Helicycle Hatchery

[Kandace]

Hi Stan, I know what you mean about helicopter flying, It is awesome! Being able to hang there in mid air and pivot around and just take off and fly in any direction is unbelievable. It is like having your own magic carpet! Airport! We don't need no stinking airport!

Keep up with the photos of your build I'm really enjoying them.

Kandace

[StanFoster]

Kandace- The next few weeks should be the most interesting to date. The tail rotor drive shaft goes in next...then the tail rotor gearbox,,,and the best part is the tail rotor itself. There are some scissor brackets I get to fabricate...and all the linkages to afix should be fun. By the way....I am purposely documenting almost every detail so that future Helicycle builders and current ones can log on here and view. I sure wish I had a site that had someone posting as much....it would sure take the head scratching out of a lot of it.

I was watching a video showing the tail rotor being laid horizontally....balanced on a narrow block at its center...then B.J. Schramm and another 200 pound guy are shown standing on the ends of the tail rotor blades like they were children on a teeter totter! The tail rotor was bowing but came back perfectly straight. They have a steel tubing inside that makes this possible. B.J. also demonstrates and explains many overkill design features in this helicopter that really is impressive. He just is very conscientuous about his designing something that will hold up. I am very impressed with his work.

Stan

[CLS447]

Stan, do know the type of tubing(yellow) ?

Kandace...do you plan on building a Helicycle ?

How much is R22 time ?

[StanFoster]

Chris- Its plastic tubing. ha Stan

[earthbnd misfit]

With all those grease nipples. Can you get to them easy, or will you run a set of lines to them all , with one main nipple?
Love following your build. You have real patience.

[StanFoster]

earthbnd= There are 12 greese zerks if I am not mistaken...and all are easy to get to. I love the idea of grease zerks instead of sealed bearings. Back when I was farming...the bearings that were sealed would be the most likeley to go....and the ones that you can service lasted almost forever. It makes you pay attention as you apply grease...and this pumps out the contaminants.

There are a lot of cool details that I will be posting as I get to them. I sure can tell I have gotten back in the build saddle. What it does to me is have me set a quota for a certain amount done each day on my stairways...and if I reach that goal...then I get to reward myself with some extra time on the build. I know a helicopter requires more maintenance as there is more moving parts to keep in order, but I feel my unique position of having my little ship right at my workplace will be a good marriage. After its flying, I will maintain a strict look over and keep adjusted regiment, more so than when my gyrocopter was down at the airport. I want it 'ready for a mission' like my gyrocopter always was......and I will be flying many missions!

I love having it in its own nest and all I have to do is open a side door in my stairshop and I am in the hanger.

Stan

[Kandace]

Kandace...do you plan on building a Helicycle ?

How much is R22 time ?

I wish! I don't think it is in the cards for me, but having said that you never know!

Where I'm flying the R22 is $210 per hour and $40 for the instructor.

Kandace

[lanichol]

Overkill design features in a helicopter is good! And what kind of gease will you use? Red, blue, green, gray? Sportcopter has grease zerks in the rotar head.

[raton]

Now that the tranny is in...you can see the built in tilt the rotor mast has in the first picture. This will offset most of the translating tendency from the tail rotor. The main rotor turns CCW, the fuselage tries to turn CW, the tail rotor pushes to the right at the tail...causing translating tendency..or drifting to the right. Now that the rotor disc has a built in tilt...this pull to the left will minimize the translating tendency to the right. There is also the torque trying to turn the nose to the right...so this all gets taken care of with a little mast tilt of about 1.5 degees.

The second picture shows the holes for the main shaft bearing.

The third picture is the bearing holder all drilled.

The fourth picture is where I am shimming this bearing so it is perpendicular to the main shaft.

The last picture shows a feeler gage between the bearing housing and an aluminum spacer that fits the shaft snugly. They want no more than .005 of an inch out of parallel between this space and the bearing housing. I was able to play with it until I got it within .002 of an inch. Took just a little longer but may as well do it better than minimums.

Stan

Stan

Not a criticisms, unless you have a very steady hand I have some misconception into drilling precise perforation free handed. Don’t this components come factory predrilled..?

Raton

[All_In]

Stan

Not a criticisms, unless you have a very steady hand I have some misconception into drilling precise perforation free handed. Don’t this components come factory predrilled..?

RatonNo the parts need to be aligned and then drilled. Stan then clams the parts in place and re-measures and then drills the holes.

[raton]

No the parts need to be aligned and then drilled. Stan then clams the parts in place and re-measures and then drills the holes.


Ok..thanks, but if the parts are supplied by the manufacturer why doesn’t the frame come predrilled. Seeing Stan’s work I have no doubt the perforation will be correct, just worried about any slant that could cause some fastener misalignments. Personally , I would done a jig with drill gide.

raton

[StanFoster]

Raton- The hood bearing has a turned section that fits very snugly. I drilled as square as I could, but it would be a waste of time building a gig when a small misalignment of these particular bolts wont change the integrity one bit.:yo: Some places...yes, a jig is mandatory. I know when not to freehand drill something.:yo:

Now...for drilling the tail rooor drive shaft...I will be using a drill press and V-blocks.

Lanichol` I think B.J. called for blue grease...but whatever, I will put in the best I can find.....same as the best transmission and tail rotor gearbox oil that B.J. has recommended.


Stan

[raton]

Raton- The hood bearing has a turned section that fits very snugly. I drilled as square as I could, but it would be a waste of time building a gig when a small misalignment of these particular bolts wont change the integrity one bit.:yo: Some places...yes, a jig is mandatory. I know when not to freehand drill something.:yo:

Now...for drilling the tail rooor drive shaft...I will be using a drill press and V-blocks.

Lanichol` I think B.J. called for blue grease...but whatever, I will put in the best I can find.....same as the best transmission and tail rotor gearbox oil that B.J. has recommended.


Stan

thanks .. i get it now

raton

[StanFoster]

Raton- Let me be the first to say that any of my methods are up for scrutiny and I post many times just for advice.......so.....just because I am posting lots of pictures...please dont get the drift that I think my way is the only correct way. I may very well do something wrong...and I have learned a lot by the other builds I have posted and the critique and yes..the slaps on the back. They are all welcome as long as its constructive critisism.:D


I am trying to put this Helicycle together very properly, and I feel so far I have. I may have different methods such as use of my pet tool, the laser, but they are just my way of getting it done correctly. I am a real stickler when it comes to say that transmission alignment that has to be set statically crooked...by an exact amount. I festered over that until I was sure it was dead on before I went on to my next step. the tail rotor setup is going to be I feel a lot of good reading. I am posting all these pictures and verbage for my future reference. I love coming here and scrolling back into my build, say installing the cyclic controls. I can glean out the critical information along with a picture to refresh my memory when it comes time to reinstall those parts.


Thanks for your interest...and this thread will be added to almost daily from now on. I try to find at least one hour to work on it.

Stan

[raton]

Raton- Let me be the first to say that any of my methods are up for scrutiny and I post many times just for advice.......so.....just because I am posting lots of pictures...please dont get the drift that I think my way is the only correct way. I may very well do something wrong...and I have learned a lot by the other builds I have posted and the critique and yes..the slaps on the back. They are all welcome as long as its constructive critisism.:D


I am trying to put this Helicycle together very properly, and I feel so far I have. I may have different methods such as use of my pet tool, the laser, but they are just my way of getting it done correctly. I am a real stickler when it comes to say that transmission alignment that has to be set statically crooked...by an exact amount. I festered over that until I was sure it was dead on before I went on to my next step. the tail rotor setup is going to be I feel a lot of good reading. I am posting all these pictures and verbage for my future reference. I love coming here and scrolling back into my build, say installing the cyclic controls. I can glean out the critical information along with a picture to refresh my memory when it comes time to reinstall those parts.


Thanks for your interest...and this thread will be added to almost daily from now on. I try to find at least one hour to work on it.

Stan

Stan

Here in downunder we say there is many ways to skin a cat and what is the proper way as long it tastes good. Not being critical, learned my trade in Europe and we had a fastidious teacher, a spot of oil on the fingers meant a whack on one hands with a steel ruler, and certain things are only done the proper way therefor my questioning and your answer is explanatorily. I am always amazed seeing good prepared work by some none technical gurus here, silently been following the works of Ron and for a lawn cutting doctor, not brown kissing, but he does some ‘bloody’ nice work. I would to add seeing your workshop and that tells it all, I have no doubt it will be a fine machine once finished. By the way, I laser everything I measure… some great tool..!

raton

[StanFoster]

I have the transmission pulley temporarily installed. Several views of it. Next comes the tailrotor gearbox and the tail rotor driveshaft.


Stan

[CLS447]

Stan, I hope that your chopper bearings don't see the same contaminants that a piece of farm equipment might see !

Now that you mention it ...What gearbox oil did B.J. recommend ?

Thanks for the answer Kandace.....the chopper tends to make alot more than the instructor. I am just a plumber & that is alot of green for an hour.

But the Helicycle should be very reasonable to fly! I would love to get a ride in one!

Just kidding !

[StanFoster]

Chris- The oil recommended is Allison Gear 21 75W-90W. Same for both the tranny and the tailrotor gearbox. Stan

[gerrynolan]

Miquel in Spain is another European helicycle source...

magmunoz@telecable.es

[StanFoster]

I have the tail rotor gearbox in place. I am figuring out the driveshaft parts before I start drilling and mess them up.

The driveshaft aluminum has been straightened to within 0.005 inches, so I am babying them by laying them on that blanket. I am real pleased with the tolerances of the parts...and the finish. They really do a first class job and it makes my job harder trying to put it together equally as nice.


Stan

[All_In]

Now it's getting fun!!

[animal]

Looking good Stan, whats with the nipples on the drive pully?

[StanFoster]

Tim- those are pairs of angled and tapped screw holes. thet will hold cooling fan blades . Stan

[utahgyrocop]

Stan,

To use an old word..I'm all twitterpated. It is very exciting to watch your attention to detail and articulation of the steps.

With each picture and input it looks more and more like a helicopter.

Kudos!!!:hail::hail::hail:

:usa2::usa2::usa2:

[StanFoster]

Thanks for the comments.

The first picture is a poor quality snap shot off of one of the build videos. It shows B.J. Schramm and another person standing on the ends of a tail rotor blade , playing teeter totter... The blades are clearly bowing but he shows they are perfectly straight afterwards. The thrust of the tail rotor amounts to no more than 45 pounds...this would only mean 22.5 pounds per blade. Of course with the rotor spinning at 3000 rpm, this loading is very light. The centrifical forces however are given at 3000 pounds. There is a steel spar inside that B.J. has calculated at a mimimum of a factor of 5 for reserve strength.

The second picture shows the bolts that hold the pitch of the tail rotor blades. Centrifical force makes the bob weights hold a positive pitch to these blades at around 6 degrees. This is set for cruising and your feet can be taken off the pedals.

Building this machine is a real interesting education. Its nice to see all the engineering that makes a helicopter work. Whats really neat is I have just scratched the surface of setting the tail rotor up. The next few weeks will be by far the most interesting so far on this build. Stay tuned....:wave:


Stan

[raton]

I have the tail rotor gearbox in place. I am figuring out the driveshaft parts before I start drilling and mess them up.

The driveshaft aluminum has been straightened to within 0.005 inches, so I am babying them by laying them on that blanket. I am real pleased with the tolerances of the parts...and the finish. They really do a first class job and it makes my job harder trying to put it together equally as nice.


Stan

Stan…!!!

Don’t you have a bench to work on..? All on the floor no good at all for the back..!

Raton

[StanFoster]

Rat- I have an 8ft. X 12ft. bench. Is that big enough for you?? Geesshhhh.......now where did, I put my D-CON?? Stan

[dragonflyerthom]

Stan…!!!

Don’t you have a bench to work on..? All on the floor no good at all for the back..!

Raton

Raton

What you don't see is that this is a new add on to his shop. He wants to keep all the sawdust and stuff from his new parts and to keep them from being scuffed up.

Stan is a master stair builder. He probably has three or four benches.

[StanFoster]

I went out to my stairshop this morning at 6:30 to just work for a half hour....time I looked at my watch , it was 9:30! I got so involved, I didnt have a clue that much time had slipped by.

I started building the tail rotor drive shaft. I have to do this precisely as the bushings have no room for error. I used my drill press for the drive bushings...then gradually drilled them out larger until it was just right.

The bushings fit inside the aluminum driveshaft. The blue tape marks the absolute end of the internal bushings. This lets me make sure my holes are at least a bolt diameter away from the edge. Also, the two bolts that are 90 degrees from each other are seperated by a bolt diameter as well. The bolts are 3/16 inch diameter...so I had to drill no closer than 9/32 of an inch from the edge.

Stan

[All_In]

Everyone says these kits are just bolt together? Yaw right.

Seeing it done sure helps those of us about to build.
Thanks

[StanFoster]

A miterbox cuts the shaft like butter. I used a scotch brite pad to get these bushings in. Talk about precision milling from the factory. Just basically polishing the mating surfaces had them slide in snugly...If I had not scotch brited them,,,they would have had to have been hammered in which is not good.

The feeler gage is checking for 0.030 clearance in the coupler.

[CLS447]

Doing great , Stan ! Are the instructions really thorough or do you just know what you are doing ?

Do they explain why things are done ?

Hey, what are those mowers doing in there !

[StanFoster]

Chris- There are no written instructions, no drawings, but lots of videos to watch. There is a LOT to think through, bu you know what??? I like that. When you have to think out most of the steps, it sinks in a lot better. I dont like my hand being held very often, but Blake at the factory is there when you have a tecky question. Just today I MADE A RARE CALL, AND i actually had him scratchin his head. It had to do with one of my seals just riding on the edge of the turned section on my main shaft. I had a solution that I needed his blessing on. He called back after his head scratch session, and ok'd my idea. They are really swell out there.

[Kandace]

I'm really enjoying this build!

Kandace

[earthbnd misfit]

What rpm will that shaft be doing? would it need to be balanced?

[StanFoster]

earthbnd- I believe that shaft turns at 3000 rpm, thats the speed of the tail rotor. I will check to see of the gearbox back on the tail is a 1:1 ratio.

Otherwise, the only mention to balance is to alternate the heads of the bolts across each coupling so as to balance each other out. I can see if I put the nuts on the same side of the shaft that this would cause an inbalance. Even with that said...B.J. in his videos says its suggested but not really an issue anyway.


Kandace- Glad you are enjoying the build. I am really enjoying it myself! If you notice, I either go at it 100% like I am now....or shut down on it 100% like I did for 6 months. I could have started back in 3 months ago when I recieved my 2nd shipment, but like I mentioned, I just had too much going on and I HAD to get that new room done. Just too much dust for the work I had coming up on it.

I will keep building my tail rotor driveshaft.....then set a taut fishing line along side it and set the bearing holders for as perfect alignment as I can get. The next several weeks getting the tail rotor on...building the scissor mechanism, setting the tail rotor pitch range.....should be the most interesting stuff in this thread so far.

Stan

[StanFoster]

I am fitting the last section of tail rotor drive shaft here. The rear coupling is designed so that you can pull two bolts and slide it out of its elastomeric fitting and remove the whole driveshaft in 5 minutes...without touching the tailrotor gearbox.This will make it handy doing an annual or if you just want to inspect or replace the two sealed bearings.

I have to get the spacings at the bearing holders just right....the shaft will have to be aligned soon as well. The elastomeric couplings need about a 32nd of an inch clearance. There are shim washers that go behind the tail rotor gearbox to control that end. Lots more to do on this tail rotor....


Stan

[StanFoster]

Chris- I forgot to answer about the mowers in my hanger. Those are considered my toys also. ha Stan

[StanFoster]

The tail rotor gearbox has to run true with the drive shaft...both laterally and vertically. Here are some pictures how this is checked and adjusted for.

There are 6 mounting bolts for the gearbox at 1-3-5-7-9-an 11 0'clock.


You can see the pictures with the feeler gauge at 3 and 9 oclock, and at 12 1nd 6 o'clock.

I originally mounted the gearbox with one normal thickness washer on each bolt so that I could adjust it in and out.

My feeler gauge showed me that my gearbox was perfect laterally as the gap at the coupling at 3 and 9 o'clock was exact.

However my feeler gauge...and my eye clearly showed a 0.020 gap at 12 o'clock, and actually touching at 6 o'clock. Not good as this allows no room for expansion...and the coupling is acting like a U-joint...causing unneccesary wear and I am sure some vibration.

I left the single washers on the 3 and 9 oclock bolts, and replaced the upper 1 and 3 o'clock washers with two thin ones. By the way...3 thin washers equal one normal one. This tightens up the top gap that I had.

Next I added a thin washer to the lower bolts at 5 and seven o'clock. This opened caused the gap at the 6 o'clock postion to open up.

My final check was to tighten the newly shimmed bolts and slide the coupling together. Remember that initially when it bottomed out...the coupling was hitting at 6 o'clock and was gapped 0.020 at the top. This time the coupling slipped together absolutely flat and square, with no visible or measurable gaps on any cardinal point. My coupling is no longer a U-Joint and should be better than specs. Actually....the specs are no more that 0.020 difference laterally or vertically. So, it actually was ok, but a little shimming and now its perfect.

Stan

[trunkmunki]

Been watching your build for quite a while and I have to say I am impressed with your attention to detail and craftsmanship.

I have a few questions about the Helicycle I am hoping someone here can answer.

First, I have seen several Helicycles on the various aircraft sales sites with 100hrs or less. I watched some of the builds of these aircraft over the last few years, and most of the builders seemed very enthusiastic about flying their creation. One in particular has been flying since 2003 and was built by somebody who seem very eager to fly, yet six years after its first flight it is for sale with only about 100hrs. Has anyone talked to these builders to find out why they are selling their birds at such a young age?

Second, this is the first place I have seen that Helicycle REQUIRES an R22 solo to finish the project. Is this if you have not flown helicopters before, or for everyone? I have a commercial/instrument helicopter rating, but never flew an R22 (or R44). Would I have to go get 10hrs and solo an R22 to finish a kit?

Lastly, Helicycle has not updated their price/production run page since 2007. What is the current kit price, and how is their production schedule? I realize I should probably just call Helicycle for that info, but if someone here knows off-hand I am just curious.

Keep up the good work!!

[StanFoster]

trunk- Thanks for the comments. I have talked to several Helicycle flyers and they are just plain loving their machines and are racking up lots of hours. I am not aware of the 100 hour ones for sale...but its probably because they are upgrading to a bigger chopper or something.

If you have a helicopter rating....you will be good to go. For people without helicopter ratings such as myself....you need to at least solo in an R22. I went ahead and finished my lessons and am still waiting on getting scheduled for my check ride. I want to take another refresher lesson prior as I will be getting rusty.


I believe the current price now is $38,500.00. There is one thing though....the waiting is a long wait. I believe if you were to buy one now...dont expect the first shipment till way up in 2010.

Thats the only complaint I have about building a Helicycle....the long wait between shipments. Thats why I was shut down for 6 months. I finally received my 2nd shipment a few months ago,,,,but decided I must finish my new room first. I bet I have all the parts used up when my 3rd shipment comes in a month or so.

Check with the factory for exact shipments for the next year.

Stan

[StanFoster]

Here is the driveshaft getting drilled for the bolts. Everything is indexed and clamped. The ends of the bushings are marked with the blue tape so that I can maintain one bolt diameter from the edge.


You can see why I needed to get my Helicycle out of the back room. I have 3 180 degree stairways going in that room.


Stan

[trunkmunki]

Thanks for the quick reply. I have not yet heard anything negative about the kit or design (at least not from anyone who actually built/flies/physically looked at one).

All I have to do now is convince my wife...

[StanFoster]

Trunk= Let me tell you how I got my wifes vote. My Air Command cost me some dining room furniture. My next gyro cost me more furniture. The SparrowHawk cost me a new kitchen. MY Helicycle....more furniture.


hey....its only fair....and if shes happy....I am happy.:yo::plane:



Stan

[StanFoster]

Just to repeat myself-- I show lots of pictures here, and its not like I am the only one building anything . On top off the Helicycle I am building, I am also "building' a "Helicycle build"thread by posting most of the steps that I am going through.

Several of the Helicycle builders are watching, probably thinking...."I would have done it different...but netherless this thread will be here for future Helicycle builders and myself to come back and see and read dimensions etc.

So, heres another tidbit.

My tail rotor driveshaft is bolted together now...and back in the ship. The rear coupling shown here is spaced to 0.030 and is exactly square as previously posted.

There are two bolts that I have to drill and whenever I want to pop the driveshaft out of the chopper, the two bolts are removed....the rear coupling is slid back into the driveshaft disengaging from the coupler...then four small bearing holder bolts are removed and the driveshaft is tilted up at the rear...then slid back 1/2 inch as the front coupling disengages...and its out.

Next step is to stretch some fishing line parallel down the shaft and adjust the bearing holders for a very straight running shaft. No need having a bow in it flexing 3000 times a minute.:eek:


Stan

[CLS447]

Good morning Stan ! You are right ...this is getting interesting! A couple of Questions....What is the shaft made of ?

Will that teleflex cable be directly connected to the anti torque pedals ?

Has all of the frame weldments been right on the money so far ?

Is the tail rotor speed governed by the engine RPM ?

I can't wait to see the tail rotor on & working. Have you done any cabin wiring yet ?

[StanFoster]

Chris- The teleflex cable goes all the way to the anti-torque pedals. I have found the frame beautifully welded and well jigged. I had to grind one little weld a tad...and also had to dremel out a bearing holder for my tail rotor driveshaft which I will post next..

The tail rotor and main rotor are governed by the turbine governor.

My wiring is coming in the next shipment next month.

Stan

[StanFoster]

Ok, its time to align my tailrotor driveshaft. I ripped some wood down to 1 inch and taped one block to each end of the tailrotor driveshaft. I stretched some fishing line very tightly and used this line to adjust my bearing holders. The line has practically no sag...and none could be detected by eye.


I used a piece of wood that was ripped to use as a gauge block. I even put a piece of tape on it as the fishing line is riding over the blocks on the shaft with one layer of tape underneath it. If I am going to be fussy...I am going to be fussy!

The third pictures shows the rear bearing was low by around an 1/8 of an inch.

The last picture shows the driveshaft turned 90 degrees to check for lateral alignment. It was dead on this direction. The front bearing was real close but until the rear bearing was adjusted...this may change.

The rear bearing needed a little adjustment which will be in the next post.

[StanFoster]

After some finessing around...I got the dremel out and ground the rear bearing holder at the top. These bearing holders are designed to move laterally or up and down.

You can see the slightly egged shaped hole in the third picture. This brought the tail rotor shaft into perfect alignment. Once the bolts are tightened...that egg shaped hole wont matter one bit as the bearing plates have oversized square holes in them anyway. I tightened them up and could not budge them with a hammer and a block of wood.

[StanFoster]

After I was all happy and very satisfied with my alignment.....and got tired of thrilling myself with no measurable error with my gauge block...I then drilled some 1/8 indexing holes in each bearing holder. Whenever I take out the tail rotor driveshaft and put it back in....all I need to do is align these holes with two 1/8 drift punches...and voila....perfect realignment!

Next step will be to take out the driveshaft and drill the tail coupling bolts. Then I will start fabricating the scissor mechanism that controls the tail rotor pitch. This come out of flat stock aluminum plate.

Stay tuned....the detail in the tail rotor mechanism will be much more involved, as I work my way back to that vertical rotor!


Stan

[StanFoster]

Chris- I didnt answer your question about the tail rotor driveshaft. It is aluminum, 6061 T6 0.049 wall thickness, and 1.5 inches in diameter.

There isnt much load on this as the tail rotor only pushes 40-45 pounds.

Heres an end view of one of the pipe sections.


Stan

[CLS447]

Thanks Stan. I was going to say that all your pics appear to be taken under surgical conditions, but then I saw in the last photo.....OIL SPOTS ON THE FLOOR !!!!

What did you do ? Did one of those mowers mark it's spot ?

How much more stuff do you have to build before the next shipment?

[StanFoster]

Chris; That oil came out of the transmission. All the external oil lines are just in finger tight with no teflon tape. It came that way from the factory. Once I get the transmission, tail rotor driveshaft and the tail rotor all installed...then the transmission and tail rotor gearbox come out for painting. When its reinstalled the fittings will all be leak free.

I am going to epoxy my floor this spring and also put an epoxy clear coat over that. I want it warmer out so I can breath while applying the epoxy. Then that floor should be as slick as glass.


I still have a lot of fun piddle work with the tail rotor the next month. Then my 3rd shipment is coming and that will be a lot of stuff to do. I of course want to get flying this machine...but I am not rushing it as I am enjoying the build if it takes me another year. But if my turbine gets here this summer and the rotorblades get back in time, I will be flying it this year. But I wont mind it much if I am finishing it up next winter. That would be fine too.

Stan

Stan

[trunkmunki]

Trunk= Let me tell you how I got my wifes vote. My Air Command cost me some dining room furniture. My next gyro cost me more furniture. The SparrowHawk cost me a new kitchen. MY Helicycle....more furniture.


hey....its only fair....and if shes happy....I am happy.:yo::plane:



Stan


She wants kids, so I'll just tell her when my production slot is secure we can go ahead with that. :lol:

[CLS447]

So Stan, mostly just the tail rotor stuff to finish ?

Is the next shipment the last ?

Is all of the wire for engine & instuments supplied ?

I can understand why you like to take your time, you are really doing a nice job!

[StanFoster]

Chris- I have received 2 of the 4 shipments. The 3rd will be all the wiring, instruments, rotor blades, and clutch mechanism. That is coming next month. I should be out of parts right about when the 3rd shipment arrives. The last shipment is the T-62 tirbine, due in July. Learning from experience, it will probably not get here till later , but I can deal with that, I will just enjoy the build. I will be flying it soon enough later in the year. Stan

[StanFoster]

I finished the driveshaft drilling early this morning. The first picture shows how the rear coupling is engaged and the 2nd picture shows it slid back into the shaft so it can be lifted out.

The third picture is lifting the driveshaft out so I can go drill the last two bolts in the rear coupling.

The last picture is the finished driveshaft with the two drift punches aligning the bearing holders so it runs straight.

Next I will be fabricating some scissor hinges out of flat stock aluminum.

Stan

[earthbnd misfit]

What is the black cuhioning made from? Is it soft?
I have been building a 6 seat hovercraft for the last 15 years, i wish i had your patience, and time.

[StanFoster]

I had an hour to work on the scissor brackets. These brackets transfer the pitch change commands to the tail rotor.

I roughed the pair out with a table saw, dremel tool, a disc sander, followed by sand blocks.

I cloned the critical bolt holes by using the first one, and drilling through the holes.

Stan

[animal]

Stan,Nice sporty. what year is it?
Btw Stan, thought you would get a kick out of this, the new Sport Avaition Magizine has a write up about a guy that made an electric start conversion for his old T-craft, he uses a shaft from the back of the engine to the front with a bendix and get this, it is powered by a Dewalt rechargable drill mounted to a bracket on the firewall. he even got an FAA STC for it.
that must be one torquie drill to kick over an 85 h.p. lycoming.

[StanFoster]

rest of the pictures

[StanFoster]

Tim- I bought that Sportster new in 98.


Those DeWalt drill with the lithium ion batteries are powerful.


Stan

[StanFoster]

I am sitting home on doctors orders after my colonoscopy...so please excuse my exuberance....but I cant wait to get to my shop tomorrow and resume work on my tailrotor parts! Its my gift to myself.


More pictures and commentary as I add to this Helicycle build thread. Thanks for the tremendous volume of hits, I cant stop now!


Stan

[Doug Riley]

Stan, just so ya know: It's OK if you DON'T post stills from your colonoscopy video.

Really.

[StanFoster]

Doug- You mean you dont want the "up my tube" link to You Tube??:eek::p:puke:



ha



Stan

[StanFoster]

Todays mission was to finish cloning the other scissor bracket. The Helicycle has a redundant tail pitch bracket with these two brackets connected in parallel.

There is an elongated 3/8 inch slot where a steel bushing rides in. As the scissor bracket rotates with application of the foot pedals, this slot allows for the pivot action.

These are some fabrication pictures.


Stan

[StanFoster]

Here are some pictures of the scissor brackets being filed, sanded, and bent to a mirror image of each other.

They are now on the tail rotor gearbox...and its nice to see the slider mechanism work back and forth on the tailrotor shaft when I push on the left and right pedals.

[animal]

Looking good Stan, how did you cut the arms?

thats is going to be a Sweet machine when done. really enjoying the build thread.

[StanFoster]

Tim- The straight cuts were made with my table saw. A jigsaw and dremel grinder, and a disc sander handled the curves. I will polish the flat sides befo re they are painted. Glad you enjoy the build, much much more to come! Stan

[CLS447]

What is the amount of movement that the cable has ?

Does the tail rotor use that full range or is it limited by something?

I mean can you move the cable stop to stop ? You know what I mean.

[StanFoster]

Chris- The anti-torque pedals have stops that will be adjusted to stop the cable movement. You wouldnt want to be hitting stops on the tail rotor end causing undue strain on the cable. The cable at the scissors bracket moves around 2.5 inches, and is geared down through the scissors. The slider moves around 1.5 inches. I am just guessing on those numbers now, but will soon be setting the tail rotor linkage and I will have to know EXACTLY! By te way, the cable is under compression instead of tension for most of the pedal inputs. It is under very low load. Stan

[CLS447]

So it does more pushing than pulling ?

Could you post some pics of the full cable destinations & the pedals, so I can fully understand the working principal. When it is fully connected of course!

Thanks Stan & have a great day ! Going flying with Larry today !

PS Why did you have to bend those ? I can see why, ... but wouldn't have been easier for everyone to just use a spacer or something ?

I'm sure there is a good reason for it . I know about the 51% rule but if I were building it I would be hoping that parts like those would be stamped out & bent for me .

I know , I know....then the price of the kit would cost more !

Look how the SH evolved so quickly.....I would have been bummed out if I had purchased a SH 1 (& a little mad )

I always thought ....How hard can the Helicycle be to "ASSEMBLE" ! No, you are definitely "BUILDING" it ! Keep up the great work !

One more thing.... I know that YOU enjoy it, but I would rather just pull those parts out of a box & bolt them together.

I am tired of having to either make or have made custom parts !

[StanFoster]

Chris- Seriously, even though I cant wait to fly this thing....I am enjoying and savoring the build part. I dont care if it takes me through next winter...

This part is too much fun. Its especially more pleasant having it in a clean room without all the sawdust. I still go in my shop to do the grinding, cutting etc...so as I dont have grey dust everywhere. That new room is my sterile operating room!

There is a lot of building to this kit...and assembling. ...I am logging every build hour. I havent made any custom stuff on my own yet, but will be doing so when I mount my accessories that I want and a few minor improvements such as sight gauge for the fuel level.

The tail rotor during positive pitch is being pushed by the cable. Negative pitch is being pulled.

You are very observant on that bracket with the dual bends. It would have been easier to have kept the scissor brackets flat...parallel and yes...with another spacer off the gearbox.

Stan

[Monte55]

Stan..............did you use a specific or recommended aluminum for the two
plates. Some aluminum does not like to be bent although your bends are not severe.
Nick

[StanFoster]

Nick- I used what they supplied ....1/8 inch thick...6061...I forget what the T rating was.

It was just a 10 degree jog both one way then the other. There are two brackets, and say if one cracked...it would still operate. I will be watching all the parts on this heli. I am especially glad that the tail rotor driveshaft is out in the open for easy inspection...feeling the bearings for heat..etc...

Stan

[CLS447]

Stan, Larry must have forgot about me !

I wasn't going to get as technical as the metalurgy thing but I am glad to see that they supplied the metal.

I would get all bent out of shape when bending those parts(pun intended).

How do you measure 10 degrees on something like that ? I would probably bend it back & forth & end up remaking the part.

There is definitely more pride that goes into doing it yourself & puts more responsibility on the builder.

Quality control is also put on the builder(to some extent).

[StanFoster]

Chris--I just took a piece of 1/4 inch luan and put it in my miter box...and cut a ten degree angle on it. The cut intersected a straight side..so I had a nice guage to go check as I bent the aluminum. I placed the aluminum in my vice with some aluminum angle jaw protectors...set it to the bend line I made on it, and tapped it with a hammer and block of wood until it was the right angle.

The more I am involved in whatever I do in life...the more satisfaction I get for doing so. The Helicyle build is no different. If I were smart enough to have designed and built this helicopter....now that would be the ultimate satisfaction! I will always have to wonder what being a designer is like.:hail:


Stan

[StanFoster]

The tail rotor is on and now its starting to resemble a chopper!

The tail rotor turns clockwise looking at it from the left side. This has the front blade going up into the rotordownwash.

Next I will be cutting rodends and making up the two pitch links that will transfer the pitch commands from the slider.

The last two pictures shows the full range of movement of the slider.

Stan

[Vance]

Your Helicycle looks beautiful Stan.

I find eye candy in the details.

It will be a symphony of kinetic sculpture when you fly.

Thank you, Vance

[StanFoster]

Thank you Vance-

Heres a couple more closer up shots of the pitch links being manipulated so I know what I am doing. I have to cut the rodends to length so as the rodends are 2 5/8 C-C , then I will be adjusting the blades for 17-18 degrees positive pitch to 8 degrees negative pitch.

Stan

[Friendly]

Stan,
We had a Helicycle at our flyin in Gonzales this week end. It was turbine powered. It was a sweet machine. If they have a two seater, I might would give up my gyros.

[StanFoster]

Mark- Was that Helicycle a white one piloted by a guy named Jim Little?? I bet it was. If so, Jim and I have talked several times on the phone, and he is a class act to say the least. In 2007, Jim just finished building his Helicycle and was flying off his 40 hours because he wanted to fly to Homer Bells fly-in in Ohio. Here he is, just got his helicopter license, flew his 40 hours off, then sets off on a 1575 mile roundtrip,to Homers! He made it there and back and had no problems. He wrote a nice story about it, and this is the longesr crosss country by a Helicycle. The story gets better! Jim applied for a job with the Fish &Wildlife Department to fly a helicopter. One of the requirements was a commercial license which he just acquired, and 100 hours of turbine time. He had just completed that much time in his Helicycle, and he reluctantly put that down on his application. He got the job and was trained in a Bell 206 when hired, It changed his life forever. Jim is one of my mentors and he swears I will love my Helicycly, he loves his. Stan

[Friendly]

Yes it was Jim Little. He flew it like he loved it as well. That was the very comment from some of the more exprienced Pilots at the flyin. Looking at that heli in person and knowing it is very close to me, really has me thinking a lot. But I know that I must get beyond this fear of heights before I can venture into a heli. Landing a lite gyro at low altituted is not the same as a heli. But I will like to build one. I really like that part of rotorcraft.

[StanFoster]

I just had an hour to work on the chopper today. I cut the 4 rodends to length and assembed the pitch links....then connected them to the pitch horn on each tail rotor blade to the slider bracket.

I do not have the tail rotor hole drilled all the way yet..as I am waiting on a D drill.....which is 0.246 size. The tolerances on this machine are very strict in the critical areas like this.

After I get the hole drilled and the bolt in...I will be cutting me a jig that matches the rotor blade profile...so I can set the positive pitch to 17-18 degrees...and the negative pitch at 8 degrees.

You can see the three pictures showing the tail rotor going from positive pitch to negative pitch and back to full positive.

I have a lot of safety wiring on all those bolts.

Stan

[CLS447]

I like it , Stan !

If I was building one, this would be my instruction manual !

[Monte55]

Stan..................great pics. What are the long bolts for? Fine tune balance
for tracking or the like. I had a Scorpion 1 that had similar bolts that washers could be added to I guess for tracking??
Nick

[trunkmunki]

Landing a lite gyro at low altituted is not the same as a heli. But I will like to build one. I really like that part of rotorcraft.

I think every landing I have ever made was done at low altitude! :lol:

[Passin' Thru]

I think every landing I have ever made was done at low altitude! :lol:
You never landed up in the mountains or high plains desert?;)
I suspect what Mark was refering to is the difference in the near-surface control requirements when landing.:)

[trunkmunki]

Yeah, I was just kidding. I thought he meant absolute altitude!

[Al_Hammer]

Nick, The long bolts hold large washers, called "chinese weights" because they look like a chinaman's hat. They counteract the tendency of the blades to want to go to flat pitch due to being tail heavy, as most TR blades are. Essentially they relieve pressure neeeded on the pedals during cruise flight.
Rotorway also uses them, as well as Safari.

[Harry_S.]

Thank you Al, that info is very much appreciated.


Cheers :)

[StanFoster]

Al- Thanks for that good reply. The Helicycle is supposed to have no pedal pressure at cruising speed. Please correct me if I am wrong, but the following is my analysis from just staring at those bolts . The bolts project below the plane of the tail rotor blades. This would appear to me to cause the centrifical forces of those bolts actually acting through a lever, and thus ADDING positive pitch pressure to the blades. Again, thats just what makes sense to me. Why else would those bolts be below the plane of the blades?? Stan

[StanFoster]

I had to fabricate a pitch gauge. Templates were provided which I traced to a piece of maple. I rasped and filed till it was a close fit. The most important is to get the chord of the airfoil right on the center both the leading and trailing edge.

This gauge will be used to accurately set my pitch links so that each blade has the same positive and negative pitch.

Stan

[Al_Hammer]

yeah, Stan, I tend to agree with your analysis. The blades will always try to return to flat pitch, so the weights are set to oppose that moment of force.
Propellers, also can require chinese weights. The Carter Copter prop uses them and there is some info on this page:
http://www.cartercopters.com/propeller_system.html

[StanFoster]

Heres is something I find VERY interesting. Actual measurement of pitch change as the delta hinge is flapped.

The first picture shows the delta hinge incorporated into this tail rotor like many helicopters have. Why is this so interesting to me?

Just like the main rotor, the tail rotor has a flapping hinge.

The top of the tailrotor is moving as fast as the bottom of the rotor of course...but it has the forward airspeed subtracted from its rotational speed whereas the bottom of the tail rotor has the forward airspeed added to it.

This causes the blade to flap. This is all fine except the delta hinge reduces the amount of flapping substantially by reducing pitch to the bottom advancing half of the disc, and adding pitch to the retreating top half of the disc. This reduced range of flapping made possible by the delta hinge allows the tail rotor to be built closer to the gearbox. Also...the front edge of the rotor doesnt have much clearance to the frame.


However, you can see the hinge flaps at an angle instead of perpendicular to the axle. As the blade flaps out away from the tailboom , this hinge automatically increases pitch to that blade...and likewise the opposite blade is flapping in and pitch is being pulled out from it.

This is all fine and good except I like to see actualy measurements of this action. The 2nd picture shows the pitch angle block with my angle gauge sitting on it ready to give me some numbers.

The 3rd picture shows the blade flapped towards the tail boom and the angle reading is 1 degree.

The last picture shows the blade flapped out away from the tail boom and its reading 7 degrees.

So the delta hinge is varying the pitch of each blade 6 degrees as it goes through its full allowed range of flapping. I measured this flapping at around 6 inches total movement at the tips.....so without this delta hinge joint...that tail rotor blade would be flapping substantially more than a 6 inch arc.

I find this very interesting.


Stan

[Arnie Madsen]

Makes a person realize how much work the feather bearings do in flight even without moving the pedals .... All of a sudden $12 per tube grease does not look too expensive :) . Great pictures. Thanks.

Arnie

[StanFoster]

Arnie- They say to use blue marine grease. There are 12 zerks to hit, all easy to get to. The more I get into this Helicycle kit, the more care and time I realize has went into making the parts at the factory. They do not get in a hurry, so its worth the wait between shipments. My next shipment is next month. It looks like I will just be getting caught up. That 2 months that I waited to start on this 2nd shipment calculated out real close. Stan

[earthbnd misfit]

So how many people would find it all too much, and give up you think? It just shows why helicopters are so expensive. They have to be complicated and acurate to work. You are an inspiration to us all.

[CLS447]

I'd try to hire Stan to "help". I believe he is the type of guy that when his is finished, he would let you bring your kit to his shop & help you with your build.

That is if he's not out flying !

Of course , you might have to help carry some stairs out from time to time.

Stan's stairshop & Helicycle assistance. Make your arrangements NOW !

Let me know if this needs to be deleted......some might believe this "ad" .

[utahgyrocop]

Years ago I had the privelege of learning residential framing from a guy here in Utah. His business moto was simple, "Perfect will do"

I think this is Stan's moto also..."Stairs (and helicycles) with a twist, perfect will do!"

I don't think you will find a flaw in the craftmanship of anything Stan does...genious, artist, perfectionist, teacher, mentor and I would add gentlemen.

Stan might consider this excessive and unnecessary praise, but the fact of the matter is that it is all true!

Stan, keep up the perfection, you are an inspiration to us all.

Stay safe.

[StanFoster]

Eartbnd- Thamks for the comment.

Chris- Thanks also, but even though I love working on my own aircraft, I would not be interested in building for someone else. Its a major committment taking the time to get this machine flying, and it wouldnt be fair to my family to commit so much time to someone elses project!


Heath, thanks so much for your too kind comments. Let me kindly climb down from the pedestal you put me on, hold on........ I need an extension ladder! Anyway, I must honestly correct your accessment of my work. It is FAR from perfect, BELIEVe me!! I get around and see far superior executions of craftsmanship that make me crawl back into my stairshop KNOWING I have much more to learn. All I will admit to is that I try my best to have each project better than the last one I just completed, be it a curved stairway, or a rotorcraft. When I quit improving, then is when I am truly a craftsman, or I am slipping and going the other way! I feel I am way overated here, but its more fun being honest and trying to derate myself like I am, than try and pretend I am as good as you say I am. Thanks anyway, I really do appreciate your comments, even though I shake my head reading them! Have a good day! Stan

[StanFoster]

Tonight I drilled a bunch of allen head bolts for the safety wire. Part of the conforming to the 51% rule! I safety wired the tail rotor bolts as I wont be taking it apart again for a long time.

The slider collar was drilled on the corners for safety wire also. These wires wont be installed until later. After all this is prepped...the tail rotor gearbox, driveshaft, and transmission all comes out for painting. The top fuel tank has to be installed before I reinstall the transmission.

Chipping away one hour at a time!


Stan

[earthbnd misfit]

A perfectionist just fixes more mistakes, untill it's perfect.

[StanFoster]

Not all goes according to Hoyle.....I was drilling some 45 degree safety wire holes...when my 1/16 inch bit broke off.:eek:

It had just started to exit when it broke...I thought I was being careful. I could not get to it without taking the tail rotor off...and sliding this off the shaft.

I ended grounding a small nail down to a 1/16 inch...ground the end flat and punched it back through.


Stan

[CLS447]

I HATE when that happens !

[StanFoster]

OK, I am not happy with some previously completed work. My hood bearing is supposed to be shimmed till its exactly square with the rotor shaft, which I posted pictures of earlier..with the feeler gauge checking so as its within 0.005 inches. I had mine within 0.002 inches. It was checked off and done correctly...but everytime I walk by...the big gap that had to be shimmed catches my eye everytime. Its ONLY cosmetic...but hey...I dont like it.

Also...study the rubber seal on the top of this bearing. The lip of this seal JUST, And I mean JUST sits on the turned section where its suppose to seal the grease from flinging out. It cant be seen in the picture or by eye...but if you take your fingernail and lift the seal...you can just see the turned section its riding on. If I fit this hood bearing lower...the seal of that bearing will come down with it and all will look better.

The rotor shaft has a built-in tilt of 1.5 to 2 degrees. This is part of the reason for the gap to be shimmed. Like I said...its only cosmetic, but I want to improve this.


This hood bearing has no vertical load, so any material removal doesnt hurt it.

I scribe wood all the time to fit...so why not aluminum?

The pictures show the gap....shows the scribing operation, and then the line I want to remove the aluminum to. I am using my dremel tool to go almost half way around to remove the unwanted material.

I am going out to finish this operation today....and I will post pictures of this hood bearing plate fitting much closer....still needing I am sure a thin shim here and there...but not a stack of two regular washers worth on the high side and touching on the opposite side.

STAY TUNED and judge for yourself how this turns out. UH oh,,,I better not screw this up!


Stan

[earthbnd misfit]

Wouldn't it be more accurate if you mount it in a milling machine?. Also apply grease to the inside , [where the spring is] of a seal before fitting.

[gyro]

Stan, you could have just slipped an O-ring down aroung that gap and it would have looked good. they make all types so you could get one that would be chemical/weather proof and it would last a long time. or if you have a lathe you could have made an aluminum sleeve.

[StanFoster]

earthbnd- My "milling" machine is pictured here...a 14 inch cutoff saw, and a file. It worked and the unsightly gap is gone. I am very satisfied with the results! Hey, I dont own a milling machine and have said I am not a machinist anyway. Of course a milling machine set up correctly could have done this perfectly, but look real close ...the before shot in picture #3 and the after shot in picture #4. Like Frank Sinatras lyric in his song..."I did it my way". ha

Gyro- An O-ring would have raised the lip of the seal completely off the machined part where it has to ride on. The only way was to either scribe and grind the hood bearing bracket like I did....or.......take a hammer and a hard block of wood and beat down the flat part of the hood bracket. I didnt like the sound of that even though it would have lowered the bearing and oil seal where I wanted it to go.
Look at the last two pictures. The next to the last is before I scribed, ground, scribed and ground again.....notice the lip on the oil seal is not showing any of the machining where the lip should be running on.

The last picture is completed...you can see the tapered base fits the hood plate much nicer....no gaps that were two washers thick....the hood bearing is within 0.002 again....and also...look at the top lip in this last picuture...clearly an 1/8 of machining above the lip now. I could not stand that gap in the third picture even though it was just cosmetic.

I like it and can move on to my next adjustments.


Stan

[utahgyrocop]

Stan,

Now that is either attention to detail or obsesive compulsive disorder:lol::lol:

Either way, it is very cool.:first:

Then again another way say obsesive compulsive is anal retentive!:D

After your "hospital visit" this past few days, maybe the doctor increased your rate of anal rententivism!!!:drum:

Keep it up and stay safe.

[gyro]

Stan, I did not mean to sandwich the o-ring but rather just slip in on and let it ride on the outside. with that gap you had on 1/3 of the flange would have grabbed in that area of the o-ring and not rode up.

Anyway you got it fixed and looks good.

[StanFoster]

Gyro- I see what you mean now. That would have been a solution. Thanks. Stan

[StanFoster]

Part of building this helicopter is trying to understand the mechanisms that make it fly. I have a techy question about the delta hinge. I enjoyed learning how this hinge reduces the amount the tail rotor has to flap,,and thus allows it to be closer to the frame. Totally have that clear in my head and this makes for good coffeshop discussion. However...I want to dig deeper into the math part of it.

The first picture shows the delta hinge. It has a 20 degree offset which you can see in the picture.

The 2nd picture is showing the angle gauge reading 7 degrees when the blade is flapped to the stop one way...and the 3rd picture shows it flapped to the other extreme...and reads 1 degree. So, that is an angle change for the pitch at 6 degrees.

I measured the high flap to low flap at the tip of the 42 inch diameter tail rotor at 6 inches. Taking the radius as 21 inches...I divided 6 by 21 and and toik the tangent of that to come up with 15.94 degrees of flapping.

Now.....my question. With this 20 degree offset angle....I am wanting to have my math coincide with the "roughly" 6 degrees of pitch change I measured with my gauge shown in the last two pictures.


If the delta hinge were 0 degrees...then any amount of flapping would not change the pitch. If the delta hinge were 90 degrees...then the amount of flapping would change the pitch the same amount.

The value for sine is 0 at 0 degrees and 1 and 90 degrees.

I took the sine of this delta hinge angle of 20 degrees which is 0.34202 and multiplied that times the 15.94 degree max flapping that my blade was measured at and came up with 5.45 degrees. For the accuracy of my measuring equipment....I feel I have the right formulae.

So, if I multiply the sine of the angle of the delta hinge times the flapping angle...am I correct is saying that this is the formulae for telling me the pitch change of the rotor blade? I strongly believe it is...but I am not a math wiz, so if someone such as Chuck can come on here and confirm or correct me...I would very much appreciate it!


Stan

[C. Beaty]

Close, Stan, but no cigar.

I think you might agree that should the delta-3 angle be 45º, the flap-pitch coupling is 1:1; that is, one degree of flap = one degree of pitch.

So, it’s the tangent of the delta-3 angle. For small angles, tangents and sins are nearly the same, making your pitch gage measurements come out pretty close.

The tangent of 20º is 0.364 and the sine is 0.342. Close enough for government work.

[StanFoster]

Chuck- Thanks so much. Now using the tangent of 20 degrees... 0.3639 times my 15.92 degree blade flap....that comes even closer to my roughly measured 6 degrees ...it figures out to 5.794 degrees.

I feel so stupid...because I was first using the tangent as it gave me the 1:1 at 45 degrees as you mentioned...but I was headstrong in thinking its value had to approach 1 when at 90 degrees..instead of infinity.

Thanks for your enlightenment!

Stan

[Passin' Thru]

Stan, that’s one of the things I have always appreciated about Chuck; he can explain complex concepts in ways that even I can understand!;)

You mentioned spending some time with him at Bensen Days; DO IT! Over the years he has increased my IQ by at least 50 points purely by osmosis! :eek:

I’m not saying you need it, but every bit helps.:D

[StanFoster]

Passin thru------I need mmre IQ...I am hanging with Chuck!

Chuck...just another question. If after a brief session with you....and my IQ does increase...does our average IQ increase...or does it stay the same meaning that I lowered yours the same amount???:boink::D



Stan

[StanFoster]

While I am talking about the flapping hinge, here are some pictures of the flapping stop as seen at the end of my pencil. I am flexing the tail rotor stop to stop in the pictures. The stop is a hard tapered plastic plug that the tail rotor bolt goes through.


Stan

[StanFoster]

My teleflex cable wasnt running straight after it left its bracket on the rear of the tailboom. A little twisting with a cresent wrench fixed it. The first picture shows the cable end bowing...and its running true in the last shot.

Next order of business is setting the pitch on my tail rotor blades. I am waiting for a D drill to install the bolt. A 'D' drill measures 0.246 inches and they want that tail rotor bolt in snug. A quarter inch drill gives 4 thousandths too much slop. I made the error of drilling two other bolts with a quarter inch bit...because I had missed the part in the video to use a 'D' drill. I remedied this situation by ordering some exact size bolts from Aircraft Spruce. They measured exactly 0.250 inches.



Stan

[StanFoster]

I added up my build hours to date and I am right at 212.5 hours. My first shipment was mid Febuary 2008. I worked steady on it March, April and May of last year...then ran out of parts. I just had piddle work to do last summer an June, July and August...my builders log shows a total of less than 12 hours for those three months. Late August I had the cabin back on and did nothing to it all fall and winter...until just a month ago.

I am almost out of parts again...but my third shipment will be coming in April...and will be my swashplate...rotorhead, instumentation, and wiring.

I have my tailrotor and driveshaft completed...and they will be all coming out soon for painting. Meanwhile...off comes the cabin and I will be painting the floorpan and a few other msc. items to work on.

The pictures below are the pitch being set into the tail rotor blades....18 degrees positive pitch and 8 degrees negative pitch.

You can see the pitch links all set at right angles to each other...and the stop nuts are locked down.

I drilled some more safetywire holes in the pitch arms.

Stan

[earthbnd misfit]

Nice stuff. I love all that mechanical stuff. It just shows why heli's a expensive, it has to be accurate to work, whereas a lawnmower engine and some nylon and strings can make you fly. What amount of hp will go through the tail rotor ?

[Mark E]

True, I just marvel at all the intricate knowledge that is accumulated in a little machine like this; knowledge derived from years of experiments, calculations, intuition and good old trial and error, with the end result sometimes being so complicated that even a smart guy has to sit down for an hour or so (or a week in my case) to work out what each bit does, and why it does it.

(and all of this has been learned in a pretty short period of time, not much more than 50 years)

[utahgyrocop]

I added up my build hours to date and I am right at 212.5 hours. Stan

Amazing...i would have thought you were at least 400 or 500 so much detail and progress in such a little bit of time.

Keep it up!

[Vance]

I added up my build hours to date and I am right at 212.5 hours.
Stan

Hello Stan,

I feel that a more realistic estimate would include the hours you think and dream about your Helicycle.

I would suspect you think and plan at least eight hours for each hour you work on it.

That would be 1,700 hours of thinking and dreaming time plus your 212.5 for a grand total of 1,912.5 or almost a man year.

Thank you, Vance

[StanFoster]

Vance- Thats a very astute observation of yours about my hours involved. My 212.5 hours are the actual in shop build hours, but do not include the at home in my easy chair "think" time, or my watching the build videos time. I built my SparrowHawk by hitting it very steady, an hour or two everyday. I like to study and think at home, then roll up my sleeves and execute the rehearsed task at hand. I have to keep building stairs however, and this preplanned efficiency , plus gwtting out to the shop extra early, "gets her done" I would easily have had my Helicycle flying last year had whole kit come in one shipment, but it doesnt, and I just sit idle 2/3rds of the time. My last lapse was over 6 months, which would have been enogh time in itself to build the whole copter! Stan

[StanFoster]

earthbnd- I am not sure how much HP goes to the tsil rotor, but 10% comes to mind. That would be 9 horse then. Maybe Chuck B will see this. Its A 42 inch tailrotor, with around 45 pounds of thrust. Grimwat- It is fascinating the accumulated knowledge that was gathetrd over the years that contributes to anything that flies. Heath-........Like I mentioned to Vance, my actual build time is enhanced by some prep time at home, although nothing like 8 hours thinking to 1 hour building, but realistically I would say I sit and think probably an hour at the very most before each shop session. Stan

[StanFoster]

Chris- You asked last week about adjusting the stops on the anti-torque pedals. Here are the pictures showing the before and after stop adjustments.

The first picture shows full right pedal being applied causing the scissor bracket to contact the tail rotor gearbox....not good.

The 2nd picture shows full left pedal applied causing the scissor bracket to contact one of the allen head bolts on the gearbox...again not good.

Now to remedy this....

The 3rd picture is the front nose window which sole purpose is to look in...not look out. Its for preflighting the pedals....and for adjusting them if needed. Mine is just temporarily clecoed in...so off it comes to get to the stop adjustments.

The 4th picture shows the right pedal bump bolt that just simply needs another washer behind it so it hits the frame. You do not want the teleflex cable bottoming out...but instead the pedals to bottom out so as to not overload the teleflex cable.

The next to the last picture shows the right pedal properly adjusted...and the last picture shows there is now clearance at the tail rotor gearbox where the scissor arm used to hit.

This will be part of my preflight...to operate the scissor arm from the rear...and verifying that the stops at the pedals are indeed stopping the scissor arm, and not the scissor arm bottoming out...and transfering unnecessary load to the teleflex cable.


Stan

[CLS447]

Thanks Stan ! So with those stops set, are you sure to get enough tail rotor pitch ?

[dennisu]

Stan

I had the same problem that you did with the washer on the pitch slider pivot hitting the Allen head bolt on the case so I took the big washer off the pitch slider attachment and put on one size smaller. This gives you maximum movement of the pitch slider from just clearing the tail rotor hub (1/16")to just clearing the gearcase(1/16") and still retains the safety of preventing the heim joint from slipping off if there is a failure in the joint. I have to send in a picture with the new washer installed to Joe so he can change it on the website as the picture now is of my scissor/slider with the old big washer on.

[StanFoster]

Dennisu- Thanks for that advice. I thought about putting on a smaller washer, but it almost was bottomed out before it contacted. I may be able to gain a half degree of tail rotor pitch. How far along is your Helicycle, or is it already flying? Stan

[karlbamforth]

This will be part of my preflight...to operate the scissor arm from the rear...and verifying that the stops at the pedals are indeed stopping the scissor arm, and not the scissor arm bottoming out...and transfering unnecessary load to the teleflex cable.


Stan

Stan,

You have probably already realised this but thought I'd mention it anyway.
With the push/pull cable, when you push with the pedals any wear will be compressed and when you pull any wear will be increased. (Is that what I mean ?)

If there is wear anywhere in the system, when you push all the wear will be taken up before the scissors move. When you pull all the wear will be taken the other way before the scissors move, this will effectively reduce the range of movement stop to stop at the scissors.

Now to my point, if you operate it from the scissors end the effects will be reversed. If you can push the scissors into contact with the gearbox it shows wear in the system but the pedals will not push it that far. The pedals will contact the stops first.

Sorry its very early here and I don't think I'm explaining this too well, hope you see what I am getting at.

When operated from the pedal end wear will have the effect of reduced range at the scissors increasing the clearance.
When operated from the scissors end wear will have the effect of increasing the range of movement allowing the scissors to contact the gearbox.

I'm going to stop now this hole is getting real deep.:Cry:

[StanFoster]

Ranger- You made your point perfectly clear with me....thanks for enlightening me! I can see now that just moving the scissors will not show the correct clearance...but rather the pedals will have to be maxed out...then the clearance checked. Thats how I read what you say...and I appreciate your comment.

I have a learned a lot in this thread....and many times it was stuff I said that was corrected by others more in the know!:yo:


Stan

[dennisu]

Stan

99% done so that only leaves 50% to do.

[dennisu]

Ranger

That's how we are supposed to check the controls by using the pedal stops and confirming the amount of travel at the control surface so the cable is never under stress.

[StanFoster]

Are either of you guys on the Helicyclr builders group? Thanks again for the proper method for checking the clearances. Stan

[StanFoster]

This is the vent tube being installed inside the vertical stabilizer. As the oil expands in the gearbox...the old vent would blurp a little oil...making the tail oily once in awhile. This is a suggested modification...and the oil actually shouldnt go up and out the tube inside the tail, but if say it did once...it would just drain out down the tail skid.

I will nylon tie this off later when its permanently attached. I will soon take my transmission and this tail rotor gearbox off for painting.


Stan

[Arnie Madsen]

Stan,

You have probably already realised this but thought I'd mention it anyway.
With the push/pull cable, when you push with the pedals any wear will be compressed and when you pull any wear will be increased. (Is that what I mean ?)

If there is wear anywhere in the system, when you push all the wear will be taken up before the scissors move. When you pull all the wear will be taken the other way before the scissors move, this will effectively reduce the range of movement stop to stop at the scissors.

Now to my point, if you operate it from the scissors end the effects will be reversed. If you can push the scissors into contact with the gearbox it shows wear in the system but the pedals will not push it that far. The pedals will contact the stops first.

Sorry its very early here and I don't think I'm explaining this too well, hope you see what I am getting at.

When operated from the pedal end wear will have the effect of reduced range at the scissors increasing the clearance.
When operated from the scissors end wear will have the effect of increasing the range of movement allowing the scissors to contact the gearbox.

I'm going to stop now this hole is getting real deep.:Cry:
Ranger (karlbamforth)

You have answered a question for me and I thank you. When it comes to slack and end play in any push-pull enclosed cable control system it creates a lot of questions. I read your post carefully and you have provided the answer and I thank you. Much appreciated.

Arnie. Bell 47.

[birdy]

Been skimn this thread since Stan started this master pice, but dont post coz if i did, itd be the same thing every time.
Amazn!!!!!!!!!!

I marvle at Stans attention to detail and exactness.
Be'n a SCG, its hard to comprehend how.
Asthetics are not my strongest vertue [ you only gota look at me ;)] and anythyn i build is done under one ruel. If it dose the job, its good enuf.
But watchn Stan build this machine is like watchn a spider build its web. Everythn is done to perfection, and only wots needed, and it comes naturaly.

Very humbling, and very educational, watchn sumone from a much higher leage do sumthn you can only dream of.
Thanx for the ride Stan, and if you so much as catch a bug on a rotor blade on this masterpice, ill be on the first east bound gyro to scrub it off.

[StanFoster]

Birdy- What a nice comment, thanks so much! I have told several people that if I ever could afford a trip to Australia, you are on the top of my list of people I would love to meet. I cant tell you how much respect I have for your gyro flying and your way of life. You have it made, and most importantly ,you know you have it made. You use that SCG phrase, but to me you are far from that. Your an icon in my book and most others here. I enjoy the pictures you paint in my mind of your life, and thanks for being a SCG....sophisticated cow grower! Stan

[StanFoster]

Arnie....or any other paint expert.... I am wanting to take my tailrotor gearbox and transmission out and get them painted. I am no painter as far as the cabin work...but I would like to just take some white rust-o-leum and paint these myself. If I clean real well with acetone...apply a good primer, then rattle can these two items...do you see any problems I could have with peeling. I have rattle canned lots of stuff, but do not have any spray equipment. I was going to just have my painter do these like he did my cabin and tail feathers, but I would just rather paint these myself.

Stan

[dennisu]

Stan

Yup I'm on the builders site. If you check on the Heicycle site you can see part of my build complete with the picture of the tail rotor gearbox and slider I was talking about. That's the one I have to get Joe to put in the new one with the smaller washer on the attachment point.

[Arnie Madsen]

Should not be a problem Stan. The rough surface of cast aluminium is a good surface for adhesion. Another good final cleaning is to rinse the gearbox with brake parts cleaner (spraycan) . It will remove any final traces of oil etc. Rustoleum is a good quality spray paint. The advantage of doing it youself is the low cost (of course) but also quick and easy to do any future touch-ups if needed.

[StanFoster]

Arnie: Thanks....that is just what I wanted to hear. I forgot to mention the rough sandcast texture which I was almost sure would help the bond....but its nice to have an expert opinion. I like the idea of being able to touch it up myself anyway.....just like my cabin interior. The exterior was left to the professionals.

I am taking my tail rotor gearbox off in the morining...cleaning it...priming it...and then giving it a few coats of gloss white Rust-o-Leum. By the way...that paint is made in Canada!

Once I get this done...its back in the ship and then it will be safety wired.

I have 6 bolts that attach the gearbox to the frame..each bolt is individually shimmed with varying thickness of washers so as it is running as close to square to the tail rotor driveshaft that I could measure.


Stan

[earthbnd misfit]

Isn't it always scary, drilling through a nicely painted surface? Years ago, one mechanic was drilling the guard of a brand new Volvo, for an aerial. The drill slipped and wondered accross the guard.

[StanFoster]

earthbnd- You said it. I started with a small drill bit...and made double sure it wouldnt jump through and dent the other side. I also increased the drill size a 1/16th at a time until I just took the dremel tool out and cut an elliptical hole.

Stan

[Arnie Madsen]

Isn't it always scary, drilling through a nicely painted surface? Years ago, one mechanic was drilling the guard of a brand new Volvo, for an aerial. The drill slipped and wondered accross the guard.

In 25 years (with a lot of luck) I have painted , drilled and assembled thousands of parts without a scratch. I always used a very low drill speed . I loosely held my (gloved) hand around the chuck and bit and also rested that hand on the drilled surface. In other words if something slipped or the bit broke , both hands held the drill in the original position. Something like that. Air powered drills and variable speed electrics are the way to go. A slow drill with steady pressure cuts faster than high speed. Also the bit will not overheat and lose it's edge.

Having said that I had one new paint job horribly scratched. It was an early Honda Civic with Brown metallic paint. Japan used different metallics and tinter based colors than America and I had spent 10 hours trying to match paint on the L.F. fender. Endless tinting and experimenting and finally the last few ounces in my paint gun matched perfect. Patience paid off.

Lost money on that one but the customer was happy. He and I were admiring it when at the far end of the shop a bodyman had put a new disc on his grinder. He went to tighten it down but accidently hit the trigger. The grinder went to 8000 rpm before he let go. The disc came off , went up into a 6 foot hover and with a bit of gyroscopic precession it turned in mid-air and made a bee line past the 15 other cars in the shop straight toward the L.F. fender of the Honda and did what grinding discs will do to fresh paint.

[vickijohnk]

Stan, Read the can to make sure but Rust-O-Leum was a one coat paint. A second coat would make the finish "Alligator". They could have changed the paint but make sure.


John K.

[StanFoster]

This morning I took the tail rotor off...so as the gearbox could come out and get painted. I taped off the plastic sight glass as the acetone wouldnt be to nice to it. Instead of taping off the bolts and washers....I just removed them and put in some sacrificial bolts. I gave it three coats on top of the primer...and I believe I should have no problems with it. It will set for a few days before I reinstall it.

The picture of the paper shows the 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, amd 11 oclock positions of the 6 gearbox bolts. Each bolt has different thickness of washers for alignment to the tailrotor shaft. I didnt want to reinvent the wheel....so I just indexed each set of shim washers.

Stan

[StanFoster]

Last of the painting pictures....I hung the gearbox from overhead and gave it a good rust-o-oleum spray jpb.


Stan

[animal]

Looks Good Stan, I see nothing wrong with the way that came out. are you going to clear coat it? if so make sure the Clear is for the same type paint.

[StanFoster]

Tim- I think it looks glossy enough. I will just install it as is. I will do the transmission the same way.

Next is the instrument pod. I need to get it out....ground down to my layout lines...and painted.

My wiring, rotorhead, and instrumention is coming this month hopefully...and I need to get this all prepped. Also...the cabin needs to come off one more time so I can get the floor pan out and painted.

Stan

[animal]

it's looking good Stan. have ya been back up in the R-22 anymore lately?
don't go to long and get rusty. from the looks of it you should be ready to fly your bird by mid summer.
what all will be in your Panel? I am sure it will be decked out like you other aircraft has always been.
enjoying watching how it all goes together.

[StanFoster]

Tim- I have a problem with my R22 checkout guy. I finally found a guy that weighs no more than 185 pounds...but now the FAA wont allow him to check me at as he used to work for the helicopter company I am taking lessons at. We are trying to find someone else.....but now my 60 days are up and I must get 3 hours of precheckout ride instruction again. I will do it in two lessons as soon as we find a checkout pilot.

I will eventually have my checkride...I am in no hurry....but I would like to get it off my mind. I have had all the requirements met for 3 months now.


My instrument panel will be designed around a geopilot 11 gps.

Stan

[Kandace]

Hi Stan, The build is looking really good! What a hassle with the checkride!

I hope you can get it done soon!

Mine is scheduled for the 18th of April! I'm studying for the oral and working on keeping up the skills with some dual and solo time.

Keep us informed on how it's coming.

Kandace

[StanFoster]

Kandace- I am sure you will do well on your helicopter check ride. You want that so bad....cant wait to hear that you earned them rotary wings!:yo:


Meanwhile...I am still searching for an examiner that doesnt weigh more than 185. I guess I could go starve myself and lose 20 pounds.....but I dont like that idea. i was advised to just fib about my weight...but I want to earn that rating correctly. I would always be thinking I had cheated to get that rating...and I would just as soon do without...or even flunk the checkride.

I will just sit and chill...and an examiner will come along that can do it.


Stan

[animal]

Meanwhile...I am still searching for an examiner that doesnt weigh more than 185.
Stan

Stan, have you thought about starting a thread on V.R. about looking for an Examiner in that weight class? you may be surprised with the response,since that site is the business helicopter and training site. you might have to travel some. but to get that ticket would be worth it.

[StanFoster]

Tim- I hadnt thought of tha...thanks for the idea. I did consider trying to get a checkride while down in Florida for Bensen Days...but that would take away one of my three days there...so thats not an option.

I will find an examiner soon...and when I do...I will take two 1.5 hour lessons as required and to get me up to speed...then go take my checkride.


Stan

[Muk Dudethaat]

Wow. Way cool.

[StanFoster]

I took a break from the mechanicals of the tail end......and thought I better get my instrument pod final shaped....and painted. My wiring and instrumentation are coming soon, and I want to be ready. I had some layout lines already drawn on the pod that were layed out with a laser. I put the laser overhead and squared it up with the centerline of the tailboom. I wanted to be sure the face of my pod is perpendicular to this centerline.

I just then took it out and blue taped it off...jigsawed....belt sanded....and finish sanded down to the line. I left a little angle hood projection at the top.

The spray was speckled trunk spray which I used on my SparrowHawk and really liked. I wanted a very low reflection coming off this as I would be seeing it in my windshield. The interior of the cabin walls are already painted this color. The last picture of the pod does not show the clear coat I sprayed over it to seal it. The trunk spray is not waterproof...but it is with a clear coat over it. I did this same treatment with my SparrowHawk,,,and even had some samples sit in water overnight with nothing happening to them.

The floor/seat pan which you can see in the first picture has me on the fence which way to go. I am thinking of just leaving it white....but spraying it white....or I will go ahead and use this same dark grey speckled spray.

There is almost no reflection from the floor pan onto the inside of the windscreen mainly due to my legs blocking it and this pod.

I am going to lay this pod back inside the cabin....stand back... and then decide to go either white as it is now...or make the interior dark non reflective.

Stan

[animal]

Looks Good Stan, what will you have in your Panel?

[StanFoster]

Tim- I will center my gauges around a geopiloit 11 gps. I will have the typical rotor tach, digital engine rpm that will show the 61,500 turbine spped, transmission temp, altimeter, airspeed, rate of climb, tail rotor chip light, main transmission chip light, lord knows what else...I have plenty of pod real estate to do this.

I cant wait to get to wiring this all up. So far this build has been a pleasure...but the best and most complicated is yet to come. Tons and tons of more typing and pictures to share here over the next several months. This thread wont die for quite awhile....it has only just begun!:yo:

Stan

[StanFoster]

This first picture shows a clear coat applied over the instrument pod. Its just what I wanted, not glaring and yet not a boring flat black. I should have minimal windshield reflection from this.

I set the finished pod inside the cabin....and before....I was on the fence about painting the floorpan the same speckled spray...or spray it white.

It wasnt even a choice after seeing that pod in there. The floorpan/seat is a gel coat white....and I am definately going to keep it white...except making it a bright white to match the cabin exterior. I am considering making my instrument panel in burgundy to match the cabin also....either that or it will be a glossy black. My gut feeling is that the black gauges would look cool sitting in a burgundy dash. I have LOTS of time to think about this though.

I sat in the seat while the windshield was on...and I could see none of the white floorpan reflecting back...mainly because the pod blocks it.

I really like the contrast and now that my mind is made up...I will soon be taking the cabin off and painting the floorpan. Then I can start buttoning this thing up more permanent.

Stan

[birdy]

I have told several people that if I ever could afford a trip to Australia, you are on the top of my list of people I would love to meet.
And youd be very welcome Stan.
Id be dissapointed if you came to this little island and i never saw ya.
[ and you better bring this pice of art with ya, and the duels. ] ;)

[StanFoster]

Birdy- Someday.....I will make the trip...but with my fuel burn...I am going to have to wait for more islands to rise out of the oceand for fuel stops! Right now it probably would be by a 747.

But seriously, I would love to see your corner of the world and see one of the best at his day job mustering moos.

Stan

[StanFoster]

I try to tell it all....good and bad....and heres a situation that has had my non machinist brain stretched.

I goofed up on one of my tail rotor driveshaft sections. You have to hand fit the bearing inside the driveshaft....then drill clear through first with a 5/32 bit then follow up with a 3/16 bit. Simple enough...except one of my six holes went wrong. I was drilling through the aluminum driveshaft...aluminum sleeve...then through a steel core. Even though I was using cobalt bits...and cutting oil...I had one bit go wild on me. It elongated the hole...making me half to order another driveshaft pipe and a bearing.

This is a hard situation to explain here without being in person, but I will try. To redrill the new bearing with a new driveshaft is no problem. The problem is trying to save the already drilled bearing on the other end of the driveshaft. If I could not come up with an accurate way to redrill these outside holes...I would have to buy three driveshaft sections and two bearings and start completely over. This would not be the end of the world timewise or financially....about $200 and 10 hours...but I wanted to save what work I had done.

The first picture shows the bad hole which you cant tell in the picture. The 2nd picture is a new hole I simply cloned by measuring off the end and drilling it 5/32....then slipping in the already drilled bearing assembly....lining it up very close...and drilling with a 3/16 bit. That worked perfectly. The bit followed the original hole through the bearing and out the backside of the new driveshaft section.

The problem is how do I accurately locate the next hole which is 90 degrees around and offset further down the driveshaft?

I contempated measuring....and maybe this would have worked. I contemplated indexing a jig, but my limited access to mechanical equipment is limited and I was fearing making a jig would be an hour killer.

I then came up with this aluminum tape hole transfer idea.

I placed some very thin aluminum tape over the holes I wanted to clone....hand spun a 3/16 drill bit to mark....then pulled the tape off and transfered it to the new driveshaft. I kept the edge of the tape parallel to the circumference of the driveshaft end, and I was comfortable that this was the best way for myself to transfer the layout for drilling that 2nd hole first with an undersize 5/32 bit...then followed by the final 3/16 through hole. If this didnt work...I would have just ordered the three new driveshaft sections...two bearings....and redo the whole driveshaft...move on with life and not complain about it...but I was rooting strongly for this new challenge to come out as planned.

I slid the bearing holder inside and pushed one bolt through the first hole....it was a nice tight fit.....then drilled my 2nd hole to full size with a 3/16 inch bit. It went through nicely and followed the original bearing holes to come out the other side of the new shaft.

I was delighted that my bolts both push through snugly...and this being able to duplicate these holes accurately allowed me to save myself the time and expense of doing the whole driveshaft again.

My goof up cost me $72 to replace one driveshaft section and one bearing.

I was really struggling with this and tried my best not to cry uncle for some advice......but I got this worked out. I still dont know what I did wrong to have the one hole go bad on me in the first place.....but such is life. This kit has been almost incident free...but this adds some drama to it.


Stan

[utahgyrocop]

Great transfer idea, i will remember that tip should I ever need to use it.

This may sound like a stupid question, but I'm just curious, when you finish building this work of art, do you plan to do the test flights your self or have someone else do the intial tests?

Keep up the good work and stay safe.

[animal]

Good save Stan. it's looking good. I also like the Idea of the burgandy panel, that would look sweet. should really set it off from just a black panel.

[StanFoster]

Heath- When I am done, there is a mandatory 4 day checkout. The copter will be completely checked over and readjusted if required, the turbine will be fired up fo the first time and adjusted. The rotors will be tracked and balanced, and then the checkout person will go fly it and make any trim adjustments. Then I will get in it and hover, then proceed with other flight maneuvers. Stan

[animal]

Stan, thats pretty good, do they make you bring it to them. or do they send someone to you to do the check out?

[StanFoster]

Tim- Doug Schwochert will be doing my check out at my place. He is such a knowledgable guy on helicopters and I will soak up as much as I can from him.


Stan

[StanFoster]

I love putting stuff back on permanently. I worked 2 hours today safety wiring my fresh painted tail rotor gearbox....painted my scissor brackets and spacers....and reinstalled the gearbox on the tail. This gearbox will have a chip detector installed later.


Stan

[animal]

That came out looking real nice Stan.

now that line going into the vert. stab. does that have longer line hooked to it going down the fin. or does it just dump into the Fin?

Or does it feed into the tube that makes the tail rotor guard?

[StanFoster]

Tim- Actually it wont dump inside the fin.....that plastic line serves as an expansion line...but say I overfilled the gearbox...then yes..it would just dribble inside the fin and out the tail skid....not messing anything up really. The original vent was just a little standpipe that burped out oil...and then the tail rotor would suck it to the blades.

Glad you like my burgundy idea for my instrument panel. My color scheme just kind of evolves as I stand back and look at it.

My tail rotor driveshaft was going to be painted white...now I am thinking of painting it burgundy...but I am still on the fence about that. Both will look nice. My main transmission will soon be taken out and painted white just like my gearbox.

Stan

[animal]

My tail rotor drive shaft was going to be painted white...now I am thinking of painting it burgundy...but I am still on the fence about that. Both will look nice. My main transmission will soon be taken out and painted white just like my gearbox.

Stan I vote for the Burgundy tail rotor shaft, will add to the Contrast and make it stand out more.

[StanFoster]

Tim- I am leaning towards a burgundy driveshaft. It will tie the burgundy on the cabin to the burgundy on the tail feathers.

This side shot shows the bare shaft now...and I agree with you...its going burgundy!


I still have some pitch horns on the tail rotor to paint. I am going to mask off everything and give them a shot of primer...then white paint.

The slider I am going to leave aluminum for some contrast.

I have the scissor brackets and the spaver spools painted...so those can be installed when I can sneak away again. You can see them dangling from my ceiling in the last picture.

[Monte55]

Stan.........are you using a special paint for the aluminum? I understand
not any paint is suitable.

[StanFoster]

Monte- The only aluminum I have painted myself was the scissor brackets. I have never had any problems painting aluminum with regular primer, but I had several places on my SparrowHawk frame that were etched according to instructions, zinc chromated, that peeled off. The paint is sticking very well. Stan

[StanFoster]

Last thing to paint on my tail rotor were the pitch horns. I decided to tape off these...instead of disassembling the factory built tail rotor.




Stan

[asmuzsr]

Stan your amazing, you build stairs take pictures and post a gazillion times here a day.

[StanFoster]

Tony- The stairbuilding gets me all wound up, the helicopter winds me more, then I come home and unwind on the computer! Stan

[StanFoster]

While I am waiting on my bearing that I had to reorder, I have been getting caught up on my tail rotor. The pitch horns and scissor arms are all painted...and I put it back together. I rechecked the positive and negative pitch on the tail rotor blades...and was disappointed that they were now a degree apart. I thought how can this be? ....then it dawned on me that I forgot to put the preadjusted pitch links indexed to the correct pitch horns.

Just a slight difference will add pitch on one blade and take away the same amount on the other. I changed the pitch horns around and was pleased to see that I had the same exact degrees towards both ends of the pitch change.

Also.....thanks to the advice given in this thread by dennisu......I changed those bigger washers to smaller ones ...and now have more range of motion and clearance at the allen screws on the gearbox.

I threw in a couple of pictures of my 'mean tornado" motto on the front. It represents my fighting back the tornado that destroyed my shop in 2004....plus the turbine has nothing but a continuous internal tornado while its running!

Stan

[animal]

Stan,it is really looking good. you are going to have so much fun with that machine when done, not only flying it, but showing it off.

have loved watching the build, I have learned so much more about the Details of the kit.

[StanFoster]

Tim- I enjoy doing this...and again...this is intended to be a very detailed build of a Helicycle. There will be a lot of detailed instrument panel work...swashplate work....electric clutch mechanism....and that tornadic turbine yet to come. This thread is just getting a good start.:yo:


Stan

[StanFoster]

I did a walk around video today...here is the You-tube link..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f-KqOxMr-8&feature=channel


Stan

[gyro]

Dont forget your cotter key on that castle nut.....Shees Stan do I aways have to look over your work:boink:

[StanFoster]

Everything looks cool on the gearbox alignment still....so I safety wired it.

The last picture shows the tail rotor at full left pedal....and the extra clearance my smaller washers have between them and the gearbox allen head bolts.

All thats left to do is replace that last section of driveshaft....install a new bearing....then the transmission comes out to get painted. Before the transmission goes back in...I will take my cabin off...paint the floorpan....install the top fuel tank.....then the tranny and tailrotor driveshaft should all be back in permanent.


Stan

[earthbnd misfit]

What's the ratio of the tail gearbox? Is the gearbox vent tube going to look messy if it gets oil in it?

[StanFoster]

The ratio is 1:1. The vent tube will just have some oil film inside it.

There will also be a chip detector installed in a bottom plug.


Stan

[StanFoster]

My bearing arrived today....so I couldnt wait to get going on it. These bearings are hand fit inside the tail rotor driveshaft. It takes a lot of 800 crocus cloth rubbing and scotch brite pads

It took me at least 1/2 hour to slowly get the bearing completely inserted...

Lots of elbow greese...and I didnt want to grab a power tool that would do it in 30 seconds. Its satisfying knowing how tight the tolerances are on such a critical component. This is the bearing that I previously screwed up...and still dont know what I did wrong....but the bit wollered out an oblong hole. I got tired of looking at it and thinking about it.

Once I get the last driveshaft mated to this new bearing....then the mechanicals are done on the tail.....and the transmission will come out for its paint job.


Stan

[StanFoster]

Dennisu- Thanks again for that tip to replace those larger washers. Hindsight makes me ask why they had me put such large ones on in the first place? Anyway,..,I like these smaller washers....you can see the greater clearance I now have between them at the gearbox allen heads in this picture attached.

I now have more range of motion....even though it will still be set to specs.

How far along is your Helicycle?? The day this machine starts up and lets out that turbine whine....I cant wait. Yes I can.....I am enjoying this build!

Stan

[StanFoster]

Just about have my driveshaft section replaced. The first picture shows the bearing slid out after the holes were drilled. The blue tape marks the inner depth of the bearing. They want you to drill at least a bolt diameter away from the end of the bearing.

I just made sure that the center of my hole being drilled was no closer than 9/32 of and inch from the end of the bearing holder. The finished hole is 3/16th of an inch....


The third picture is the bearing in its holder...and waiting for the last section of driveshaft to be slid onto it.

The last picture shows it slid on...and again.....the blue tape is the end of the bearing. I am now ready to mark my two holes 90 degrees apart and drill first a 5/32 hole....followed by a 3/16 inch hole.

After this last section is bolted...the whole tail rotor assembly is done, allowing me to drop the transmission for painting. I was hoping to have this driveshaft error fixed before leaving for Bensen Days...and looks like Monday I will sneak a little time in on it so it will be done.


Stan

[StanFoster]

My little grandson is obsessed with helicopters. His mom and dad stopped by and we played with my RC helicopter, then I took him down to see papas helicopter.

First thing he does with the toy helicopters is spin the rotors. No exception here with my Helicycle. He spun the tail rotor blade first thing.

He was intrigued by my tornado decal...then his mom says...go kiss the tornado...and he did.

I have ruined that tike and he is only 15 months old.


Stan

[animal]

wait till you get that R-22 ticket, we all know grandpa gonna be doing helicopter rides..lol

[StanFoster]

Tim- Giving the R22 rides will be totally up to GyroJenny and Jeff allowing me to take their kids up. I am not going to be pushy on that.


Here are a few more pictures of that little fart. He kept trotting around and around the copter. Then in the last picture...it looks like he is trying to tell me where the oil leaks are coming from by that spotted plywood on the floor. My tranny has oil in it..but the fittings are not teflon wrapped or tightened at all. I am about to take all the fittings off anyway...paint the tranny and then everything should be leak free. Hopefully my grandson Colton will be pleased next time. That floor is going to eventually be epoxy painted a speckled grey.

Stan

[animal]

That's Cute Stan. yeah you ruined that little one, we know he will be a future Rotorhead.

[StanFoster]

I now have the whole tail rotor driveshaft done. Here are some pictures of match drilling the last section of driveshaft.

The final adjustment is checking the spacing between the cogs on the elastomeric drive coupling.

The last two shots shows the gap which is just a tad wide. No problem as all I have to do is take out some shim washers underneath the tailrotor gearbox. I purposely started with a little fudge room by spacing it out a tad. If the coupling had been too tight...I would have just machined off the lugs until there is about a 1/32 inch clearance.

In this case...its about 1/32 inch too wide...so the tailrotor gearbox just moves forward by taking out a shim washer. Why I safety wired it until the gap was adjusted....I dont know....I guess I needed some safety wiring practice.

The tail rotor driveshaft is now at my painters...it will be painted burgundy and I will be able to pick it up after I get back from Bensen Days.


Stan

[karlbamforth]

Stan, its far better to safety wire it 2,3 even 4 times than forget and fly it without the safety wire.

If I am assebling critical parts but not locking them I have a number of small red flags on locking wire that I insert through split pin and safety wire holes to ensure they are not missed at a later date.

It helps to remind me but also is clearly visible to any other engineers or pilots if it is not locked.

[ylf]

Stan, is the entire drive shaft free to move forward and back the 1/16" (1/32 each end) or is it held from sliding at the two carrier bearings? Just wondering if the extra space at the tail is because there is too little at the transmission.

I just found your build thread last week and have read through the entire thing. Keep up the good work.

Mike

[earthbnd misfit]

So what's the max rpm of the tail shaft. Is it worth getting balanced? It only needs to be bent by a few thou to be of balance.
Great idea having a few extra shims. Is the rubber dampers solid?

[trunkmunki]

Stan,

Just curious, the Helicycle site does not have a lot of information, and I hate to call them just yet, but what down-payment do they need to get a production slot? Do they require full payment up front? Can you pay prior to each group being delivered?

Also, they only list the 2007 run, to begin in 2008. Was there a 2008 run, beginning in 2009? Do you know if they plan on going to Oshkosh this year (I have not been there in about 4 years, but I assume they will be)?

I know I should just call them about this stuff, but I am currently deployed and it is not so easy...

I have always liked this design, and your build log on here is VERY detailed and informative. The more I see the more I like it. I can't wait to see the rotor system go together.

Keep up the good work!

[StanFoster]

ylf- The two carrier bearings hold the fore and aft movemnent. Shim washers add or remove clearance or machining thhe elastomeric drive coupling lugs.


earthbound---I havent heard anyone needing to balance the driveshaft...though the thought went through my mind. If I painted it,,it would probably need balancing!

Stan

[StanFoster]

trunkmunki- In my case....I happened to luck out and get in the 5th run in 2007. I had to pay the fist installment and the 2nd....to get my first shipment in Feb of 2008. I got locked in at $36500.00 complete with all instruments and the turbine. That is not bad when you consider what a nice machine it is when finished. I believe they are now $38500. All I need extra is the paint and avionics.

Time wise....its about a 500 -600 hour build......thats not bad, but the build is s-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-d out over about a year and a half while you wait on their shipments.

The other payments are due as the shipments are sent.

I am extremely impressed with the company...their technical support....and if I screw anything up...they will overnight any part I need.

Glad you are enjoying this build thread , and I get a lot of e-mails from other Helicycle builders and future builders saying the same. My intent all along was for a nice photo journal of my build so as to help others learn from my experiences...mistakes...and any advice the others that chime in with. I would love to find such a site that did the same thing as I would be logged on all the time studying it.

Stay tuned.....many many more posts and pictures left in this thread.

Stan

[StanFoster]

I wanted this transmission out before I left for Bensen Days...and it is.

The oils spots under my Helicycle were coming from these temporarily fitted oil lines which I am taking off here in these photos. The little red pipe plugs were supplied to temporarily plug these holes while I am painting the transmission.

I immediately reconnected all the fittings in order as I took them off as I tend to find dozens of wrong ways to rehook up stuff. These pictures will help me later just in case. I did tag each beginning and ending fitting as to where it was connected.

I ended up removing the drive pulley so as to remove one fitting that was inside.

I am considering removing the transmission bolts and putting some cheap sacrifical ones in their place while I paint the tranny. I think it just looks nicer rather than just spraying over the bolts.....though I have done that before and it really doesnt bother me that much....but...a little extra effort will be worth this detail. Some may think its not worth it....some I am sure would say absolutely have nice clean bolts when done. Just reading that last sentence convinces me to remove them and have clean bolts!

Stan

[animal]

Stan,is that some kind of oil pump built into the Gearbox?

It sure has alot of lines to it. very nicely designed.

[Dirtydog]

I think that is was better to coat it before you build also Stan I myself would hate to take the thing some what apart to get it done later.
I can wait to see you start flying. I started out wanting the mini-500 because of it's looks then went to the Gyrobee, I was willing to put the time into the build but as it stands with the X on my back for 1 more year the gyro looked better. I can alway do one at a later date.

I think the building was a good idea. I know that with the gyro in the garage it's take it out to get this out or that out. I need to add on 1 more bay to the 2 car garage. Heat & A/C is a must!!!!!

Great building Stan.....:D

[StanFoster]

Tim- The transmission does have an internal oil pump and an oil filter. The oil lines feed the bearings of course, and are made at the factory. I am extremely satisfied with the quality of this kits components. dirtydog- Thanks for the comments. It will be nice to follow your upcoming project also! Stan

[StanFoster]

First day back from Bensen Days.....and though I have a busy stair schedule...I have my priorities. The first hour goes to the Helicycle!

I replaced all the transmission bolts with sacrifical ones from the hardware store. This looks so much better than taping off each bolt....or just spraying all the bolt heads and washers.

I have learned a long time ago that no matter what you are doing...the difference between making a "good" job into an "excellent" one....is usually just a extra bit of time on each step.

I feel that holds true here as well.

Tomorrow, I will take out the sacrificial bolts and put the nice new ones in.

Stan


Stan

[StanFoster]

I took at the sacrificial bolts and replaced them with the AN bolts supplied. Next I will connect up all the hydraulic lines and get this little beasty ready to drop back in the chopper.


Stan

[animal]

Looks Great Stan, that is going to be a sweet helicopter when you get it done.

[All_In]

Yaw Mon!!!

You have done a lot while I've been pounding keys over here.

Very cool!!

Master craftsman at everything you do!

[StanFoster]

Tim and John.... Thanks! Right now I am going the other way with the build. After the transmission lines are all teflon sealed and put back on, its back to disassembly. The cabin is coming off so I can remove the floor /seat pan. I will take it to my painter for a nice white durable finish applied. I was going to rattle can it...and said.......naahhhh.... I want it more durable.


Then the top fuel tank will be put in and leak tested. Once thats done...the new painted transmission can go back in along with my tail rotor driveshaft that my painter is working on...and I will have started putting stuff back for the last time.

My wiring and instruments are coming...and I hope I dont have a serious shutdown again waiting for the shipment. The Helicycle company produces high quality parts and does not get in a hurry. They run batches of 40 at a time to save on their parts procurement costs. Thats why the Helicycle is one heck of a bargain. I will have less in this machine than my SparrowHawk. You cant touch a turbine powered Mosquito helicopter without shelling out thousands more. The wait on shipments is the only gripe I have...but I know it will be worth it.

Every Helicycle goes out and flies like the gyro guys at Bensen Days.....they leave the airport and do their fun missions whether its checking out cows...corn...or doing a long distance cross country.

I assure you when I am flying...I will resume my flying missions that I used to post from my gyros.....with the only exception being I will be landing many times at what I used to have to fly over.

Then I cant imagine how fun it will be to set down on my 1 acre heli-lot next to my home....and work around the home...knowing the copter is ready to take me away when I am done and then go fly to the stairshop and tuck it away for the night. This will be nothing but fun.


I will not get tired of this new freedom!

Stan

[StanFoster]

I found a little time to seal up my oil lines. These are the oil feed lines to the bearings in the transmission. This transmission has a built in oil pump and oil filter housing.

I also took out all the hardware store sacrificial bolts and put in the proper AN hardware.

This unit is ready to go back into the chopper....but the cabin comes off next one more time....plus the upper fuel tank has to be installed and leak tested.

After this...then it will feel like I am getting some stuff done that will be permanent.

Stan

[StanFoster]

Been a pesky rat hangin around.....thought I would prevent them from gnawing on my Helicycle thread.:lol:


Stan

[Arnie Madsen]

Been a pesky rat hangin around.....thought I would prevent them from gnawing on my Helicycle thread.:lol:


Stan

I think the rat is gone and I think that is good. He is the only rat I have ever encountered that came complete with his own poison , it poured out of him daily. We are very fortunate on this forum to have some exterminators of our own and they got rid of the problem. I have never fliched as hard as when I read the rats last post about one of our favorite members (Vance).

We can now go Back to the Good stuff. I Sure like the detail on your trans assembly. Nice paint jobs always come down to the fine details and you have done it. Looking good.

[animal]

Oh is the Rat gone? I sure hope so, I put him on ignore awhile back, every post he wrote he was attacking somebody.

now get back to building Stan. I have a few new game plans for the Falcon you will see shortly.

[gyrodrifter]

Hi guys,


New to me,
Can't say I miss him her or whatever :D
Kudos to management :hail:
He was a bit overbearing, and he didn't have a clue about stairs!

Things are looking up Stan, I don't envy much, but I am slowly turning green looking at that picture and the tranny and all, and the paintjob is nice
it suits the machine.

I am finally going to look at a frame thursday, it's a partial build.
I am aware of how you must feel with the future coming at ya, thinking of things with a helicopter in the corner of your minds eye.

Nice to see a plan come together for you.

Take care,
John.

[StanFoster]

John- I enjoy your enthusiasm and your questions that you want correct answers to. Just do what you are doing....separate the wheat from the chaf and you will be on the right track.

I will look forward to your build. Take it from me and many others here.....you should have no problem with a 2.2 with a belt redrive. Good engine....go to NAPA for parts. Unfortunately I had an out of standard filler neck supplied by SparrowHawk. Had it not had too deep of a seating depth...I never would have had all those overflow spoutoffs which eventually blew a gasket.


Stan

[All_In]

Been a pesky rat hangin around.....thought I would prevent them from gnawing on my Helicycle thread.:lol:


StanNow that's fun knee!
Don't care who your are...

I'm still laugh'n!!!!!

I really enjoy watching your ride come together. 1st class like all you do!!!

[gyrodrifter]

John- I enjoy your enthusiasm and your questions that you want correct answers to. Just do what you are doing....separate the wheat from the chaf and you will be on the right track.

I will look forward to your build. Take it from me and many others here.....you should have no problem with a 2.2 with a belt redrive. Good engine....go to NAPA for parts. Unfortunately I had an out of standard filler neck supplied by SparrowHawk. Had it not had too deep of a seating depth...I never would have had all those overflow spoutoffs which eventually blew a gasket.


Stan

Yup,

Doing just that Stan, keeping the gems and throwing the stones, undecided as to keep or heap the Soob, weighing the pros/cons and doing it honestly and without bias, we'll see.

I have started a pic collection of sorts but I will hold off until I won't change my mind so often anymore, I'll post them when I get some forward speed off the cushion.:D

I thought you guys were joking about raton. I humored the joke with my own, not so funny now. But your poison seems to work.

Going to look at a frame thursday, wish me luck and a good eye.
The frame can suit "either or" engine setup from what it looks like and is setup as a side by side, and single plans are available. You can extrapolate as to what I'm thinking.
Things are getting interesting now, and the excitement is killing me.

Boat's ready to go, so I can dissipate some anxiety maybe today even.

Oh hey...I had a question on your ride, does your machine provide for gyroscopic precession?
I am sure it does, but are the offset degrees the same as on a bigger machine?
The Bell 206 for instance, has a 90* offset for blade pitch and cyclic inputs on the swashplate (not sure of the deg's anymore,) reason I want to know is because of the very much lighter weight of the rotor on yours. I want to know if the offset is weight specific, never found that out.

Hope you don't mind me drifting away from the stairway to heaven thing :D

Also, does it have a mast angle offset to counter main rotor torque drift, or is that also controlled thru offset on the the swashplate?

On a Bell they offset (or used to?) the mast angle to compensate for that.
Again, I ask with the weight specific question in mind.
Got lots more but don't wanna take space here.

Good to see you at it too, pretty soon you'll be hanging in there :)

Take care,
John.

[gyrodrifter]

Now that's fun knee!
Don't care who your are...

I'm still laugh'n!!!!!

I really enjoy watching your ride come together. 1st class like all you do!!!


All in,

Just a quick "Hi" so as not to divert from the thread too long.

Just wanna say that I know the Otay Mesa area, and used to park the truck at the corner store there where the turnoff to the border is.

They have or had a nice AT-6 flying off the strip there, I have pics of that, it's dark blue and good looking.
And I always wondered about that Vari-Eze that sits at the entrance to the A/P. Could'nt have been John Denver's right?, that one is no more, but I used to think that.

Just conversating with ya,

Regards,
John.

[StanFoster]

John- Ask me anything, I dont mind. I may not have the answer, but someone always covers my back! The rotor mast is tilted around 1.5 degrees to the port side. This helps offset the translating tendency of the tail rotor which is pushing to the right looking from the rear. That plus the front of the fuselage is bwing torqued to the right, and that mast tilt offsets this nicely. The swashplate inputs are at 3 o'clock up to raise the disc 90 degrees later at the nose. This is as you suggested because of gyroscopic precession. There is no delta hinge on the main rotor, but just a straight flapping hinge. Now the tail rotor does incorporate a delta hinge with a flapping hinge as well. This minimizes the amount of tail rotor flapping, and thus allows the tail rotor to be built closer to thr frame. This decreases the load on the tail rotor gearbox. Lots of amazing little details that took the accumulative knowledge of many much smarter people than I to figure out. Stan

[gyrodrifter]

John- Ask me anything, I dont mind. I may not have the answer, but someone always covers my back! The rotor mast is tilted around 1.5 degrees to the port side. This helps offset the translating tendency of the tail rotor which is pushing to the right looking from the rear. That plus the front of the fuselage is bwing torqued to the right, and that mast tilt offsets this nicely. The swashplate inputs are at 3 o'clock up to raise the disc 90 degrees later at the nose. This is as you suggested because of gyroscopic precession. There is no delta hinge on the main rotor, but just a straight flapping hinge. Now the tail rotor does incorporate a delta hinge with a flapping hinge as well. This minimizes the amount of tail rotor flapping, and thus allows the tail rotor to be built closer to thr frame. This decreases the load on the tail rotor gearbox. Lots of amazing little details that took the accumulative knowledge of many much smarter people than I to figure out. Stan

Stan,

Love these quick replies :D

I went through school learning this stuff and when I went to work I really never had a chance to get into these questions that nag at me now.
The 90* offset is not rotor weight specific, it's a law that applies equally across the different rotor setups out there, I just learned something, thanks.

Does your machine employ a means of engine throttle adjustment to pitch increase?

As an example the old '47 had what I learned they called a "correlation box" which did just that, as pitch was applied the carburator would be adjusted by the box to match the pitch input and kept rotor rpm in the green.
I am in no way an expert on it, or even a novice, it came up when I worked out a weight and balance for that old thing and the coversation led to it.

For the new toys we have, like yours, technology surely has come up with a better way, and I'm guessing it is probably an electronic setup, adjusting your EFI inputs.
I said that...., Shoot...I can't recall what engine you have on that.

Last one honest,

Does your outfit use a spragg or any other type of clutch to disengage the engine if something stops it? I can imagine it to be a centrifugal dog clutch, but don't know.

That'll be it for this class Steve, the brain needs fuel, gotta eat :D

Thanks a million for humoring me.

Regards, John.

[StanFoster]

John- It has a sprague clutch so autos can be implemented without dragging a dead engine.

The engine is a Solar T62-32 turbine engine with an electronic governor. The engine speed is kept constant...around 61500 rpm....barely turning over 1000 times a second!! So yes....increase the collective....the computer turns on more fuel to keep the rpm constant.

Its a sweet little engine just loafing along at its new job in the Helicycle.


John....keep asking away....

Stan

[StanFoster]

After a big shop glue up today....I took the cabin off so I could take the seatpan/floorpan to my painter. While I am waiting on that to get painted...I have some painting of my own to do. The pedals, collective and the cyclic controls.

You can see the left and right stops that are already set to specs....and the fore -aft bolts that are set. I have some safety wiring to do after these parts are painted and reinstalled.

It sure looked funny stripping it down....doesnt look like I have done a darn thing on it for a year. In reality....I have only worked on this 3 steady months with over a year of combined waiting for shipments. It just takes around a year and a half to get all four shipments.

When I start reassembling it again....this time most of it will be for good. The fuel tanks...transmission....cabin....tail rotor driveshaft are done....just need to be put back together.


Stan

[All_In]

Hi John!!!!!!

I know the field very well we use to own Border Aeronautics a Piper dealership in the 70's and 80's at Brown Field and I know the AT-6 you are referring to and owner as an acquaintance.

Not sure which Vari-Eze? There are a couple in hangers and a couple on the field. But if they had belonged to John Denver I bet Hanger Talk would have made it my way by now?

@Stan
It may look funny, but it looks like fun to me!!!

I really enjoy watching you build!

[StanFoster]

Tim- You asked some time ago about the pedal stops. Now that my cabin is off....you can see the bolt heads that contact the frame. I have shim washers under these and they are set so as the bolts hit the frame before the teleflex cable bottoms out on the tail rotor. Any aggressive footwork wont transmit undue stress to the teleflex cable.

While I was waiting on glue to dry on a stairway...I painted the cyclic...collective and the pedals today and reinstalled them. I rechecked my pitch control and everything was in specs...so I greased the shafts...and safety wired. Once I get my seat/floor pan back from the painter...I will install it permanently...and put the upholstered seat in.

Stan

[gyrodrifter]

Hello, G'day mate and, Gutentag Herr Foster.

I watched a few choppy flicks, and another doing a beach run, and now I have the "wannaknowaboudit" bug, sigh!

I am interested to see what the swashplate and rotorhead look like Stan.
The choppy shows a belt system, and that's what got me thinking on the main drive on yours, and the mind wanders from there and more knowledge wants in.

I would like to ask if you could post one or two pics of the swash plate and head areas.
If it is not together yet I'll understand, I only want to see the way things were setup on yours versus a bigger machine and I'm interested to see the ingenuity that went into the design on yours.

It looks nice and shiny sofar :D

Thanks,
John.

[All_In]

It does look nice.

I love watching all the builds, there is just something about building things out of nothing into something that flies.

Stan's; does look really good!!

[StanFoster]

John- I havent received the swashplate or rotorhead shipment yet.

I imagine you are wanting to see the relationship with the control rods and at what cardinal point they are attached to the swashplate. My control rods will have the pitch attached at the 6 oclock position...and the left/right inputs at 3 and 9 oclock. To tilt the rotor up at the front...the greatest pitch increase is at 3 oclock.


Feel free to ask as many questions as you want. Its good mental exercise for me to keep this stuff straight in my head....and many times I have to go research to find the answer and that is good too. When I am done learning, I may as well hang it up! This continual thirst for understanding all the dynamics of a helicopter/gyro are a lot of fun staying on the ground reading about. I cant wait to experience flying this machine.


Stan

[helipaddy]

Thank you Stan for your time in putting the photo's and posts together on your build. This machine is turning out to be one sweet helicopter. I have loads of photos from Mentone of the Helicycle, taken from every angle, seeing the Helicycle up close and flying was one of my highlights there.

You are one lucky man to be building and flying one!
Paddy

[StanFoster]

helipaddy- Thanks...that means a lot to me. I wont be able to stand not seeing my cabin off on the floor very long. As soon as that floor/seatpan gets back, I can proceed getting this machine back to where it was.

One thing I can now do is install the top fuel tank, leak test it...then if that passes...the newly painted transmission can be final installed along with the tail rotor driveshaft.

Stan

[StanFoster]

I reinstalled the pedals, everything was greased and tightened...I noticed the pedals felt real uniform and moved very smoothly....except at just the last of the full left pedal application. I could just feel a little different feel...soI looked over everything closely and found the teleflex cable housing at the tailrotor gearbox was touching the frame. I took a dremel and mooned out a little clearance...then hooked it back up. I noticed the odd feeling in the pedal was gone and thats one little gremlin out of the way. I am sure it would not have mattered...but I like a consistent feel throughout the full range of the pedals.

The last two pictures are at the front end of the teleflex cable. I disassembled it here and bent the bracket so as the in line pull of the cable was tangent to the pedal horn arc. You can see the next to the last picture shows this not being so as the end of the teleflex cable wasnt tangent to the arc and thus the bowing as it went to full pedal.

Stan

[SawdustShoppe]

Stan,

I know it's been a while, but I finally got your rotor blades finished. One thing to keep in mind, these blades only turn left, max speed is 200 mph and they stop every 54 revolutions for about 12.7 seconds. Now we need to get the rest of that whirly bird the right colors.

55894


Snicker,

The guy in the Yellow shirt

[StanFoster]

Brad------I just posted a picture of that beautiful clock you made me. Its under the #17 strikes again thread. Thanks so much sir....you are a class act to say the least!


Stan

[All_In]

Wow, and he's so productive too...

Dang way to go Brad.

[gyrodrifter]

Awwww man....,

There's just not enough time in a day to write, comment, ask and post!
Gotta get some sleep.
Like the teleflex fix, Factory glitch?

That has to be powder coat on the 90 box right? Soooo shiny.
Beautiful machine coming up.

Regards,
John.

[StanFoster]

John- I wouldnt call it factory glitch.....just close tolerances that I made closer by bending the teleflex tab to make the pull of the cable tangent to the radius of the pivot point in the scissor arm.

At full left pedal....the housing would bump..and just bow enough that you could feel just the most subtle difference in pressure. I just looked it over and found it. Simple fix...that I am sure would have been fine had I not caught it. Now that my floorpan is off...I am doing last minute adjusting while its easy.....and I am glad now that I waited to have that floorpan painted. Just two weeks ago I was wondering to my self why I didnt have that done before instead of taking it all apart. But now I am glad as now that the tail rotor controls are all hooked up,.. this is the time to easily adjust everything.

Stan

[StanFoster]

Brad- I love that #17 ceiling fan! You and Mikayla rock. John...... the tailrotor gearbox and the transmission were prepped, primed, and rattle canned with RustOleum paint. Stan

[StanFoster]

All the pedal, cyclic adjustments are done...and I have them painted here.

While I am waiting on my seat/floorpan to get back from my painter...the top fuel tank is going in...and will be leak checked. This will allow the transmission to be all reinstalled and the tail rotor driveshaft hooked up.


Stan

[PR_Arecibo_DC]

Stan,
Your project is looking good... I am amaze how detail oriented are you... We could use people like you here in Iraq...lol
What is the status in your engine... did arrived already?
The crew chief of our blackhawk told me that they have few APU that are going to be DISCO and he told me the he will drive me tomorrow to see if we can salvage at least one or 2 turbine engines or at least parts... I believe the APU's were used on the CH-46 and or 56 and now they are getting "retired"... He told me that they are T-62 or 63... As soon I get the info I post a new thread...

Good Luck

Jose

[brett s]

CH-46's, UH-60's, CH-47's all used T-62's - all were different variants though.

[StanFoster]

Jose- Thanks for the kind comment. I wont be getting my turbine till up in the summer. Thats fine with me because once I get my wiring and instruments, I will have plenty to gnaw on for awhile. Stan

[StanFoster]

I had a little time while my glue was drying on a stairway...so I started putting in my top fuel tank. This has to go in before the transmission is final installed.

I had to nestle into the round frame rails...then wedge it back with the 2x4 block and some wedges. I had already predrilled these holes through the tank last year. The tank bolts had to be fished through the filler neck and out the bolt holes with the safety wire I used. The little protrusion on the tank bolts are for a vise grip to grap while the nut is being tightened. There is an o-ring on the inside of the tank that is drawn up tight. I will do a leak check once all the bolts are in.

There is an under the tank shot and you can see the little white rectangle plates that are zip tied to the frame rails. The tank sits on these to spread the load.

Stan

[utahgyrocop]

Thats fine with me because once I get my wiring and instruments, I will have plenty to gnaw on for awhile. Stan

Stan,

The project is looking great! Having said that rodents and rats gnaw! :smokin: I think you are much higher on the food chain. No question you are at least a beaver...or at least you (and your DEWALT tools) chew on wood every day!!!

Keep up the good work and stay safe.

[earthbnd misfit]

I suppose it would have been nicer if the tank had tags for mounting, not have to through it. Less chance for leaks. Would the frame flex at all, where the tank is mounted?

[StanFoster]

earthbnd- The frame is very rigid there so I am sure it wont flex. I cant argue with the point that these extra bolt holes through the tanks are another chance for a leak...but I havent heard of any problems yet.


Stan

[Kandace]

This is going to be one sweet machine! I'm am so *&^%$#@(*& jealous!

Kandace:party:

[StanFoster]

Kandace- Thanks........but HEY...... I am jealous of your helicopter rating... you go girl! I have to wait till the end of July before my 185 pound examiner is allowed to give me my checkride. Stan

[Arnie Madsen]

This is going to be one sweet machine! I'm am so *&^%$#@(*& jealous!

Kandace:party:
Kandace , since you got your rating already I think you are just being extra kind to Stan now that you have removed him from his lofty #1 position. Just kidding , congrats again . A neighbour completed her commercial rating on a Bell 206 . Started training right after high school . She is now doing interviews for a Vancouver tourist heli operator who specified they want a female pilot. I swear you girls are making us all jealous nowadays !!!! Way to go and Best wishes.

Stan
I enjoy every stage of your build , good to see the permanent installations now going into place including the tank. Your method of flat sanding the internal bolt and fittings surfaces was clever . It should make a good seal.

I referred your earlier posts about it to someone trying to seal an internal fitting to a plastic tank (not aviation) . Your way of doing it worked perfect for them after trying a lot of other methods without success. They also think you are #1 , but then I told them about Kandace :)sorry:)

Anyone wanting to see how Stan did it , this link should bring it up .....
http://www.rotaryforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15817&highlight=tank+helicycle&page=17

[choppergabor]

Hello Stan! A newbie here just wanted to tell you, just how great of a job you are doing on your Helicycle. I love them. Another great design by the master! I am sure you'll have great pleasure flying her. Once again You Rock!
Cheers
Gabor