Vasek .F

Hello there, I've put together a prototype of an autogiro I'm building. It weights approximately 850g. The blades previously spun up well when the gyro was run on concrete - this was done before the servo's and other controls where mounted. However, I'm having a bit of a problem taking off on grass. The tail wheel keeps getting stuck as well as the front wheels. The front wheels are 3inch's in diameter so they're not too small. I've also though of making a pair of skis which might help the gyro slide along the grass - these were made from 2 water bottles about 50g each and pressurized. This however still didn't work. The wheels worked best but the gyro had a tendency to tip over forward whenever the front wheels got stuck. Could you give me any recommendations to make a better undercarriage? Would skis be still a good option (if made better) or would I need bigger wheels? Or is it possible to hand throw a autogiro? I've also noticed some autogiro models seem to control up and down movements with an elevator instead of the rotor. Is this an easier solution? However, is some sort of steering on the rotor still necessary to turn left and right or can this be achieved just with the rudder? Thank you Vasek .F VID-20241013-WA0000.mp4

I've done some ruff tests with just running the gyro along a concrete path and the blades do spin up thankfully!

I've decided to try using the tissue paper method. I managed to find two different colors so I can identify the top of the rotor from the bottom. Unfortunately, after I applied the tissue (with dope and later some varnish) one of the blades slightly bent itself. Is this still acceptable or is there some way I could straighten it out again? I've also been careful to get rid of as many of the air bubbles through poking holes as recommended. The total weight of each blade turned out to be 20g (415 x 45 x 6mm). To balance the blades before covering I inserted some air gun pellets to the blades as needed: I later tried a very primitive test to see if there is any autorotation when I power the model underneath the blades. There was some autorotation as the blades didn't slow down and kept spinning. However, they were spinning rather slowly than expected. Are my blades then still too light? Would I then have to add some wingtip weights as recommended?

Thank you all for the feedback! Just a quick question, when you apply the covering, how do you tighten the fabric or vinyl to minimize wrinkles and air bubbles?

Hello, does anyone have any tips for covering the blades? I'm trying to apply Iron on Vinyl to cover the blades and I'm not too certain on what's the best method to use. I've tried using a Iron and a heat gun. Any tips would be much appreciated. Kind regards Vasek

Hi Richard, Thank you very much for your advice with the wing tips! I will definitely consider using them. I am planning to wrap the blades in an iron on Vinyl to strengthen the blades for the final step. The one I bought will give an estimated extra 13g to the total weight of the blade, as well as the pieces of plywood I need to glue to the ends of the blade. Do you think that this would make on the other hand the blades too heavy (1 blade weighing 35g each with the vinyl)? The Blade profile I am using for my blades is the NACA 8-H-12 profile. Does it matter how much I cut off on the end of the blade where they are connected to the delta hub? Should I stick to cutting out a triangle with dimensions of something like 80mm x 30mm? The model I have so far is a temporary prototype. It uses a 1000KV 12V motor with 10' x 4.5 Propeller. I'm hoping this will provide sufficient thrust. Will keep you updated with the project Kind regards Vasek

Sorry I tried to attach a photo of one of the blades to the previous post (the link is invalid)

Hello there, I'm trying to make an autogiro as a school project and I'm in the progress of the making the blades. Due to available material, I glued 4mm and 2.5mm Balsa sheets to obtain the thickness of the blade, and then glued an 8mm pine leading edge. The total width of the blade is 45mm and I haven't set the length yet, but currently the blades are 500mm long. I was wondering on average how heavy should the blades be? I've just sanded the blades to their profiles, and they weigh approximately 17g. Is this an acceptable weight? I'm aiming for the model to weight between 500 - 800g. Kind Regards, Vasek .F