rcollector

I have had my axe since November and had very little trouble with it. Just about a week ago I noticed I was loosing power so I replaced the main motor and It flies like new again. I am still on the same tail motor which is surprising considering that they are not supposed to last all that long.
My question is: Has anyone had any luck replacing the main motor with something a little better? A motor with ball bearings would be nice. I am afraid to try this because I do not know how to tell what other better motors might be comparable to the stock axe motor and I don't want to accidentally overload the 3 in 1 . I know I could go brushless but I was wondering If anyone has upgraded with a better brush type motor.

My other question is about main rotor blades. I would like to find some plastic blades that are symetrical. I like how it flies best with the stock wooden blades but they are not very durable. I have the flat bottom jcs plast- blades and these work pretty good too but I still like how the stock blades work better. I have a set of the plastic symetrical blades that heli direct sells but I can't hardly control my axe at all with these on it. I don't know if something needs to be adjusted to work better with these blades or what.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Shadow99

I had used the symetrical plastics blades from HD for quite a few months, and I found that each set of blades is slightly different in how they flew. You SHOULD balance each set of blades & ADJUST the blade tracking for EACH set when you install them. Blade tracking can drastically effect the way a small heli like the AXE CP behaves in the air. I use two different colors of tracking tape, and only lower one blade. So if one blade is spinning higher than the other, I adjust the link on the see-saw that controls that blade (turn it in 1/2 turn) & recheck the tracking.
Just be SURE to HOLD YOUR AXE DOWN when checking the blade tracking!

Shadow

Tall Paul

Actually, only one blade need be marked.

MMatheny

But weigh them first, find the light one, find the centers of balance, then add the tape to the light one at the center of balance. THEN track the blades!

planepounder

Also make 1 blade a master blade, I put a small paint dot on the blade and its grip so it always goes bact to that grip. You can have a heli in perfect track and swap the blades side to side and loose that track, because blades and grips are rarely exactly alike.

rcollector

Thanks everyone for all of the help. I got the blades balanced good and tracking adjusted and it flies pretty well now but still not quite as well as the stock blades. It almost seems like because the blades are slightly narrower and a little shorter the higher head speed makes the tail movement side to side harder to fight. ???