Orange714 wrote:I'm kind of new, and if you added modeling clay would you just stuck it on the bottom of the rotor? Like so the clay would spin along with the rotor? Also when we've tested our helicopter shoots up perfect straight really fast, stays for maybe 5-15 sec and then kinda swoops down in circles. When it lands it has a lot of winds on it. We wind it like 65-75 times with a 10:1 ratio winder and the rubber band is like 10-11 inches (If we wind it any more the rubber snaps, I don't know why....) How would you increase the time? We've tried double banding the rubber band and that didn't work too well....Do we just get better rubber and wind it even more?
Thanks
I would suggest putting it as low on the motor stick as you can, rather than on the rotor itself, since adding weight to the rotor will change the rate at which it turns and how aerodynamic it is, and probably not for the better.
By rubber band, do you mean an actual store-bought circle of rubber, or competition rubber like the stuff you can buy at FAI Model Supply? If it's the former, you may want to consider investing in competition rubber (look through the Rubber thread for links), maybe just a quarter pound to start with. If you already have something like that, are you using a lubricant (silicon-based or Armor-all are what I've heard of)? The rubber can snap pretty easily if you wind it dry, and it might not stay in the air as long.
A couple of posts back there was a discussion on helicopter wobble - maybe that might apply to you. Since your helicopter simply isn't lasting that long in the air, though, it could be a problem with your rotor design (ie pitch?).