R/C Helicopter or Airplane?

[Omar.M]

Hello!
I've been pondering for a few days-- how hard do you think it will be to make those small, R/C Helicopters or Airplanes?

I know is is possible, but probably very hard. If we forget all of those controls, but for now being able to lift the motor in the air by itself-- how hard would that be / any ideas how one might do such a thing?

I'm really interested in building one, frankly I have no mechanical skills. It would be interesting to see it at least lift in the air or maybe just spinning around in my room. Any ideas?

Edit: I've seen this around, and it seems rather simple. I know I know, it probably is very hard to make, but still looks cool: **broken link removed**

 

[jpanhalt]

Hello!
I'm really interested in building one, frankly I have no mechanical skills. It would be interesting to see it at least lift in the air or maybe just spinning around in my room. Any ideas?

We don't know where you are, so it is difficult to advise. Second, what do you mean by small? Airplanes are usually measured by wingspan, helicopters by rotor diameter or engine power.

Since you are new at the sport and have very little building experience, I would recommend something like a "park flyer." These are smaller airplanes that are large enough for use outdoors and come already made. Wingspans are generally 30" to 40". In most instances the radio gear is already installed, and if it is not installed, the installation has good directions and is straight forward.

Expert helicopter pilots can make them look easy to fly. Most people, however, consider the helicopter much more difficult to fly than an airplane. You can learn on either, and learning on one does not make the transition to the other that much easier. If you are in the USA, I would strongly encourage you to join the modelers' association (AMA). Good luck. John

Edit: Indoor flyers, like you show in your link, are great fun. You will need a space about like a basketball court to learn in, and the construction techniques for the really light and small ones are different than for the larger airplanes to which I was referring originally. Once you know how to fly them, you can have success in a room that is only 10X12 feet or so.

 

[Hero999]

I've done it before, all I did was got a DC motor, attached a propeller and connected it to a DC power supply with a long piece of wire. It flew around in a circle for a bit before crashing. You need another propeller at the back to produce an opposite force to the turning to stabilise it.

Wikipedia knows more about helicopters than I do.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopters

 

[Omar.M]

Thank you very much, you two. Actually, I'm not so much wanting to get into hardcore plane building and flying, I just want one very small (about the size of my hand or so) that I can fly indoors or maybe in a small enclosed place.

I saw that butterfly one (the link I posted in post above) and that is quite small but seems to work well. Any ideas on how that works?

Hero, I was wondering how big was the motor? I was trying last night the same thing. I took a small, tiny motor (ones you find in those ZIP ZAP racers) and I attached a DC power supply to it. I made the propeller out of cardboard and twisted it the right way. But it wouldn't hover =(
By the way, I am in Canada (Ottawa) and I filled out my profile but for some reason I cannot make it save changes.

 

[epilot]

Hello!
I've been pondering for a few days-- how hard do you think it will be to make those small, R/C Helicopters or Airplanes?

I know is is possible, but probably very hard. If we forget all of those controls, but for now being able to lift the motor in the air by itself-- how hard would that be / any ideas how one might do such a thing?

I'm really interested in building one, frankly I have no mechanical skills. It would be interesting to see it at least lift in the air or maybe just spinning around in my room. Any ideas?

Edit: I've seen this around, and it seems rather simple. I know I know, it probably is very hard to make, but still looks cool: **broken link removed**

If you are able to get the whole stuff you need via Internet I suggest you try to make an Indoor model, something like this:
http://www.smarttoolsinc.com/Model_Kits/TigerFly/TigerFlyConstruction.html
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181173

If you have no access to the control and those light weight lithium polymer cells just try a free flight indoor like this: **broken link removed**

Good luck

 

[HarveyH42]

There are several R/C simulators, and a good start to learn to actually fly. Unless you have large open rooms indoors, you'll crash often and spend more on repairs, then the origional price. R/C helicopters are tough to learn, I've got a Blade CP, can't hover more than a few seconds. My whole backyard isn't big enough to learn in. If you want a helicopter, go with a duel rotor type first.

Anyway, learning to fly requires a lot of open space, gives you more time to correct or power down before a crash. It doesn't seem cheaper at first, but gain some experience with a simulator is really a good start, plus you get to try different models and see what you like, and you don't have to keep looking for new locations when they start building townhouses on your favorite vacant lots...

 

[Omar.M]

So you all do agree that helicopter would be harder than plane?

Really, for now I just want to see my motor lift into the air. From there I can work on. The plane I think might be harder due to the turning and such. For the helicopter, if possible, somehow limit the speed of the motor spinning, and that would allow it to go up or down?

I can for sure order stuff online. I have a small, tiny motor about 1 CM in length. How big would I need to make the propellers to make it actually lift?

 

[epilot]

I've done it before, all I did was got a DC motor, attached a propeller and connected it to a DC power supply with a long piece of wire. It flew around in a circle for a bit before crashing. You need another propeller at the back to produce an opposite force to the turning to stabilise it.

Wikipedia knows more about helicopters than I do.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helicopters

You could make it like this instead of making it to be crashed :

 

[epilot]

So you all do agree that helicopter would be harder than plane?

Really, for now I just want to see my motor lift into the air. From there I can work on. The plane I think might be harder due to the turning and such. For the helicopter, if possible, somehow limit the speed of the motor spinning, and that would allow it to go up or down?

I can for sure order stuff online. I have a small, tiny motor about 1 CM in length. How big would I need to make the propellers to make it actually lift?

just try and read the below link:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=210688

then make a 'BUMP' plane according to the pattern by Michael Henriksen, you can find the plan in PDF in the above link.

 

[Sceadwian]

From all the RC people I've spoken with micro helicopters are about the hardest thing to fly, not really something you want to start with. They're even harder than the .60 sized (very large) because they're so small, the aerodynamics just don't work very well on that scale.

 

[Omar.M]

I don't so much want to build one to fly, just to build one and see how it hovers and such -- experimenting.

I don't want to take flying as a hobby, I just want to build my own little heli / airplane that I can sort of see it get off the ground.

But I totally agree with you, I can imagine how hard it would be as it is so small

 

[epilot]

From all the RC people I've spoken with micro helicopters are about the hardest thing to fly, not really something you want to start with. They're even harder than the .60 sized (very large) because they're so small, the aerodynamics just don't work very well on that scale.

see these:
http://www.guzer.com/videos/small_helicopter.php

**broken link removed**

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/gadgets/picoflyer-teensy-rc-helicopter-163156.php

 

[epilot]

I don't so much want to build one to fly, just to build one and see how it hovers and such -- experimenting.

I don't want to take flying as a hobby, I just want to build my own little heli / airplane that I can sort of see it get off the ground.

But I totally agree with you, I can imagine how hard it would be as it is so small

If you want something that just hovers just try this:

 

[Omar.M]

Wow, that is so cute. I only have two small motors, is it possible to just use two?

And for the propeller-- what material do you think works best for construction?

Thanks so much, I think it may be possible to just see it hover now, but maybe with a bit of work to control this too!

 

[epilot]

Wow, that is so cute. I only have two small motors, is it possible to just use two?

And for the propeller-- what material do you think works best for construction?

Thanks so much, I think it may be possible to just see it hover now, but maybe with a bit of work to control this too!

Well that is not so easy to be built I think. If you could make the whole propellers the same then you must consider the RPM for 4 motors (they must have the same RPM too).
If I was you and wanted to make something that just is considered to be HOVERed, I went and get some balas woods, put a low winding resistance motor (2 or 3 ohms) motor (a 4gr or 5gr, N20 or M20 is just fine), then get a GWS 2.5x1 prop( direct drive should be ok for an M20 or N20) and finally get a 3.6V lithium polymer cell (130mAh wich is less than 4gr for instance) and build this:



several links for the stuff I mentioned:
**broken link removed**

http://www.indoorflyer.co.uk/index.asp?function=DISPLAYCAT&catid=43

**broken link removed**

 

[Omar.M]

How high would this go? Is it possible to add any kind of control to it?

Secondly, those motors are pretty big and heavy? In that case, can I just use any old motor I find?

 

[audioguru]

The small electric airplanes and helicopters shown use a tiny motor from a pager or a cell phone and gears to reduce the RPM and to increase the torque. They are radio controlled except one uses IR instead of radio.

 

[Omar.M]

Oh I see. I think that last one epilot showed would be the easiest to make.
I just had a question, since the faster the motor spins the more it should fly in theory right-- so why would you want to lower the RPM's?

I have two motors from those tiny RC cars, and I can probably create a simple IR transmitter and receiver for the previous one. Just one thing, how would it go higher or lower / move left or right?

 

[audioguru]

I just had a question, since the faster the motor spins the more it should fly in theory right-- so why would you want to lower the RPM's?

Spec's for electric motors show that they produce the most thrust from a propeller if they have gears to reduce the RPM and to increase the torque. Nearly all of those tiny airplanes and helicopters use gears.

I have two motors from those tiny RC cars, and I can probably create a simple IR transmitter and receiver for the previous one. Just one thing, how would it go higher or lower / move left or right?

Increase the pitch of the rotor blades all around or increase the rotor's speed would cause a helicopter to go higher, the opposite to go lower.
Change the pitch of the rotor's bades at one side only to turn. Lots of pitch at the rear and less at the front and a helicopter goes forward.

 

[Omar.M]

Ohh, I think I am understand a bit now. But how would one change the pitch automatically, such as when I press a button the helicopter slowly decrease the pitch and come down onto the ground (or vice versa)?

I have some gears for those tiny motors, so I think I may be in luck.
Omar