Scioly.org

steven102938 wrote:Hi,
I was recently researching ways to build a helicopter, is 3d printing a option? I know it will make the helicopter heavier but i only want to print vital parts.
Thanks,

As mentioned by Chalker, this will make it INSANELY heavy. I doubt the legality of it in competition, too.

What are the best times that you have seen this year?

We learned the hard way. Make sure your rubber bands are fresh. Seems silly but turned out to be important.

To keep them fresh, keep them away from heat, uv light (sun light is bad, don't leave them in a hot vehicle) and ozone. Store them in original paper/cardboard shipping materials or archival quality (no inconvenient plasticizers to outgass) plastic bags.

It is possible to keep your rubber for a very long time by freezing them.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia MI

jander14indoor wrote: It is possible to keep your rubber for a very long time by freezing them.

^^^
We have frozen ones that have never touched the ground and are perfectly clean, pre-stretched and everything. We call these "Superbands".

Yep, I have some rubber that was produced in 1993 and is still good because I keep it in my freezer in oven bags except for when I'm flying.

jander14indoor wrote:To keep them fresh, keep them away from heat, uv light (sun light is bad, don't leave them in a hot vehicle) and ozone. Store them in original paper/cardboard shipping materials or archival quality (no inconvenient plasticizers to outgass) plastic bags.

It is possible to keep your rubber for a very long time by freezing them.

Jeff Anderson
Livonia MI

We had no way of knowing how the bands had been kept. We did not even know it could be an issue. We learned quick.

Is anyone seeing times much over 2 minutes? We have seen them right around 2:00, but not much beyond.

Buckstops wrote:Is anyone seeing times much over 2 minutes? We have seen them right around 2:00, but not much beyond.

Earlier in this thread, someone reported over 2:20. And that was several months ago. And last year, I believe at national, the time was pushing close to 3 minutes, granted it was for different rotor spec.

My other question is, has anyone been successful with single blade rotor?

I gave up on single bladed rotors. We spent many weeks until we collectively dismissed it as a deterrent, meant to slow people down from making their helicopters.