Most of this post is cut and paste from My post on another thread, but I hope to add some other things, hoping this to be a 'Catch all' that We can save in our favorites; then zap the link to others that May be experiencing problems, and are too new to the Hobby, as to troubleshoot it themselves. We've all been there.

Please feel free to add Your own comments, and We can have a fruitful thread for others to absorb.

I will even edit this from time to time if I find inconsistancies as I knock out some variables to find the 'perfect' combination of components in the sense of having a common denominator of good performance (but not necessarily speed, aerobatics), good hovers that alot of people seem to enjoy, and stability; so based on these, here We go.

INTRODUCTION

So, far the grips and blades are very good. My CX'2 really likes them.
More 'plug and play' with E-flite aluminum than the Micro-Heli, at least the lower, anyway. Pretty much drop in. Well machined,Very balanced grips; the grips themselves (without blade) weigh 4.2 grams each and come with extra hardware for loss.

I have ALL e-flite Aluminum as I type this and my heli is 9 Grams heavier than stock, but I can still fly with the stock batteries. I contribute that to, perhaps, the better lift aerodynamics of the Extreme blades; the heli is remarkably quieter, as well with these blades. I didn't expect that. They have more of a 'gushing' sound, than a 'birdie' sound.

TIP NUMBER 1

PUT A GOOD STOCK FLYBAR BACK ON. This is important; and You can experiment later with Your mod ones.

I have the E-FLITE brand Aluminum upper head, and noticed immediately upon assembly that the upper grip NYLON SLEEVES on the XTREME GRIP were approx. .5mm or so too long and restricted the flybar movement because it cinched the blades too tight to the upper aluminum head. You may have to shorten each sleeve with an exacto knife, cutoff disk, etc. or You may not have enough free movement which is a strict requirement for the flybar that is directly linked to it. One affects the other.
UPDATE 11/2/07 Before cutting length off of the Nylon sleeve; check that there isn't a little flashing behind the collar that keeps the sleeve from seating properly all the way into the grip; this will cause the same thing.
Don't shave off too much; just enough to let the flybar bounce VERY freely; just like the stock does. If You want the new grips to behave as good; (or better) than stock, then You need the same freedom of movement, or it's defeatest.
Shave the larger diameter part of the sleeve, the part that goes towards the head; shaving the other end will not do anything.

TIP NUMBER 2

Again, using the XTREME GRIP upgrade with the E-FLITE BRAND aluminum upper head, You may have to unscrew the bottom part of the flybar nylon ball linkage, cut it shorter about 1mm, then re-thread it back on to give it more tighten travel required to get the upper blades to track. Not a big deal, and just took a minute or two.

I noticed a slight bias in flybar travel distance; not binding, but travel on one side. The flybar would travel all the way up to the stop on the linkage side, but on the other side, the travel wasn't quite so far; restricted by what appears to be the linkage line up; I'm not sure. It is slight, and apparantly no big deal, as I have seen no difference in normal and 'not so normal' flying.

UPDATE: 10/29/07 I installed the XTREME upper head and this phenomenom disappeared. As a bonus, the XTREME upper head also gives a 5mm additional separation from the lower to upper blades from the original stock setup, so that a shortened flybar modification (to prevent the infamous flybar to lower blade strikes) may; and I repeat, may not be needed. Too early to tell, but it certainly will lessen the probability; that I'm certain of.

TIP NUMBER 3

Balancing the Grip/Blade assy. and What I have learned:

Out of the box; the XTREME blades are very close to right on as far as balance; but for the purist, read below:

Since You almost have to try real hard to break these foldable blades, it is worth the trouble to balance them assembled on the grips before installing them on the heli. From what I hear, in all but the worse case scenerio, they may be the last blades You buy.

I balanced the blades and grips assembled off the shaft using the usual method; but what I didn't realize is that if the two blades arent perfectly aligned; it will greatly affect the results, and You may think they are balanced, but can be off. Bend one blade very slightly, on one side and see for Yourself. The other blade now thinks it's heavier! It's may not be, of course, but You just moved the Center of Gravity or datum plane by making one blade shorter in distance from the flybar linkage balls.

New procedure: Install assy. on heli and keep the blades loose enough that they self align, but tight enough that the don't turn on You when You rev back down; especially if You stop it abruptly ( I let them stop gently). Now, rev up the heli to where You almost take off and stop it slowly, letting it glide back down gently.

Now, Being careful not to hit the blades, take a sharpie marker and put a fine black line on the trailing edge of the blade and the area of the grip corresponding with it. This is incase You bump it hard enough taking the assy. off or during alignment, that You have a close enough reference without having to repeat the procedure over again. Supporting the whole thing by the grips, tighten the blades pretty tight for balancing.Finally, take the whole assembly off the heli and balance the assy. as usual, ensuring the blades haven't moved by referencing to Your black line You made earlier.

TIP NUMBER 4

THIS SECTION IS UPDATED 10/22/07 As far as flying is concerned, You can leave the blades loose and they will align themselves everytime You spool up. I personally don't want them real sloppy, just tight enough that You feel slight resistance, then loc-tite the screw. Previously I thought You had to have them pretty tight, as I did with another brand, but such is not the case with these.





Hope this helps.

Gary

I will agree with you on the point of nearly impossible to break. Except when you come into contact with a chain-link fence.

LOL; Nothing is ever a sure thing, is it?

I went back and re-worded it.

Thanks,

Great post. I will link to this from the product page!!

If the fence hadn't jump up an grabbed my heli, I would still be using the blades that came with the blade grips.

After 3 weeks; still on the first set; and I've had some bad ones. It's as if I'm trying to break them. My worse crash was outside and I broke the canopy, bent the inner shaft, slightly bent the outer shaft.

NO BLADE DAMAGE. This is the main reason I did the upgrade; as well as the sweet looks; but I was prepared to rip the grips off if they didn't perform; heck, I half expected to, but such is not the case.

Money well spent, IMO ! !

Gary