i'm going to home depot tonight to get a bunch of 3 foot long dowels. my plan is to make an "x" using zip ties and attach it to the skids with zip ties. my question is regarding the wiffle balls...

i'm going to drill a hole in the middle for the dowels to go through. how do you guys secrure the wiffle balls to the dowels? I was just going to use some epoxy. did anyone else do something differently? pics would be great too!

i'm flying my raptor for the first time tomorrow and can't wait!

Drill a hole big enough for the rod in one side of the ball, drill a tiny hold for the screw on the other. Stick the ball on the stick. Line up the little hole with the stick and screw it in place. Leave it a little loose so the balls can rotate.

wow... the simplicity... didn't even think of that haha. thanks!

Either the wiffle balls, or use a hula hoop instead of the balls. That way, you have full 360 degree protection on tips.

the rubber gaskets used on toilet seats slide nice and tight on 7/16 dowel this will hold wiffle balls in place .I did not make an X I just put them accross the skids and attached with rubber bands easy on easy off .

Hula Hoop method is the best training gear out there. You need some aluminium U channel, a hula hoop, zip ties, and 4 sheetmetal screws. Standard dowel rods break far to often. Granted it's been 5 years since I even have seen training gear on a heli.

thanks guys. i made a standard "x" the way gorgok suggested.

i'm getting pretty excited to fly it tomorrow. i've had the heli for almost a month now. i noticed the tail blade set up isn't moving freely but can't see why. hopefully the guys at the field will be able to figure it out and it won't prevent me from flying tomorrow... hopefully!! then again i've typically always found a problem on a new plane whenever i brought it out to the field the first time which would prevent me from flying it. i hope heli's start a new trend!

wish me luck that i come back home with my heli in one piece! it would be a huge dissapointment otherwise since i won't have the money for any repairs too soon. i wanted to hook up a trainer cord to my instructor, but he told me the guys there never learned that way so i won't need to either....

After simming a week or two, on AeroFly, hovering was very easy. Sims do work.

yeah i know all about sims... i use the real ones to keep instrument current all the time. i had the real flight version 1 but can't find the darn CD for it. i have a friend who is trying to get me a copy of it. i'm just going to wing it today!