WA-116 Little Nellie

[Richard Harris]

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

 

 

 

[Outrunner]

Following this one with interest, no doubt you will build another winner Richard.

Working rockets too?

[Preben Soegaard]

Oh, My favorite James Bond vehicle! (My website is dedicated to the vehicles of the James Bond films)

Like you, I've always wanted to build and fly a Little Nellie model. And autogyros are interesting, but I haven't completed a build and flown one yet. (a Crane Fly Lite is in the pipeline)
Look forward to follow your progress here.

[Richard Harris]

On 13/09/2023 at 17:06, Outrunner said:

Following this one with interest, no doubt you will build another winner Richard.

Working rockets too?

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.

 

On 13/09/2023 at 17:07, Preben Soegaard said:

Oh, My favorite James Bond vehicle! (My website is dedicated to the vehicles of the James Bond films)

Like you, I've always wanted to build and fly a Little Nellie model. And autogyros are interesting, but I haven't completed a build and flown one yet. (a Crane Fly Lite is in the pipeline)
Look forward to follow your progress here.

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

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

I also will be following you.

[Preben Soegaard]

Hi Rich
Here are two photos of the rotor head of Little Nellie that might help.

I took a some photos, when the WA-116 was on display at the London Film Museum in 2010. 😉
If you are interested in other details I'm happy to share.

[Richard Harris]

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