Chris Dowell

Keith. Go take a look over in RCG.............. autogyro..............mantis 3D printed files....#113 I sliced using creality print old verson ..not 5.0 and not creality slicer. If you want any more details ..just ask. Chris...

Yes Steve, Your model appeared to be OK in flight but it did look as if it was struggling with the ROG. You will have noticed in my video ,the model was on a short run and jumped into the air.with both type of blades. Here are the weights you asked for.. Fuz alone 29.3 ozs Balsa blades 510 X 55 mm 5.9 ozs Printed blades 500 X 65 mm 7.45 ozs lipo 6.9 ozs which comes to model with balsa blades =2.63 lbs model with Printed blades 2.72 lbs Now this is not much lighter than your model. I'm sure both models are carrying considerably ballast up front. I have found that when flying with the printed blades I have to reduce the back trim considerably. The model also flies very well on the balsa blades. I don't know if you have a 3D printer or a good friend with one ,because these blades designed by Paul B are the way to go. I was always worried of the damage that may be caused by striking the ground. Pleased to say that I have tested them for this as well as the blades making contact and folding on arrival.All OK

At my club we have under cover tables to set up our models .My models when not flying are always under cover. My car has good A/C and so there is no prob in transport. And so the heat is not a problem of coarse my workshop is well insulated. That is apart from the one time I left a printed cub in my car which was in the garage (that is not insulated)and it now have a very distinctive ripple to the wing.

I tried a set of Paul Bray's printed blades on the beast today and was very happy with the results. The blades are printed in PLA and are 500mm X 65mm with a weight of 57 gms. The entire assembly comes in at 206 grams compared to a similar set of balsa blades at 175 gms . Although 30 grams heavier ,I was most impressed by the performance. I had no tip weigh and found them to spin up in a light breeze. This is the 90 mm wheel that is also printed. I did have a video of this flight ....but I lost it. Chris...

Greetings Steve.. I always spread the wheels as far apart as possible on all my models.it helps with spill on landing. 420mm from inside to inside. The wheels are 90 mm printed and find they are so easy to see and do help with the angle of attack. I think you could see in the video how easy the blades spun up whilst the model was stationary. Sorry that I was unable to post the video on this site. Chris...

That is one fine printed project .I do have a question re the blades. What size are the blades ,what is there weight and what is the weight of the complete blade assembly. Yes ,I am printing blades for this model and need to compare. Happy Landings Chris...

We always were on the same page ...it's just that you are on the top line and I on the bottom one.😂 Unfortunately I have not been flying recently .My flying club is located very close to the sea and when the wind comes from that direction it can become unflyable in a couple of minutes. But yesterday I got me a new printer. Just released Ender 3 v3 core XZ . Man its like a jack rabbit on steroids' . It's like this ,that every time I get a new electronic toy .I go through this like, hate period. I like it but it hates me . But this new toy was extremely easy on me and we are now good friends...well that's until it starts playin up ...and it will ,one day. I happen to have a set of 600mm blades lying around so I hope to make a two blade set to try on this model. So what is the starting angle on the head ?

I just worked out what you mean. 5 Pence. You could said that you added a metal disc with a diameter between 18 / 23.59 mm with a weight of between 3.2/5.65 gms ...just to make it clear . (farthings)😆 Chris...

That wind looked a little bit of a problem, but the flight looked interesting .You will have to translate for me please (5ps to each tip)

I was aware of that Rich....I was just drawing to Steve's attention that I had had a similar situation re Fuz and UC. Chris...

No Steve ,you are not the only one to have this problem.I actually split the fuz in half during construction as I was installing the side rails into the slot,the grain split. After flooding the joint with thin CA and quite a lot of bad language all held together. I suggested to Rich that the center 6mm core should have the grain vertical stopping this problem .AND I also had a similar problem with the U/C mounting ply.I performed a heli landing with no roll out (straight down) and found out later that the wire U/C had spread splitting the ply. CA applied to the split ply and a couple of bolts above the wire so it cant happen again. Chris...😎

The model is one nice looking 3D project .All the colours will definitely help with orientation. Rich A farthing is a 1/4 of a penny...which is 1/12 of a a shilling which is 1/20 of a pound .I guessing you are unaware of pre metric.😲 Chris...

Sorry bout that. So when you step out of your back door in the morning and are hit by 31deg in the shade you kind of know that this is not the best conditions to fly cos your eye balls dry up in the wind .So this has been one of the problems that I have been unable to fly, so I had to find other ways to pass the time. Whilst perusing thingiverse I spied a blade sanding jig that had been designed for the Panther /Gyroo. So off I went and printed this work of art. I came out pretty good but was designed for 6mm balsa and I wanted to use 7mm .I could have modified the print but decided to make one out of a timber composite material. I have now made two sets of blades and am pretty happy with the result, not that I ever had a problem sanding blades but this set up gives me a more constant profile. I did find on the first pass that I had few prominent score marks ,but found that brushing on water and allowing to dry raised the wood and then when sanding longways on the blade all the imperfections disappeared (well most of them ) One very important thing came out of this project was that not one speck of sawdust was lost during the project as I had the shopvac hooked up .I have seen that sanding is a problem with some of you.Take note Rich .I have a spare set of blades with no model. Now on to a bit of 3D printing. I did design a motor mount that did not have offset ,but during early testing foundthat it did not suitable this model and so I have made a few versions with a 6mm offset. This uses a crimp plate similar to the wooden version. Rich advised me that the ply version came in at 13 grams and my one came in a little heavier at around 16 gms.I realize that this was an unnecessary project but I just wanted to play with tinkercad to see if this old guy could actually do it .I use a couple of British farthing's a s tip weight an her is my very low teck /light weight / non digital 15 deg angle tester .Lets see if I can add a couple of pics to let you see what I was on about. I do like the one of the tree support ,It makes the part look organic. Chris...