Making a Gyro Thrust Scale?

[Ron Iaconis]

Hey,
Anyone out there have any ideas on making a spring based thrust scale?
I am looking for an old farm implement coil spring to use as a pull scale type to fabricate into reading a thrust for a gyro in the 100 to 500 pound range,,,,anybody done that?

[GyroRon]

Ron, go to www.walmart.com and look for their " Big Game " scale. I bought one for under 20 bucks shipped and it reads from 0 to 440 pounds, plenty of most single place gyros. We used it as ROC for thrust testing.

[PW_Plack]

Hey Ron, I like the avatar, but there's something wrong with it. Every once in a while, she stops jumping rope, and some homely guy with a helmet comes on. Can you fix it? :)

[Ron Iaconis]

Ron, go to www.walmart.com and look for their " Big Game " scale. I bought one for under 20 bucks shipped and it reads from 0 to 440 pounds, plenty of most single place gyros. We used it as ROC for thrust testing.

Ron,
Thanks,,,,I just came home from the farm equipment junk yard with several springs to fabricate a pull scale,,,,But I did find two at a farm store ,,,one @220 lb rating and another @300 lb but their cost was $55.00 and from what you just posted,,,,,,WOW,,,,WalMart comes to the rescue,,,,,Thanks agian , Ron,,,,,,,,
PS: I got these springs for no charge,,,I had to remove them from some old Corn Pickers( I guess you could call them " Corn Picken Springs" Huh?)
By The Way, Ron A ,,,,I just looked at WalMart's site,,,and only the Berkley 50 pound Fish Scale is listed and they are " Out of Stock" can you let me know how you found the 440 pound scale?

[Brent_Brown]

www.Cabelas.com for the same scale

[Brent_Brown]

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/common/search/search-results1.jsp?QueryText=big+game+scale&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=big+game+scale&noImage=0

[Ron Iaconis]

Brent,
I just went there and saw it was reduced to $29.95,,,,and ordered one,,,,Thanks for the help.............
Just for fun,,,I will try to make one as well to weigh about say,,,ahhhh? about 600 pounds,, to weigh my entire gyro with blades and all.

[GyroRon]

Ron, you ordered the wrong one if you paid 29.95$

Look at Brents second post, in that link there is two scales, one for 29.95$ and one for 18.99$ You want the 18.99$ one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kc0iv]

Brent,
I just went there and saw it was reduced to $29.95,,,,and ordered one,,,,Thanks for the help.............
Just for fun,,,I will try to make one as well to weigh about say,,,ahhhh? about 600 pounds,, to weigh my entire gyro with blades and all.

Add a pulley. Then the scale will handle 800 lbs.

Leon
kc0iv

[Ron Iaconis]

Ron, you ordered the wrong one if you paid 29.95$

Look at Brents second post, in that link there is two scales, one for 29.95$ and one for 18.99$ You want the 18.99$ one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ron,,,,,
Thank you,,,Ron,
I just called them to cancel the first order and ordered the 440 one( the funny part is that when I searched the scales ,,,,the larger one never showed up),,,,,,So worst case I may have to return the smaller one or keep it,,,,,but they are trying to cancel the smaller one,,,
I didn't bother to click on Brents second web site,,( Thanks , Brent,,,),,figuring that he was just sending me the site I had already viewed,,,,,Dumb Me!!!!!!!!!!!
And the pulley,,,, thing,,,,Leon,,,,,, regarding the 800 pound limit is another clever idea,,,,,put a hook in the ceiling,,,,,run a rope from the scale hook down around the pulley and up to the hook in the ceiling and there you have it!!!!! double the reading on the scale and you've incraesed the weighing cap to 880 lbs!!!!!!!cool,,,,,I could do it with the smaller one too,,,,never thought about it,,,,and I thought that I was a physics major!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So,,,,,now,,,I have a hand held Tach,,,,,A machine mounted Tach,,,,,and A thrust/weight hangin scale,,,,,,,,Now I can see exactly what My Home Made props are doing for me,,,,And I can Now Tweek the props( via reshaping them) to get the most from the least in my work,,,,,!!!!

[gyroguy]

Maybe this doesn't have to be said, since nobody has said it -- but use more than one rope. Have a safety rope. Also, remove your rotor blades during thrust tests.

One rope (or 3/32" aircraft cable) goes from airframe to scale. Look at breaking strength on the rope and consider it is half that with knots in the rope.

Have a safety rope or cable that is looser, but will prevent your gyro from running away if the rope to the scale gets undone. Tie it to airframe, too, and to stakes in the ground, a large truck, etc.

I saw an ultralight fixed-wing get away when the single rope to the scale slipped the knot at high thrust. I expect everyone on this forum would have enjoyed watching it. I particularly enjoyed watching the ultralight take off without a pilot after knocking him flat with the horizontal stabilizer.

[Ron Iaconis]

Kerry,
I planned on having some sort of safety back up to prevent the " run-away" situation,,,,Like earth stakes that are in front of axle of gyro, or through the spring scale,,,,but I planned on a back up safety way to prevent the gyro from " running" over me,,,,and spoiling the day......I just figured that others will do likewise,,,,But then again,,,,,,,I should never " ass u me " !!!!!!! correct?

[NoWingsAttached]

Kerry: Sounds like something my wife would like to see on Americ's Funniest Videos

Greg

[BUD ONEAL]

Ron,
Sunstate had a hyd. thrust scale that Steve Krouse had set up. The hurricane may of destroyed it however

[karlbamforth]

What about a fixed lead to short the ignition to ground shutting off the engine.
Similar to those used on jetsk.

Would be easy to use a set of points with a a small peice of plastic between them. The points connected to your ignition shut off wire, the plastic attached by fishing line to a fixed point on the ground. If gyro gets away line pulls plastic out shorting ignition to ground and stopping engine.

We used to use these as a simple tripwire alarm in the military. Points were connected to a battery and small bulb.

[miner49er]

"Points" cheap---reliable---I lOVE iT

[Racer]

That is a great Idea. Love it