av8ersteve

My Feedback: (1)

Well, I got my new Rotors yesterday and all I can say is WHAT AN IMPROVEMENT! These blades give the Draganflyer the ability to achieve everything it was designed for. More stable, better forward flight characteristics, and best of all, no more blade failures during flight! I have pushed my Draganflyer just to see if I could hear the blades striking the frame and so far I have not been able to hear it. Whats even cooler, If they did strike the frame for some reason, It still wouldn't hurt anything. I'm very happy with these blades and I'll never buy another set of the foam blades, EVER!!!

Koop

Told ya so!!!

Sky High

Koop, hahaha!

av8ersteve, so you pulled some g's with no strikes! That's good to hear for us, bad for DFI though. Thanks for the report.

nickruss

sorry guys, what kind of blades are we talking about here?

Has anyone tried TIGER BLADES?

TheHindmost

Sorry, I'm with nickruss: Which new blades are we talking about? And why is it bad for DFI?

I have to say that when I first laid eyes on the rotors that came with my DF V Ti, I was not impressed. They had rough edges, looked very breakable and just weren't worthy of the DF V.

I've got the new "virtually indestructible" blades on the way, should be here tomorrow. If they work as advertised, it should be good for DFI, yes? I have to do some minor repairs after this evening's flying (I did something stupid, and I also let my buddy fly for the first time and he made all the mistakes I did in the first few minutes of stick time), but I should be able to try the new blades tomorrow.

Today's flights were fun! The stupid thing I did was let my son goad me into chasing him with the DF...pulled too many Gs, got frame strikes (despite 1/8" standoffs) and the DF got unstable on me. I overflew it, at least with those rotors on it, and did not recover well. My buddy, new to flying, lost orientation and had a hard motor-mount impact, so I'm replacing that (him) and flying with a taped-up stiffener tube (me) until I get a replacement. I know this doesn't sound fun, but the fact is we had several really good flights before that happened, including some high altitude excursions, some successful chasing of my son (he loved it, but I don't think I'll do that again; I wouldn't want to hit him!) and some general good maneuvering. So it's all learning curve, and I'm climbing it.

Will

Sky High

It's bad for DFI because the rotors are so durable that they won't sell as many replacements.

TheHindmost

Ahhh...thanks. I hadn't looked at it that way, and probably would prefer not to, but it is the fact that these guys (RC in general, not just DFI) make most of their money off replacement parts, I guess...

Will

madean

WOW! I "won" 2 auctions on eBay, each for 2 sets of foam blades. To my surprise, today I received 4 sets of the new nylon blades! Not bad for about $36 shipped! I can't wait to try 'em.

Hooch

Wow gratz Madean. Ya I FIANLLY today got all my parts in, except the new nylon rotors hehe. But I do have 8 of those on order. Did get some CF ones I ordered, but just put the foam's on for the moment to make sure all is working hehe. But happy to hear about the durability etc of the new nylon ones. And have no fear, I am sure they will still make money off of our motor mounts etc. Hehe. Can't wait to get my new rotors in after reading this. But I am too cheap and always do the free or the postal shipping which kicks me in the butt, but DAMN they charge too much for shipping hehe.

Ohh well. Happy for all that got theirs.

Sky High

Yep, because these new rotors are so durable the frame will have to take most of the force in a crash. That means broken motor mounts, rods and on, and on, and on.

Hooch

Shhh, Sky, don't say that so loud, don't want my DF hearing that.

Blackdragan

Has anyone had the chance to compare the new nylon blades to the carbon fiber blades. If so, how do you think they compare regarding flight characteristics, strength, frame strike ect. Thanks.

TheHindmost

These new rotor blades not only rock, they chop! This evening I flew a tad too high under a tree with some low-hanging twig-like branches...and the DF just chopped its way through, no fuss no muss, barely even slowed down, with twig debris flying everywhere. No visible signs of damage to the DF or the blades! Now, don't try this at home...these were very small twigs and it was an accident, not an experiment...

So I'm definitely liking these new blades from DFI! But I think I'll eventually get a set of CF blades...They seem to be the way to go. But these new ones are definitely airworthy, whereas I'm not sure I'm willing to say that about the old ones, at least unlaminated.

Will

JayBeyer

Blackdragon;

Yes I've compared the two. I like them both but I have to say I like the nylon better. I think the almost 1" longer blade length may be the contributing factor to the better charteristics. The carbon fiber blades I have are the same size specs as the old foam blades. I'd love to try some carbon blades that are the same size as the new nylon blades. I havn't seen any yet though.

Hunter850

My Feedback: (1)

These are the blades on E bay. RC toys has them listed for about $48.
Looks like EBAY is the best place to buy

http://cgi.ebay.ca/New-Draganflyer-N...QQcmdZViewItem

madean

The new blades should sell for a lot less than the old ones. The foam blades required hand finishing that DFI did at their factory. The new ones are injection molded, so no hand finishing is required.

Sky High

I just got a set of the new blades and I have to say that they are different. Has anyone noticed the very, very small clearance between the Eyecam mount and the tips of the these new blades? It is only about an 1/8" from the camera if it sits high. [X(] One other big difference in these blades is the thicker center piece. The nylon bolts don't seat as much now as with the older blades. I used to tighten them where the bottom of the bolts were flush the bottom of the rotor head with the old blades. How much are most of you tightening these blades when screwing the nylon bolts into the rotor head? I have gone about 2 turns past when the bolt heads seem to change color because they are pressing against that black nylon. I also wonder why the blades seem to curl up a bit about 2 inches from the tips. Is that aerodynamically efficient?

TheHindmost

It can be, but I'm not sure it's intentional with these blades. When mine came, some were curved a tad, some weren't. (I got three full sets.) After using one they seem to have straightened out.

But an upward bend at the end can indeed be more efficient. This is why you see "winglets" at the tips of wings on the newer jetliners. The winglets reduce the wingtip vortices which are generated whenever an airfoil is generating left. Generation of those vortices adds to drag and is hence less efficient.

Will

Sky High

Thanks for the aerodynamics info. What about the nylon bolts' tightness though, anybody? [sm=confused.gif]