Head Speed - Wooden Blades

[Si Goodchild]

Guys,

I'd really appreciate your advice. I was advised to buy some wooden blades for my new-to-me Raptor 50 as it was fitted with Carbon blades and for the first few flights I was worried about smashing up some lovely £60 items.

So, the wooden blades are being epoxied now but the guide says to avoid a head speed in excess of 1700rpm. I've no idea what the headspeed of the standard Raptor 50 is and I don't have an optical tachometer so my question to you all is: "do I need to worry?" I'm running a standard OS 50 engine (not a Hyper as far as I can tell) and I'm not sure about the gearing.

Sorry for being so vague, but would appreciate your thoughts.

PS. 10-15 years ago most blades were wooden, weren't they? So what's the problem?

Si

[Mike W]

Si ... dont do it m8e ... Use the carbons .. You will find the heli is nicer to fly with carbons on it as well .. Sorry I did not pm ya back but I deleted a load of pm's by accident lol....As for using the woodies at your stage you would be better of using the carbons....And as for price .. carbons now are not alot more than woodies ...

[Disc]

Guys,

I'd really appreciate your advice. I was advised to buy some wooden blades for my new-to-me Raptor 50 as it was fitted with Carbon blades and for the first few flights I was worried about smashing up some lovely £60 items.

So, the wooden blades are being epoxied now but the guide says to avoid a head speed in excess of 1700rpm. I've no idea what the headspeed of the standard Raptor 50 is and I don't have an optical tachometer so my question to you all is: "do I need to worry?" I'm running a standard OS 50 engine (not a Hyper as far as I can tell) and I'm not sure about the gearing.

Sorry for being so vague, but would appreciate your thoughts.

PS. 10-15 years ago most blades were wooden, weren't they? So what's the problem?

Si

Get some cheap glass carbons your looking at around 30 pounds not 60 pounds.

Oh if you do use wood do glue the blade root, I ve seen what happens when you don't

15 years ago fine, today the world has moved on which is why the horse and cart has been replaced.

[t-rex pedro]

Take em off and get some cheap carbons. I trashed my Raptor 50 by using idle up with woodies. I was flying alone and teaching myself at that point so when it 'exploded' I couldnt work out why. I took the bits to my LHS and he diagnosed it straight away as the blade ripping from the root and literally slicing the heli in half (plastic frame and metal boom!). Scary incident. I wouldnt take the chance for the sake of £30 when your unsure of headspeed. BTW the heli was a right off so I bought a 600 there and then!!

[David Drew]

Some £25 Glass blades will be fine. I found carbons too 'taut' & unforgiving, but glass ones work really well.

David

[Si Goodchild]

Thanks guys. I kinda expected that response. Pity, as that's £20 down the drain. I'll see if ebay can find a willing buyer for them.

Mike, I'll re-PM you, would much appreciate your advice on a small matter!

[Mike W]

Thanks guys. I kinda expected that response. Pity, as that's £20 down the drain. I'll see if ebay can find a willing buyer for them.

Mike, I'll re-PM you, would much appreciate your advice on a small matter!

K no worries m8e ... Like the other's have said ... You can always flog em on for someone to learnt with ...But I would stick with carbons .. You can get em for about £35-£45 for a pretty decent set ....

[POLAR BEAR]

The Thunder Tiger carbon blades are pritty good and they are only 40ish quid!!
Where do you fly have you got some one to help you?

[Si Goodchild]

Thanks for the advice guys, now please help me decide whether to go for Glass, Glass/Carbon or pure Carbon blades. Bear in mind that I'm just starting out with this Raptor and would prefer "forgiving" to "hardcore" handling. Any advice on specific online dealers/ makes / models would be appreciated too.

[Mike W]

Carbons m8e ... AS for price .. the silver ones here are good .. Ade was flying with em so they must be good .. Me I got Torsions on one and JP's on another .. Am off all Torsion with the Rappy as well tho ...

http://www.evorc.com/product.php/253...mm-main-blades

[Backrowslea]

You've got loads of money.... Buy the most expensive!! You will be less inclined to try low level loops etc!!!!!

Happy new year BTW

[Mike W]

I try nice low loops ... does not always end up with a nice looking heli but they do sure look nice when done lol .....Need to get some more stick time in with these Torsions but they do seem alot stiffer than the JP ones I run on the Titan ...

[Si Goodchild]

Thanks everyone - that's it settled: I'll use the JPs that came with the Raptor in the first place!

Si G

[POLAR BEAR]

Nothing wrong with the JPs and they arent much dearer than woodies and without the hastle of glueing the grips on just slap them on and track them up!!

[Si Goodchild]

I'm soooo excited - I plan to fly the maiden flight tomorrow, hopefully with some grown-up supervision (which I never had with the mini pred). Will keep you posted!