Jugmaker

Hi, I have been looking for a stand to use when working on a helicopter. Maybe one with hold downs so it will stay steady while running engine. Something to carry to the flight field. Does anyone manufacture one?
Jugmaker

asteele73

I am sure there is one on the market, but get Rays Authoritative Manual, and he has an example of one that you could make for less money.

okw

I made a stand from 2" square tubing that fits in the hitch on my truck. A little bit of overkill, but it works. Theres a couple pics in my gallery.

Keith

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

Here's a tip I got from a friend.

Get two steel metal strips about 7 inches long.
Drill one hole in each end of the metal strip.

Now slide them through the landing gear.

Then bolt them down to a picnic table.

Now you can rev it up to full throttle with out having to worry about it taking off. It aint gonna take off with a picnic table attached...well unless its a turbine or something.

Be prepared for the dust storm that erupts though.

Jugmaker

Thanks for that idea,that is about as simple as it gets.
Jugmaker

ifixairplanes

My Feedback: (9)

Bolting down a heli and running it up is asking for trouble! All tuning should be done while flying so real flight loads are imposed. Running full throttle bolted down (as unsafe as it is) does not allow the proper flight load and you would get from a hard climb. I tune my high end by full throttle climbs. After that, low end is done with hovering.
Please, don't strap down the heli to anything, you won't accomplish anything that can't be done inflight.

Sean

heli-john

Can't recall where it was right now but I think it was in a Raptor article somewhere on the net but ther were plans to make a free rotating heli stand that you clamp to your workmate. I built one and when I was fairly new to helis it was a godsend as I could set up all sorts of things from engine to tail rudder on it . Now I do most of it "on the fly" so to speak.
Ah yes, here it is - sorted it out specially for you.
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaver...1/teststnd.htm
Made a few mods of my own.

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

Bolting down to a table is a great way to check tracking....throughout the power band. How are you going to check tracking in flight. If the tracking is wrong, its gonna go haywire on you. Now you wrecked your heli just trying to track it. Not to mention there is NO way to check tracking at full throttle unless its held stationary. If the heli is 200 ft up an climbing how are you going to look along the rotor plane to see if its forking. If its out of track, by the time you get it to full throttle, its probably throwing parts all over the place.

All the guys I know here use this method to adjust tracking. It makes it easy to look along rotor plane to see if its forking or not.

I wouldnt recommend doing it for long periods of time, as it puts alot of load on the heli. But if you get it up to hovering speed, it wont do anything. Not only that but you can just shut it down, wait for the rotor to stop spinning, and make adjustments, then try it again. Its the same as running up a model airplane engine on a test stand.

Obviously use common sense and caution. Dont go walk over to it at full throttle...and NO cyclic movements....duh.


Joke of the day....
How did people learn to breakdance?
Trying to adjust rotors on moving helicopters. HEHEH

okw

Good point; forgot to mention that. There's no easier way of bending a main shaft or spindle!! (short of flying it into the ground ) You could break/bend a bunch of other parts as well!

Other than that, this method works very well.

Keith

ifixairplanes

My Feedback: (9)

I don't see how tracking can be different at full throttle then a hover. only time I have heard of that is when a guy got a warped blade. strapping down a heli is bad news. You've heard of ground resonance havent you?

Sean

Pathogens

My Feedback: (1)

bdavison."Bolting down to a table is a great way to check tracking."

Dude..let me be the first to tell you that you are a complete moron man.

If anyone in here has an ounce of common sence they should not Strap a heli down to ANYTHING. PERIOD..bolting down a heli is NOT a good way to check tracking. Putting it in a hover and having a friend check it for you is a much safer way.

"Its the same as running up a model airplane engine on a test stand"

wow man.....U have alot to learn.

"Obviously use common sense and caution. Dont go walk over to it at full throttle"
Yeah...use sence and caution and DO NOT STRAP A HELI DOWN TO ANYTHING.... Even if you were going to strap the heli down like a dump *****, taking it anything over half stick (about half throttle) would and could be disasterous.


If anyone in here remotly thinks that this guy has any idea of what he is talking about, you are as dumb as him.. Do some reasearch on what happens when you strap a heli down to the ground... here is just a taste..... http://www.chinook-helicopter.com/video/video.html

TMooreATX

Anyone that bolts a heli down and runs it, is risking life and limb. Model helis are not designed to be strapped down. If the tracking changes at full throttle you have another problem. If the blades are so unstable or there is slop in the collective system that lets the blades go out of track at high collective settings, tracking the blades at high pitch settings will force them out of track at lower settings. It essentially becomes circuitous at this point. This is just dumb. Some of you fellas have never seen what a heli can do if it hits someone. I have, it isn't pretty, it hurts and no, it wasn't me. It was a friend of mine who I'm happy to say is still with us.

The bottom line is this crap should have been deleted from Rocket Ray's book a long time ago but it keeps popping up. One of these days someone is going to get their head ripped clean off, it will make the newspapers and our hobby will be history because it won't be pretty.

TM

Pathogens

My Feedback: (1)

HOLY COW OKW.. I just saw your gallery..

I should have directed some of my previous post at you as well..


I can not believe that you made a stand like that and secondly, I cant believe that you think that its SAFE.. ARE YOU RETARDED OR SOMETHING? Are you wanting to get someone killed? I just cant even believe this.. Thats great that its above my head. Now when the gear comes half loose and it swings out to the side, it only cuts my throat instead of busting up my legs..

Jugmaker

Well now I am competely confussed.I saw a guy start his heli for the first time and it did this awful chicken flop.There was a problem with the carb servo.Did about $600 in damage.What I was inquiring about was something to hold it in place for startup and minor testing not to lift the world.
Jugmaker

ifixairplanes

My Feedback: (9)

Sounds like it was throttled up when he started. I always do a visual on the carb to make sure its where it needs to be before starting. Then I hit throttle hold and finish the start sequence. A stand is not needed. Read the posts above, if you still see the need to strap down your heli, then I can't offer any further assistance. One of the "enlightened" guys who have done it can help from here.

Sean

ChopperMike

I track my blades by spooling the heli up to slightly less than hover pitch and squat down and look at them. Simple.

I too believe it's dangerous to strap down the heli. But the point of adjusting the engine in-flight obviously doesn't work if you're not into forward flight yet. On the other hand, it doesn't matter anyway. If you're just learning to hover just make sure that you error on the side of too rich so you don't overheat the engine. The engine needs to be run on the rich side anyway until it's fully broken in. An overly rich setting would be no good when in FF but at this point it won't matter.

As far as the chicken flop thing, first make sure ahead of time the throttle channel is correct. When you do start the engine, make sure you have a strong hold on the rotor head, something you should always do. This way if the engine does take off because the throttle channel is reversed all it will do is burn the clutch. In this case, simply move the stick to full throttle (which in this case is low throttle). If you're worried about it have someone ready to pull the fuel line off just in case.


Mike

bdavison

My Feedback: (1)

Before you start calling me moron, dumb***, and other rude and crude things, perhaps you should go get a education in rotor-blade aerodynamics first. I would highly recommend you go and purchase a copy of "Rotary-Wing Aerodynamics". This will at the very least give you a basic understanding so that you can come post on here with half an ounce of knowledge about which you are speaking.

You see, I am already fully aware of ground resonance. And if you did your research before spouting off at the mouth, you would already know that ground resonance cannot occur in two-bladed rotor helicopters.

The reason is this. Lead and Lag.

In a multi-bladed rotor head, gyration of the helicopter after a hard landing on a solid surface causes one blade to move slightly forward or aft of its naturally centrifical held position. This is called leading or lagging, and leads to a exponential oscillation which eventually leads to distruction of the helicopter if not corrected as shown in your video clip.

In a two-bladed opposing rotor head system, centrifical forces will not allow the blades to Lead or Lag, because they are not controlled independantly of each other by the rotor system.

So please keep your uninformed uneducated comments to yourself, and leave the aerodynamics questions to those of us that have an education in it.

Pathogens

My Feedback: (1)

Sorry. I thought that the fact that you own a Hirobo XRB made you an expert..

Don't listen to this guy and DO NOT tie you heli down. Hey..its your life....

Pathogens

My Feedback: (1)

Check out this... All about you guys.


http://www.runryder.com/helicopter/t159676p1/

What do you know. A heli forum.

Jugmaker

The posts overwhelming against strapping a heli down, which seems to be sound advice. I did not mean to start a war of word. Thanks for all the information.
Jugmaker

ifixairplanes

My Feedback: (9)

Hey Bdavison, before you go reciting from a textbook maybe you should look at a nitro heli head. Different from a a semi-articulated head like on huey or bell 206, as these blades are on a see saw and can not lead and lag. Our nitro helis, which use a rigid type head with no see saw, are made to have lead and lag. Don't tell me they won't ground resonate, I have seen it happen numerous times. especially when flying from a hard surface, such as pavement.

Jugmaker: Good luck with your nitro heli flying, and I am glad you are able to understand that a bolted down heli is just freakin stupid.

Sean

ifixairplanes

My Feedback: (9)

Look at the head of my shuttle. One blade bolt so the blades may lead/lag. The blades are not on a seesaw. The only see saw setup is the flybar.

momofixit

helicopters don't fly they just beat the air into submission

jb_turner

An RC Heli should NEVER be strapped down PERIOD! Anyone who makes a suggestion to do that or does that is not very safety conscience or experienced.

Flyfalcons

That is one big blingin Shuttle IFP [8D].