qwerty3

I'm interested in how this flies. I've got plans for something similar, but have yet to start on that. As a single-rotor r/c heli pilot, I'm guessing flying an autogyro is something like an auto-rotating heli - but with power pulling it forward. I've wondered how it'd work to take a regular r/c heli rotor head, and adapt that. Could give full cyclic pitch control. Is it worth the extra weight and complication?

WILDCRASHWILLY

qwerty3,

I'm sorry, I dont know as this is new to me also. I think Richard Harris has made some comments about it over at the UK magazine flyingmodel.co.uk it is a magazine sold over there however it does have extensive information on autogyros in its forum section. Unless you subscribe to the mag, I dont think you can post but you can lurk as I have and learn a lot about his designs. Specifically his Panther autogyro where I copied his tail section stab and his rotor head assy.

Thanks for posting and also to the one that PMd me and asked to keep the thread going. Will do with pleasure.

Thank you,

WILDCRASHWILLY

Not sure why some of the post above posted the pics the way it did. Dont know what I did to cause that. You can click on the link and see the images but its more cumbersome. Sorry about that guys, I'll try to do better with the following. I'm going to go back and delete and repost the pics and see if they will work this time.

WILDCRASHWILLY

Went back and re-posted the pictures to posts numbers 21 through 24 and they seem to work correctly this time. Not sure what I did before. anyway on with the build.
On these three pics I deviated from the plans again. Copying Richard Harris's design from over in the UK. I used a simple flexible spindle hub made out of G!) fiberglass over the complex way the system was designed 15 or so years ago. They probably didn't have the G10 back then so nothing should be taken away from the original designer drawing this up with the technology of the times. Pictures 1 and 2, I drew and cut templates from card stock to trace out over the G10 for cutting not only the rotor hub but also, in pic 3, the control horn for the rotor tilt assy.

WILDCRASHWILLY

The rotor hub and the horn made out of G10 fiberglass. I ordered five plates of this stuff from a company in CA. I dont remember the name but if anyone is interested, post and I'll find it and list it here. as you can see, I drilled a 1/4 inch hole dead center of the hub. I then mounted a shaft in a block of wood and clamped to my drill press. This helped me keep the blade attaching holes at equal distance around the points and from the center shaft. I should have taken mor pics of that process.

WILDCRASHWILLY

I used two 1/8 inch ac ply for the hinges and horn. This is on the top part of the head assy. for port and starboard movement.

WILDCRASHWILLY

Pic 1, I melted a little petrolium jelly with my covering iron by just sitting a jar lid on it for a few minutes. I coated the pivot point of the hinges so epoxy wouldnt stick to the actual pivot point. Pic 2 & 3, mixed up 30 minute epoxy and glued the hinges and hornes and the two pieces of ply together. Pic 4, clamped assy for overnight curing of the epoxy.

WILDCRASHWILLY

Drilled 1/8 inch holes and pinned the hinges with bamboo skewers I got at the local grocery for strength.

WILDCRASHWILLY

you can see here where I epoxyied the control horn on. Look in the background, you'll see where I made a top plate for the hub assy to mount to. Can't believe I didnt take more pictures of that. Got in a hurry I suppose. It was late.

WILDCRASHWILLY

The lower portion of the tilt mecanism for forward and aft tilt is just a 1/4 inch piece of AC ply with a piece of 1/16 AC ply laminated on each side with medium CA. Total width is 3/8 of an inch.. I cut a curve on it later on in the build when I realized how much forward movement I would need. (Very little by the way as forward tilt will make autorotation stop).

WILDCRASHWILLY

Remember the top hub mounting plate I mentioned in the picture background a few posts ago? well here it is being epoxied to the top roto port and starboard tilt plate. I also, put some 1/4 inch AC ply gussets on it for additional strength. I really didnt go for pretty on this build as I still have to teach myself to fly the thing and we all know what s going to happen then... yes repair photos... LOL

WILDCRASHWILLY

Just logged back on to check my pictures. It looks like it posted strangely again. Hopefully a moderator can fix it. not sure why its doing this. I may try to delete and repost them tomorrow night if they are still listed as links vs pictures.

Pictures deleted and reloaded posts 31 through 36.

WILDCRASHWILLY

Now to begin working more in depth on the head and rotor assy.

Pic 1, I took a 1.5 inch hole saw and cut three holes in aircraft ply. However, I didn't need the holes but the blanks that were removed from the holes. Theses three 1/4' plates will be stacked and bolted together to support the central rotor shaft which is nothing more than 1/4 silver steel I picked up from Lowes, or any hardware store for that matter. Pic 2 and 3, I drilled the center hole out to 3/16 inch and inserted a bolt long enough to chuck the plates in my "Poor Man's Lathe", er drill press. I recommend glueing the plates together with JUST A DROP of medium ca. this will help keep things stable but you can separate the bottom plate later for another operation that must be performed.

WILDCRASHWILLY

This is where I used 150 grit sandpaper on a wood block to true up the hub disc and match them to each other.

WILDCRASHWILLY

Mount the hinge and plate upright for easy access during hub assembly.

WILDCRASHWILLY

Deleted a double post

WILDCRASHWILLY

Enlarged the center hole to accept the 1/4 silver steel shaft. also, drilled four holes for the four hold down bolts that will be used to connect to the top plate. I think I used (4) 6-32 bolts and lock nuts for this operation. Actually took this picture a couple weeks ago and can't remember the exact size. You could use 4-40 if you prefer as it's not critical as long as it fits well and doesn't crowd the rest of your work.

WILDCRASHWILLY

Mark a cross channel in the bottom of the three AC plates made earlier. cut out the channel then drill a 1/8 hole through the shaft about an 1/8 inch from the bottom. I threaded a 4-40 bolt in to it and cut the head off but some people just use a roll pin. I didn't have one so I adapted and used the bolt method. This will keep the shaft from rotating or pulling out during flight or while performing maintenance.

WILDCRASHWILLY

Had these two post on the above post by accident but now I cant remove them. Have a double post here on the pics. I epoxied the hinges in to the lower for and aft plate and pinned the hinges with bamboo skewers just as I did the upper plate earlier. Test fit.

WILDCRASHWILLY

Chased the holes through the hub into the top plate with a drill, and installed the T-Nuts under the top hub plate.

WILDCRASHWILLY

Went over to Paducah KY to a place called Motion Industries, ( they sell commercial bearings and belts normally to MFG Plants and construction companies, etc.), I purchased two Timpken S1K7 bearings, (1/4" ID and 5/8" OD. X 3/16" thick). Front wheel bearings for a two wheel drive pick up truck are cheaper. These little darlings are one of the most expensive parts of the craft at $16 each. They offered some cheaper brands there but I agreed with the warehouse man, you could see the difference. At about a 5 dollars savings total, it's not worth the savings if the bearing fails and the little machine falls out of the wild blue yonder. Will continue tomorrow night....

WILDCRASHWILLY

I wish I had taken a photo to show where I took a 1/4 X 20 die and cut the threads on the shaft but unfortunately, I didn't think to take it. Some people just use 1/4" wheel collars on both top and bottom. I used the wheel collars on the bottom as part of the needed spacing however, I used a 1/4 lock nut on top along with blue locktite for a little extra security. A person could drill the shaft and use a cotter pin but I think my choice is adequate on this particular model. A larger model may warrant the use of a cotter pin. Picture 3 shows how far down the shaft I went with the threads.

WILDCRASHWILLY

Assemblely complete. I cut out some top and bottom plates out of 1/8 ac ply when I made the hub discs. these are used to brace up the G10 fiberglass that the flex plate was made out of. By the way: I bought the G10 fiberglass plate from a place called ePlastics.com out of California. It can't be loose at all but, don't overtighten the lock nut. The rotor has to free wheel with absolutely NO RESISTANCE... Picture 2, Not shown on the bottom plate but I used lock nuts on the 6-32 bolts attaching the top and bottom plate to the G10 flex plate.

WILDCRASHWILLY

Now on to the rotor blades. These consisted three 2 1/4 inch X 1/4 inch thick balsa. I glued a 1/4 by 3/8 inch bass wood strip on the leading edge for extra strength, thus widening the blade to 2 5/8. The tip of the blade is 23 inches from the center stud for a disc diameter of 46 inches. I will begin posting these pictures Thursday night as I wont have able to post pictures for a day or so. I will have a tablet with me so I'll be able to post and answer questions but no readly available means to post the pics.

Pork Chop

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Wildcrashwilly,

I just found your post and I'm interested for sure. I'm new to gyros, I picked up an ARF on a sale a few weeks ago and had a blast flying it right up to touch down, I learned what happens when you fly a gyro to slow! I'm hooked and will rebuild it and I've looked at kits at flyingbalsa.com to build as well. I will catch up on all your posts in the next day or two. Thanks for sharing your build.