Amazing time lapse build by Hizlimax

Rob Cherry flying his stretched Synergy E5 in below freezing weather! Great flying Rob!

I’ve received a few questions recently about the “bullet” on the front of the stock 130x blades as well as the Rail 136mm blade and why they exist.

To start, the “bullet” does absolutely nothing to compensate for an incorrect airfoil or manufacturing limitations. The “bullet” exists for a good reason which I will explain below.

Using aerospace proven airfoils is not enough, almost every rotor blade on the market today uses an aerospace airfoil. Our hobby is very specific in it’s rotor blade performance needs which is why there are many more aspects to designing a great rotor blade than just selecting an aerospace airfoil. While the airfoil is important to efficiency, lift, and drag, there are many more key items which need addressed while designing a rotor blade. Factors such as “cord” and “span” center of gravity can drastically affect the flight performance.

Bullet Explanation – The “bullet” is a great way to configure the correct cord wise center of gravity for a desired blade characteristic without adding additional weight to the rotor blade. It is crucial that 130x blades are light in order to prevent over loading the small motor. The cord wise CG is critical to the performance of any flybarless rotor blade, cord wise CG can be adjusted to create a blade that leads or lags while the rotor head is spinning. A blade that leads was typically designed for older flybar helicopters in order to gain more cyclic speed. However, a leading blade performs poorly with flybarless helicopters. With flybarless helicopters a blade that lags will perform much better in all aspects than a blade that leads.

The Rail 136 carbon fiber blades are made exactly like your full size Rail Blades! They are designed to give your Blade 130x the ultimate performance in collective response, cyclic response, as well as forward flight tracking that you have come to expect in a carbon fiber rotor blade. If you are looking to take your Blade 130x to the next level…. Put it on Rails!

Team Synergy pilot Chris Sexton is doing an excellent job at showing everyone the details of building the all new Synergy E5. Check out the Day 1 video!

The series can be found on Chris Sexton’s Youtube page.

Just a bit of fun with the N5c!

Check out some of the most recent E5 videos!

How low can you go on head speed? Well, 1000 RPM on the head of a Synergy E7 is pretty low and still very fun to fly. In the below video I am running a 6S 4400mah battery and getting 9 minutes of flight time. All of the electronics come down at ambient temperatures.

Many of you have asked me the question at helicopter events “You are still running T connectors?”.

My answer has always been… Yes, I am still running T-Connectors as I have never had any troubles with them besides the occasional “unplug” during flight. I realize there are losses with the T-Connectors but had yet to find a connector which I thought would be more efficient as well as provide a secure connection.

After a few more unplugging incidents I decided it was time for a change. After a little bit of research, I found that I did not want the EC5 which has the “rotating spring” type banana connector as I felt the lack of contact due to the rotating spring would give me just as much loss as a T-Connector. I did not want another T style connector as the surface area for contact was minimal at best and I had my fair share of in flight unplugging.

Finally I came across the PRC6 which is a solid 6mm bullet style connector. The 6mm bullet style connector has excellent surface area and they are beefy enough to handle up to 200 amps of current. In the R/C Helicopter world we only see small spikes of this high current so these connectors should be perfect if not a bit overkill.  The wire receptacle end of the connector is large enough to house a 10 gauge wire and very easy to solder. The connectors fit snug into their housing with a little bit of force and of course do not require any shrink tubing. The PRC6 mates with its counter part very securely to avoid any potential unplugging incidents. You can obtain your own set of PRC connectors at Progressive RC

Have fun flying! Be safe!

Matt

Wolfie came out of the forest at Birmingham this year to wreak havoc on modelers and give away Rail Blades! Check out the video!

This is the new OS55HZ Limited Edition with Velocity Stack. I’ve been running this motor for a couple months now and I am very impressed with the improvement in performance. The transition from mid-range to high needle and back during 3D flight is virtually seamless. The recovery time after loading the motor has also been minimized likely due to the new velocity stack. Grab one of these for yourself here!

E-Fest 2012 was a blast! See you there in 2013!

Have you ever started soldering an R/C electrical component and found yourself wishing you had a second set of hands? For me, this happens all of the time. Either the wire is too hot to hold or you can’t seem to hold the component steady. There is a solution and better yet, its a cheap solution! This months tool of the month is the Helping Hands with Magnifier. Grab one of these at Radio Shack for $16.99.

Assistance when you need it.

When your soldering project needs an extra set of hands, RadioShack has the solution. The Helping Hands with Magnifier help you get the job done. The “hands” can hold items as small as jewelry and as large as a circuit board. In addition, it’s equipped with a cleaning sponge and soldering iron holder.

• Steel construction with an iron base & ball and socket armatures; durable and resistant to tipping
• Keeps your iron or similar tool within reach and safely out of the work area
• Can hold objects as small as jewelry or as large as circuit boards