500 heli: What color main blades show up best?

[seldredg]

Does the rotor disc show up better with different colored blades? I've flown only with the whie Align 3G blades.

[Slyster]

I used to paint the last 5" of my blades florescent orange.. it really helped... also holo stickers help. It gets less important the more flying experience you have.

http://helidirect.com/reflective-pri...-15-p-4909.hdx

[Scott1115]

Black is the worst - they become INVISIBLE

[sansone]

I have holo stickers on mine, I use them to balance the blades instead of clear tape..
more than once the holo stickers have helped my orientation.

I will try the fluorescent orange

[Commodore8888]

White can be just as bad on a cloudy day


After experimenting some results keep coming back to having good contrast line that won't blend in with a natural environment.

Black blades with white or yellow (neon anything) as well as the negative version tend to show up pretty well.

Purely neon color blades will show up great on a darker backdrop, but you can run into problems if you fly above the ground/tree line and it's sunny out.

[rotorheadbob]

I used to fly NHP blades and would put on the yellow monocoat trim tape. It looked great in the air.

Good luck.

[seldredg]

I painted a cheap canopy fourescent orange, and also a 600 tail. I'll try that on the ends of some cheap blades.

I fly against brown California hills and sky, often light.

[SQRT(-2)]

I am thinking of trying a bold black stripe on my florescent orange blades next time. I saw a video of an old walkera with black and white striped blades and they showed up pretty well. Don't know how it would work in real life, but I would love to try it.

[heli-cuzz]

I don't use the disk for visual orientation. I fly the nose and skids. Although a white disk in a sunny blue sky looks freakin' awesome.

[777ER]

Originally Posted by Scott1115

Black is the worst - they become INVISIBLE

Indeed it is, most of the 690+ blades on the market are mostly in black

[777ER]

Originally Posted by Commodore8888

White can be just as bad on a cloudy day


After experimenting some results keep coming back to having good contrast line that won't blend in with a natural environment.

Black blades with white or yellow (neon anything) as well as the negative version tend to show up pretty well.

Purely neon color blades will show up great on a darker backdrop, but you can run into problems if you fly above the ground/tree line and it's sunny out.

Cloudy and overcast days are the worst to fly an heli for visibility and orientation.

On an overcast day, the heli basically becomes an silhouette.


Most of rotortech blades are yellow until you get to the 690+ sizes then it becomes mostly black...it's hard to find 3D blades that isn't all or mostly black.

[Funky]

Originally Posted by rotorheadbob

I used to fly NHP blades and would put on the yellow monocoat trim tape. It looked great in the air.

Good luck.

I have a set of NHP 550s I use sometimes. They always flew great but would dissapear most of the time I flew them. I had a love/hate feeling about them since they flew great but I hated the way they dissapear in the air. Finally I painted the last 6" of the tips white and now they show up great. Since I painted the tips they are 100% better and show up just like a set of Radix in the sky. I think blades just need some contrast to help them show up better. I mostly use the canopy and skids for visual reference while flying, but having the disc show up definately helps aid in orientation.

[mhills51]

You guys can see your blades? lol! I must be paying to much attention to the helicopter.

[Blayd]

Originally Posted by Scott1115

Black is the worst - they become INVISIBLE

+1,,,
I have CF blades on my HC 500, and they are invisible. I run fluorescent Orange paddles on all my heli's to help in seeing the disk better. The white blades are great. Having an orange or yellow ends on them help ALOT.

[skered53]

Originally Posted by SQRT(-2)

I am thinking of trying a bold black stripe on my florescent orange blades next time. I saw a video of an old walkera with black and white striped blades and they showed up pretty well. Don't know how it would work in real life, but I would love to try it.

Forest Service used to require blac and white blades when fighting fires, helps anyone above you see your rotor disk. We just painted them with white lacquer then re did the static balance ( B-212 ) then dynamic/run up. UH-1 blade bolts are hollow, you can actually drop pieces of lead into them.