Richard Harris

Looking forward updates on your Gyroo Neil.

Due to the excellent forecast this is a go for tomorrow.

Looking good James, be aware that adding extra mass low down will alter the vertical CG, you may need to drop down the motor a bit more. Rich

Firstly, Im sorry about the short notice, I forgot to post this here. I will be having a gyro day at my flying club in Kidderminster this Sunday (15th October) with a back up day on the Sunday 22nd if the weather is poor. Flying starts at 10.30am until 14.30 for ic and until 20.00 for electric. BMFA insurance is mandatory if you want to fly, we have an 82db limit @7m rule and a maximum span of 3m. If your interested in popping over to fly, get a gyro set up or just see what we do then send me a PM and I will forward the field location. I will make a decision based on the weather forecast the Friday before and post here. Rich

James, 15 degrees is about right for the hang angle, nose heavier is always a good bet for a maiden. As for the mast angle, it's swept back to help with the horizontal CG location, in the same way some full size have forward sweeping masts to compensate for the weight of the pilot. The 5 degrees is the rearward tilt of the rotors in relationship to the horizontal stabiliser. It just so happens I set my masts roughly to 5/6 degrees Sweep and kill two birds with one stone, helps with CG and the blades can be set square to it for initial trimming. Rich

Steve, If you have no joy I'm sure I have a copy somewhere, pm me your email address and I will see what I can find next week. You sometimes come across copies on ebay, it was published twice. Rich

There's plenty to read through James, if you can't find the answer just ask. I'm not into helis so don't really know how autos compare, I'm guessing the lack of wing would be a similar orientation? Ive found they do fly like fixed wing, with the exception they are impossible to stall. Please post your efforts if you get chance? Rich

Steve, One of my old clubmates who is no longer with us cut lightening holes into his taper winged WOT 4, it didn't seem perform any better than a solid wing so I'd question whether it is really worth the extra effort. I increased the area of the ailerons, elevator and rudder on my last WOT 4 and it did make a difference if you like lots of authority, that said this was on the parallel winged version which I prefer. Rich

Preben, Thankyou for the photos, you can never have to many! The head being used is the Razor unit so I should be able to cover that up like the full-size. Rich

John, I did manage to get the Avian 2 flying quite well though it does have its limitations. As the thrustline is not quite inline with the vertical CG it became pitch sensitive under power, as the motor is fixed the only way I could get around this without adding mass was to increase the span of the rotors adding more drag. This cured the pitching whilst the rotors are loaded up, as they become unloaded the misaligned thrust takes over again. So the only way to fly it is smoothly keeping the turns flatter and airspeed constant with better throttle management. Another issue is that the yaw control is strong under power, as soon as power is decreased it gets weaker until its non existent as power is cut, you need to gain quite a bit of airspeed to regain rudder authority. Thanks for all the information regarding the Pegasus, looking at your website you been envolved in some great projects. Please let me know how the Pegasus project progresses? I'd would love to see it! Rich

That's it, thankyou Robin

I have been asked by an elderly modelling friend to sort through some of his stuff. We came across this motor glider and he couldn't remember much about it other than it was built up from a kit and he'd never quite completed it. I'm hoping someone will be able to shed some light on its id please, I haven't a clue? The wing is a foam core with a span of 2900mm and is two piece The fuselage seems to be ABS and the canopy is quite thick and heavy. I have no idea of its age, any ideas gents?

Thanks Outrunner, I will probably give the rockets a miss for now, though November 5th is soon approaching 🎆 G-AART is another favourite of mine, a lot cleaner than G-ARZB so easier to tackle for the first one. Interestingly Ken Wallis told me he designed all the pyrotechnics for the Nellie vs Heli flying scene, he was an exceptional engineer. Preben, Thanks for the link to your website, I'd forgotten about half of those. You can't go wrong with a Crane Fly or any of Tom Wrights designs, perfect for a beginner. Rich

Ever since I have been messing around with autogyros I've wanted to design a workable WA-116 'Little Nellie' that could be published and constructed by anyone with building experience, with the blessing of Ken Wallis, I have sat on it for 14 years for several reasons. The obvious is that the WA-116 is not a beginners model (probably a second pusher type model) , yet, like a spitfire it is the one that the majority want to build and fly first and we all know what can happen there. With a couple of tractors and pushers now published those that have dipped their toes into the dark side have become pretty competent at this autogyro malarkey. Over the years I have built a couple of Nellies, a smaller indoor/calm weather version and a larger fibre glassed bodied model which is very close to scale. This required me to tig weld parts and make moulds which I found a very and boring task, if I'm honest the latter version is a bit porky. So, this new version will be a cross breed between the two hopefully keeping the weight to a minimum, built from balsa/ply and all the usual ingredients us models have hanging around in our man caves. The plan is to build a basic framework which I hope to get into the air by the end of the year if all goes to plan, as for the fuselage I will decide after (either balsa or vac formed I think). Using 10mm diameter tubing the scale is 1/5th so should be good for a 3s 2200mah Lipo and Revolver II blades, this tubing will slide into a 'Gyroo' type frame which will hold all the necessary electronics. I have not long bought myself a 3d printer so have been playing around trying to design brackets etc, I am unsure whether these will be strong enough for the job so will require testing at some stage. They can easily be fabricated from alumnium or brass sheet if they fail. As for the head I have spoken with Malcolm at Coolwind and he is going to modify his Razor head , to keep the head looking correct the push rods are in tension so the head is reversed, this will mean upping the diameter of the rods and ball joints to 3mm. For now a few photos of my efforts, this will take some time.... Rich

I bought a 1metre straight edge/rule last week, perfect for cutting full lengths of balsa strip safely as it is quite wide and has a handle on, think it was £7.99.

Had an outing with three of my smaller models yesterday, it was flat calm and I was the only one up at the patch! perfect weather for some relaxed flying. My canard is completely dialled in now and goes exactly where I point it, one of my favourites. A short piece of footage I took: Rich

It's funny you mentioned that Trevor, it waa nearly named Odo (trecky fans will know).

Finally got round to editing the bit of footage I captured flying on holiday off the cliffs in Cornwall. I'm finalising the drawings so will update when I know if and when they will be published. Enjoy Rich

I like that Linds, good luck with the maiden. Rich

Here is a short video I took of my Gyroo flying off the Cliffs whilst on my Hols. Could of done with more wind to maintain lift without using power and more ballast weight to penetrate. Nice relaxing flying. Rich

Managed to get out today to try both versions of Shifty off the slope Both went surprisingly well, I really needed a touch more breeze and did cheat at times. Had some interest from the local gulls, the delta eats up a lot of sky compared to the canard. Will try again in a good wind when I get the chance. I grabbed some video but it will be a week before I can upload, a couple of stills for now. Rich

There are plenty of cheap/free CAD programmes out there which are just as good for our needs, I am sure others would be able to advise on what they use? On another note I am hoping to sneak at least one of my Shifty's into the caravan with the intention of trying a bit of slope soaring on holiday, maybe even a Gyroo.

Futura57, I use Solidworks Rich

Paul, Nice flight and landing. Your like me, I much prefer flying without Expo as I feel more in control, well most of the time...... Rich

Interesting project Paul, Back in 2009 I flew at an event in Holland and there was a German guy with a steam powered fix wing, if memory serves me correct it was a single cylinder motor and quite a work of art. I can remember seeing it running but missed it flying, when I get chance I will see if I can obtain more information on it. Rich