Rubber

[franklinknights]

hmm good ideas up there^^^^^

but is it possible to hav ur heli stay up in midair ? like without touching ceiling cuz out ceiling for regionals is like 30ft and for our state its like 300ft

[Draylon Fogg]

it really depends on how much force your rotors are pushing and where it levels off, the more force, the higher the distance till it levels off

[lllazar]

A few questions:

Where should i buy rubber?
What dimensions of rubber should i buy?
Would it be possible to use no O-rings and just attach the rubber to the hook directly? I feel this would allow for more rubber mass.

[lonestar]

What can I use for lubricant? I have WD-40; would that work well? I see a lot of mention about Armor All, but I don't want to go and buy some special lube if something I already have lying around works fine.

[andrewwski]

NO! Don't use WD-40. WD-40 is petroleum based, it will break down the rubber.

There are some places that sell special lubricant for this application - but I've never found them to be worth it. Armor All works just as well, is a lot cheaper, and easy to find.

Whatever you do though, don't use a petroleum based lubricant.

[jander14indoor]

A few questions:

Where should i buy rubber?
What dimensions of rubber should i buy?
Would it be possible to use no O-rings and just attach the rubber to the hook directly? I feel this would allow for more rubber mass.

The only type of good contest rubber (highest energy storage, ie longest flights) is FAI Model Supply www.faimodelsupply.com You can buy it other places, but might as well go to the source.

Not really sure on rubber size, might want both 3/32 and 1/8 wide to see which works best. Use a piece long enough to weigh 2 grams.

Of course you can skip O-rings, but you might want to ask why the experts use them.
- Note, when they use O-rings, don't think of black rubber plumbing parts, too large and heavy. Top flyers cut their own O-rings from plastic tubing. Lighter and stiffer. You can scrounge tubing by tearing apart an old used up ballpoint pin and grabbing the ink tube. Careful of the mess. The syphon tube of old spray bottles is sometimes the correct size. Any stiff, but flexible plastic tubing around 1/8th diameter with 1/32 or so thick walls. Sliced about 1/32 long. A pair will weigh about 0.04 grams.
- Yes a slight penalty, but its a PAIN to put 1000 plus turns on a motor without a winder. With that many winds on the motor you won't be able to get it off the winder without loosing turns, on balance this offsets the weight difference.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[lllazar]

All righty - so i had my coach finally order everything today and i think im set to start testing new designs over winter break. I just had one more question about setting up the helicopter before flight testing - how would i go about winding it by myself, as in no partner to hold it for me? This is just for times when im testing it by myself.

Thanks again for all the helpful answers!

[lonestar]

NO! Don't use WD-40. WD-40 is petroleum based, it will break down the rubber.

There are some places that sell special lubricant for this application - but I've never found them to be worth it. Armor All works just as well, is a lot cheaper, and easy to find.

Whatever you do though, don't use a petroleum based lubricant.

Alright. I found some silicone lube, how 'bout that?

[eta150]

NO! Don't use WD-40. WD-40 is petroleum based, it will break down the rubber.

There are some places that sell special lubricant for this application - but I've never found them to be worth it. Armor All works just as well, is a lot cheaper, and easy to find.

Whatever you do though, don't use a petroleum based lubricant.

Alright. I found some silicone lube, how 'bout that?

That works nicely, just be careful to keep it off of anything you might want to hold in the future. It's incredibly slippery (its intended purpose), but almost to a fault.

Use it, but just be careful.

[wlsguy]

All righty - so i had my coach finally order everything today and i think im set to start testing new designs over winter break. I just had one more question about setting up the helicopter before flight testing - how would i go about winding it by myself, as in no partner to hold it for me? This is just for times when im testing it by myself.

Thanks again for all the helpful answers!

To wind and install by yourself you need a winding stooge. Bascially it is a device that holds the winder on one end and has a hook on the other end to hold the motor. Often this is attached to a torque meter. You can make one out of scrap wood, some wire, and a nail. I will try to post a an image in the gallery to help. (I don't know how to attach a photo to this posting.)

With a winding stooge the motor stays wound until you put it on your helicopter.