IS CA glue definatly not good for blades? I got used to CA it when I was a piano rebuilder. It changed the whole piano repair business when it came out. 5 minute epoxy is a real drag to have to hold it in place for more than 5 min. With Ca, and an accelerant you could repair a blade in 30 seconds without taking it off of the heli, if it would bind properly.
Today I didnt break a single taped main blade. I'm taping the leading edge only. The whole blade isnt covered. Seems to work and there's not the extra weight of a completely taped one.
But I broke about 10 tail baldes. So something needs to be done. I've heard taping tails doesnt work. Maybe re-inforcing the leading edge of the blade with a line of super glue. Or maybe just a 1/4 inch of tape re-inforcement around the leading edge. Better flying would help also.

Scotch tape strategically applied to the root of the blade at the most common break point will save blades and prevent breakage. I have had the blades bend and actually crease the foam but they did not break and contiuned to function quite well.

Apply about a 3" piece of scotch tape as shown in the photo (outlined in red) - balance the blades and fly. The tape has a negligible effect on performance.

I have crashed into trees and into the ground and bounced the Quark upside down on the ground and still the blades survived. They eventually break - but after much abuse.

If you look closely, you can even see the crease in the foam blade beneath the foam. Without the tape, the blade would have broken.

Originally Posted by cgage

IS CA glue definatly not good for blades? I got used to CA it when I was a piano rebuilder. It changed the whole piano repair business when it came out. 5 minute epoxy is a real drag to have to hold it in place for more than 5 min. With Ca, and an accelerant you could repair a blade in 30 seconds without taking it off of the heli, if it would bind properly.
Today I didnt break a single taped main blade. I'm taping the leading edge only. The whole blade isnt covered. Seems to work and there's not the extra weight of a completely taped one.
But I broke about 10 tail baldes. So something needs to be done. I've heard taping tails doesnt work. Maybe re-inforcing the leading edge of the blade with a line of super glue. Or maybe just a 1/4 inch of tape re-inforcement around the leading edge. Better flying would help also.

Regular CA desolves foam, foamsafe CA is fine for repairing foam fuselages on planes, or for any cosmetic repairs. If you want strength, you use 5 minute epoxy. Taping the leading edge may work. I've used a small cf rod in the leading edge of the wing, too. But really, the 5 minutes epoxy is just less hassle than anything else, except maybe not crashing.

I'm curious how you could break 10 tail blades, but epoxy works fine on them, too.

Is the 5 min epoxy better than "Krazy Glue"? I've used KG. It holds the blades pretty well. I still haven't had the guts to actually fly a broken blade. No matter though, I'm having fewer crashes. Ive only broken one main blade in the last 15-20 packs.

Originally Posted by theskyking

Is the 5 min epoxy better than "Krazy Glue"? I've used KG. It holds the blades pretty well. I still haven't had the guts to actually fly a broken blade. No matter though, I'm having fewer crashes. Ive only broken one main blade in the last 15-20 packs.

Holding the blade while it's not actually flying or under any stress is quite another matter than actually using it. 5 minute epoxy works. The blade will not break again in that spot, but you have to be generous with the epoxy.

" Ive only broken one main blade in the last 15-20 packs." (Damned showoff!)

"Im curious how you could break ten [tail] blades"
5-8 mph wind and landing on rough uneven ground. I dont live near any good sights.
I've always broken blades at this field. With less wind and under better landing conditions, I wouldnt have broken so many.
Its time to start modifying the tail blades. Reports say that you cant tape them but maybe covering the leading edge with tape or a thin line of super glue could give enough strength to minimize the self destruction.

Originally Posted by cgage

"Im curious how you could break ten [tail] blades"
5-8 mph wind and landing on rough uneven ground. I dont live near any good sights.
I've always broken blades at this field. With less wind and under better landing conditions, I wouldnt have broken so many.
Its time to start modifying the tail blades. Reports say that you cant tape them but maybe covering the leading edge with tape or a thin line of super glue could give enough strength to minimize the self destruction.

Maybe take a small roll of scrap carpeting, flattened corrugated box or something like that with you to use as a take-off / landing pad ?

Russ

Originally Posted by MiniBoy

Maybe take a small roll of scrap carpeting, flattened corrugated box or something like that with you to use as a take-off / landing pad ?

Russ

I use a 2 x 2 piece of egg-crate plastic light diffuser. Wind and air currents can't move it and it levels out uneven areas real nice.

Any surface that is rough or smooth, hard or soft is better than something that would catch the blades when you crash.

I find that when I usually break my blades is in the my yard or at the grassy part of the park. But when I do break them, I glue them back with 5 minute epoxy.

Originally Posted by cgage

"Im curious how you could break ten [tail] blades"
5-8 mph wind and landing on rough uneven ground. I dont live near any good sights.
I've always broken blades at this field. With less wind and under better landing conditions, I wouldnt have broken so many.
Its time to start modifying the tail blades. Reports say that you cant tape them but maybe covering the leading edge with tape or a thin line of super glue could give enough strength to minimize the self destruction.

I cover both sides of my tal blades with clear office Sellotape it is very thin and light and works a treat - take a bit of time as it is a fiddly job. I also fully cover the main bladed with a slightly thicker, wider Sellotape.

Good idea about the landing pad. This week the wind has kept me from landing on target. Also, I'm getting used to single rotors. I came up with a mod for the tail blade breaks or at least some of them. I noticed that on hard landings, the tail was bouncing and braking tail blades. I put two layers of masking tape hanging down below the tail fin about 1/4 inch. That seems to absorb enough shock that the blade wont break. It doesnt look great but it doesnt seem to affect flying. I probably wont need it after I get used to flying or the weather calms.
I just flew some glued tail blades. They held up and if they broke it was somewhere else.
This week I'm ordering five sets of tail blades and try every mod I can think of to strengthen them without losing control. Starting with scotch tape as suggested by Etheav8r - lite weight but maybe strong enough to prevent a tear to start.

I got this to learn how to fly a B400. Now I can hover the Quark usually. Does this mean I can fly a 400 more or less?

Just flew my heli off houses high second story deck. very nice. i find flying more enjoyable when doing it off a deck so as to be eye-level with the heli rather than looking up. pretty windy today. the quark got thrown around quite a bit. when a gust would come i could have to stop doing manuevers and just hover it out. I am happy to say that it handled the wind decently in a hover even though it was bouncing around like a drunk kangaroo.

man, my transmitter already says its batteries are low. crap. 8 aa bats. thats a lot of money. I need to go to recharables.

cgage, before you fly a b400, not only should you be able to hover the quark, but you should be able to fly circuits (circles) with it, figure 8's, feel comfortable with nose in and side in, and be able to recover from most near-crashes. If you can't do that, the b400 will be nothing but major stress headaches and $$$$ not to mention hours and hours rebuilding and re-tuning the b400. I had a compy fp, similar to a b400 but not as big and not a cp heli................one crash was usually $20-60, and took 1-4 hours to fix, not to mention 1 week waiting for parts..................become an expert with quark before you even think about upgrading. my opinion.

"I got this to learn how to fly a B400. Now I can hover the Quark usually. Does this mean I can fly a 400 more or less?"

Mostly less! What the skyking said applies pretty well. But, you are making excellent progress. What you've done in a week or two with your Quark would have taken you months with any other heli.

Where can you buy cheap Quark parts online? I've found www.shop.yrbuy.com but they don't ship to the UK.