Has anyone flown the Vortech extruded one piece rotor blades ? They seem to have received good reviews back in May 1997 Rotorcraft magazine. The concept of a blade with less flap seems to be good. Less chance of flap causing a rotor strike on a hard landing.
I am not looking for opinions. I am looking for facts and real experience.
Tom
At first glance I liked the looks of the pressure injected aluminum extruded rotor blade marketed by Vortex many years ago. . It was like a dream come true . A designer could pencil out a blade that could be manufactured as one molded piece .
It seemed like a brilliant solution that did not require all the spars and skins and adhesives and honeycomb bonded together to make a rotor blade like the current helicopter and gyro-copter manufacturers do.
Behind every brilliant idea lurks a snag or two.
Unfortunately it turns out that the snags in a metal extruded rotor blade have a lot of complicated metallurgy that I am not qualified to describe properly. A tiny flaw in the injection process could form a crack or weak spot in the chord-wise span of the blade that we everyday pilots would not notice.
Chord is a word that describes a cross section of a blade .
Injected or extruded aluminum components are widely used in the marketplace. Your screen door frame is made that way.. But it is not a good idea to use it in critical components such as rotor blades.
Many different methods have been employed in the manufacture of rotor blades. Modern day uses sophisticated composite glass and fiber molded to extremely high tolerances and quality control. They are still subject to problems that crop up from time to time.
For absolutely dependable rotor blades you end up looking at 1950's to 1960's designs that still fly today. They are multiple metal components bonded together.
Some smaller manufacturers have developed specialized blades for unique applications with success.
Leading edge research still hunts for the perfect rotor blade that can be squirted out of a nice mold. That day has not arrived. Squirting aluminum out of an extrusion mold was not the answer.