Richard Harris Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 Designed a number of years ago the original Whippit was designed as a level entry tractor autogyro specifically made from EPP. There have been a quite a few of these built with many great variants created around this idea. When we get together we do have a laugh with our models with what we call a WhippOff which is a mass fly, I think 12 in the air is our record. Unfortunately EPP is not as plentiful to get hold as it once was so I have designed a new version built from more traditional materials (no reason why depron or EPP can't be used though) This new one 'The Whippiteer' is slightly larger being sized around a 3s 2200mah Lipo, it can either be built as a profile type model or with an optional built up fuselage. The latter is what I am about to start and I hope to get the parts cut out and a build started over the Festive period. If all goes to plan I have a couple of beta builders waiting in the wings to build a couple of proof models. I have nothing of interest to photo as yet so here are a snap of some of the original EPP variants and a video to get an idea. Rich Edited By Richard Harris on 24/12/2019 20:00:29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 Very Good. Will the blades and head of the atom work on this one. As i still have them. from this Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted December 25, 2019 Author Share Posted December 25, 2019 Steve, Merry Christmas. The head will be perfect but the blades maybe a tad small, I do have a set of Atom blades so will try them out when I get to that stage. That said, if the model were constructed from depron/balsa it may well be light enough? Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted December 26, 2019 Share Posted December 26, 2019 Well Depron would be the material of choice. as would be quick to fix as i broke the atom and the Auto G of which i think i still have the blades for that too. Cheers, Auto Gyro is still a knack i have yet to learn Merry Christmas to you too and a Happy New Year. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted December 27, 2019 Author Share Posted December 27, 2019 Managed to grab some cutting and building time today, first thing to go together is the battery box. Please excuse the phone photos as they have come out dark: The fuselage core is in two 6mm thick balsa halves, these are spaced for the 13mm mast and doubled with 3mm lite ply. The plan is to make the mast removable. As fins can be prone to rotor strikes I will make it removable, it will simply slot into position. A couple of cut outs infilled with balsa create the slots; The bulk head holds the UC wire in a 3 part sandwich as per the original: A bit more tomorrow I hope! Rich Edited By Richard Harris on 27/12/2019 21:56:27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted December 29, 2019 Author Share Posted December 29, 2019 Things have got a move on, the fuselage base is made from 6mm balsa sheets laminated together creating a gap for the vertical fuz to slot into with the battery box inserted into position. It wouldn't take much to make this a flyable profile model at this stage in its most simple form, however, I have started to add the side formers and sheet stringers for the 'full' bodied version. Head servos are some Corona slim wing metal geared jobs, spacers have been added for the offset mounting lugs. Nothing fancy with the motor mount as it screws straight onto the fire wall, I have my suspicions as to whether this motor will be powerful enough, only time at the field will answer this. Next job is to sheet and hatch out the fuselage front end then sand away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted January 1, 2020 Author Share Posted January 1, 2020 A Happy New Year to anyone reading this. I have now added the 1.5mm balsa sheeting to the front end with hatches to access the electrics. A few more bits and pieces to add and it will be ready for covering, next job to tackle will be the mast which is from a piece of 13 x 6mm spruce. In keeping with the original 'Biggledon Bond' pilot I have also made a start on modelling his 3D counterpart, as you can see it is very rough at the moment being shaped from air drying clay. If anyone has made a latex pilot/bust before I would very much appreciate any advice as it is something I have never attempted before? I have watched a couple of videos on Youtube on how to make a silicone mould and then casting from this using resin but it seems like i may be a bit heavy for my needs. Sorry about the photos, they seemed to have changed rotated during the upload process. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted January 1, 2020 Author Share Posted January 1, 2020 Double post Edited By Richard Harris on 01/01/2020 20:10:23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted January 5, 2020 Author Share Posted January 5, 2020 The mast is now completed and comprises of length of 6 x 13mm spruce thickened at the top to fit the Razer control head (its the same size as the blue HK C30 head). I used two pieces 1.5 mm birch ply for this with opposing angles from one side to the other. A small 6mm balsa gusset is added to the fuselage mounting position which follows the arc of the cockpit, the mast is then sheeted each side with 1.5mm balsa. All is held in place by a couple of self tappers through the 3mm fuselage sides. The tailplane has also been sanded to an aerofoil leaving the centre section in its original 'sheet' state as I didnt fancy making up an infill piece. This tail is smaller in area than the original as it was found that it will fly without, it looks better with I think. There is a long under fin/tail skid, this will give the extra vertical area needed if built with a full body. Battery hatch is 3mm lite ply because thats all I had, simply pivots at the rear with a rotating clamp at the front with plenty of cooling holes cut into it. Its hard to see but from the rudder servo forwards is lite ply with balsa towards the rear end. At this stage I am almost ready to get out the covering iron, I will make up some blade blanks this week in readiness for a sanding season. Purely for the photograph I added one of my depron 9 cylinder 'Mickey Mouse' Radials, looks about right. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 Looking Good so far Rich, Looks like some work has gone into making that radial engine. It could be my imagination but sadly threads seem to go quiet when i reply to them , ( sorry ). That is why i have not bothered to reply to as many threads as i used too. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Cotsford Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 Posted by Stephen Jones on 05/01/2020 23:38:55: .... It could be my imagination but sadly threads seem to go quiet when i reply to them , ( sorry ). That is why i have not bothered to reply to as many threads as i used too. Steve and I thought it was only me who had that effect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Anderson Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 Rich can you get your pilot scanned into a computer and it can be 3D printed. Here is a sample of a snoopy in flex filament its very light Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted January 7, 2020 Author Share Posted January 7, 2020 Steve, Ah, the Jones 'Kiss of death' I wouldn't get to hung up on the lack of replies, there always appreciated. I for one read plenty of threads and find them very interesting but I very rarely reply, when I see posts with lots of replies its generally differences of opinions spiralling out of control which soon get put to bed by the mods. Its the lack of flying weather and dark nights I reckon Joe, That's a good idea, problem is I don't know anyone with a 3D scanner, have you got one? Bond is not quite finished yet, I will probably get the model covered and fully flight tested before adding him. At the moment I'm swaying towards making a silicone mould and replicating him with resin, something I have never tried before. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Anderson Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 Rich dont have a scanner. I can get Bond scanned in April at the Hotel. Can you send me the profile of Bond. I will see if I can get someone to help make a computer model from that. Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted January 12, 2020 Author Share Posted January 12, 2020 Joe, I will send some PDF's of the 'Bonds' side view to see if your 3D man can do anything with them, I can send you the clay bust when I am done playing to take to the RC Hotel. A have had a couple of fruitful hours taking advantage of the glorious weather this afternoon before 'Brenda' rolls in. Out came the belt sander and I profiled up the blade blanks which were made in the week. As this model is slightly larger than the original I have stretched each blade to 500mm rather than 450mm, this should keep the rotor loading in the same ball park. I will add the root plates and balance sometime this coming week all being well. The lower sub fin/skid has been mounted and is aligned using cocktail sticks, not the best of pictures. It is easier to see the removable fin before I clad it in film. And one of the Coolwind 'Razer' mounting pieces, this is clamped to the mast via two M2 cap heads, the rear print has hexagon cut outs for the M2 nuts. More in the week I hope Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Anderson Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Great work Rich Yes send me the pdf and the bust I go out in April. Will pm you with my new address Joe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 Looking very good so far Rich. I do hope i have not put the kiss of death on this thread as it is coming along nicely. Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted January 15, 2020 Author Share Posted January 15, 2020 The blade roots have been reinforced, I first marked the length way CG position on each blade. To help stop crushing of the blade around the mounting bolt I sometimes add a dowel or balsa with the grain running vertical.On this set I have used a square balsa section as that was what I had to hand. It is just a simple case of sanding this flush then adding the top and bottom ply strengthening plates. These are epoxied into place, next task is to balance the blades. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted January 17, 2020 Author Share Posted January 17, 2020 Just a few more things to finish off and it's ready for some trimming hops. If I get chance I will get out this Sunday as the weather finally looks to be on our side. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 That looks good. I am surprised how little rudder their is. Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Adams Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Looks really good congratulations Rich, Has an almost Cierva/Avro C30 autogyro look about it,and would look good in camouflage too. Will this be a future RCM&E plan maybe? Kind Regards Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 Thanks for the comments gents. Steve, I'm hoping that the rudder will be effect enough at this size, easy enough to increase its area if needed. Steve, If all goes well I will submit my plans to Kevin, though I will have to build another to get build shots good enough for print. Rich Edited By Richard Harris on 18/01/2020 11:16:05 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted January 19, 2020 Author Share Posted January 19, 2020 Had to wait several hours before the fog lifted to undertake some trimming flights of the Whippiteer, when it did lift it was glorious with not a sniff of wind. First hops saw the model pitch upwards so I added more down trim, in the process I had got too much rearward tilt dialled in and had a strike on the fin. That was stuck back on and it was away again, it was still flying with its tail down but I could compensate with my thumbs for today. I will add more negative shim to the blades as I only had a thickness of masking tape today, this will help spin up and bring the nose back down. It flies really well and can easily be kept within the confines of the patch, rudder authority is good.With plenty of power to hand and its light loading high alphas can be done yet can pick up a pace and fly like a fix wing. Video footage was taken, I will upload this later on. For now a few ground shots under better light as I was on my own. I'm really, really pleased with this one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted January 19, 2020 Author Share Posted January 19, 2020 Here is a video of the 3rd flight taken today, a few tweaks and it will be there. I will make another video once these changes have been completed. Enjoy Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Dowell Posted January 20, 2020 Share Posted January 20, 2020 Nice one Rich...I am impressed with its handling...did I mention that I liked it . Happy Landings Chris... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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