Steve Campbell Elite Veteran Location: Baton Rouge, LA
| V Blades are basically hand-made; one pair at a time. Vic has done some things to speed up his manufacturing process (like hiring Dave Storey), but he simply refuses to jack up production simply for more profit. He has been approached twice, that I know of, by major players wanting to buy him out. We're talking major six figures here. But he enjoys doing what he does, makes a reasonable living doing it, and is not inclined to sell. He also knows that if one particular "big name" who tried to buy him out got ahold of the line, quality would suffer.
What I'm saying here is that, while you can buy blades that are as good as V Blades, there are none better; in terms of finish and balance. You may find a set of blades that do better for your flying style, but NOBODY beats V Blades for being truly ready to "bolt on and fly". Vic's tolerance is 0.1 gram.
Another good, relatively inexpensive blade is the Gamma series. I had a 70cm set of those on my Vigor, Chris; simply superb.
A real "sleeper" is the Leisure Tech series of sport blades. These are imported through Canada by Phil Noel. Rick's has 'em; like, $80 for a set of 680s. A bonus here is that Phil "tweaks" each pair when he gets them, before shipping to dealers. I've had three sets of Leisure Techs (still flying 680s and 550s), and they are the only blade I've personally dealt with that were perfectly matched like V Blades; weight AND CG, both chord- and spanwise.
I also have a set of MA RotorSport 690s (from the German vendor, I believe) that are absolutely beautiful, and fly to match. But at $150, they are my "Sunday go to meetin'" blades.
There is a literal plethora of blades available out there today. Most everybody swears by his chosen brand.
While we're on the subject, anybody have any experience with the CMT or OMT (not sure what the first letter is) line of glass blades? I just received a pair of 550s. Nice overall, with brass drag hole inserts. But I've never heard of this brand.
Steve |