BlueBird Carbon Tail Blades
| Reviewer | Rob Turnbull |
|---|---|
| Review Date | 12th March 2007 |
| Manufacturer | www.blue-bird-technology.com |
| Model | Carbon Tail Blades |
| Unit Cost | Not known |
Overview
The following is a review of the Blue Bird Carbon Tail Rotor Blades supplied courtesy of www.blue-bird-technology.com.
These tail blades feel quite stiff when trying to flex them which is a good sign. They have a slight curve to the tip which may slightly soften the response of the tail in flight (we'll see later on when flight testing them).
As with all tail blades, they do not come with any fittings supplied - you need to use the fittings already on your helicopter. It is unlikely you will need to use spacers either as these tail blades have a decent root size. This is a big plus in my opinion as I hate fiddling with blade spacers, particularly on the tail rotor!
Here's a photo showing the blades in their packaging.
As you can see, they look very nice, as carbon blades tend to.
They were very easy to fit with no problems - just plug and play - exactly how it should be.
Flight test
The flight testing was carried out by flying the Trex on standard plastic tail blades first, then switching over to these carbon tail blades and flying again. The difference was incredible. Where the standard plastic tail blades can give you all sorts of trouble when flying 3D due to been way too flexible, these carbon tail blades did no such thing. They held the tail solidly through every tail heavy manoeuvre thrown at them, such as backwards inverted hurricanes and pie-dishes. The response was fast and accurate and the rudder felt very much in control at all times.
In comparison, plastic tail blades allow flexing to occur and so reduce tail authority. When flying 3D, this becomes a big problem. When hovering and gently flying around, it's less of a problem, but the benefits of having carbon tail blades when hovering are evident too. The gyro has to do less work because smaller corrections can be used due to lack of flexing of the tail blades.
It's quite hard to compare them to other carbon tail blades as the size of this item is such that one set is very much like another set, although the standard tail blades that are supplied in the Trex450 SE kit are plastic coated carbon, they are nowhere near as robust as these Bluebird blades.
The difference in feel comes down to the shape of the blade. These blades are slightly rounded at the top leading edge, giving them a nice in flight feeling - not too soft or hard in response.
Other carbon blades with less of a rounded edge can feel a little bit sharper, but again, at this size of tail blade, this is hardly noticeable.
| Pros |
|---|
| Good authority |
| Excellent tail hold |
| Cons |
|---|
| More expensive than plastic tail blades |
Conclusion
Carbon blades on the tail rotor are essential for anything that requires a decent amount of tail authority. In fact, you will notice a difference between carbon and plastic tail blades in a hover in a slight wind (at least, your gyro would!).
These blades made a massive difference to the performance of the tail on a Trex450 that previously had stock plastic tail blades on.
If you need to find a decent set of carbon tail rotor blades to replace those plastic blades, or even inferior carbon blades such as those offered in the Trex450 SE kit, I suggest you take a look at this Bluebird offering.
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