Richard Harris

Great work as always Simon, you now need to add some sort of toothpaste dispenser!

Happy New Year Ken and thanks. In the middle of covering so will post some photos of the finished model when I'm done, I like this 4max covering!

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The electrics have now arrived from George at 4max. Going to try some of their heat shrink covering on the Shifty's, looks pretty similar to the HK stuff, has anyone tried it? Whilst I was waiting I have transfered my scribbles into electronic plans, I may alter the wing plan form on the delta version as I'm not quite sure yet. Photos are off the screen but you can make out the generic fuselage and the rough shapes. Rich

I appreciate the comments gents, Thank you 👍 The airframe weight is around 160g bare but I can possibly shave a little more off with some fine sanding, servos and a few fittings have been ordered so when they arrive I can get on with it. Rich

I've had a few drone motors knocking around that I bought last year off FB market place for next to nothing and have been contemplating what to bolt them onto. I quite fancied doing another canard but this time go for a central fin rather than outboard as on my Uncanny design, this should make under arm launching possible and protect my fingers from the pusher prop. Shifty was drawn up over the Xmas break and I ended up with two plan forms, a canard and a delta version utiliising the same fuselage design To date my canard designs have used elevators on the forward wing for pitch control, to keep things simple I will try elevons on the main wing.and keep the canard fixed. I may need to mount the canard with a few degrees of positive incidence but hope to get away with reflex trimmed into the elevons.If it doesn't work I can always revert back to the tried and tested method. I've started building the canard version as it will be more testing than the delta, a few photos of what I have at the moment. Very simple using 6 and 3mm balsa sheet with a bit of ply for the bulk head, canopy is made using a pop bottle shrunk over a simple balsa mould the the first attempt is a bit naff. More to follow. Rich

Hi Pete and welcome to the forum. To make life easier I opted for a point of balance rather than a 'hang angle' which should be taken with your model ready to fly (battery, rotors fitted etc) This point is 50mm in front of the mast where it intersects with the top of the fuselage and should balance horizontally. There is a tolerance of 8mm back and forth of this point and should be easy to achieve by moving your battery back and forth (some have had to cut the battery aperture so as to get their heavier batteries back a bit). Hope this make sense? Rich

Max, Interesting to read its history, I've managed to secure the Q&EFI issue it was published in plus it came with the original set of drawings. It flew with the installed AXI motors, batteries were 3 off 10 cell 3300mah Nimh packs, a friend has suggested 4s 5000 packs to compensate for the weight of the nimh's Rich.

Piers, He's still with us but I believe his eyesight has deteriorated enough for him to give up modelling. An interesting model for sure. Rich

I have been donated Chris Golds Dehavilland Behemoth prototype, a model he designed and built in about 2006 . Its a 'could of been' airliner from Chris's imagination to which the plan is still available from Sarik hobbies. It features 3 motors, a small stub wing with rotors out on the tips, span is around 97" so a big model for me. It is showing its age so there is quite a bit of work to get it into flying condition again . I will post my efforts once I get going, in the mean time a few photos of the model assembled in the garden. Rich

At last I managed to get to the field with my camera to get some flying footage of my modified Revolver II, due to the mild weather the grass really needs cutting again but it did manage to get off ok, no doubt due to the breeze which it handles well.

Nicely edited video Stephen, thanks for sharing 🙂

'Apparently he also designed what the film claims is the first autogyro powered by what's described as a small Triumph engine (perhaps a 500cc parallel twin square barrel)' I believe the first powered flight of an autogyro was in January 1923 by the Cierva C4, which used the fuselage from a Sommer monoplane, I think (though not 100% sure) that this was powered with a seven cylinder Gnome-Rhone rotary engine. I'd be interested to know which particular autogyro they are on about if they mentioned it? I know Wallis used Mcullock drone engines obtained from the US and modified a Rolls Royce 6 cylinder in another.

Alan, Sorry for the delayed reply. First off your blades should be fine at 48g, a sure sign of blades that are too light is over sensitivity in roll. If you want to add small tip weights to make up the difference it won't hurt, just make sure they are located infront of the cord wise CG and re balance. You say your Gyroo is taking off and climbing away nicely so your set up sounds pretty good. As it is impossible for an autogyro to stall I'm guessing that it's coming to a standstill in the air and rolling or doing a yawing pirouette? Without seeing it my guess is that you maybe pulling back on the rotors too much, that big rotor disc is an efficient brake! It could also be that too much roll is being used to initiate a turn, try a larger circuit until your comfortable with it (you can easily bank an autogyro over too much). Let me know if this helps at all? Rich

Hi Edward, Nice work on your Gyroo, as John has said all of your questions are answered in the Gyroo write up, balancing blades is covered extensively as it is very important. Off the top of my head I think the CG position is located 50mm in front of the mast measured from the face as it intersects into the fuselage, this point has a tolerance of +-15mm. Blade mounting hole is measured 1mm back from the cordwise CG position and the set angle for the head is 90 degrees to the mast (this is the starting point before trimming). Rich

We had a guy turn up and maiden his Gyroo at our September get together, I managed to get a few photos of Graham's fine example. Interestingly he has used Astik manufactured blades that are a SG6042 aerofoil, they are require a little more negative incidence and have a higher speed but performed fine. He has also added a dummy radial to hide the motor and has add what look like wooden guides to run the rudder cable through.

Thanks for the update Chris, good to hear you have got it sorted 😎 Rich

I captured this video of my clubmate years ago flying what I think is the same model? FROG 80 powered using his original single channel radio. He let me have a go but I was pretty useless at it, in his skilled hands I was surprised at how aerobatic it was with just a rudder. We don't know how easy we have it these days. The quality of the video isn't great.

Chris, Thanks for the info, its always best to check these things and it all looks good. It sounds like you have made an excellent set of blades, by adding the recommended shim you will loose a little lift (as Tom suggests), in turn this should sort out the pitching up, assist penetration and give a quicker spin up time. An autogyro will climb naturally as you apply more power (mine will almost loop from horizontal at full bore with no pitch applied), so use your throttle to control your height into wind, once you get the knack you will be hooked. Let us know how it goes? Rich

Good to hear its completed Thomas, let us know how it goes ? I think a twice sized version would fly really well and not break the bank and could be broken down into modest sized pieces, my Atom Bomber is a large version of the Atom and flies well. The big Panther has a split fuselage which joins just behind the mast, the front portion is built in the same way as its smaller brother but the rear is a built up light weight structure. It flies extremely well but as with most larger models is impractical as a weekend hack. On another note I have had a couple of photos sent me over the weekend of a completed Gyroo. Rich

Hi Chris, My gut instinct is that you have too much rearward tilt for your particular hang angle as you say you are finding it hard to penetrate into wind, the rotor disc is a very efficient brake if too much is dialled in! A side on photo would help with the model turned on set ready to fly as you have been? Other possible causes that could influence your problem that are worth checking are: Are your head servos strong enough and not being over come by the forces acting on them from the rotor? Is you head plate the correct thickness? a thicker/ stiffer plate will almost certainly push the nose up Is your horizontal stabilizer parallel to the tail boom? Is your horizontal stabilizer warped? I've come across this one many times. Are your blade shims the correct thickness and in the right location? (if they are thinner this would increase blade lift) Are your blades the correct length? Rich

Edward, To answer your questions, The only special requirement for head servos is to use high torque metal geared type, if you stick to the plan your servo alignment will be fine though be sure to have your servo arms set at 90 degrees to the fuz sides. Both the C30 and Razor head use M2 threaded ball joints, I just use 2mm diameter wire threaded one end for the ball joint and a push rod connector on the servo arm. I've seen rods made from carbon tube and even wooden dowels with wire bound to them, all work fine, I would use what ever you have as that what the Gyroo is all about. Rich

Edward, You can use tape as Stephen suggests (I use scotch magic tape) or hinge in the normal way, if going down this route its best to use Cyano fibre type hinges as these are a lot thinner than the standard nylon type. Rich

Here are a couple of Gyroo photos Ive been sent from builders, the green one had its maiden last week and went well. The 90% finished version should be taking to the air in the US in the next few weeks. The green one uses Steve Jones neat idea and has the horizontal fuz/battery plate made as one sliding in from the front. Good work Alan and Gene Rich

Alan, As Ace has said, they are to go each side of the spruce boom. They are really only there to thicken up the the boom so that it matches the fuselage and tail support thickness, also heat shrink covering sticks to balsa better which is a bonus. Rich