Thunder Tiger 'Ultralight' 3D Paddles
Review by James Vincenti

Whilst browsing through various posts on Runryder I came across a discussion regarding these latest paddles from Thunder Tiger. It would seem that Thunder Tiger have recently bought them out as an upgrade part specially for all of us who crave that little bit extra in response rate!

First off, these are not to be confused with the white coloured ‘light’ flybar paddles that come as standard on the Raptor 50SE (part no. PV0481). They weigh in at a not already inconsiderable 25g whilst these new green paddles (part no. PV0482) weigh in at only 20g.

So how does all this work?

Without getting too technical, the flybar is simply there to dampen out any unwanted characteristics in the rotor head by providing force 90 degrees before the desired direction. It essentially follows the laws governing gyroscopes…Err I said I wasn’t going to get technical didn’t I…! Ok, by providing lighter paddles to the flybar we will remove some of its damping ability and so gain what we interpret as a faster cyclic response - Simple!

First Impressions

I got my set from RCPowerSupply in Hong Kong and after only 3 days in the post they were at my doorstep – most impressive. After removing the padded envelope the first that struck me was the colour… bright ‘in-your-face’ fluorescent GREEN!! The pictures on the web do nothing in preparing you – these paddles certainly stand out from the crowd. Maybe Thunder Tiger did this deliberately so they know when someone is using them?

The paddles shape and aerofoil is the exact same as the stock black paddles. The Thunder Tiger logo is present on the inside trailing edge so I would place money that they used the same moulds for all their paddles regardless of weight and…colour! This is good news for us as the stock paddles struck a good compromise between hovering stability and response rate. On post flybar set-ups one of these characteristics is sacrificed for the other. However Thunder Tiger got the recipe just right with the raptor series and to increase response you simply increase the head speed, whilst still maintaining that all critical hovering stability.

There comes a point sooner or later when the head speed can no longer be increased or we risk loosing the blades. On the raptor this is around 2000rpm. To gain any further response we need to lighten the flybar.

Fitting

Fitting them is very easy and uses the exact same method as the stock set. The paddle is threaded onto the end of the flybar until the end of the rod shows through the ‘window’ area. A long set screw is then threaded done a pre drilled hole perpendicular to the flybar and locks it in place. Actually the paddles lightweight construction is made apparent when you can clearly view the flybar inside the material.

The Flying!!

After e-mailing Darren to let him know they had arrived and to ensure he bought his camera with him to do the flying photos, I set off to the clubs field. I don’t know about you, but there is something special about these crisp winter mornings. This one was no exception with blue sky and (mercifully in the North East!) no wind! A crowd soon gathered around my raptor to warm their hands on the radioactive glow coming from its rotorhead. The colour is a bit of a shock so expect some jokes but they do look quite purposeful in daylight (unfortunately they don’t glow in the dark…pity).

First port of call was one of the ‘training’ squares to quickly confirm the helicopters trim. It was slightly out but I can’t blame the paddles for this as I neglected to use a paddle gauge preferring instead the MK1 eyeball…. we never learn! Once I was happy it was time to land and head over to the main flying area.

First off a gentle circuit to evaluate the forward flight characteristics…yeah right, this IS a raptor! Instead straight off into a tight forward flip to nose in inverted and kiss the grass. Then power off backwards inverted to test fast flight. If it’s going to get pitchy (read bitchy!) then this is where it’s going to show. However I am pleased to say that whilst it may be a little twitchier than the stock paddles its certainly not unnerving and I more than happy to accept this in view that after that first flip I really did kiss the grass.

So onto some more advanced flying with my favourite the pirouetting flips. Here the paddles do shine as they give a nice locked in feel that I lost when trying other makes of ‘3D’ paddles. Tightening up the pirouetting flips more into the chaos realm and here the faster response is fully appreciated. Don’t expect them to compensate for slow servos but they do allow an overall tighter more controlled manoeuvre…or maybe it’s just that I can finally keep up with the model!!

Out of interest I previously had to settle on the stock paddles and the blue medium dampers (when coupled with a metal head these I found they gave the same performance as the red set in a stock plastic head) in order to maintain that nice solid feel. At 1900rpm I had to send the head to its binding limit to gain any sort of response. Now I’ve got more than enough. I will still keep the blue dampers though as I would class my 3D as more smooth that erratic and don’t want that jerky look a small machine can get if its under-damped.

Finals

So do I like them? Yes.

Do I think they increase the response without effecting stability too much? Yes.

Do I like the colour....? I’m sure it will grow on me!

Helicopter Specifications

Thunder Tiger Raptor 50v2.
OS50sxh engine with stock Thunder Tiger muffler.
Wildcat 10% Nitro Helimix fuel.
Futaba digital 9252 servos for collective, cyclic and throttle.
Futaba GY601 gyro with digital 9251 tail servo.
QuickUK metal head block with Thunder Tiger blue (medium) head dampers.
QuickUK metal flybar carrier.
Thunder Tiger 'Ultralight' green 3D paddles.
Metal collective tray.
QuickUK metal washout unit.