eltonnoway@mail.com
Dec 17, 2004, 03:11 AM
Has anybody out there found a suitable replacement rotor blade for the
Draganflyer... or maybe an alternate source for the blades?
Anybody that owns a Draganflyer knows how fragile the blades can be.
They tear quite easily. I discovered another flaw with the rotors this
evening. They get pretty damn stiff in cold weather! I was flying mine
today (outside temperature 38 F, not all that cold). At only 2 feet off
the ground the ship tipped forward on takeoff (my fault), and dove into
the lawn. Bang, swish, zing... shards of rotor blades flying thru the
air... a four "shattered" like glass! Guess the Draganflyer is better
suited for warm weather flying where the rotors at least have a
tendency to bend.
Owning a Draganflyer reminds me of owning an inkjet printer. You get
past the purchase price of the printer only to go into debt buying the
outrageously expensive ink cartridges. Same scenario with the
Draganflyer and their proprietary replacement rotors. At almost $10 per
rotor (factoring in the shipping from Canada), the replacement rotors
are gonna send me to the poor farm. With my other helis I can at least
surf the net and pick from a multitude of sources for replacement parts
"and" rotors. (i.e., shop for the best price)
The larger Draganflyer Xpro model has high impact carbon fiber blades.
Yes, I would expect the carbon fiber blades to cost even more, but
I'd be willing to pay the price figuring they would at least be more
durable. But, Draganflyer Inc doesn't make the carbon blades for any
other model other than the XPro. Ironically, per a Draganflyer
representative, they don't offer carbon blades for the Draganflyers
I,II,III,IV due to liabilty issues. What???
They offer carbon fiber blades for a the Xpro, a helicoper 3 times the
size of the Draganflyer IV, that could easily inflict three times the
bodily injury if crashed into a crowd, but not for the little
Draganflyers. Personally, I think the liability statement is a
marketing ploy. Fact: They sell a ton more of the IV's than the Xpro...
and... they have control the only market on replacement blades. "As
long as people keep replacing these cheap plastic blades in large
numbers at $40 a set... why offer them more durable blade and take the
chance of killing our cash cow?
Elton
Draganflyer... or maybe an alternate source for the blades?
Anybody that owns a Draganflyer knows how fragile the blades can be.
They tear quite easily. I discovered another flaw with the rotors this
evening. They get pretty damn stiff in cold weather! I was flying mine
today (outside temperature 38 F, not all that cold). At only 2 feet off
the ground the ship tipped forward on takeoff (my fault), and dove into
the lawn. Bang, swish, zing... shards of rotor blades flying thru the
air... a four "shattered" like glass! Guess the Draganflyer is better
suited for warm weather flying where the rotors at least have a
tendency to bend.
Owning a Draganflyer reminds me of owning an inkjet printer. You get
past the purchase price of the printer only to go into debt buying the
outrageously expensive ink cartridges. Same scenario with the
Draganflyer and their proprietary replacement rotors. At almost $10 per
rotor (factoring in the shipping from Canada), the replacement rotors
are gonna send me to the poor farm. With my other helis I can at least
surf the net and pick from a multitude of sources for replacement parts
"and" rotors. (i.e., shop for the best price)
The larger Draganflyer Xpro model has high impact carbon fiber blades.
Yes, I would expect the carbon fiber blades to cost even more, but
I'd be willing to pay the price figuring they would at least be more
durable. But, Draganflyer Inc doesn't make the carbon blades for any
other model other than the XPro. Ironically, per a Draganflyer
representative, they don't offer carbon blades for the Draganflyers
I,II,III,IV due to liabilty issues. What???
They offer carbon fiber blades for a the Xpro, a helicoper 3 times the
size of the Draganflyer IV, that could easily inflict three times the
bodily injury if crashed into a crowd, but not for the little
Draganflyers. Personally, I think the liability statement is a
marketing ploy. Fact: They sell a ton more of the IV's than the Xpro...
and... they have control the only market on replacement blades. "As
long as people keep replacing these cheap plastic blades in large
numbers at $40 a set... why offer them more durable blade and take the
chance of killing our cash cow?
Elton