E Flite Blade SR fitted with MIA's Performance, Stability, Durability and Aesthetically Enhancing Mods and Upgrades.


I set out to design these specific MIA TUFF™ SR  Upgrades I am offering, after flying the Blade SR in stock form, out of the box and having a slight mishap landing, breaking and shattering the canopy and canopy support bar, as well as bending the boom. I was a bit upset! It was not like I had crash hard, so I decided right away, that the SR could benefit from some of the Upgrades I had employed in previous similar micro heli designs. I  didn't want to diminished my confidence level in the Blade SR to withstand more enthusiastic level of flying, but I knew that I would have to change some parts to give it an extra level of protection in case  of a reoccurring similar mishap.  I typically fly in rough terrains, and the MIA TUFF™ Upgrades are ideal for such, but the benefits also apply to just about to anyone seeking a more robust and confidence building Blade SR setup.

I recognize that the  Blade SR stock heli is very nice and some people are actually pretty good and never crash, so these upgrades may not apply to some of you out there that are at this level of flying.

The Blade SR design flows very well, something I like about E-Flite, as a company, but one cannot realistically expect from any company a product that meets 100% everyone's needs and expectations. So every product has a gap for improvement, including my own. However, I often revamp, my own products as well, to offer a wider choice of options to a wider audience, based a number of needs. I believe these MIA TUFF™ SR upgrades bridge that gap and offer a greater margin of protection for the Blade SR helicopter, as can be appreciated  in the MIA TUFF™ SR video (S).

About the MIA TUFF™  LG Struts

In general, the MIA TUFF™  LG Struts are typically taller and designed in an  "A" shape form, a setup and style that has been a trademark of MIA Micro FLIGHT, for many years, since first employed in the MIA 1999 Robin 280 micro and similar MIA Retrofits and Upgrade Kit for helis that followed, such as the Century Hummingbirds, GWS Dragonflies, E-Sky Honey Bees, etc.  I applied the same upgrade design concept also to the QUARK SRB, Walkera, Nine Eagles helis and even really small helis such as the MIA Palm-Size™ original designs and similar ones that have appeared in recent years such as the E-E-Flite mCX and mSR, for the very same MIA TUFF™ LG benefits as described here.

The new MIA TUFF "Delta" ™ Tail Rotor Guards are also designed with the concept of protection for the tail section. I have designed countless vertical and horizontal stabilizer fins over the years of running MIA Micro-FLIGHT and offering upgrades worldwide to micro heli enthusiasts, and have tested, on various size helis, numerous and creative ways of adding an extra level of protection  for the tail section, without compromising tail performance, while providing a unique simple and attractive look. I arrived at the design of using a ring made of the same, but thinner material to the MIA TUFF™ LG Struts,  coupled with a delta shape part made from the  G10 material, same as used for the MIA TUFF™ LG strut supports, micro frames and skids, in general.

 I realize the benefits of this particular design might take a bit to sink in, for new viewers, especially if you are accustomed to the more typical fins that everyone in the industry uses as tail fins, but for all practical purposes, single piece rigid fins, in general, do not work as well as ones which have a level of cushion or suspension, yet wide or tall enough to guard the tail blade on a hard landing. At least in my reasoning, and personal experience, coming down with the heli on a hard tail fin and very rigid LG  simply transfers that impact to the boom and mainly tail section, with the blades' suspension pulling them towards the boom, thus resulting many times in the infamous "boom strike!". Has this happened to you?   

 If you are mechanically inclined, and can visualize the dynamics involved in the above MIA TUFF "Delta" ™  tail protective guard photo, then these words will probably be nothing new.

About the MIA Custom Tail Blade Option to the Blade SR Stock Small Tail Blade

 I also noticed that the Blade SR tail rotor, no matter how well I tweaked the gyro, it still hunted, vibrated and whined too much for my liking. So I set out to try various blade options.

 My design work experience with the 2001 MIA House FLY sub-micro helicopter, indicated to me that the direct drive tail blade on the SR is simply to small with the stock tail motor, to counter the main rotor torque smoothly.  I had tried on the House FLY similar direct drive tails with smaller blades and I had the similar hunting issues with the tail, this also has to do with other mechanical, electronic and dynamic factors,  the gyro setting, type of motor, and level of electronic design in particular in the ESC-mixer section, not to mention, there is got to be a happy medium with the main blade pitch and rotor axle to axle distance, also,  so things have a wider envelope of adjustment to balance the main and tail rotor torque. I solved this issue on the House FLY by going with a geared high ratio tail setup, using a large tail rotor blade with a small tail motor. Later on, trying a higher speed and torque  BL tail motor with smaller prop seemed aesthetically better, but the fact that the small tail rotor required time to rev up to higher rpm and thus more time to catch up with the main rotor torque balance, it was evident to me that the larger diameter geared tail rotor was a more efficient setup, since it consumed less power and was more quick to respond to stick input control and tail response was smoother.

For simplicity sake, I opted not to redesign the tail section on the Blade SR but to provide a blade option that I think is much better than the stock, and one does not need to replace the stock tail motor. My videos are done also with such. So I will also offer, this MIA Customized Tail Blade to be used with the stock Blade SR tail motor.

Providing a much better Swashplate Anti-rotation bracket and  Making the Blade SR Battery Mounting More secure.

I had some slight issues with the mounting of the Blade SR battery, the Velcro strap kept falling off and was hard to get a snug strap on it.  Therefore,  I came up with better and more secure way of strapping the battery without too much fuss. I designed some small buckles from G10 that simply slide over the existing battery Velcro strap and provide 3 things:

 1) they hold the Velcro strap in place

 2) They hug the battery tight against the side of the from t of the frame

3) it provides a much better gripping and tightening strap  mechanism for the battery. In addition, I also made some padded and double-sided foam plate for both the battery and the frame battery location, so that I could easily mount the battery at the same location without changing CG.

The SR is a great heli stock, but is a lot better with the MIA Upgrades.

Q. Who Can benefit from the SR fitted with the MIA Upgrades?
A. Anyone who is looking for a much more fool proof,  robust and stable setup.

If you are transitioning from Co-axials to the E-Flite Blade SR heli, you will really benefit from the MIA TUFF (TM) LG Kit which comes with the MIA TUFF Delta (TM) Tail Guard and other neat little  improvement items to make your flying experience much more enjoyable. Minimal broken parts equals a more enjoyable helicopter.

These specific MIA TUFF ™ Upgrades are designed mainly for Higher "protection and durability "of the Blade SR helicopter.

Interchangeability and Application to Other Helis

So many helis are similar in size and in parts. What works for one will typically work for the other with little or no modifications, in some cases. Therefore, the MIA Upgrades employed in the Blade SR , shown in MIA video (s), will also apply to similar size and type other brand helis.