Winding Helicopter Rubber Motors

[bjt4888]

What winder is best for winding wider rubber strip like the 1/8" that comes with the J&H Aerospace kit and the Freedom Flight Models kit?

[bjt4888]

What winder is best for winding wider rubber strip like the 1/8" that comes with the J&H Aerospace kit and the Freedom Flight Models kit?

The gearing in the 1:10 yellow plastic K&P winder handles high torque much better than the 1:15. It stays much smoother through the winding process as torque builds up into the 2.0 inch ounce range. The red 1:20 winder handles high torque pretty good, but as were only winding 1,500-1,750 turns on the motors this year, the 1:20 builds the final torque a little too quickly for my taste. This quicker torque build up means that you have to wind very slowly in the final phase of winding and very slow winding sometimes causes hesitations in the turning of the winder crank and these "stop & starts" during winding (as you are walking in) raise the potential for bad knot chains as the motor winding is finished. Knot chains reduce performance and flight duration as they rub on the motor stick and keep the motor from unwinding smoothly during the flight. This is not based on theory. My students and I have actually used all three of these winders during testing this year and have decided on the 10:1.

Brian T