My Twinstarr takes to the Air Tonight!

[Rick Whittridge]

I got to fly my twinstarr tonight for the first time. It was uneventful but have some rotor tweaking to do. I have a bad rotor shake that will need some adjusting. I did not feel comfortable flying with the blades acting up so I just made one pattern & landed. Bugs have to be worked out but no problem.

[Brent Drake]

Very good Rick. I bet your really exited. I'm glad to see you in the air.
My blades were shaking some so I adjusted the pitch. It took all the shake out. I only turned the pitch screws 1/4 of a turn and made all the difference. It had a bad 2/rev shake when I got the machine. When Gary flew it he told me how to fix the 2/rev problem but I then had a different shake. I'm hoiping to get a call from Sport Rotor people this week for my new blades. I ordered the blades from them and bought the rotor head from Brent. It was just dumb of me I guess. I did not give it a thought about Sport Rotors having there own rotor head. I would have purchased that also. I heard you say that in the future you might get a set of Sport Rotors. I'd buy a new head also. If there is anything I can do to help you Rick, just let me know.

[barnstorm2]

Congratulations!!!

Good to know she is in the air again!!!

I went with the Sport Rotors Rotorhead and I am very happy but so long as the current head has enough room for undersling and teeterstops are in the right spots you guys should be fine with what you have.

My old head did not have enough undersling and would have have allowed the stops to align correctly.

[Rick Whittridge]

I made some new washers for the teeter bolt today to take up some play I had between the towers. I installed them & made another flight tonight. There was some improvement but the blades are out of track by about 2-3 ". I will start to tweek the blades now to see if they get better.

[StanFoster]

Rick: Happy for you....keep em spinning...:whoo:


Stan

[Caribean_gyro]

Rick did you check the alignemnt with the string. what type of shake you get.

when it spin up does the cabin bounce or move side ways.

I took mine down again yesterday because after the last repair and painting I was not happy with it, My cabin bounces. I found that there were.1 degree down in 1 blade. so I add 1 washer more and solve it.

ALso The machine has many shim washers I once put more on one side and I got also the cabin side way movement.

Check between the towers and the Hub to check alignment. I also had to loose the bolts in the hub and align it in between the towers.

You need telescopic gauges, but I am sure your tool box is full of gadgets.

Let me know the type of shake you encounter . I have come down on mine from holding the stick with 2 hands to now a move front and back of 1 inch. no side movements.

ChuckP

[Harry_S.]

I made some new washers for the teeter bolt today to take up some play I had between the towers. I installed them & made another flight tonight. There was some improvement but the blades are out of track by about 2-3 ". I will start to tweek the blades now to see if they get better.



It's good news to see you're airborne in the new machine.

Wow...2" out of track...no small wonder you're not comfortable with the shake?! Have you noticed what rrpm you had? I'm not up on what rpm you would like on your machine but on my RAF, I like it to be 320-330 in cruise, when solo.


Cheers :)

[Rick Whittridge]

Chuck, Yes I strung the blades. Yes the cabin shakes. I have side motion in the stick of about 3-4" ALOT!

Harry, My rotor tach is still not working ,so I have no idea what there turning, I will be working to find the cause.

[animal]

Good Luck Rick, glad to see ya got her flying. keep us posted on the progress.looking forward to see some pics some day of you and barnstorm2 flying formation.

[Caribean_gyro]

[QUOTE=Rick Whittridge;136987]Chuck, Yes I strung the blades. Yes the cabin shakes. I have side motion in the stick of about 3-4" ALOT!["

Ok it sound as when I started my machine that mine also shake like crazy. When I measure between the towers and the hub block I noticed the hub barr not center inside the towers. I first measure the hub bar block on the saddle horse and found the bolt that moves in and out was off. I use a caliper to comapre both side. But didnt got any luck adjusting it outside. Now when I adjusted inside the rotor head with the gauges I got equal distance and vibration was reduce considerably.

I would attache the centering of the blades agains the rotor head before I make any other changes.

ChuckP

[barnstorm2]

With my old single place and my old 2 place I had better results "slinging" my blades then strining them. Ron A wrote up some instructions around here somewhere...

Hey, Tim, we will need a 3rd ship for those formation shots... hows the chopper?

[animal]

Hey, Tim, we will need a 3rd ship for those formation shots... hows the chopper?
Got a call from Rob monday, he is going today to look at another gearbox. hopefully this one will be useable. problem is there are alot of these gearboxes out there, but most the paper work is not right on or they don't have the updated rotorshaft.. $17,000 to replace shaft...aacckkk.

Right now not even sure I will make ROC. was thinking about it, but was hopeing to have had my winnebago sold by now. Gary Neal told me if i can get to ROC on thrusday he would fly me the other 3 hours I have already paid for. just not sure on my camping thing yet. need to dig out my old tent and see if the rats have not chewed it up yet. I already know I need a new sleeping bag. I may just go on friday and go home sunday.
gas for car no problem. just trying to watch my funds. no steady income at this point. have done some computer work and waiting for a starter to come to finish a job on a lawn tractor. that may give me the extra to make the trip.
will you be at ROC?

[barnstorm2]

No, I want to and Connie is up for it but I can't get off work.

Currently I am aiming for Bensen Days as the next gyro event.

Good luck on the gear box hunt!

[Harry_S.]

I found a few years ago that *slinging* my blades didn't do dick. The holes were too close toleranced. IMO, If two of four holes won't allow side movement, slinging will do nothing for you.

If you really WANT to sling your blades...you could REAM the holes a couple thousandths oversize to give you a little slop.

If the blades have been taken off the hubbar a number of times, some slop has been made due to the bolts being driven in and out...I think.:boink:

My blades were mounted to the hubbar one time and there they stay. When I service the tower bearings or the rotor head, I hoist the whole rotor up, do the work and lower the rotor back in place.

You know...sometimes a chordwise movement of a few thousandths betwixt the towers may do the trick for you. It's a simple move with the RAF head but I think you would have to do it with washer shims on other heads. Try it to one side and if the shake got worse...move it back and to the other side.

Just a suggestion...after you have them in track of course.:)


Cheers :)

[animal]

No, I want to and Connie is up for it but I can't get off work.

Currently I am aiming for Bensen Days as the next gyro event.

Good luck on the gear box hunt!

yeah I will need it. maybe I will get some good news soon.

I was hopeing it would be fixed in time for ROC. I don't think I would have made much money doing rides there with all the gyros doing rides.

but it would have been fun just to fly it in and enjoy the event with out working it. at least when I do get the helicopter I will know it is right and should be able to work it awhile before haveing to do any major repairs.

[Rick Whittridge]

I made it to the airport today to do some more flight testing in the Twinstarr. I`m still suffering from stick shake with adjustments so far.

[Caribean_gyro]

Rick the shims that came with the rotor. Mine when you add all them I have around 56 mils on each side. Also did you measure the separation between the rotor towers and the hub block. It makes a big diference in the cabin side to side shake. Stick should move back to front around 1 inch from center.

Also in the air can you see if the blades track in line. I feel you have what I encounter at the begining. centering ,static balance and out of track.

I can take some measurement on mine and see if works for you.

chuckp

[Timchick]

Looking good!

[barnstorm2]

Nice!!! Great shots too!!

[barnstorm2]

You look like Darth Twinstarr in the flying photo :)

[animal]

Great pics, man that machine looks good. good luck getting the blades adjusted out, will be looking forward to seeing more pics.

[barnstorm2]

Hummm......

:spy:

[Brent Drake]

Nice pic's rick. Hope the blades tune in easily for you.
Brent

[Harry_S.]

Rick;

I believe you have the RAF rotorblades?!

I can't recall...do you have the RAF rotor head? It don't look like it is an RAF?!


Cheers :)

[Rotornut]

WOW Rick, That is a Great Looking Machine. We look forward to seeing it up close. Thinking maybe Sunstate should not give out award's for 2007!
lol just kiding. Geez here we go again, another Very Deserved Best Workmanship.. MJ :)

[bowns]

It's amazing the painting pattern in the body makes her looks 'slim' rather than 'fat'.I also enjoy the trenchant black-white decoration of the rudder/fin.