbird]

Well the holidays are past and I can get back to some serious heli flying and research! I have a bunch of these blades that I have crashed, would you Freaks be interested in seeing the inside of them? "Read I got a new Dremil for Christmas"

[ChrisH]

Go for it! Cross sections of each blade would be great.

[snjbird]

I looked through my crash bucket and found four blades to cut up.

I had...
Align old
Align D
Sonix
Thunder Power



I peeled a TP and an Align D blade apart to show the insides... On the right you can see the Sonix they were broken right at the root so I had to hack a bit on that one



The tips all had weights... I did not have a in tacked tip of a Align D blade to cut



I'm sure most of you knew the blades had foam on the inside, I found out at my first good crash, bet you did too! The bit of wood at the root was news to me, figured they used something firm there, but never knew till today it was wood? The Align D blades you can see they used some FG in the construction, and the gel coat is thick on painted blades. I've crashed a bunch of blades and I've never found the weight in the wreckage...wonder were they go? zinging away at 200mph I'm sure!

[Helipsyko]

Thanks for all the data snjbird.
Have you noticed any difference in the mah consumption on the different blades?