I need some info from an Air Command owner please....

MaD Dog

Flapping Member
Joined
May 10, 2004
Messages
97
Location
Trinity, N.C.
Aircraft
PropCopter...Shoffman Co-Ax
Total Flight Time
400 hrs on Gyro
I need to know the diameter and length of bolts to mount a set of Dragonwings....23 foot...on a standard single place Air Command. Also, I need to know what size and length the teeter bolt is . I'm trying to help a friend who lives in another state...who wants to replace his bolts...and I can't find out from anyone what the typical length of the bolts are, and the diameter....AN6...or AN8...Please help if you can.:)
 
Last edited:
I need to know the diameter and length of bolts to mount a set of Dragonwings....23 foot...on a standard single place Air Command. Also, I need to know what size and length the teeter bolt is . I'm trying to help a friend who lives in another state...who wants to replace his bolts...and I can't find out from anyone what the typical length of the bolts are, and the diameter....AN6...or AN8...Please help if you can.:)

If you mount a set of Dragonwings on a classic Commander, you are going to help kill your friend. The lighter Dragonwings will lower the aircrafts Center of Mass out of the acceptable range, and it will easily bunt over.

The Air Command instructions specifically say not to altar the aircraft or to change the rotorblades to another brand.
 
Last edited:
Haha....been there Dennis.

I just went to the garage to measure therotor head on my spare parts shelf. It wasn't there....hope it's at the hangar. I have two on machines at the hangar, if the spare isn't there. Of course, you should have the answer by then.
 
The low-CG issue really is serious. The thrustline is already 5-6" above the CG on the original Commander, with no body pod, plastic wheels, no brakes and no aux. tanks. This offset is a lot for the stock HS to handle. Making it worse is not a good idea.

I'd convert it to a high-rider, using the factory kit, before switching to Dragon Wings.
 
It is a high-rider...

It is a high-rider...

already converted....so CTL.:eek:hwell:
 
I have never said any thing neg, about anyone or any thing. I cannot stay quiet on this subject. The only one that has more experience with all Air Command models is Capt. Dennis, and our best friend Bill Parsons, and me. Bill is in heaven, so I have to stand up.
The Rube Goldberg jury rig design of the Air Command Hi rider, CLT, or what ever, has
Air Command in last place. Greg Greminger had a beautiful CLT Air Command, so did Don Graves of Mass. Whoever made Air Command CLT into a ugly duckling should hide his head in shame. Why not ask someone that made a beauty already ? Had to be said...
 
Last edited:
OK.....let's say I somehow wreck my Skywheels !!!! ????

If I cannot get another set......what would my best choice be ??? & why ?

Dragon wings seem to be the easiest & least expensive choice, & lots of people have flown them on their Air Command.

Let's elaborate on this subject please ? I have a CLT kit but don't really want to install it for the reasons stated !
 
I think he meant........................ I hate(dislike) the CLT conversion that Air Command offers.

Am I right, Ed ?
 
I like the "look" of the go-kart low rider gyro's, they handle great on the ground too.
BUT I have owned and flown both, and all I can say is that "looks don't fly"
I never did like the look of the dominator (sorry Ernie) but after flying one, it is the best flying gyro I have ever flown. So take that for what it is worth.
 
Got to agree with you 100% Scott, the Dominator is one sweet flyer, compared to any aircraft that I have flown. The looks of it kinda grow on you after a while!
 
OK.....let's say I somehow wreck my Skywheels !!!! ????

If I cannot get another set......what would my best choice be ??? & why ?

Dragon wings seem to be the easiest & least expensive choice, & lots of people have flown them on their Air Command.

Let's elaborate on this subject please ? I have a CLT kit but don't really want to install it for the reasons stated !

Does anyone know the weight of Sport-Copter blades?

Not cheap but you might get closer to the same weight.

Maybe bolt a block of lead to the mast under the rotorhead?

Lots of people make bad decisions, that is not a reason to include yourself.
 
I like the "look" of the go-kart low rider gyro's, they handle great on the ground too.
BUT I have owned and flown both, and all I can say is that "looks don't fly"
I never did like the look of the dominator (sorry Ernie) but after flying one, it is the best flying gyro I have ever flown. So take that for what it is worth.

Form Follows Function.

One of my favorite guidelines.
 
I can't argue with Ed about the thrown-together look of the A.C. high-rider. But, I have some hundreds of hours on the lowriders, dating back to 1987 when I bought one. It was my only aircraft for about six years.

The pitch handling of the lowrider with no HS was awful, and potentially dangerous in turbulence. At the time, I didn't know any better. I thought that was just the way gyros were: forward stick in turns, nosing up in updrafts, down in downdrafts... the works.

Only when I started flying FW ultralights (partly out of growing disgust with the A.C. in turbulence) did I even learn what a pitch-stable aircraft felt like.

When I put the factory HS on my lowrider A.C. in the mid-90's, the change in handling was amazing. Yet, we still had a PPO fatality near here, by a gyro newbie who had the HS on his A.C. lowrider (but also had a 532, a pod and aux tanks). The factory HS was not enough to completely PPO-proof the lowrider. See photo. The circle drawn on the picture on the left is where the prop chopped the rotor.

As awkward-looking as the highrider is, it has had zero PPO accidents. Its arrangement of masses is pretty much the same as a Dominator, so that good record is no surprise. I doubt that using light blades on the high-rider would be a problem, though it would pay to check the VCG location with a double hang-test after the switch.

I grew to like the look of my tandem Dominator with its pod. The fact that was such a sweet-handling machine probably colored my opinion.
 

Attachments

  • rogeracc.JPG
    rogeracc.JPG
    32.4 KB · Views: 2
Any thoughts, Ed ??

Tim, I figured the SC blades would be the way to go....just wanted to see what Dennis thought.
 
Top