New Suspension

ultracruiser41

Gold Member
Joined
Nov 2, 2003
Messages
3,334
Location
NC
Aircraft
Cavalon, OutBack Tango, Ryan PT 22, JetGyro, Jet Provost, Champ, Radial Rocket Gyro, HummelBird
Total Flight Time
Too many to count
Well, just converted my Bee over to a "shock-absorber" suspension. (did away with the bungies)

So far it looks real good and was simple to convert. Hopefully I will test it this weekend and get my buddy Ron (fly me to the moon) Awad to post some pictures of the system.

Also working on a new simple pre-rotator that I will experiment with very soon. If it works, I'll be rich.......rich I tell you !!! Can't tell you what it is yet but will let ya'll know if it works in a few weeks !! Stay tuned !! Same Gyro channel, same Gyro station ! :cool:

Barry K
 
ultracruiser41 said:
Well, just converted my Bee over to a "shock-absorber" suspension. (did away with the bungies)

So far it looks real good and was simple to convert. Hopefully I will test it this weekend and get my buddy Ron (fly me to the moon) Awad to post some pictures of the system.

Also working on a new simple pre-rotator that I will experiment with very soon. If it works, I'll be rich.......rich I tell you !!! Can't tell you what it is yet but will let ya'll know if it works in a few weeks !! Stay tuned !! Same Gyro channel, same Gyro station ! :cool:

Barry K
Keep us posted, Barry! Interested to know more about your pre-rotator system. I'm playing with one that'll make me RICH, RICH I TELL YA :D Actually I'm trying to think of any gyro innovation where someone actually returned their investment. Guess we're too small a group.

I'm toying with a "pedal" design using your stronger leg muscles (in lieu of your arms) to pedal the rotors up to 140+ RRPM. I'm also planning experiments with sonar. I want to aim a narrow, restricted sonar beam from the upper mast down at an angle, disregarding the prop. The tuned angular coverage would envelope inherent "hazard areas". By "tuning" the coverage to these specific hazard volumes, it could be directly linked to an Engine Kill Switch that is instantly triggered when a child or pilot, etc, interferes with this beam.

It's the ultimate "No-Fly Zone". Enter it, and the engine quits.

It's easy to speculate when someone dies, but after the sad loss of Chuck Irby recently, a stupid add-on item like this could have saved his life, if designed correctly.

Regards,
Brian Jackson
 
I can't wait to hear Barrys Pre rotator ideas...... He called a few days ago wanting to know if he could mount a backpack leaf blower on the gyro to blow air onto the blades thinking that would get them really spinning! He is out there sometimes! ;) ;) :)
 
Brian, so far, I take my wifes large wage and make it a small one with my gyros!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Aussie Paul.:)
 
The best way to make a small fortune in aviation, is to start with a big one.
 
scottessex said:
The best way to make a small fortune in aviation, is to start with a big one.
I hear ya man! :D I started a company called Construx, designing and manufacturing builder's templates for the Mini-Max series for TEAM Aircraft. After a huge capital invesment and a year and a half of 16 hour days, I think I broke even. We sold a ton of them, but no wealth was to be had. :( . Just recently I donated all of the artwork, originals, UV camera, developer, etc. to JDT Mini-Max. Nice to know the idea will live on.

Cheers,
Brian Jackson
 
I am really drooling over that hand start pre-rotator. I can' wait to see it. Also, it would be nice to see that suspension as well. I wonder if current builders will be able to use it without having to tear the whole bird down and replacing parts?
 
All I did to modify my suspension was to shorten the length of the diagonals that went from the gear leg to the bunge plate, attached shocks purchased from Northen Tool, and make a duplicate plate to match the bunge plate in order to attach the shock to. Real simple and it looked good too!

I couldn't get to the airport this weekend to test it. (getting the house ready for the painter) but should make it out this week.


Barry K
 
Barry,
Can we see pictures from the side? I think I understood your description and am interested in your approach as opposed to the Starbee design. As you have probably seen, their system involves repositioning the inner axle mounts in line with the mast/cluster plate in order to get everything to line up well. they also use an additional vertical strut to create a "triangle" so that the outer end of the shock cannot move up or down during compression. If I understand your idea, you have mounted the end of the shock between the old and new shock plates and you'll still end up with a slight misalignment where the end of your shock will be slightly forward of the inner axle mount (unless your shocks bount behind the original shock plate). If I'm correct, then this will not be much more out of alignment than the way the original Gyrobee design was. But what how did you make your work without the extra strut?
 
Last edited:
I did mount the shock between the original bunge plate and an additional plate I made to match it. Place a spacer between the two plates and the shock fits in nicely. It moved the C/L of the strut/shock to a better alignment with the axle. I'll post some pictures as soon as I can get out to the hangar.

Duochebag ??? Ronny, Ronny.....I thought you loved me! :eek:


Barry K
 
GyroRon said:
I can't wait to hear Barrys Pre rotator ideas...... He called a few days ago wanting to know if he could mount a backpack leaf blower on the gyro to blow air onto the blades thinking that would get them really spinning! He is out there sometimes! ;) ;) :)
but not out of the ball park. i have an old article that i found on helicopters, a guy was trying to design a air system to spin up the blades, what it looked like was two nozzles on eack tip of the blades and a rubber diaphram where air was forced into the lower portion and the upper rotated allowing the air to pass through the nozzles. it kind of looked like a water sprinkler where the wa
ter force spins the upper half and the water hose stationary at the bottom, i will have to dig this out and it has some pictures of it preety cool.good luck
 
Ok, Ok...it's been awhile since I've been out to the airport. (traveling). My first shocks on the new suspension were not heavy enough. Without the rotor on it was already bottomed out. They bounced great but I needed heavier springs. I've got heavier spring-over shocks and will install tomorrow. Should work well so If they stay up, I'll get some pictures and get them posted.

I may have time to also test the pre-rotator and if the initial tests turn out OK, I'll post pictures on that as well.


BarryK :D
 
Back
Top