Pt 2, Heli Test Stand, Novice Pilot tries it out.

See PART 1 first. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6Zroukw5lo
This is PART 2.

Part I is a video on "how to make your own heli stand" for further reference.

Novice to Helis, Jeff Martin, feels the exhilaration of spinning up and feeling the controls of Dave's Blade 400 on his homemade Helicopter training/test stand.

This is what happened and his reaction.

Again, all helis are "upside down rotary lawnmowers", so respect this test stand for what it is.

Be careful on the controls and do not abruptly make changes, or you may have a blade strike or something worse.

If you break it on the stand, you would most likely have also broken it OFF the stand too.

Hope this type of device will help you learn faster and easier. Good Luck.

Heli Test/training stand. by Dave Herbert.
Parts Required:
1, 24"x 24" plywood to make base circle.
1, 24 " long by 2x2" wide foam insulator strip (cut to 2x2x2" squares
1, ¼ x 21" round Ramin Wood sliding rod.
1, ¾" x 24" threaded galvanized pipe (Needs to be heavy), so the reason.
1, ¾" floor flange with 4, 1 ½"x 3/16" long nuts and bolts to attach it to Ply base.
1, 3/8" x 2 ½" Stove bolt (round head, no slots), 2 large 3/8" washers and 2 3/8" Nuts
2, 3 ½" long x ¾" wide, light weight compression springs
1, ½" Long x 1/8" wood screw
1, 5/16 small holed (1/4") washer for spring contact point on the bottom of the rod.
1, 3"x 8" x 3/16" ply or other strong material for helicopter base mounting plate.
2, ¾" Hose clamps for Ramin wood rod.
1, 1" Hose clamp for galvanized pipe
1, ¼" x 2 ½ " long Flat Headed shoulder bolt for holding mounting plate to Ramin rod
1, 12" long mini bungee cord
8, # 60 rubber bands, 4 each side to mount heli landing gear to plate.
1, 12" long nylon "chalk" string to make safety harness. Loop over heli frame and mounting plate.
Take your time and follow these instructions carefully.

1. Measure for exact center of the 24"x24" Plywood base and cut out as large a circle as there is wood. Sand and paint or stain as desired.

2. Drill out the center hole to 3/8" and bolt in the 3/8" x 2 ½" stove bolt, (round head down towards floor). Use wide washers and nuts on both sides to adjust the length on the bottom to be 1 ½" out from wood, if using 2 x 2 x 2" foam blocks.


3. Cut foam then mark 8 even locations on the bottom using an analog clock to guide you. Glue them on with silicone or electric glue as shown in the video.

4. Bolt on the ¾" threaded floor flange directly centered over the Stove bolt, making sure it is absolutely centered.

5. Drill 3/16" hole, 3" from the bottom of the 3 /4" pipe and put in same size nut and bolt and lock washer. The springs rest on this.

6. Screw pipe onto flange, hand tight. Leave the plastic thread protector on the top end. Now the base and Guide Pipe are standing vertically and all should be level and be able to wobble slightly.

7. Drop the 2 springs into the pipe.

8. Cut or fabricate your heli mounting plate from 3/16th " Ply or other. (3"x8")

9. Find exact center of this plate and drill a 3/8th " hole. Measure twice, drill once!

10. Cut Ramin wood dowel to 21" long, put a ¾" small hose clamp on one end, and make it snug. Then carefully drill a ¼" hole down the center of the rod, 2" deep.

11. On the other end of the rod, drill a small 1/8th " pilot hole and screw on the 5/16 " spring contact washer with the small screw.

12. Drop the 1/1/2" hose clamp onto the guide pipe, leaving it loose.


13. Now using the Flat headed shoulder bolt, put it through the hole in the mounting plate and thread it into the end of your Ramin Wood rod with the hole. Screw it in so it remains 1" above the plate. The plate should slide up and down freely and have just a bit of slop to give your helicopter a 15 degree lean in any direction.

Now tighten the smaller hose clamp around the end to keep the wood rod from splitting.

14. Place the second ¾" hose clamp on the rod and just snug it up somewhere near the top one near the mounting plate.

15. Put some petroleum jelly on the other end with the washer and drop the rod into the galvanized pipe. It should spring up and down freely. An extra spring may be necessary for a heavier helicopter.


16. Now mount the small bungee cord to the large hose clamp and tightened it about 1 inch below the threaded end at the top. Make sure it is tight.

17. Attach the other end of the bungee cord to the smaller hose clamp on the rod and adjust the length so the heli can raise no more than 8 inches, and tighten that clamp and bungee hook around the Ramin Rod.


18. Make sure it springs up and down freely and the rod cannot come out the end of the guide pipe, which is the bungee cord's job.

Finished. Any questions, refer to my video Part I.
Good luck.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Helicopter
• Training
• test
• stand
• Honeybee
• Blade
• 400
• Mr.Herbert's
• Science
• Class
• Dave
• Herbert
• RC
• Jeff
• Martin

[nswiss1975]

Much harder than it looks.....Good job.

[NightFlyyer]

Thanks.

[RFTAEC100]

make a smaller one! for micro helis. And, istead of a base that's free-moving in all directions, reduce its movements to yaw, forth and back and up/down one that you could clamp to a small table, sit back on a chair and relax while feeling the controls. Its gonna be a hit... small and compact, and a good tool to teach kids and adults to fly and have fun with small-sized helis

get the idea? :P

[NightFlyyer]

Got the idea, but small helis don't have enough power to lift anything but themselves. This is for trimming and balancing blades as it is a test stand first. Thanks for the comments.

[Coen0s88]

nice stand, but you won't learn alot from it.

[festool]

your vids allway amaze me great stuff , you should have your own t.v show, all the best .

[roadglidec]

Question? Do you plug in the heli and let everything initialize(gyro,etc.) on a flat surface w/throttle and throttle trim down and hold on and then mount the heli and spool up or can you mount the heli on the stand and then do the above steps ? thanks roadglidec !

[littlewazz]

This stand would be real good tool for fixing your heli after a wreck and checking for vibration (out of balance) and blade tracking.

[drsquat12]

so what are the orange bags for on the skids?

[ranoldoe]

Hey that looks like it could be great for pre-flight checks. I think a sim would be a little better than that as you can practice a little more thorough, but still great all the same, I might make one for my 300 sizes and up.

[jlillie2]

Brilliant! That is way safer than a tether and training balls. (this would have saved me a few blade sets.) Great job!

[nbkblood]

another thing that works is use the training kit with the balls on the ends and use a small anchor with a strong cable and anchor it to the ground on the center of gravity but only make the cable long enuf to let the heli raise but not long enuf to allow it to flip on its side..just a few inches or you could strike the ground with the tail rotor ..

[cool67014]

how do you make the stand

[playbassken]

You probably saved me and anyone else who does this a lot of money in repairs and prevented more frustration. Thanks! :-)

[bantonlove]

So do you sell the kit or parts, I need the parts so that I can Build an Electric Heli Training/Test Stand, I need the kit or parts so that I can put Training/Test Stand together?

[juvera66]

Muy Bien Sr tnks for the tip genio gracias senor