Design suggestions...

[Shawn]

Am I on the right track with this design? I don't plan on trying to get the throttle working so it's just a few switches and the pot for the collective input. I figured using a belt drive type setup would allow me to get the most travel out of the potentiometer? Any suggestions for improvements would be greatly appreciated...;) I do plan on closing in the base of the collective to hide the pot and gears.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3276/3051331295_abf751fa36_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3057/3052170170_acafd8d8f9_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3002/3051331109_e65a4ac4c6_b.jpg

[AndyT]

Looks very good. It would not be hard to add a throttle to that. Since you are going to be building it, you might as well go for the whole hog.

[Michael Carter]

Is the throttle grip the off-white tube around the main shaft?

[Kennair]

Looks good Shawn, but if you aren't going to get the throttle operational how are you going to accelerate the chopper? And isn't it mandatory to have rudder pedals to fly it? Perhaps a single joystick for lateral and longitudinal pitch as well as yaw and throttle??

Love the drawing program too.

Ken.

[skywatch]

Personally I would have the pot gear direct to the main gear. This will give a positive feel and remove any chance of slackening or slippage. With fsuipc you can calibrate for full scale on the joystick inputs mapped to any section of the pots movement you wish.

I agree with everyone else that a throttle would be essential once you also get a cyclic working. You could easily mount the throttle pot in the switch box on the end of the collective and run all the cables down the hollow tube to the base.

If enclosing it, don't forget to include service access should you ever need to fix or change something! ;-)

Skywatch

[Geremy Britton]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=190268477535&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=009

Perhaps that might be of use to you. For inspiration if nothing else!

Regards,

[Shawn]

Thanks for the replies guys. I already own a set of pedals and was planning to use my Siatek Cyborg as the cyclic for the time being. As for the throttle I would love to add it but I'm having trouble trying to figure out how I would go about adding the twist grip and then how I would attach that to a potentiometer:?: Michael, the throttle is the off white tube, I was going to cover it in cork which is farely common with Jetranger collective's at least. If anyone has a suggestion for getting the throttle working I'm all ears. Thanks Skywatch, your right I will have the gear on the pot work directly from the main gear. This is how I plan to anchor the collective, I was going to attach it directly to the chair but this way I can move it out of the way when it's not in use.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3058/3052818709_bca0a794f3_b.jpg

[AndyT]

Ok, Here's an idea for you.

[Shawn]

Thanks Andy, that is a much simpler solution than the one I was thinking about.:cool:

[AndyT]

Glad I could help.

[spitfire9]

I built this one a couple of years ago.
Might help you ?

http://members.shaw.ca/kentil3/ (http://members.shaw.ca/kentil3/)

[Shawn]

Thanks Spitfire, I had seen your tutorial in the past and had forgotten about it. I do have one question though, how did you get the wires for the switches at the head of the collective down past the faucet tubing?

[spitfire9]

They are pushed through the faucet tubing and come out a hole drilled closer to the end of the tube.