RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
Moe, asking questions is how we learn more about the complexities of this machine. I had plenty that were answered here. I was so happy to find this board to finally hear other accounts of flight experiences and tips and very happy to hear that I wasn't the only one shredding rotors in midflight. I have been flying with laminated rotors for about 3 weeks now and have had several frame strikes from rapid descents and aggressive maneuvers from long distance reorientation from overcorrecting. If you read my posts and detailed accounts of my flights, you'll see that I have been in the air quite a bit and sent the DF on some long hauls. Now I don't do trick flying but I'm sure that's more stressful on the motors than long steady flight which is what I do. There have been no balance issues because you are applying the same amount of tape on both sides, top and bottom and one 360 wrap in the center to cover the edges of tape from each side and strengthen the center. Just make sure that you sandwich it and that the open end is at the trailing edge. This open end back provides a very smooth leading edge and no chance of seperation from air getting under the tape. It did take a long time to do this right and I decided that there was no way that I could spend that much time on each rotor, much less a full set, again and was not looking forward to laminating others. But, I have been more than pleasantly surprised with the durability of these laminated rotors. The folks at DFI recommended doing it long before I finally did and I could kick myself in the butt for not doing it sooner because I could have saved alot of rotors that got chipped and broken from the smallest strikes. Considering the amount of flight time that this laminated set has provided without any chipping, deforming or discoloration, it is well worth the time and effort. You won't regret doing it!
NOTE: I am still using the same nylon bolts that I installed out of the box!