SWE Paddles

[Swashbuckler]

After much justifying the price to myself I finally decided to order some SWE paddles. It was difficult; at £45 for basically some moulded carbon fibre they are steep, especially when you consider that the dearest 315mm CF blades cost the same and they must have 4 or 5 times the material on them. But I had been told they were awesome, best paddles out there; so once I'd got over the pain of paying through the nose for them I actually started looking forward to flying them.
Got them yesterday and I have to admit they look pretty awesome the shape and paintjob and finish looked great. Then I fitted them only to realise the threaded inserts were not at the same angle. One paddle had its leading edge parallel with the flybar and one didn't, must have been about 10 degrees difference. To say I'm disgusted that something that you are paying a premium price for can be this wrong is an understatement. Ok I'll send them back and the shop will replace or refund them, it isn't the shops fault which is why I'm not even mentioning them by name. But SWE set the price - if they want to charge top dollar for something they should do a bit of QC surely? Grrrrrrrr back to my plastic paddles, after I've wasted some time going to the post office.

[trillian]

Hmmmm, they also have some very posh looking tail blades with hefty prices as well.

I am curious about the high-end paddles and things like that. If they could really improve the stability while keeping the snappy response it could be worth it. But it might also be that a less impressive looking paddle could do just as well. The whole paddle thing is still a bit of a mystery to me. I know they can make a big difference but it would also seem doable at a lower price with more humble materials.

[scallybert]

I know they can make a big difference but it would also seem doable at a lower price with more humble materials.

One thing to bear in mind is that whilst CF may well be exotic, it might actually be cheaper for small production runs than the cost of tooling up for an injection moulded plastic component.

So effectively, they're maybe not expensive because they are CF, but because relatively few are sold.

Almost makes me wonder if it might be better to injection mould plastic paddle blanks (that would suit a number of different applications), and CNC machine these to specific requirements.

[Swashbuckler]

I agree, I'm happy to use whatever does the job, I had been recommended these from two very reliable sources, both sponsored pilots, and neither of them sponsored by SWE. They had both said the difference to the stock plastic paddles was like night and day. One of them has probably tried every paddle that is currently available. I also have no doubt that when/if I get to fly these paddles I will feel the difference and their enthusiasm for them will be borne out, my complaint is: how hard would it be for them (SWE) to screw a flybar in to check that the insert was straight considering how much they charge? The insert is obviously glued in before the CF is laid and therefore an item that could fail or not go right... £45!!! they should check it!