Actually, the way it was explained to me at my LHS the fragile, easy to break off ball links are kind of like a fuse. If the blade stalls enough the ball links break off, saving the esc & reveiver. My blades got jammed when I was carrying the AXE and I burned out both in a second. For me when I'm good enough to not be breaking things regularly, then maybe some upgrades. I'll probable try to find a brushless motor first, then metal for the swash plate. But, I did put fuses on because I'm not doing any kind of high demand flying, still trying to get my hovering dialed in. Just my opinion, Doc