Vintage R/C Helicopter - Du-Bro Whirlybird 505

[Afrocanuk]

The funny thing is the large blades are not used to lift the heli. Rather its the small propeller at the center thats doing this.

[cgaday]

One up for auction on EBAY. Whirlybird 505

[Mykola40]

LOL! Awesome!

[FoolDoolMoolDool]

I love that helicopter. its quite archaic compared to what is around today but that is what makes it great. Rest assured, if I ever come across one of these in my travels I am definitely going to buy it and restore it.

[Stupidraverkid]

that is awesome, and also very strange to hear, compared to modern day nitros

[Razorb29]

dude its nice to see wat mankind can do with this stuff even in the good old days of wat mmalklove said the t rexs greatgrand papa very nice!!i want one!

[mmalkove]

hillarious! that is awsome! trex's great grand papa

[outbackjack1974]

Very cool heli. I'd enjoy one of these myself. Where does the fuel go in the counter weight? or under the boom of the engine?

[StormyMaxPerry]

@outbackjack1974

The fuel is in the chrome drum directly under the rotor blades. Without being visible, the fuel level can only be determined by doing test flights close to the ground and timing the flight to the point of engine cuttoff. Only after this time is known and a count down timer programmed can you fly confidently knowing how much is left. This heli drops instantly when out of fuel. No warning, no autorotation.

[illbeda1974]

That thing has to qualify as an antique,better put it away it may be worth something someday.

[StormyMaxPerry]

@illbeda1974

It already is an antique. This is my 'beater' 505. I have ones in much better condition. Thank you for your concern.

[nibbler125]

just goes to show how far rc helis have come

[lympet1]

This is amazing, it seems fun.

[lympet1]

Nice!

[masmddds]

What’s amazing to me is that there was some jackass, somewhere, who decided that this was a good design for a radio-controlled heli.

[soverato3]

2 cilinders and 1 glow plug driver ????

[quakermaas]

@soverato3 I think one side is the cylinder and the other side is a counter balance for the spinning engine.

Not sure, but that would make sense.

[StormyMaxPerry]

@quakermaas

Bingo! You're correct.

[Mr400fe]

Hi, I am very curious how the throttle is controlled. I have racked my brain trying to figure it out. The entire engine, including carb abd throttle arm are spinning. How are you connecting a pushrod to it for the servo to control it?

[StormyMaxPerry]

@Mr400fe

Simple really. The mainshaft is hollow and there's a slim pushrod, spring-loaded down (low throttle) that connects to the throttle arm on the carb and at the bottom end, is being pushed by a little bellcrank incorporating a thrust bearing of sorts where it pushes on the rod. The spring isn't very strong so freedom of carburetor arm movement is critical. Works perfectly.

[rondawwg420]

does anybody notice the bogey in the right upper corner right after lift off?? is this an orb??

[atreewithnolife]

theres a lot going on there !!

[TheLipRipp3r]

What a crazy design!  Way cool to see it fly!

[Oscar9900]

Brilliant to see one flying . 10/10 . Regards.

[duckgeezer]

WOW!!!!!!!!

that is brilliant, i flew a Micromold Lark in the 70s, i wish i still had it.

fixed pitch, no heat sink on the engine, no gyro.

thanks for posting my friend.

[helifreakpr]

What's the rotating drum below the engine? The gas tank?

[StormyMaxPerry]

Yup, fuel tank. Problem is, there's no way to watch the fuel level and when the engine stops the heli drops just like it was cut loose from a string. There's *no* warning!

[StormyMaxPerry]

I've intentionally let it run out of fuel really close to the ground while recording the flight on camera and then measured the time-to-failure. The transmitter timer is set for 45sec less so there's some reserve available. Hearing the timer alarm is a problem!

[basimpsn]

Nice wish you had back ground music lol

[StormyMaxPerry]

Turn down the sound of your PC and fire up your favorite CD or MP3. What, you want me to do everything? :-)

[motherfuckinraver]

old shool rules

[NightFlyyer]

Fantastic to see this fly again. Cox made a .49 free flight too, but it would just go up and come straight down, as you probably remember. Great. Thanks for the memories. 5 stars.

[ScarceOnes]

i herd those helis are super loud!

[inagod]

amazing ,thanks for the posting

[leviterande]

can get t.. why is the tail rotating.. there is no torque to counter

[hopeso]

I had one when they first came out. There was still SOME torque to counter due to some drag in the system. Plus, you do need some method to control the tail, after all.

[breg77]

In principle you're right there is no torque to counter, in practice though there will be some asymmetry between the effects of the two rotors, be it only on the bearing.

[leviterande]

I see that, it is right,

[yurchison]

fixed pitch?

[DrivinWest]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing!

[thenitro15]

why is it inly running on one cylinder i notice he only started one cylinder any way's???

[sickler4201]

It's only one cylinder. The back part is counterweight to keep engine balanced as it spins.

[StormyMaxPerry]

That's correct. And there are/were very few opposed twin cylinder engines of this size manufactured. The Northfield Ross Twin being one of them. Could work...

[JMKing747]

that wicked

[LaDricka1]

I haven't seen one of those in ages. It flies well too. A little vibration but not bad. I also love the sound of the unmuffled nitro engine. I'd like to know more about how the fuel is fed to the engine.

[StormyMaxPerry]

Very simple - the fuel tank is that chrome container in the lower-center of the rotorhead. A brass tube 1/8" diameter fits through a hole in the tank cover and goes all the way to the bottom of the tank. A flexible rubber hose connects the brass tube to the carburetor fuel nipple. That's all there is to it.

[Stizzle212]

I want one so BAD

any idea where i can find one

[longerino]

lol

[ronnieNreggieFROG]

amazing ......... never seen an old skool bird before as only just started out in this hobby.

although my ears are almost bleeding after putting up with the sound of ur heli lol.

[miturbinizdurdy]

what?! no inverted flight??

nice video

[sickler4201]

WOW! Amazing it works like that..........That is the most annoying sound though!

[djanogmangalam]

ha! that is so cool. I'd get tired of the sound though. Cool heli.

[timoulete76]

wow strange vintage heli !!! that's funny ^_^

[stealhty1]

are you kidding ??????????

nice video,people won"t see thoses around any more

[coolskeleten]

lol sounds like its fucked in the head.

[marceloribeirobarros]

FANTASTIC !

[roottapper79]

lol yeh i got it. my titan is a dream right now. next INVERTED FLIGHT! (please note the use of echo there) lol. nut thta cyclic must be an abso beeeatch if its slow, i thought my first chopper was slow. and tha was two years ago. ripmax easy copter v1!

the contra was cool but flying in circles just aint what i wanna do. but then once again with out the torque reac, it was a dream. pity its cyclic was terrible. lol

[Afrocanook]

I particularly love the skids on this Vintage chopper. Thanks for the video!

[roottapper79]

sweet vid all the same nice to know what the controls were now. and i can belive that it was a pig to fly with no gyro. thank the lord and lady for the Gyro. lol.

[StormyMaxPerry]

The tail isn't much of an issue with this heli as it isn't suffering from torque reaction as a conventional helicopter does. It's easy to keep it in check. The tough part is staying ahead of the cyclic because it reacts sooooooo slooooow... So we have a quick throttle and tail but super-slow cyclic. Such a wonderful combination :p Did you notice the sarcasm of that last comment?

[pilotdog007]

There is only one thing that I can say to seeing this and that' WOW ang good job

[roottapper79]

what a great vid. i would like to know what level of cyclic, collective , pitch, roll and yaw the operator had, and how many channels on the radio. for comparisons sake i am currently flying a thunder tiger mini titan.

[StormyMaxPerry]

Controls are standard four function - Fore-aft cyclic, left-right cyclic, throttle (altitude) and yaw (tail rotor). Any basic four channel R/C system is fine for this heli. Your MT is a much more complicated heli and also has much better handling qualities. The 505 is vague and sluggish in response. Very difficult to fly. But what else can you expect from the first R/C heli made in the USA? Had to start somewhere.

[parafan]

Cool. Memories... I had one of these back in the day. Never reached that level of proficiency with it, I spent more time fixing it than flying it. Not crashes, just fixing the mechanism... plastic gears on a wooden frame isn't the best solution for accuracy and reliability! I think I had a Kraft "Sport Series" radio in it.

[psindrup]

Cool sound from from the rotating engine. :-)

Peter

[yeogav]

amazing the engine still runs rotating like that. Insane and very quirky. I would not have the patients for such an old design - I am amazed you put the time and money in to keep it running.

[brown2x2]

I seen this @ 08 IRCHA. Man this thing can pull the crowd in.

[StormyMaxPerry]

Yeah, it's pretty special but too bad it had an "incident" one week ago. If you saw the crash of the Blue Whirlybird at IRCHA then you can imagine a similar crash to this model. Basically it ended up a little too nose-down after a quick turn to stay away from the flight line at the field and I couldn't pull the nose up from a shallow dive. Main blades are shattered and can be replaced easily and that's really all that was hurt. Now I have two of these to repair! :-(

[brodil1214]

Its a great heli rc , is remember the time, is beatiful , thanks for this video !!

[StormyMaxPerry]

You're very much welcome!

[Tiber1979]

STUPENDO

[jasmine2501]

Wow that's really cool! If my heli was shaking like that these days though, I would not fly until I fixed it. I suppose that's the way this one is supposed to be.

[StormyMaxPerry]

No heli is designed to shake. I've given up trying to get it to be vibration free. Every time I put forth the effort to make it smooth, I'm hit with a touch of bad luck and the heli experiences some degree of (crash) damage. If I leave it alone, it just goes on flying but with a bit-o-wobble. What can you do...?

[jasmine2501]

Yeah I seriously doubt you could balance that motor in two axes... everything else is probably balanced, but that swinging motor has got to be a problem. It's very impressive though. I like learning about the history of this stuff. Prevents me from repeating the mistakes of the past :)

[StormyMaxPerry]

Oh, make no mistake about it, I've had this heli "perfectly" smooth to the eye but again, bad luck steps in on that perfect flight and bangs up the machine, wasting my work. Each time it happened I did a quick eyeball straightening and wobble reduction, and many flights continued incident-free - until last weekend. See posting above for more details.

I really doubt you'll make any heli engineering mistakes if you follow the current trends of design. It's only getting better!

[jasmine2501]

Yeah I'm rebuilding my Blade 400 right now... it only goes together one way - there's only a few things you could screw up. It's fun to work on stuff that's built that way. And my Trex is even better :)

[betofazzo]

Oh men is very funny and crazy...........

[wrprince]

wow. that is some crazy stuff. never seen that before. the rotors spin with torque alone??? crazy!!!

[JethBroh]

this is awsom,,

[BENY881]

Top mounted motor crossed my mind b4 but I didn't realy give it much thought(has it been done in mass b4?) cos' I thought the top weight might make it very unstable, I guess I'm wrong. I'm more of a dreamer than a do'r but I have some Ideas 4 other thing's if anyone want's 2 bounce some with me. I'll just tinker with my hola in the meantime - might get the E-Flight Blade 400 next pay day but I cringe at the thought of stacking 500bucks kit. It's got the 2.4g 6ch control so I think it's worth it.

[StormyMaxPerry]

For a number of years prior to 1971, many free-flight helicopters used the torque reaction system to provide power to spin the main rotor blades. Only one R/C heli took advantage of this ultra simple propulsion system and you just watched it fly. When R/C helicopters first were seen by the public in 1970, there were only two successful machines - The Du-Bro Whirlybird 505 and Dieter Schluter's Bell AH1 Cobra. The differences in the designs were staggering and each model had certain advantages.

[StormyMaxPerry]

The Cobra was very "normal" as it used a central transmission with a centrifugal clutch at its input and two output shafts, one to drive the anti-torque tail rotor and the other to spin the main lift rotor. The transmission was sealed and contained an ounce of oil. Transmissions are precise and expensive devices and greatly increase the complexity of the aircraft. The Whirlybird also has a few gears but they only spin the tail rotor and are under far, far less load, hence run dry.

[StormyMaxPerry]

The difference in price for these two groundbreaking aircraft was also staggering; About $1000US for the Cobra (radio equipment and 10cc engine not included) vs $125US for the Du-Bro 505. Also no engine (6.5cc) or radio gear included. The drawbacks to the Whirlybird were almost worth spending the extra cash on the Schluter as the Du-Bro is very loud (no practical way to add a silencer - can't rotationally balance the rotorhead) and its limited controllability and speed kept it grounded in wind.

[StormyMaxPerry]

Some good points though were crisp altitude control authority and an easy-to-master tail rotor (yaw) function. The Schluter was the complete opposite in how it handled. Good forward flight speed meant wind wasn't as big an issue but the tail rotor was always moving whenever power was changed, which was all the time if a consistent altitude was desired. The Cobra was also huge and heavy, being 6 feet long and over twice the weight (about 10 pounds) of the Du-bro. Crashing the Cobra really hurt!

[nateflite]

wow, i have never seen the top mounted motor before. thats cool. i just got into the electric cp helis and they are a blast. great flying!

[StormyMaxPerry]

This is the only model R/C heli designed with the engine on top of the main rotor. The idea died with this model in 1975 or thereabouts. This was very low cost to manufacture compared to all other heli's but had too many drawbacks to succeed in the quickly advancing world of rotary flight. Thanks for the piloting compliment.

[NightFlyyer]

Thats pretty cool. It's like a Bigger Cox Heli with motor and prop on top but RC. There was not much torque on the body with this kind of power, so gyros were not really needed. Great job. 5 stars! Keep em coming.

[IDontCare57]

Stupid video..

[StormyMaxPerry]

There's no "I.Q." implied...

[chrisnz33]

Mate. What can I say.. I absolutely enjoyed this video. Appreciate you sharing this to us. Chris From New Zealand..

[StormyMaxPerry]

You're welcome. Stay tuned, there will be more :D

[DavidSunshine867]

Wow, that was pretty cool! That's genius! Spinning motor/tank, that's the best part. Doesn't matter if it does 3D or not, the engine spins, that's something modern heli's don't have!

Very cool, thanks for posting, now I'm gonna research on how it actually works, cuz I'm sure it's interesting!

[StormyMaxPerry]

Don't expect to find too much info on the principle of operation, not the fine details anyway. This system of rotory flight was made obsolete within a couple of years of its invention, back in 1970. I fully understand how it all works but there's not enough space here to explain. Good luck.

[DavidSunshine867]

You're right!! Found nothing! Forget even the details, couldn't even find the basics. Well, if you're ever inspired and want to make a nice youtube video on how it works, I'm sure every rc heli enthusiast would enjoy it! Until then, it remains a mystery!

[StormyMaxPerry]

You have a great idea. I'll have to give it some thought so what I explain will be understandable to all. OK, a new addition to my "To Do" list.

[DavidSunshine867]

Haha ya, it would do the Whirlybird 505 justice only if you made it like a video they'd show on discovery channel, like the ones where they tell you about vintage cars. That's what this is, a vintage rc heli.

I'm sure your "to do" list is pretty long, I can appreciate that, there are so many things that don't get done because they keep getting bumped. Glad you think it's a great idea tho.

[xargxar]

Great video. I like the "look mum, no gyro!" feature.

[training462]

Nice flying, great control!

This was a monumental achievement back in those days. I go back to the galloping ghost and escapement days. The modern day RC guys have it so much tech and low cost at their disposal.

[StormyMaxPerry]

Thanks. If GG had enough functions available, this heli could still fly. It is so primitive a heli that high precision R/C gear is a waste on it. Radio link reliability is the most important however. I will certainly agree that today's R/C gear is wonderful. What's next? :D

[freedomusa101]

That's almost as good as an Airhog.

[sgtmike74]

Wow thats neat. Have you ever been bitten by the prop??

[StormyMaxPerry]

No, not on this engine. And it's not the starting process I fear, it's trying to get the glow battery out and away from the engine.

[JayBMW325]

Will it 3D?lol

[StormyMaxPerry]

Yes! JK!!!

[72Z15SS]

That's a pretty good looking heli for what it is. Strange concept though! I've been flying since 1988 and never saw one. I DO remember the Cricket which was a fixed pitch main rotor.

[beneehall]

Believe it or not, this mechanical arrangement was first used in free-flight helicopters. When the engine quit, the main blades were rigged to pop into a negative angle of attack allowing for auto-rotation, safely, to the ground.

[chris82gr]

You have many vibrations in ur r/c mate.

[StormyMaxPerry]

Yeah, I know. The heli tipped over immediately after I spent hours balancing everything and bent the blade support axles. I bent them back by eye and this is the result. Sorry.

[ohm1163058]

That has got to be one of the most annoying sounding things in the world :D Very cool model though, I don't think I have seen anything like it before.

[StormyMaxPerry]

If you think this sounds annoying, just imagine three flying at one time! That's the plan for later this year anyway. Hearing protection a must!

[bwh998]

thanks for posting this

what a sound

[darthvaydr]

This is prabably the oddest sounding,weirdest,coolest contraption that I've seen for a long time. I am so glad that people out there still take care of these gems. You're a lucky man to have it and I think that it is awesome to see and hear it fly. Thanks!

[StormyMaxPerry]

Thanks for the compliments. I'm doing my best to both preserve the old heli's and show them in action. In my opinion, the Whirlybird is unchallenged in overall weirdness. The spinning engine and "wah-wah" sound are its trademarks.

[p4ddythehelipilot]

Whirlybird is in MHW March 2007 issue 201 page 36 only a small pic (actually from 1974) No write up on it. It just appears as part of the history feature

[StormyMaxPerry]

Thanks for the info. I'm now 6 years behind my MHW and should grab some back issues soon.

[mordoringer]

a plane prop? ingenious. : P

how did you connect the engine with the regulator? or there werent things like that in 1970s?

[StormyMaxPerry]

Regulator? If you mean carburettor, it's controlled by a pushrod that passes through the center of the main rotor shaft and is free to spin with the rotor system. The rod is forced down (engine low speed) by a spring. A crank at the base of the rod pushes the rod up (high speed) and opens the throttle. Very simple.

[jackmonkey26]

Thats is sweet man! No 3d with that sucker!

[StormyMaxPerry]

Sure there's "3D":

Determination, Deafness and lastly - DUCK!!!! :D

[jackmonkey26]

LOL

[team222badbrad]

Awesome!  That is one crazy main rotor setup!

[glydrjocky]

I knew R/C helicopters had a primative start BUT not THAT primative!!!!!!I stand before you in complete AWE. Great job!!!!!

[StormyMaxPerry]

Come to IRCHA 2008 and see many more vintage RC helicopters. C Ya there!

[ZXXpilot]

Dude that is fraekin awesome to actually see one fly!!! Thanks for posting that video and take care of that baby.

Now let's see an autorotation!

...just kiddin  =)

[ZXXpilot]

Oh... what's the rotor rpm on it??

[StormyMaxPerry]

> Thanks for posting that video and take care of

> that baby.

I'm retiring this particular 505 and will make flyable another one that's a little more 'disposable'. I haven't measured the main rotor speed but I'm guessing it's around 150RPM. Listen to the rate of engine rotation - that will give you a clue. "Autorotation" HA!! XD

[p4ddythehelipilot]

I saw one recently in MHW. Love the swoosh of the blades on the spool up. Thank goodness for modern technology lol. It wobbles a lot eh. Very nice though

[StormyMaxPerry]

I dropped my subscription to MHW a few years ago. Do you remember which issue? The wobbles are rather embarrassing as I did have it perfectly smooth once and then it tipped over, knocking the blades out of alignment. I may fix it but more likely replace the entire heli with another, more beat up model. This one is too nice to risk damage so a "beater" 505 needs to step in here. THX!

[llamont123]

StormyMaxPerry

I like the way you mix the ancient (the Whirlybird 505) with the ultra modern (the 14MZ radio). Modern marvels in technology have worked wonders for this great hobby. The self cooling engine fan (the spinning engine) was ahead of it's time. Lol.

Great Video!!!

[StormyMaxPerry]

Thanks! It's almost impossible to have a wider diversity of RC heli tech than this: 2006 14MZ > 1973 Whirlybird 505. Does the 14MZ help let this fly any better? Nope, just safer (PCM etc.) Cooling is great but the "even distribution" of the exhaust oil is a real mess.

[johnschenck]

boy, talk about the wah-wah's! I'm building a Cricket now, can't wait to have my way-back machine flying. Your 505 flies pretty darn good, I would never have thought they could be that responsive on cyclic and the tail seemed quite locked in (401?)

[StormyMaxPerry]

wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wa­h-wah-wah...

What's funny is I've never even tried to fly a Cricket. I have enough of them and parts but hasn't been a priority. Soon...

"That responsive"? What, are you kidding? >:O I need to think 5 sec ahead just to stop it in the same county. Its poor cyclic is what forces me to pick very calm weather for flying. No gyro at all, read my description upper right of this page. THX!

[TachyonDriver]

Dude! My ears! Saw the thread on RR - what a fascinating machine! I can tell you've flown it before. :)

That has got to be one of the strangest sounds I've heard in RC yet :D

[StormyMaxPerry]

LOL!! Flying an RC heli is one thing but trying to imagine what this would sound like in flight literally drove me to making it airworthy. First had it off the ground in 2004, made its debut flight in front of an audience. Maybe I should upload that video too. I had training gear installed as I had no idea how it would handle but removed in on the very next flight. The picture of it and me (with the weird hat) in my RR gallery is of the second-ever flight, 2004, OC's Heli Gathering.

[spameater]

Golly that thing is obnoxious! Does it have a muffler? But it's incredible!

[StormyMaxPerry]

No muffler, the weight of one would throw the head off balance. In the era of this heli, the early 1970's, mufflers weren't mandatory as they are now. If silencing the engine was necessary the design probably wouldn't have ever happened.