Helicopter Flight Times

[Unome]

Two independent reports of what appears to be the same flight (or at the very least, in the same region and with very similar times) makes me want to believe it. Considering how many other high scores people have claimed to be impossible before being disproved, I don't really see it as too far out there.

[Bazinga+]

Two independent reports of what appears to be the same flight (or at the very least, in the same region and with very similar times) makes me want to believe it. Considering how many other high scores people have claimed to be impossible before being disproved, I don't really see it as too far out there.

From the reports the second highest time at that competition was like 2:22... Until I see further proof I'm assuming the score was either not recorded right or the helicopter got stuck in the ceiling. Not that I flat out don't believe such scores are possible, but rather based on the distribution of all the other scores I have seen (highest in the 2-2:30 range) it seems more logical to excuse this outlier as an error in some capacity.

[AznPr0d1gy]

I'm honestly saying its flat out impossible to get a 4 minute legit time when the minimum helicopter mass itself is 2.5 grams. The target mass itself just limits way too much. One of my competition helicopters is massed around 2.17 grams, and can get above 3 minutes on a 6 meter ceiling. Adding clay to make it a legal 2.5 grams lowers the time to a 2:28 as seen at Berkeley competition.

Granted I never picked a new rubber, so the time could've been optimized, but I still do not see it hitting over 3 minutes on a 5-6 meter ceiling.

[Krypton]

getting a four minute flight would be synonymous with breaking a record because the national record for a junior competition without a weight or diameter limit yield around a 6 minute flight. I would say that the maximum time that is possible is a little bit over 3 minutes and that itself is a stretch.

[BuildingFriend]

3:40 flight time 6 m gym at states.

[AznPr0d1gy]

I honestly wish there was a video to back up that time. Unless you were there and can confirm the helicopter didnt get stuck. Getting a 3:40 seems quite sketchy considering even a thin rubber fully unwinds before then. I still cant get 3:30 using a 2.07 gram helicopter which im obviously forced to cripple.

[bernard]

I honestly wish there was a video to back up that time. Unless you were there and can confirm the helicopter didnt get stuck. Getting a 3:40 seems quite sketchy considering even a thin rubber fully unwinds before then. I still cant get 3:30 using a 2.07 gram helicopter which im obviously forced to cripple.

BuildingFriend is on the team with the 3:40 time.

[Bazinga+]

3:40 flight time 6 m gym at states.

Considering you haven't gotten over 2 minutes before that and that there was a huge problem with helis getting stuck I doubt this time was achieved without some sort of major interference with the ceiling/getting stuck.

[aldragon]

I was at the competition today and high times DID get stuck. There were ridges so the top would get stuck but eventually most helicopters broke off. My helicopter usually gets 2 minutes but because of these ridges/indents, i got a time of 2:46. The advisers were nice enough to tell me I was in 2nd at the time (3rd session) which I ended up placing 4th (event did not count at the end). So for the clarification, I'm almost definite the helicopter that got 3:40 got stuck and that's how he/she got the high time, def not from a flight with no obstructions.

All I know is that Mounty got around 3 on their first flight and 1:29 on their 2nd flight from what I saw. That's a huge difference.

[kaziscioly]

I've only been in competing in Helicopters for about three weeks so far, and my partner and I have been struggling a bit with figuring out how to optimize our helicopter. We built a simple helicopter by basing the rotors off of the paper template from the Ward's SciOly practice kit. For our motor stick, we cut our own out of a sheet of 1/16" balsa to resemble the FFM laser cut model, however we shortened it to about 13". We did notice that this may have been slightly more dense than the laser cut motor stick.

Our rubber motors are currently approximately 2/3 the length of the motor stick (relaxed, after being knotted), and we have been going at about 40 winds with a 15:1 winder. Unfortunately, we have been unable to break past a time of 32 seconds. One of the main problems we think may contribute to this is mass, as our helicopter weighs approximately 3.3 g. However, we are not sure about what more we can do to lower that mass, and if that is ultimately our major problem.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to increase flight times? How does the size of the motor stick influence flight time? And what about the length/width of the rubber motor? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!