GyroBee "Construction Diary" officially begins

[Brian Jackson]

Howdy, all fellow members of aviation's "lunatic fringe" :D ,

I'm just now beginning my quest to join your ranks. I threw together a construction diary (http://www.rotopix.com/gb/gyrobee.htm) which I'll be appending regularly to offer a realistic chronology of a typical start-to-finish Gyro build. It's a little unorthodox how I'm planning to do it. But I need some input from you guys how best to present the info. I can break it down into Calandar format with red stars by important dates of key information... or something else.

I value everyone's opinion here, so please chime in.

By the way, tomorrow (today actually) concludes my first week at my new job at Whirlpool's VR dept. I think there's a career here. Everyone's feedback on the "I've Been Blessed" thread really meant a lot to me. Now what the hell am I doing getting up so late/early?

God bless and be fun!
Brian Jackson

[Victor Duarte]

congratulations brian, enjoy life
victor

[scottessex]

Looks good so far, I wish I could have done the same thing when I built mine, but it would have taken me too long to build a gyro AND learn to do CAD and webpages etc.
Good job, and good info like that is what we need to help share our interests.

Keep up the good work Brian.

[KDOG]

Great site. Are you going to post photos of every aspect of building the bee? I was thinking to myself that maybe the plans could be "updated" to include photos of everything. Maybe someone could even make "video" plans. Have you picked up any materials yet? I took a picture of the parts that I have now - the 3 main tubes. I should be getting some more parts in today....

[Alan Coats]

Brian,

Great site! Looks like you are already doing more to document your build than I would have thought to ask for. Thanks for making the effort to share it with us.

I just bought a mostly-built Bee, and am hungry for close-up photos of all the different ways people choose to execute the details (brakes, instrument pod, rotor tach, pre-rotator, etc.).

Besides the diary, it would be great if you posted pictures here regularly too.

Keep up the good work!

Alan

[Chuck Roberg]

Alan, as far as the pre-rotor goes. Wait for Tim Blackwell to get his pre-rotor marketed. For something like the "bee" it's excellent.

It only adds 4 lbs. to the overall weight. You don't have to worry about mounting and fitting a flex shaft to your engine. Nor do you have a problem with clearance of the cable to the rotorhead plus attachments.

[KDOG]

Yes, the hand start recoil prerotator. Thats what I'm waiting for....can't wait till its out.

[Alan Coats]

Yep, that prerotator looks like it will be a hot seller! It is such a clever execution of a good idea.

My point is, though, that for someone new who has very little opportunity to look at gyros in person, closeup photos posted here are of great value.

Keep 'em coming.

Alan

[Brian Jackson]

Great site. Are you going to post photos of every aspect of building the bee?....
Kevin,
Yes. It will be a complete pictorial documentation, even down to leveling the drill press, and drill/reaming sequences, etc. You will be able to click on any of the hundreds of images and they will enlarge to high resolution full-screen, even the close-up shots of the various sub-assemblies. It will be quite comprehensive and may include video... haven't decided yet.

Cheers,
Brian Jackson

[Brent_Brown]

Brian can you post a CAD side shot of the bee with the prop in its location. BTW that size prop do the plans call for. I am asking so I can look at making a tall tail for the bee as a add on. I hope it will fit both the bee and a KB3. My KB used a 58" tail. I will ordering a bolt of S glass that willl be better for weight and stiffness.

[Brian Jackson]

Brent,
The "side shot" I based that on was initself based on a sideshot photo of Jay Boyce's machine. It was merely scaled to get ballpark proportions. I know it's not the answer you wanted, but it's the only one I have, and is true. However, once I receive actual manufacturer's data I'll pass it along. There just isn't anything concrete right now, which is unfortunate.

I understand the need. I will act on that. We need a central depository where data can be cataloged, and designers can access the information. Let me ponder an alternative to the existing hit-or-miss strategy.

Until then,
Brian Jackson

[Brent_Brown]

Brian. Don't you have a set of plan that you used to make your CAD from? And Lockwood or California Power Systems has the side view dimensions for in put. I can sen you the motor data.

I guess I will take notos at ROC and get what I need that why. Just thought you had it ready now.

No need to worry about it now you need to get started on putting yours together.

Thanks anyway

Brent

[Brian Jackson]

Brian. Don't you have a set of plan that you used to make your CAD from? And Lockwood or California Power Systems has the side view dimensions for in put. I can sen you the motor data.

I guess I will take notos at ROC and get what I need that why. Just thought you had it ready now.

No need to worry about it now you need to get started on putting yours together.

Thanks anyway

Brent

Here's what I have. The prop, as I said previously, was scaled from a side-view photo. It's probably within an inch of being accurate though. Hope it helps.

Cheers,
Brian Jackson

[Brent_Brown]

Yes that is what I need. I can put in the motor from the info I have . I take it this is for a 60" prop? with the 31.750" from center prop to keel.

[Brian Jackson]

I've got the prop arc dia. at 58", but I think 60" is what's called for. As I said, it's just for reference only. The "critical" dimension was the distance of the prop arc from the mast so I could roughly determine how much keel I had to mount a tail on. If you would like the CAD file I can post it here for download. It's in AutoCAD DWG format, though I can export it to several other formats. Let me know.

Thanks,
Brian Jackson