Vintage R/C Helicopter - Du-Bro Whirlybird 505 Quick Test

The Whirlybird crashed three days prior to shooting this video. The actual crash was entirely my fault but there were odd flying qualities of the 505 that contributed to the event. Yes, this heli is shaking due to the main rotor blades being slightly misaligned but the crash broke one blade in two and bent everything in the head. The repair was "quick and dirty" just to see if the original problem was gone. "What was the original problem?" you ask? The heli was hovering with a gross wobble that gave the impression it was drunk - yes, DRUNK! The distraction of the wobbly, drunken motion added to the tail rotor being way out of trim, prevented me from concentrating as required to safely control the heli's motion. It got away from me and I chopped the throttle in an attempt to lessen the inevitable impact. Like I said, one main rotor blade was broken completely in half...

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• heli
• radio
• control
• vintage
• flight
• rc
• helicopter
• du-bro
• whirlybird
• 505

[Afrocanuk]

What year was the Du-Bro Whirlybird first introduced?

[StormyMaxPerry]

Early 1971. Pretty close to the same date Dieter Schluter offered his Bell AH1 Cobra. The Whirlybird design went nowhere (no heli offspring) but the Cobra spawned all the future generations of model heli's.

[y2000air]

the whirlybirds shake because the engine is spinning on top. no way to really counter act that weight

[StormyMaxPerry]

Sure there is. Check out my longer clip of this machine - the beginning lets you see the engine pretty good. There's a counterweight used to balance the mass of the engine and can be set perfectly. Any other imbalance is handled by wrapping some solder around whichever flybar works best. This heli wobbles because something is bent and I didn't feel like going through the trouble all over again to get it perfect. Check the 'more info' section for...More info! :P

[Afrocanuk]

I have a Cox Sky Copter that I got as a present in 1977. It flies similarly with the engine rotating in the opposite direction. It's a free-flight model that keeps climbing until the fuel runs out.

[JustJane]

That thing is awesome. Those old vintage copters are fantastic.

[cat123456789101]

piece of trash

[yeogav]

and nice ear muffs too

[yeogav]

loop de loop next then lol

[StormyMaxPerry]

What acts as feathering spindles for the main blades are only 1/8" music wire and bend easily. I eyeballed straight the bent parts to my best ability and that's what you see here. Any time that I spend many hours setting this machine up right, first flight results in a crash or tip-over, ruining my hard work. So now it shakes and it will "forever". :(