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Re: Helicopters C

Posted: September 5th, 2017, 3:32 pm
by coachchuckaahs
Thanks, that is a neat design!

Chuck

Re: Helicopters C

Posted: September 5th, 2017, 6:58 pm
by mjcox2000
What's the point of 5.d. (the coloring bonus)? It seems like an odd thing to give a bonus for - it seems easy enough to do and probably would add a negligible amount of mass. Does anyone see the logic behind adding that bonus?

Re: Helicopters C

Posted: September 5th, 2017, 7:15 pm
by bernard
mjcox2000 wrote:What's the point of 5.d. (the coloring bonus)? It seems like an odd thing to give a bonus for - it seems easy enough to do and probably would add a negligible amount of mass. Does anyone see the logic behind adding that bonus?
It awards teams that take time to mark their helicopters so they are more visible mid-flight, without penalizing those who do not do it. If it were not a bonus, teams without colored blades would have construction violations.

Re: Helicopters C

Posted: September 5th, 2017, 7:24 pm
by mjcox2000
Have there been issues before with inadequately visible helicopters, or was this incentive for marking blades created out of the blue?

Re: Helicopters C

Posted: September 5th, 2017, 7:28 pm
by ScottMaurer19
mjcox2000 wrote:Have there been issues before with inadequately visible helicopters, or was this incentive for marking blades created out of the blue?
This is similar to a bonus in wright stuff last year so not entirely new. I'm not sure where it originates.

Re: Helicopters C

Posted: September 6th, 2017, 11:39 am
by Daquan
How would you build a chinook with only one motor?

Re: Helicopters C

Posted: September 6th, 2017, 11:42 am
by Raleway
Daquan wrote:How would you build a chinook with only one motor?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWWpXVMFwWw

Roy has a great chinook with one motor (I believe it is one). Basically, you just attach it like last year's heli, but there are some modifications to be made that you have to figure out to let the motor correctly turn the rotors- don't remember at this point in time though. Very difficult to make well.

Re: Helicopters C

Posted: September 6th, 2017, 7:02 pm
by chalker
ScottMaurer19 wrote:
mjcox2000 wrote:Have there been issues before with inadequately visible helicopters, or was this incentive for marking blades created out of the blue?
This is similar to a bonus in wright stuff last year so not entirely new. I'm not sure where it originates.
This has been something in the rules in some form for a while now. One main reason for it is to help with visibility when the device is up high to help determine it if gets hung up on something. Last year at nationals there was a very interesting arbitration around some ambiguity in the previous wording used to describe the 'marker', so the committee spent a bit of time revising the wording to be very explicit and descriptive.

Re: Helicopters C

Posted: September 6th, 2017, 7:18 pm
by mjcox2000
chalker wrote: This has been something in the rules in some form for a while now. One main reason for it is to help with visibility when the device is up high to help determine it if gets hung up on something. Last year at nationals there was a very interesting arbitration around some ambiguity in the previous wording used to describe the 'marker', so the committee spent a bit of time revising the wording to be very explicit and descriptive.
I see. Thanks for clearing that up.

Re: Helicopters C

Posted: September 7th, 2017, 1:36 pm
by DoctaDave
bernard wrote:
coachchuckaahs wrote:Since a chinook design would have two rubber motors, it would seem that you would almost certainly forego the 5% bonus on prep time, but trading for a 2.5X kicker, probably worth it. Perhaps both team members need to wind in tandem!

Any thoughts as to when they start the pre-flight timing? Will they give a chance to get to the winding table, or will space near check-in be at a premium? (Same issue in Wright Stuff). I would hope the team can carefully take their flying machines to their tables before time starts, but I suspect they will start as soon as weigh-in is complete.

Coach Chuck
I've seen a Chinook I believe ran on a single motor, constructed by Roy White.
Correction: Roy White's Chinook actually has 2 motors, each wound in the opposite direction. You can read more about his design here viewtopic.php?t=4234.