[Oshawapilot]

Just came across this elsewhere:

http://www.urbanastronomer.com/bladecp/blades/

Is making your own blades out of paint mixing sticks realistic? Safe?

The video seems to show stable flight...and I've no reason to believe it's a farce...I'm just looking for opinions. I'd be more apt to let my son practice on my CP2 if I knew that a free set of new mainblades were a visit to Home Depot away.

(Video mirrored at my own site HERE - the website listed above is the source of the videos, but has slow load times...)

[mentalvmaxrider]

Hi.I was going to try some out myself.I don't see any reason as to why they wouldn't work.As for safe,I think that is a fairly relative term for these helis anyways.For what it's worth,I built the simulator cable from his site and it works perfectly(with a few tweaks to the software controls....easy).I have no idea who the guy is,but just a little testimonial to his site......I have also seen other sites where people built thier own blades with success.I bought a set of plastiblades for my buddies cp because he was always crashing and they worked really good too,they just slowed the heli down a bit because of the weight which actually seemed to help with the learning process.Anyhoo,if I built the blades before you do,I'll let you know how they work out.

[Oshawapilot]

It wasn't anything personal against the guy, just the process.

[mentalvmaxrider]

Yep,I hear ya.I can't vouch for him either way on the blades,but I have been toying around with the idea of building them someday.The simulator cable definitely works though and it is actually pretty realistic flying the simulator.I used an s video cable from the dollar store for the back of the radio and I had the rest of the junk laying around.It's always fun to find stuff that you can build at home.Pretty interesting site anyways.
Happy New year(almost)
Jeremy

[martinic]

Yes, it's for real; but, it will take effort and time to get it right. Considering new micro blades cost ~$15, it's probably not worth it for most except for the satisfaction of doing it.

I have recovered micro blades with good results - it doesn't take long. Although micro often don't break blades when you crash, they will almost always tear covering, expecially on the tips.

Check out this thread on RCG for similar info.

[mentalvmaxrider]

$15 bucks?my lhs(localest) hobby shop charges $25!!!!Someones making some coin somewhere.Do you get yours off the net somewhere?

[martinic]

I fly a Trex and the blades for it are $15 Cdn. Same here. You can get CF blades for the Trex for as little as $27 Cdn. 500mm wood blades can be had for under $20 Cdn.

You can get symmetrical wood blades for the Blade CP for $8 US and CF Blade CP blades for $22 US but make a big order as the shipping is expensive.

And these retailers are still making a profit.

Shop around - there are lots of places to buy blades. Some are better than others. Quality also varies.

[stikflyer]

I use the Esky symetrical blades on my blade Cp. They cost under $10.00 so it's not worth the effort to make blades in my opinion.

[expozure]

Originally Posted by mentalvmaxrider

Yep,I hear ya.I can't vouch for him either way on the blades,but I have been toying around with the idea of building them someday.The simulator cable definitely works though and it is actually pretty realistic flying the simulator.I used an s video cable from the dollar store for the back of the radio and I had the rest of the junk laying around.It's always fun to find stuff that you can build at home.Pretty interesting site anyways.
Happy New year(almost)
Jeremy

Hi Jeremy,

Can you tell us how you constructed the sim cable using the s-video cable? I'm thinking of building a cable but I like the idea of having a secure connnection to the back of the radio.

Jake