Helicopters C

[calgoddard]

Stan's MINI-PEARL helicopter kit includes jigs for assembling the rotor blades. The jigs must be assembled from pre-cut balsa wood parts that are supplied with the kit.

[daydreamer0023]

Has anyone received the Freedom Flight Kit and begun testing it? I've gotten mine and am in the process of building it - the three/four blade rotor options on top and two blades on bottom seem to be for stability, so it would be interesting to see what teams decide to go with.

Also, what is a decently sized safe flying space for a helicopter, as in won't crash into the wall too many times and such? How much do helicopters tend to travel along the ceiling while in flight (in other words, how stationary are then once they ascend)? Thanks in advance!

[jander14indoor]

Just finished a Wright Stuff/Helicopter clinic where I had a chance to see several of the Freedom Flight kits.

I think you'll find the free spinning top disk on that design will make sure you have very little movement on a smooth ceiling. I was surprised as I watched the first team flying this design when it hit the ceiling and just 'stuck' in place. Never moved along ceiling until the motor wound down and the helicopter just descended. Probably used less than 10' by 10' of floor space. I didn't realize why until I looked at the copter and saw that the top disk was on a bearing and could spin freely. Neat trick.

If you have a helicopter with a top disk fixed to the top rotor, expect some movement, how much depends on how straight your copter flies.

In general, you can fly in MUCH smaller spaces that you needed for Wright Stuff. We've found racquet ball courts are great for tournaments. Reasonably tall, typically smooth ceilings, plenty of floor space and easy to control. Generally good spectator access without interfering.

And even better, it is possible to rig up meaningful static testing, not really possible with Wright Stuff.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[Bazinga+]

Just finished a Wright Stuff/Helicopter clinic where I had a chance to see several of the Freedom Flight kits.

I think you'll find the free spinning top disk on that design will make sure you have very little movement on a smooth ceiling. I was surprised as I watched the first team flying this design when it hit the ceiling and just 'stuck' in place. Never moved along ceiling until the motor wound down and the helicopter just descended. Probably used less than 10' by 10' of floor space. I didn't realize why until I looked at the copter and saw that the top disk was on a bearing and could spin freely. Neat trick.

If you have a helicopter with a top disk fixed to the top rotor, expect some movement, how much depends on how straight your copter flies.

In general, you can fly in MUCH smaller spaces that you needed for Wright Stuff. We've found racquet ball courts are great for tournaments. Reasonably tall, typically smooth ceilings, plenty of floor space and easy to control. Generally good spectator access without interfering.

And even better, it is possible to rig up meaningful static testing, not really possible with Wright Stuff.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

If you dont mind me asking, how did the times from the new kits compare to that of other helicopters and those of previous years? Just trying to get some idea of whether it's worth spending a ton of time perfecting this new design rather than improving on one I have experience with.

[jander14indoor]

Hard to say. It was best flying, but still early days. Few alternative designs were far enough along to get particularly valid times.

I'll say that spinning disk seems like a winning feature. Really kept the copter from bouncing around a smooth ceiling vs fixed (to rotor) disks.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[Bazinga+]

Hard to say. It was best flying, but still early days. Few alternative designs were far enough along to get particularly valid times.

I'll say that spinning disk seems like a winning feature. Really kept the copter from bouncing around a smooth ceiling vs fixed (to rotor) disks.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

Interestingly, from my experiences, bouncing around may actually increase time in some circumstances. This may be because hitting the ceiling temporarily stops the rotor so the helicopter's blades have to speed up and gain momentum as they recover and then repeat the cycle, which could actually save a lot of winds when near the ceiling. Alternatively I've seen people attach the disk right to the top of the rotor and shave it down to be very thin, this way the rotor scrubs against the ceiling, also saving winds. But stability is certainly advantageous in restrictive testing grounds.

[jander14indoor]

Sorry, wasn't clear. The disk spins free of all rotors. Hitting the ceiling DOES NOT STOP THE ROTORS. That's the clever bit. I've seen what you are talking about. It doesn't happen with this design.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

[daydreamer0023]

Sounds like the Freedom Flight kit is going to have an interesting effect on the competition this year. Dave also mentioned motor stick breakage in his instructions as being something to expect. Have any of this been seen at the clinic?

[HandsFreeCookieDunk]

Hard to say. It was best flying, but still early days. Few alternative designs were far enough along to get particularly valid times.

I'll say that spinning disk seems like a winning feature. Really kept the copter from bouncing around a smooth ceiling vs fixed (to rotor) disks.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI

If you don't mind me asking, did you notice any other kits, or were all of the non Freedom Flight designs homemade? Your use of "alternative designs" makes it sound like everything else was built from scratch.

[jander14indoor]

Anyone can replicate the free spinning disk on the Freedom Flight Kits. There is more than one way to do it, though I have to give them credit, it is a really clever idea and at this VERY short look, looked pretty effective.

All other helicopters were from scratch. I don't think the Freedom Flight kit is inherently more capable (other than perhaps the disk which you could incorporate), but it certainly starts at a higher level of development. I didn't see any other kit at the clinic, but it wasn't a lot of teams.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia, MI