3 blade head. Worth it?

[JamieD]

Those who have flown 3 blade head 3D helis, are they worth the extra cost? Do you think everyone will move to 3 blade heads or will it become a bit of a fad?

I have noticed a lot of the pros moving to 3 blade heads.

For me the stability and punch from 2 blades is good enough. 3 blades just seems like extra money for no reason.

[tillitgoboom]

converted a 570 to 3 blade, for 240 quid it was not worth it in my opinion. if you are looking for a change in looks it looks great, but for most flying it makes little difference. all i can describe it as is locked in, but a good tuned fbl unit on 2 blade is locked in anyway.

I stripped a main gear in 5 flights after upgrade also and had to upgrade it. it also shortened flight times to 3.30 from 4 mins.

[JamieD]

converted a 570 to 3 blade, for 240 quid it was not worth it in my opinion. if you are looking for a change in looks it looks great, but for most flying it makes little difference. all i can describe it as is locked in, but a good tuned fbl unit on 2 blade is locked in anyway.

I stripped a main gear in 5 flights after upgrade also and had to upgrade it. it also shortened flight times to 3.30 from 4 mins.

Ouch! That's a big drop in flight time.

[Grumpy]

Everyone who uses a three blade setup seems to have a pretty big hit on flight time. Only exception is if they also drop headspeed considerably and accept less performance (which kinda defeats the object IMHO). Ive not flown a thee blade but based on what I've read I vote 'fad'.

[tourerjim]

I was looking to convert my 600 more for the looks really, then same thing when reading about the advantages of 3 bladded head was loss in flight times which i didn't want so no going ahead with that idea.

[myxiplx]

The general consensus on three blades is that they make the model more stable and more "sim-like", but with slightly reduced flight times. It's typical to run a lot lower headspeed on three blades, and I've recently seen reports that they react better with a little more pitch than you would run on a two blade setup.

If you're after absolutely locked in precision during technical moves then I think there's a clear benefit, and that's why you'll see pros using them in competition. For the average pilot, two blades gives you more flight time, autos better, and is plenty good enough to handle anything you could want to do with the model.

Most people flying three blades are doing it for something different, I'm very tempted myself to convert one of my X3's. After all, it's a lot cheaper than adding a whole new model to the fleet

[Pj1969]

I've got both, I converted a 2 blade gobby 700 into a 3 blade and cost me around £280 second hand parts, the setting up was completely different, had to change pinions, get correct head speed, try different things and in the end just was a little tad tedious to say the least, until I ramped the head speed right up and it was a different heli. Flew amazing. I sold the 3 blade head and I needed to replace the blades, which are really expensive and not many people do 3 blades that are matched perfectly, so if you do have a little accident, you have to consider where or what you are going to replace blades with? I've now got a KSE 700 with 3 blades and that looks lovely on my rack, but when it comes to fly, I'll be a little bit scared of putting it in as bits are so expensive.

[SaneAdam]

Having flown both I can say I prefer 2 blades. Collective and cyclic have a very different feel with 3 blades. Transitions feel different and overall it's just a different experience. I wouldn't say it's "better"...just different. Everything has more authority. Collective, cyclic and tail (with 3 blade tail) all feel more locked in. Which will also increase the feeling of stability. The dynamics of the movements required to shift the mass of the heli "feel" different. Pop and lock "feels" different. It almost feels too effortless and the model behaves in a different way. It is very hard to describe unless you've actually tried one.

But im so intimately used to the feel and behaviour of a 2 blade model that I just couldn't see "enough" in a 3 blade set up to make me change all my helis to accommodate it.

I know quite a few people that have gone 3 blade, then gone back to 2 blade.

The worst thing about 3 blades is the noise... it's horrific imo. Sounds stupid lol Shouldn't really be a deal breaker but again, I know people that have changed back because they miss the noise of 2 blades.

I dont think it will ever be the norm to have 3 blades. But I imagine a fair few will have a place in their fleet for a 3 blade model.

[trillian]

As Adam says, it is just different and some people will like that difference and others wont. Three blades can be super smooth and it also allows you to run extremely hard dampers or even completely rigid and not have any wobble in a hover. So with a totally rigid head there's a definite sense of 'connectedness', the cyclic response is very crisp and precise.

I have three 700 size electrics and one of them has three blades and it is definitely the most 'locked-in' feeling heli I own. It's so forgiving and so well mannered that it's almost too easy to fly and makes me worry that I'll get lazy. But the other two (2 bladed) helis are not really a significant margin behind, they all fly amazingly well.

I run the big electrics at fairly low headspeeds and this works great for my style of smooth flying. At these speeds (1300-1400) I don't really see a drop in flight times with three blades, but all three will fly longer than my normal attention span

I also have a 600 three blade (JR NEX E8) and it flies extremely well but it's hard to compare it directly to other two blade 600s because it is bigger and heavier and ends up being more like a small 700.

For low headspeeds I also like two blades because you have that lovely blade beating sound and you lose that with three blades. Basically, there's definitely 'something' to the three blade thing that's different and cool but it's also very much a personal preference thing. The expense of three blade sets is a concern if you're doing really daring low moves and might put it in now and then but that's not my flying style so it doesn't bother me.

[JamieD]

Thanks for your replies peeps.
A useful thread.