New to Rotor Design/Manufacture
New to Rotor Design/Manufacture
(OP)
A friend and I are looking into building a large model helicopter (~4 ft long). We are both new to the design of rotor blades and are looking for advice on what would be easiest and cheapest to do. Any help would be appreciated.





RE: New to Rotor Design/Manufacture
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: New to Rotor Design/Manufacture
RE: New to Rotor Design/Manufacture
Take a look at the complexity of the mechanisms on this page:
http://www.rchelicopterfun.com/bell-mixing.html
Now, how do you feel about homebrewing stuff like that?
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: New to Rotor Design/Manufacture
Do you think it could be done? If not, is there a way that we could build as much of the helicopter as possible without having to do this and maybe buying this part?
RE: New to Rotor Design/Manufacture
The problem is that a rotor assembly has to be complex in order to control the helicopter, and it has to be highly stressed in order to be light enough to fly, so it needs serious engineering, not just eyeballing.
That said, there appear to be a lot of people in the business of selling R/C helicopters and parts, so I'd be surprised if you can't find either major assemblies as components or a skeletal complete system that you can build around. Because of the complexity, the high stresses and the engineering that _should_ go into such a thing, don't be surprised if it seems expensive.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: New to Rotor Design/Manufacture
RE: New to Rotor Design/Manufacture
I agree with Mike, buying one makes far more sense, maybe start building your own around the guts of it.
The blades I have are foam filled light plastic shells. I suppose balsa would do but would obviously not be as rugged, and I imagine the stresses at the roots would be difficult to control.
Anywya, there's a million books and websites out there on building RC helicopters, I'm sure they know far more about it than me.
Cheers
Greg Locock
I rarely exceed 1.79 x 10^12 furlongs per fortnight
RE: New to Rotor Design/Manufacture
Most of these guys will be more than happy to show off their machines and answer any questions.
RE: New to Rotor Design/Manufacture
I have been RC modeller (and now a pilot of full size aircraft) since 1972, at that time RC helis were being developed by Graupner and clever individuals. There are some simple ways of getting an RC heli flying (look up Micro Mold Lark on Google images). But you won't get good performance and it woudl be a hollow victory to simply re-invent these old machines.
My advice - buy a modern helicopter and learn to fly it well. Then start tinkering - modify specific items (blades, control system) in a way so that you can understand the effect your mod has. In this way you may discover/invent/develop something useful which can then be of use to many others.
Learning to fly an RC chopper is more difficult than full size - you will need around 100hrs of practice to get proficient in the basics. Once you have done that then consider how difficult it was for the pioneer's who did not have the benfit of modern electronics (gyro stabilized tail rotor, automatic collective/throttle mixing).
Good luck, l look forward to seeing Ccheese4 as a heli innovator!
Aerodesign
RE: New to Rotor Design/Manufacture
If you are considering something different from the normal and will elaborate somewhat on your objectives, I maybe able to provided you with some relevant information.
Dave