Does any one have experience with the Whopper? I am in the process of putting one in the air and am looking for info on flying qualities and any mods I need to do to get a sucessfull first flight!

Hi,
Model builder ,march 91 has a very good history of autogyro,s and a extensive review of Schluter Whopper.they have some tips on engine power and flying which would be good to know.
How long have you had your whopper , I have been looking for one for a while, I know they don't make them anymore.
I have the March 91 model builder , if you have a printer I could e-mail the article to you. the reason you need a printer is - I scanned a page and it was unreadable ,then i printed it and it was then ok.
let me know if you want it, it may take a little while.

Earl.

I would love the article! My E mail is [email protected]. I am in the process of obtaining a built Whopper with an Enya 80. I have extensive chopper experience and am looking for something different for the plank field!

Try:
http://www.autogyro.com/models/whopper.htm

Yea, I had a whopper several years ago. First you must have a way to hold the thing while the rotors are spinning up. I tied about a 3' section of 100# dacron fishing line to the tail wheel area, just let it dangle in flight. So I would stand on the line engage the clutch encrease the gass untill it makes you nervous...lift you foot of the string and at the same time disengage the clutch and add full power, should be at about 3/4 throttle when you release. here is the MOST IMPORTANT part if you dont do this you will ground loop and crash. You must take off in a wide sweeping left hand curve. Do not add any right rudder or go straight..think LEFT TURN, LEFT TURN. Dont know why just know ...crashed several times not doing it this way. These things dont do a normal ground loop they spin around about 2 times, fold the right gear up, which flips it over and rekits the tail and breaks a bunch of other stuff.
Good luck

Thanks for all the info. The Whopper is in my hands getting a look over. It has the origonal blades! Does any one know if 700mm of longer heli blades will work and what pitch to use if they will? I don't want to trash the only origonal blades I have.

Thanks Geink for the article! It came out great and had some great info in it!

Hi Geink.
Noted your offer to E-Mai the Model Builder Whopper report
or was it a more extensive Gyro report with Whopper in it?
Hate to be a bother but could you send the same to me?
Would be greatly appreciayed!
Many thanks and do fly two mistakes high, OK?

Hal deBolt at [email protected]

Hi Hal.
I tried to send you the whopper article,but the message i got back was that your email was over limit. could you check if your listed e mail address is correct.

Earl

Hi Earl.
Thanks much, somehow I got the whopper material
As you mentioned printing is so small it is difficult to comprehend.
I have some magnifying glasses, will try those.
This is a most unusual craft, thus interesting!
Believe Jim Baxter had one, might check>[email protected]
Would be great to know your experience with it, OK?
Be good,

Hal deBolt [email protected]

I just sent an email to a friend who has extensive experience with the wopper.
I included the link to this forum. If he responds, he is the guy to ask.

i hope he responds. my whopper is almost ready for her first flight and any more advice would be great!

My friend has just replied to my email. Seems He is having a problem getting registered on RCU. The following is His message to me. I'm sure he will get his registration problem worked out.


Tried to register at rcuniverse, tried twice, but wouldn't work.

Like to respond. In the meantime maybe you could post that I am trying and that RCM, January 1991 has my Whopper Review.

David

Was refered to rc universe by jemo today

To Julch: The Whopper is a hand full to get in the air!

I wrote a review that appeared in January 1991 RC Modeler Mag.

Head speed is everything! The long, clark Y airfoil blades work the best. Somehow I never broke these blades on a take off tip over.

The gentleman that suggested a string to hold back the Wopper on initial head run up is a good idea.

If you can see rotor blades during a take off run, STOP! You don't have head speed.

15 mph head wind is a great help to take off in.

My Wopper was "Sky tached" @ 800 rpm.

Blades should be tight enough in the blade holders so as not to fall under their own weight when you hold the nose of the Whopper up to check for a lean engine carb. setting.

In flight, RUDDER must be used for turns. Bank and Yank does not work. Cyclic roll only and the Whopper will slide. Use the cyclic roll to control the bank angle and the rudder to turn.

Landing is a piece of cake. Reduce power and establish a desent rate. (slight nose up attitude) Adjust power to streach glide. In a strong head wind hovering is possible, but keep from flying backwards, especially during a landing.

Let me know if I can help further.

Welcome, "Woopie" to the Autogyro Forum here on R/C Universe. Thanks for the fine response to the "Whopper" questions. (Since I had five successful takeoffs and NO successful landings with my Whopper years ago, didn't feel qualified to answer--glad you took the trouble to register and log on.)

By chance, were you the gentleman from California that helped me after that 5th complete Whopper rebuild? What's your name?

To Steve T,

Name is David Ramsey, from NJ

5 successful take offs! That's got to be some kind of record. During the first 20 take off attempts, or so, my success average was 4 for ten. I built tail assemblies 6 at a time.

Supprised you had difficulty landing. Mine always seemed to come down like a parachute. Mine balanced slightly nose heavey (came out that way when finished) rather than slightly tail down as suggested in the supplied instructions. I'm quite happy in the way it flies. I've done loops, but was always scared to try a barrel roll.

If "Julch" lived in my area, I would love to stand with him for his first flight. I remember mine. It was desaster, but exilerating.

Hummm, I think I've got a few more thoughts for "Julch"

To Julch,

Have a few more thoughts:

Before your first flight (positive thinking), drive your Whopper around the field without the blades on. Get a feel for how sensitive the tail steering is.

Pre spin the rotor manually before ingaging the run up drive. Engine should be just above a idle.

During take off, head straight into the wind, make sure you have at least 10 mph, it helps, and stand right behind the Whopper.

Do not force a lift off! Slight elevator back pressure only. Too much cyclic pitch during a take off run can slow the rotor speed.
If the head speed is slightly low, the Whopper will lift off and roll to the right. Advancing blade on the left sees more lift. Correction must be made with the rudder. Once level, the Whopper will sustain a 30 degree climb out. Turns down wind require less rudder than turns up wind.

Make sure O ring in head drive is clean and free from excess exhaust oil. The O ring doesn't have to be dry, just wipe the cone and O ring with a clean rag.

Let me know how ou make out.

thanks for all the advice woppie! I am in upstate NY around rochester, so it would take a long drive to get there, or here.

the only blades I have are the origonal with the weard shape. from your article, it sounds like i should find a different pair. do you, or anyone else know if a pair of 680 or 700mm semi-symetrical chopper blades would work? they auto my 12 lb chopper very well down to around 800 rpm.

if anyone is selling a set of blades that would work for the whopper, i would be interested. it would be a shame to break the origonal blades!

To Julch,

The original Whopper blades (undercambered) are not the best when compared to the replacement set that are longer with clark Y type airfoil.

Try Helicopters unlimited (Paul Gold) in Conn.
or contact Robbe, I think the web address is,
www.robbemodellsport.com. There is also the Robbe distributer in England, but not sure of name.

There is a different pitch set up for the newer blades. If you can find a set of new blades and don't get the instructions for them, I can supply.
The Whopper is definetly happier with the newer blades.

Don't feel bad about breaking the old undercambered blades, they had way too much drag.
And if you had a take off tip over with the old blades, they would probably survive anyway. Wait for the newer blades if you can.

To Julch,

You mentioned semi symi symetrical blades. I'm not sure they would work well. The replacement clark Y blades are basically flat bottom.

Thanks. I did try Robbe. They said there were no parts around for the whopper

Hello Guys, I Flew my Whopper about 3 years. The only problem I had was with landing!! My best advice is to set it up as per Manual -- do the string on the tail wheel thing and DO NOT hold your flair once your on the ground!! This lifts the main gear off and you tip over on the tail wheel and blades - in turn they slap the Rudders and its time to replace them. The Climbing left turn on takeoff is 100% correct!! For some odd reason this thing wants to go left so just let it, then after you have speed it will fly like a regular airplane!! You DO NOT want to dead stick this 10lb. Beast in so take your time and get that Rossi fine tuned and running well!!
Oh, one more thing, After awhile you Will get cocky with it and do some loops and rolls -- My advice is Don't try to fly it inverted!!! Unless you like meteorites!! Email me for photo's and I think I still have a manual around.

Dr.Tim