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FYI! Last read at 03:13 on 2024/11/24.

Further experiments with the little helicopter

There is something of a problem with weight capacity, not to mention the fact that it isn't resistant to breezes barely perceptable. Heck, with some test flights indoors, if I let the helicopter take off from my hand and I backed away, my wake literally sucked the helicopter after me - as shown in this brief video:
Of course, I stopped moving so the helicopter settled into a hover, after a mild peturbation as a result of one of the rotors clipping the camera. Oops!
By the way, the time on the clock? That's AM. 8-)

I used a rubber band to attach some things for testing. The first was a pack of plastic coated nylon line, as shown:

Helicopter carrying nylon line.

The line weighed 63g and the helicopter struggled to maintain a steady hover at full throttle.

The next test was a four-pack of AAA cells. Weight? 50g. The helicopter could maintain a hover with these but, as you'll see from the video, getting into the air in the first place is just too much to ask:

The helicopter itself weighs in at 216g. Strange, I could have sworn it was closer to 230g last week? The battery is flat. That's it. The electricity weighs the other 14g. ☺

Helicopter, as supplied, weighs 216g.
Anyway, if I take off the metal shrouds around the motors, I can shave off 13g.
Helicopter, part stripped, weighs 203g.
Though I am not overly keen on this as the tail boom, astonishingly, is a metal tube pushed into a piece of moulded plastic. And it's the clear stuff that isn't known for its ability to flex! I guess it depends if that 13g is "critical". I'll have to find that other little digital camera and strip it down to absolute essentials.
Helicopter tail boom mounting arrangement.

Next thing to do... find that little Spanish digicam!

 

Your comments:

Rick, 28th November 2010, 00:37
Update - I found the Spanish digital camera, and a strip down takes me down to 62g. I think the LCD is fairly heavy. I might attempt a total strip (down to bare circuit boards), but I'm not sure if I would be able to jettison around 20+g that way - after all, there's circuitry for the flash and such which, big capacitor like that, adds to the weight. 
 
I'll keep you posted... 

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