Apogee Mini Copter

BEC said:

As others have noted this is indeed part of the design of this model. I don’t think the blades would even go in the tube if left flat.

I have only built one other heli so far - the Estes Mini-A Heli. On this one the sheet blades are cracked along a laser-etched line to form a sort of cambered airfoil with the aid of three slide-on guides to hold the intended angle.

That build is much easier both for the blades and the hinges, but it is much larger, heavier and draggier in boost configuration so doesn’t do as well on 1/2A motors.

Click to expand...

I've observed that with these angled type blades, there's always a slight hesitation of a second or two before the blades start spinning the rocket. Airfoiled or curved blades like in this build thread will start rotating the rocket immediately. There's more drama involved with the angled blades when they deploy and it looks like the rocket will come in ballistic (there's always a chorus of "uh ohs" from the spectators), but they're less time consuming to construct then airfoiled or curved blades. Personally I prefer airfoiled blades even though I'm a sport flyer, and recommend them if you're going to fly competition for the obvious reason that they spin up instantly and increase your duration time (and every second of descent time counts).

[edit] Internal curved blades are actually considered better for competition because of the reduction in drag, but contestants still enter external rotor models, using the strategy of building simpler and lighter models and trading off altitude for a less heavy rocket that will come down slower.

Andrew_ASC said:

Um I’ve seen one heli-rocket at Camden last year have flat blades but it was much bigger and took G motors. Oddly the blades had so much rotational inertia and mass that there were issues with hinges plastic r/c type snapping on landing. I wanna say it was something Gary Bayrum did scratch build. But he’s dead now.

The airfoils should massively help reduce descent rate by providing lift force increase as rotor speed increase. I picked up this kit as a curiosity item mainly lol.

Click to expand...

Yup, it was Gary's.

I need to try a copter sometime, curved or not.

Rktman said:

Yup, it was Gary's

Click to expand...

Yeah I only met him once in person then he passed before I could ever get out to Camden again. He seemed like a nice guy. Was struggling to remember whose rocket that was.

Thanks, guys. Good luck on the flight.

Update:
She flew her maiden today on a 1/2A3-4.
Flight was perfect, everything worked well, recovered with no damage.
I shot a video, but all you can see is a little speck coming down, so I'll post a pad shot instead.

This is a great little rocket, too much fun!
Cheers.

Congrats on the build and flight! Been considering this model for awhile, good to know it's reliable and performs well.

Well done you!

Now by George, I may have to follow in kuririn's footsteps again! The grandkids would love this one! Thanks for the build thread!

kuririn said:

Update:
She flew her maiden today on a 1/2A3-4.
Flight was perfect, everything worked well, recovered with no damage.
I shot a video, but all you can see is a little speck coming down, so I'll post a pad shot instead.
View attachment 407361
This is a great little rocket, too much fun!
Cheers.

Click to expand...

Good choice going with a small motor for first flight.
Congrats!