Blades

Frank Foster · Mar 22, 2017

11\4.5 folding [emoji2]

Bilge · Mar 22, 2017

will they auto unfold on power-up

Where & how much ????

Frank Foster · Mar 23, 2017

Oh yea, they are free to flop around as they wish. An experiment in progress. I tried some 10/4.5 too. The 11's actually slightly touch each other, so I'm going to trim a bit, but I did fly a battery with them as is. If you've ever messed with helicopters, the blades on them "must" be able to pivot, and most actually have lead weights on the tips, to help centrifugal force hold them out into the wind. But there is something to do with being able to fold back a bit on forward flight. Lot's of theory's, etc. etc. I'm just messing around. Got the idea from this youtube, and links.

Greg Parker · Mar 23, 2017

I don't really understand the draw; more failure points, almost impossible to balance, no apparent advantage in flight?

Frank Foster · Mar 23, 2017

It's just something to try, like the external GPS I mounted. That is my TEST Solo

KDan · Mar 24, 2017

Greg Parker said:
I don't really understand the draw; more failure points, almost impossible to balance, no apparent advantage in flight?

More compact - don't have to remove for storage. Maybe less likely to break if they hit something?

Greg Parker · Mar 24, 2017

KDan said:
More compact - don't have to remove for storage. Maybe less likely to break if they hit something?

Mine stores in a large backpack and it take less than 30 seconds to remove the props, so for me that is not a draw. Alternative backpack

While the props might not break, I am not sure I would want to reuse them after a hit.

I think the biggest con is the balancing issue.

Frank Foster · Mar 24, 2017

Well, amazingly, they seem to be pretty well balanced. I haven't messed with mine yet, but the only way I could see to balance, would be to weigh each pair, one at a time, and sand/tape, to get both to the same weight. Also, the blades I'm using fit very loose in the blade holders. The Gemfan blade adapters are apparently made for thicker blades, that are currently sold out.

KDan · Mar 25, 2017

Frank Foster said:
Well, amazingly, they seem to be pretty well balanced. I haven't messed with mine yet, but the only way I could see to balance, would be to weigh each pair, one at a time, and sand/tape, to get both to the same weight. Also, the blades I'm using fit very loose in the blade holders. The Gemfan blade adapters are apparently made for thicker blades, that are currently sold out.

That is exactly the way I balanced folding props for powered RC gliders for years. Just weight them. Never a problem.
The extra compactness may be an advantage for many people.

MPRamsey · Mar 27, 2017

Frank, just curious, what mode are you flying in? Thanks!

Frank Foster · Mar 27, 2017

That ain't me in the video. But I do mostly fly manual around my tree covered acre, and use GPS mode when I go out to the street, and fly up to around 140 ft.

Greg Parker · Mar 27, 2017

KDan said:
That is exactly the way I balanced folding props for powered RC gliders for years. Just weight them. Never a problem.
The extra compactness may be an advantage for many people.

Interesting that that worked well enough in that equal weight doesn't insure that they were in fact balanced.

KDan · Mar 28, 2017

Greg Parker said:
Interesting that that worked well enough in that equal weight doesn't insure that they were in fact balanced.

They may not have been absolutely perfect, but they were close enough.
The same method is used by most people to balance RC Heli blades. Only difference is that you also try to get the CG of each blade at the same point by moving the tape around after you determine how much tape you need to get the weights identical.

Pedals2Paddles · Mar 28, 2017

Have you flown them yet? The solo's motors are not the right spec for efficient use of props that big. So you may not see much of a performance change. With lower kv motors, definitely.

KDan · Mar 29, 2017

The OP pointed out in one of his YouTube videos that they were not as efficient as the stock props. Folding props are a compromise and they have more drag. The Master Airscrew for Solo was more efficient than either of the others. Everything is a trade-off.