Does a helicopter exist that goes straight up, contacts the ceiling, AND just stays in one spot without scooting around?

[RayBab]

Hi,

Our J&H Tornado (and other models) fly pretty much straight up with some gentle gyrations going up. But , once in contact with the ceiling( whether it’s 8’ or 25’), they dance, gyrate, and flutter across the ceiling and then slowly descend towards the end of their motor power , again with very mild gyrations. With each whack of the ceiling, we just feel the flight endurance times decreasing.

Our question….is there a perfect helicopter that can fly straight up, touch the ceiling with its dime sized disc, AND just stay in that spot spinning gracefully until running out of power? Or, is “ceiling dancing” just part of the experience.

Thanks again,
Ray

[coachchuckaahs]

The FFM model does this (stays in one place on ceiling) due to the disk being a spinner.

I do not think that bouncing around hurts your time, unless it moves far enough to get into an obstacle. In 2017, we actually launched into a corner of the racquetball court for two reasons. First, it would hammer the wall, slowing down the rotor, and giving a slightly better time (you have excess energy when it is banging the ceiling), and second, the court had an open window to observation deck, and a breeze toward that window, so going for a front corner seemed to avoid that breeze.

In 2017 we won Nationals with a Chinook style heli of our own design, with about 3:08. IN practice it was capable of 3:30. After, we did some more testing in a gym that had concrete girders, with U-shaped indentations. We flew into one of those and started banging the sides. Each time it hit, it dropped out a bit, then flew back in, but this slowed us down on rubber winds usage, resulting in about a 20-second gain. This was VERY SPECIFIC to the obstacle in question. But it points out that rotors hitting the ceiling is not all bad. However, be sure that the heli is designed such that the balsa disk is placed to be the first thing to hit the ceiling.

Coach Chuck

[RayBab]

Thanks again coach Chuck. We have our first competition coming up soon and are looking forward to seeing all the different helicopters and hopefully learning for the future.

Thanks
Ray

[pumptato-cat]

But it points out that rotors hitting the ceiling is not all bad.

My FFM's top mylar is slowly wearing down due to this--it's peeling off the corners. I've noticed that times drop whenever the rotor hits the ceiling(which destabilizes my heli, although this may be due to something else?). Is times decreasing rather than increasing in this situation a sign of a bigger problem?

[bjt4888]

But it points out that rotors hitting the ceiling is not all bad.

My FFM's top mylar is slowly wearing down due to this--it's peeling off the corners. I've noticed that times drop whenever the rotor hits the ceiling(which destabilizes my heli, although this may be due to something else?). Is times decreasing rather than increasing in this situation a sign of a bigger problem?

Cat,

If hit and drop and return to ceiling happens near the end of the usual ceiling contact portion of the flight we find this causes 5-8 second lower duration. If in the early portion of flight, duration seems to not be affected.

If using the Ikara plastic nose bearing, puff a little “pinewood derby” graphite powder on the nose button and glass bead right before competing. We only ever used the plastic bearing in 2020 (Michigan did Heli during Covid) and found the graphite powder good for about 5 additional seconds; doesn’t improve the alu/Teflon washer bearing though.

Brian T