Bruce Naylor Senior Heliman Location: Swindon, Wiltshire, UK
| Hi Wayne et all,
Not wanting to hijack this thread, but you said (if I have read the prev. correctly) that a centre ball (allowing lead-lag but not vertical movement) is preferable?
In tests with a Futura (floating spindle, centre ball by default, neutral CofG) hovering spot turns in wind caused all sorts of problems (tendencies to shoot of in odd directions) that magically went away when the centre ball was removed. In fact it flew better tail heavy in this configuration.
Further tests with lead/lag lock (nylon bolts screwed in either side of the feathering spindle as close to the teeter rubbers as possible) and with the centre ball removed improved loop and roll characteristics most markedly.
Ok, there are a lot of other variables - blades, flybar ratios, weights etc in the mix, but are you saying that in your tests the centre ball improved handling?
Best regards, Bruce.
"If you know what you're doing, you're not learning much" |