Helicopter Recovery

Anybody still building these? I know it's "old hat", but I built my first prototype a couple years ago with a BT 50 airframe, and it performed quite nicely. Right now I'm in the middle of upscaling that same design on a BT 70 airframe. Sorry, no pics on this yet. I didn't really think about doing a build thread. Some of my approaches to the old "RotaRoc" design vary in a great many ways, which is what impressed the LCO last year in Orangeburg. Basically I simplified the overkill in some places and put a twist on the props that doesn't conform with yesterdays ideas.

I just got said props primed this afternoon, and the rest of the build is about 3/4 done. The rocket is just over 3' tall and the props are 2" x 26". Here a nekkid pic of the prototype.

Very Nice! This type of heli rocket does seem more scarce; however one of Estes new releases is the "Flip Flyer" and I believe it is similar except that the blade pivot points are attached to the fin can (and it is no comparison to your custom build).

My custom build was based on older ideas. This "Flip Flier" is prolly a whole different approach. Can't tell from the photos. Since I am predominately a LPR kinda builder, I find it entertaining to go where HPR can't go. Or wont go.

Apogee has a really nice helicopter recovery model that was working consistently and well for more than just Ashley and Allison van Milligan at last summer's NARAM. I gotta build one or two.....

Yes, I do recall seeing similar designs in the thousands of rockets I've perused thanks to my OCD. I definitely appreciate older and odder designs, so I LOVE this stuff!

Good luck with the build and great luck with the flight and recovery!

BTW - I have all the Rocketarium Vorticos (flew one today on a B6-0...spun like mad on the way up and down) as well as a Cosmic Cobra (flew few weeks ago), so I do appreciate the heli recovery.

For Sure:
First Gary your "props" are called ROTORS as on all Helicopters.
HD (Helicopter Duration) is one of my favorite NAR competition events.
Been designing and building different helicopter duration models for decades. 1/8A Micros to 3D12(F) Clusters helio's.
There are still a couple companies making real HD models Apogee and Fliskits but most of the General Public kits, Skywinder, and such are very poor Auto-gyro recovery models.

I believe the reason there are so few building HD models it this is a Very specalized and somewhat complex flight and recovery model building. Many weekend modelers don't wish to invest the time in building and trimming these unique model rockets.
Perhaps if one of the major model manufactures were to re-issue the old standard RotaRoc (Fairly easy to build) true HD model more folks would give them a try.
Incidentially the Plans for several motor size RotaRocs are available from on the NAR website if folks would like to try scratch building. while they are more demanding and time consuming then 3f&NC models, 10year old A-Divison flyers build & fly them quite well.

Heli duration is held practically every year at NARAM so it's a live art but there are not that many practitioners. Big blades in 40mm FAI style models are pretty fun.

As far as I know, there isn't a lot of heli duration competition in my area, so I'm not building mine with that in mind. My props are certainly not designed for it. It's a simple concept really. There an 8" center section of the props where I cut a diagonal slit across and bent both sides over a wooden dowel, giving it about a 10* hike. This works much like an airfoil would. Prolly not as efficient, but pretty darn good. The first time I flew it, I learned a serious lesson. Use short delays. I think I had a 5 second delay in it and it had a chance to turn over at apogee. I found out it returns really well upside down! I also use 1 anchor in the tip of the nose cone to attach all 3 rubber bands. This eliminated the need for individual hooks for each band. I'll be real interested in seeing the bigger one fly.

I don’t think the other flyers at your rocket launches are going to appreciate you using a helicopter to recover your rockets.
Not only are they really noisy but the prop wash is going to blow everybody’s rockets all over the place.
And if you start using a helicopter somebody else will get a Monster Truck to recover their rockets and then somebody else will get an Army Surplus APC; thus begins the “Recovery Wars”.
I think you should just walk out to recover your rockets like any normal person would or maybe use a small all terrain golf cart.

Very nice article in this month's Sport Rocketry (March/April) about Kopter Rockets. Check it out!

Bat-mite said:

Very nice article in this month's Sport Rocketry (March/April) about Kopter Rockets. Check it out!

Click to expand...

Unfortunately I don't get that magazine. Matter of fact, I don't get ANY magazines.

There was a web link posted in the vendor section a while back
https://www.kopterrockets.com
The article was a reprint from the one linked on their home page.

I believe there are some differences between Kopter rockets and what Gary is doing. The Kopter rocket rotor blades were attached by the shock cord and, hence, did not have a rigid shaft. In effect Gary has a rigid connection to his rotor blades.