Sportrotors

[spaceman spiff]

What do you guys think of Sportrotors from Sportcopter?

I am wondering about the paint, am i better off with just an aluminum surface?

How do they handle? Are there big differences in how these blades compare to others?

[PW_Plack]

Joe,

As you may know, Sport Rotors used to come in polished aluminum finish. The change to epoxy-urethane paint was made a couple fo years ago because most customers reportedly didn't like the maintenance required on the bare aluminum, especially in areas near saltwater.

Some people have suggested that the paint may hide imperfections or minor damage from view.

I'm building a Sport Copter, with Sport Rotors, but have never flown anything else to compare.

[GyroRon]

I like them alot. They are great blades, and the 7 inch chord blades - the last time I priced them was a long while back - seemed like they were priced reasonably. The paint I love, cause it is easy to clean the blades when they are painted, polished aluminum blades are a chore to keep shiney.

If your going to use a pre rotator, another very popular blade that you should consider is Dragon Wings. These are the standard blades on new Aircommands, Monarchs, Dominators and many others as well. They are also about the cheapest blades to buy as well.

[rehler]

The painted surface on my Sport Rotors is excellant. I had always had McCutchen fiberglass blades before and was not too sure I would like aluminum blades, assuming they would easily get bent or scratched, but I am very pleased with my Sport Rotors (except the excessive weight of the hub section) My blades, however, are the larger 8.5" chord blades used on the Sparrow Hawks, not the lighter ones. But I assume the paint finish is the same.

[automan1223]

Met a friend thru the internet who belongs to a local eaa chapter. He bought and built a rotorway that has about 15 hours on it now. The rotorblades were painted by the end user with some special paint rotorway supplies. I am guessing some kind of imron. He made a comment about not being able to see the gps on the shield or the compass being of any use due to the vibrations. I took one look at the leading edge of the blades and the paint was gone, peeling back from all the impact of whatever. He flies out of a paved airport so I dont know. After seeing all the paint missing and knowing how sensitive blades are to even the slightest weight/balance changes. I can say when I order my set I will go naked ! The builder claims the blades are balanced at the factory but I dont know how they are to remain in balance once you go painting them.

No paint for me thanks.

Jonathan

[GyroRon]

Well Jonathan, there is several sets of " painted " sportcopter blades out there flying and many are getting alot of hours racked up on them - all the Sparrowhawks have them standard - so my advise would be to contact some of the users of these blades and ask if they are having any issues with the paint coming off or chipping away etc...

I know that Barry Kropliens set still looks brand spanking new and they have been flown at least 15 hours worth, with plenty of hangar bumping, and at least one case of barry flaping the blades into the ground before he got the pre rotator installed.

[Ralph]

If Imron peels, there are only two possibilities:

(1) The surface was not properly prepared

(2) The blades were flown before the paint was completely dry

Imron is hard as nails and, applied by a professional, will not cause blade trim problems. You may chip the paint if you hit something like a prop, your tailfeathers, or the ground, but that will not happen with bugs. What you will note after many years service, is that the paint will gradually erode at the leading edge of each blade tip at the point where the blades are moving through the fastest airflow.

Ralph

[Brian Jackson]

SportCopter uses a white epoxy urethane coating. Really tough stuff, and inert to just about everything. There's a nice description of them on their site HERE (http://www.sportcopter.com/pages/sportrotor.htm).

[spaceman spiff]

Thanks Gents,

Looks like the hub bar just bolts in place of my old one (older AC head). Is that true? or do i need a special adaper block?