Duration

[mrsteven]

Ugh, I've been having trouble getting our copters past 45 seconds - a far cry from my 1:55 state copter last year. I've found it's harder to build a copter with a parter than by myself (I worked alone last year except for winding/launching at competitions), since things end up uneven when each person builds different parts of the same helicopter. Somehow everything ends up heavier, too - our second attempt was a whole 4.2 grams - which is probably the bigger issue.

heres my opinion on all engineering events: DO. THEM. ALONE.
I've never had a partner and the one i was stuck with for last year i dropped. Its impossible to do a good job with another person breathing down your neck. when it comes time to fly, i grab a random person on my team to do it with and instruct them specifically where to hold and how hard.

build alone. The advice of an introvert

[illusionist]

I agree. While it's great to have someone else to talk over ideas with, when building it is always best to do it on your own (unless you really need an extra set of hands to do something). I've tried building a helicopter this year with a partner, and it didn't go too well

[chia]

I would (and I probably will build another one by myself this weekend), but the thing is, literally nobody else on the team has the faintest idea how to start building any sort of "light" construction event, esp. the flying ones (wright stuff/heli) except for kjhsscioly, and we'll only be on the team for so long/can only take on so many events, so we've got to pass on our meager knowledge somehow, and we don't have terribly much time to build any more "practice/trial" helicopters than what we'll need for competition.
Well if that wasn't a run-on sentence, I don't know what is.

[mrsteven]

i run into the same issue. I do all the small wood-based events due to my knowledge and now the robotics ones b/c im in robotics lol

I'm planning on making a binder with all my research and trials condensed for the kids in the future. And trust me, I have a TON of research into this so essentially this binder will be the ultimate guide to wright stuff/helicopters in the future if our coach can not loose it until then...
Although im only a Jr so I have another year to make it and compile more and more data

Note that some of that research will actually come from scioly quotes from people here. This is an amazing resource and I'd direct anyone to look through these posts but since i know kids are lazy imma condense them into about 20 pages (along with more pages from other places) with the very important ideas and concepts

[chia]

Theoretical knowledge is vital and this site is beyond awesome, but it's simply not possible to get the hang of it until you build something yourself, or at least watch/help someone build one. I build a cruddy little 10-second copter back when it was a trial event that broke when it landed, but I learned loads from it, especially since it was such a new event back then.

[mrsteven]

mhm I guess. To be totally straight, I got almost all my initial info from here asking questions and opinions. last year I only build 2 helicopters and those were the first things I've ever built in terms of models and small balsa things.
For me, theoretical information turns into real information by building carefully. I never got a chance to watch someone else build- i just kinda learned while on the job lol

The first event i ever did in scioly was helicopters ^^

[chia]

Anyways, to stop spamming this thread I'll post this: I noticed that I could get an extra ten, fifteen seconds out of my copter with around 1.25 grams of rubber instead of my usual 2 grams (1/8 rubber). I guess the lowered weight but less possible winds balance out. I ended up with barely any leftover winds, which is a problem I usually have otherwise, so that's always a good sign.

[chia]

mhm I guess. To be totally straight, I got almost all my initial info from here asking questions and opinions. last year I only build 2 helicopters and those were the first things I've ever built in terms of models and small balsa things.
For me, theoretical information turns into real information by building carefully. I never got a chance to watch someone else build- i just kinda learned while on the job lol

I guess I did have Wright Stuff experience, but that I started out by studying the kits kjhsscioly and I had put together for our team tryouts (we had really intense tryouts back in 8th grade...). I didn't know about the forums until a little bit later, but yeah, the advice I've gotten from here has been ridiculously helpful. I think I build three helicopters last year. Who was it on here that can build a legit copter in 15 minutes and has build dozens? (Oh wait, everyone except me )

[chalker7]

Anyways, to stop spamming this thread I'll post this: I noticed that I could get an extra ten, fifteen seconds out of my copter with around 1.25 grams of rubber instead of my usual 2 grams (1/8 rubber). I guess the lowered weight but less possible winds balance out. I ended up with barely any leftover winds, which is a problem I usually have otherwise, so that's always a good sign.

That's great! I love to hear about adjustments coming from observations that lead to improvement.

[lakersfan]

Has anyone had any success with a chinook design?