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Author Topic: Andy's - Bell 206 JetRanger build.  (Read 13750 times)

Andy M

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Re: Andy's - Bell 206 JetRanger build.
« Reply #75 on: February 24, 2020, 08:51:33 pm »


I decided to try the jetranger with an extra battery as ballast in the nose section. It weighs 46g, so its still close to what i thought was my weight limit, it cured the tail heaviness, but looked as if it was struggling with the extra weight. So I removed it and my decent performance returned immediately. I know it sounds obvious to use the transmitter trims to try and stop it creeping backwards but I was hoping to be able to balance it properly to avoid adding trim and having rear motors running hotter, as they have gained a reputation for burning out from what I have read online. I have not had any burn out in normal use, I have a standard quad that I use for excersising the dog, it has had at least 2 batteries worth of flying almost every day since october. Some days I take it flying after the dog is worn out so it has a lot of time on the motors. The dog has killed 2 motors on it, biting the quad, but I dont count them as its not normal flying loads. The jetranger has had about 60 flights now, probably more on the seaknight so far, no motor burnouts. I did oil the motor shafts and the propshafts, then the motors were run in gently with no propshafts fitted, which seems to have eliminated burnouts from the start. I am loading my motors up way beyond the standard bodyshell with no visible effect. My radio/battery compartment has mesh on sides and top and holes in its floor and it still gets pretty warm, mostly from the battery, but its not excessive, just a warm painty smell. Lol. So as I was writing this, I decided to try adjusting the trim forwards. I thought I would have to put loads on but lo and behold (why didnt I try this earlier?) 3 clicks of trim was all it took to stop it creeping back.   I am still going to do some lightweight cockpit detailing which might mean it only needs one or 2 clicks of trim, but I just wished I had tried it earlier. Ah well, it has honed my flight skills a bit more. I havent flown it outside like that, it may still have a pendulum effect from the tail boom, which I think is also affected by rotors being too close, I didnt really have an option, there wasnt enough width for the rear motor beams to be supported properly. I may still do a 4 foot version. Just to see if it did handle better with rotors a few inches further back, at a bigger scale, I would have more width to move it back further still, bearing in mind that at the moment, the jetranger rotor spacing is 9 inches, front to back, the seaknight is 17 odd. It doesnt display the same tendency to tail slide. I was thinking also of taking my tailrotor off as its not doing anything but adding to the tail heaviness, I would like to try a clear plastic but painted to look as if its spinning kind of idea. I tried it before on a walkera co axial heli, looked better than a bare tailboom but needed refinement. Lol. I sanded a disc of plastic by spinning it and scratching it up a bit then some diluted yellow paint for 'tips'
It was meant to be seen from a distance and it is definitely much better that way! I have a video on youtube where I spin the jetranger tailrotor up with a compressor, it looks good, the video should help me with getting a plastic disc to look reasonable. I would still like to spin the tailrotor but I hadnt planned for that, I thought it would freewheel in disturbed air, another ah well. I am still finding it amazing that I can fly a 3 ft jetranger in my living room,and precisely, I am getting better with it now, quite a bit of practice indoors recently, well, when the wife is out. I need to finish the cockpit off, still thinking about a carved pilot, he is going to be the hollow man. Lol.
Having written about flying indoors, I had a chance to get a couple of flights outside when the wind and snow/rain stopped fot 15 minutes, still does the tailslide thing, knocking my tailfin off a few times before I just went without it, a noticeable improvement, I even tried provoking it, I am either comfortable with it or just mad to try that, but I know its pretty tough. I think my tailrotor is heavier than the fin, I will try and see if I can get it off without damaging anything. Help with the tailslide thing. Gradual refinements are part of the fun. Broke one of my marshmallow stick skids, right where I knew it would break if it was going to. Superglue, fixed, but probably not same strength. Not bad for damage from 60 odd flights, and the snapped off tailboom a while ago.
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RST

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Re: Andy's - Bell 206 JetRanger build.
« Reply #76 on: February 24, 2020, 10:46:17 pm »

That's surely official then, I don't write the longest posts! Think you might have to break that up a bit.
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Andy M

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Re: Andy's - Bell 206 JetRanger build.
« Reply #77 on: February 25, 2020, 01:24:18 pm »

I didnt realise I had written as much as that till I pasted it in there. Lol. Anyway, I got my tailrotor off without damage and was surprised to find out that the fin is much heavier than the tail rotor.
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Andy M

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Re: Andy's - Bell 206 JetRanger build.
« Reply #78 on: February 25, 2020, 10:48:24 pm »

Broke my landing skid again today, I tried flying the Jetranger in a bit of wind today, but it doesnt like it, its fine going into wind and tracking side to side, but as soon as you try to turn it round it does funny stuff trying to spin the tail into the wind. Bearing in mind that its only speed difference on a set of props that turns it, incredible really, especially in a fair wind. I got turned round eventually and headed downwind a bit and tried to turn, tailslide to the ground and rolled onto its back, only damage is tailskid though, so not bad. I love the durability of these models, I just know if I had done that with a 'proper' helicopter, I would have broken blades, bent shafts and probably ripped the tailboom off too. Also, being scottish, I like the fact my transmitter, receiver/speed controller/multi gyro unit, motors, gearboxes, props, battery and charger all adds up to £12!!!  I havent managed to find any as cheap as this again, still, even at twice that price I think I would still buy them. I have paid more than 24 quid for a hitec micro servo back in the day, I actually bought 2, fair bit out of my wages then. I am getting through my stock of quads though. Lol. You even get a rubbery bodyshell you can paint up. This is first gloss coat over white spray primer.
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Andy M

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Re: Andy's - Bell 206 JetRanger build.
« Reply #79 on: February 25, 2020, 10:54:34 pm »

Bit more done on interior, wife chose colour scheme inside. Got a lot of bits I want to add in the cockpit, should be a nice sub-build, even though you dont really notice as its flying about.
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Andy M

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Re: Andy's - Bell 206 JetRanger build.
« Reply #80 on: February 27, 2020, 01:45:37 pm »

Seats painted, floor glued in. Centre console part made. I was wondering what I could make the collective pitch levers from, then thought I would try making dowels from balsa using my tx aerial  cutters, what a job they did, i burst through the side of balsa at the end but I have enough for my levers, slightly thicker sections are for handle/throttle. The aerial sections dont even need any sharpening, they work straight away. And its recycling. I should really try them on plastic kit type material. I think if you went slow and gentle in plastic to avoid melting they would work. Just think, perfect portholes! I have used mine a lot now, from perfect holes to nibbling little bits of foam out of my seaknight bits. Another one of these 'why didnt I think of that before' moments. Anyway, I hope to get more work done on my interior later.
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Andy M

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Re: Andy's - Bell 206 JetRanger build.
« Reply #81 on: March 07, 2020, 01:59:01 pm »

While waiting for my giant wasp to dry, I decided to paint my jetranger interior, which dried quick enough to be able to tack glue my seats in with copydex, which is still fine after 10+ years! I know one seat is squint, I fixed it after the photo, I still have bits of the interior to paint, I will need to make an angled brush for some bits, just the front at the moment. I cant really afford any more weight in the back for rear seats, but it would finish it off. I have glued my centre console in, next job is the instrument console. I want to do a foam pilot too, probably in the 10-15g range? Will see what weight it turns to be. Foam carving is quite enjoyable, I did several drivers for our rc minis/beetles. This is a bit bigger scale, 1/10, so less fiddly.
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Andy M

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Re: Andy's - Bell 206 JetRanger build.
« Reply #82 on: March 07, 2020, 04:18:07 pm »

I am still undecided about doing the rear seats, I could probably manage them and a top bit of bulkhead at around 10g painted?  Its still behind the centre line, so critical really.


I have come to the conclusion that at least some of the flying problems are caused by the control board being a bit far back, I need to do some measuring and see if there is a way I can move it forward, even a bit to see if that helps any, if not, I will have removed some more balsa.  :}
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Andy M

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Re: Andy's - Bell 206 JetRanger build.
« Reply #83 on: March 07, 2020, 04:20:17 pm »

Another problem with the rear seat idea.........I need to install them through the rear windows. Bit of a challenge in itself.
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Andy M

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Re: Andy's - Bell 206 JetRanger build.
« Reply #84 on: March 08, 2020, 02:56:57 pm »

While taking a rest from producing giant wasps leg parts, I decided to see if I could actually manage to move my jetranger's contol board forward to bring its centre closer to the center of the front and rear props...... Some balsa removal, as much as I dared, and still not that visible through the intakes and then a try sliding it forward into my newly created area, and lo and behold..... Its close to being bang on centre, few mm at the most, an inch forward has to help, I am certain, might still get the pendulum tailboom effect, though. I am hoping my cockpit detailing will help that, its all extra weight up front. I probably will make seats and bulkhead for rear, it will actually all be just in front of my centre line/centre of gravity, not behind as I was thinking? Getting it all in the windows is going to be fun. Its definately a bit late for doing a floor like the front, and the seat will probably have to be separate back and seat bits, the front one's L shape was easy to work with, but window is not big enough to get that shape through.
 Anyway, I am waiting till the wind stops outside so I can try a test flight and see what difference there is from moving the board . Must be some, it was good bit out. Towards the end that was misbehaving. That and the cockpit detailing should have the beast tamed a bit. I am amazed at some of the heavy 'arrivals' its has coped with, for such a light structure. Even with its handling faults, uneven panelling (caused by trying to replicate compound curves with balsa that only curves in one direction) and fairly delicate skids, I really like the jetranger, years ago, I was saving up for a kyosho electric jetranger, somewhat smaller than mine, but it was close to £200 and I still needed to buy micro servos as well, they were £25 back then, motorbike parts took the funds and I never got it. But now, I think I have an even better one, for an outlay of about £30? Including all radio, motors and battery. There are a good few hours of work in it, but I enjoyed all of them. The kyosho one had no chance of getting a cockpit, it was stuffed with gear in there. Their body moulding never looked that good either...... not that defined. My ones radio etc is all up top, leaving a big empty cabin. Maybe get some sketches done for a foam pilot blank.
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Andy M

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Re: Andy's - Bell 206 JetRanger build.
« Reply #85 on: March 09, 2020, 03:51:59 pm »

Wow, what a difference. I flew the jetranger in the living room and it is transformed, no more signs of it tailsliding and there doesnt seem to be much pendulum effect from tailboom either. I was giving it extreme movements and it was doing what I was telling it with no signs of anything bad. Perfect,
 Short test video here
https://youtu.be/unnP4I-xP40
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Andy M

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Re: Andy's - Bell 206 JetRanger build.
« Reply #86 on: March 09, 2020, 04:17:11 pm »

After long deliberation, I am not going to do rear seats, the front seats etc have added 5g and I haven't made the instrument console yet, I can notice the difference in performance easily, the punchy climb out is a bit reduced now. Still plenty but definitely loading it closer to limit. The battery gets quite warm after a flight. Settle for what I've got so far.
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Andy M

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Re: Andy's - Bell 206 JetRanger build.
« Reply #87 on: March 18, 2021, 05:55:14 pm »

I had a flight with this today, it has had well over a hundred flights so far, I am still impressed with how it turned out and how much more comfortable I am flying this rather than a 'proper' helicopter. Every time I pick it up, I am amazed how light it is for its size. A 3 foot long jetranger that weighs 325g, my morley mx ranger was only a foot longer and it weighed about 4kg! And how cheap it was to build it. Around £30.
It does warm it's battery up quite a bit, but doesnt seem to do any harm. I have plenty of spare batteries for it anyway.
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Andy M

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Re: Andy's - Bell 206 JetRanger build.
« Reply #88 on: June 01, 2022, 04:52:20 pm »

I have been having a good few flights with the Jetranger, it isnt a true helicopter, but so far, I am actually preferring it to the real heli's I have had.
 My Morley MX Ranger was over 8 pounds and with its 4 foot rotor span it was well into the 'dangerous' category.
 It also suffered damage easily... While it was on the ground, a little rise in revs as the fuel ran out was enough to flip it on its side.... Bent mainshaft, cracked blades etc and a helluva fright.
 My new one is 3/4 the size of the morley and I can fly it indoors if I want (my wife isnt here just now, or that just wouldnt be happening)
If it does tip over, it doesnt seem to damage it, so far, its only real weak point is one of the skids, they are bamboo and drilled to take the undercarriage legs, this creates weakness, I have repaired it a few times but may have to visit my mum and see what she has in her knitting needle collection, I cant find bamboo sticks that size anymore or I might have tried again with fresh ones.
Even though I made it, it still surprises me just how light the jetranger feels, even when the battery is in, it still feels like it should be much heavier than it is.
 During construction, I never had a scale that would accurately weigh the whole thing, as soon as it got over 100g, I had no real idea of its weight.
 I now have a better set of scales that read up to 5kg, that will cover nearly all my model weighing requirements.
 So.... Final weight, ready to fly....
 370g.  It is 322g without the battery, it turned out my cheap kitchen scale estimate in the last post was only 3g out... It is good to know exactly though.....
 Maybe not as light as it feels, but it is 3 feet long.
 It works out at about 10g per inch,  and that is including electronics, battery, carbon rods and motors, gearboxes, props, knitting needle and bamboo landing gear etc, etc.
 I did fancy doing a 4 foot version but if it was much over the weight of the 3 foot one, I dont think it would fly as well. As it is, it can power out of a fairly rapid descent so I dont want to risk anything heavier.
 I just need to fly it closer to make it look bigger😁
One more major advantage... It cost so much less. The whole quadcopter, charger, battery, and control was £12 and there is about 12 to 15 of balsa.
 I am still glad I bought a good few of the quadcopters when I had the chance. They are the cheapest way I have managed to get something flying with radio control.
 And you can do it indoors if it is raining.
 Does stirr up the doghairs a bit though.....
The morley jetranger had £250 JR radio in it and a £70 gyro, the heli and engine were another £400 odd. And that was about 30 years ago, I have had motorbikes that cost less than that.
I know my jetranger isnt a 'proper' helicopter, I can live with that, I managed to get the shape not bad, considering it is made from flat balsawood.
 It doesnt pump out castor oil, but it is still pretty loud, compared to running just a bare frame quadcopter, the fuselage amplifies the sound a bit.
 I still have 2 'spare' quadcopter setups, and some 1/32 and 1/16 balsa, so I may be doing another quadcopter body at some point, I still fancy another Sikorski skycrane, I thought about doing it to same scale as my vertol/seaknight, but it would be a fair bit bigger, so I would have to go (even more) extra light construction. Especially if I wanted to keep my power reserve.
 I do have vector 'board' at 0.2mm thick that I thought about using for non stressed areas, it is pretty flimsy stuff. I will find a use for it eventually😁
I have a lot of projects and potential future projects in my head just now, deciding which one to concentrate on is the difficult bit, and making best use of materials I have, rather than buying more.
 I have spent a fair bit on my modelling recently, I do feel a bit guilty about it but building my pair of Javelin speedboats has helped keep my spirits up at a very difficult time.
 I am on economy mode now, I still have enough for a couple of boats and another quadcopter creation, I have done a jetranger, a seaknight and a giant wasp so far......
Any suggestions for the next one?
The Javelin is for size comparison.
 The jetranger would need to be a bit bigger to be action man sized.
 I cant believe how far my pot of yellow paint has gone.... Lol.
 Off the top of my head, it has done a Jetranger, 23cm cabin cruiser, 18.5cm tug, mini size vic smeed Rorqual, a Lesro Javelin and 2 different sizes of giant wasp, and thats just the radio controlled things.
 The original 5 litre pot also did my full size minimost boat! The rest were painted from what was left over.
 Thats what I call coverage.
I need to get all my yellow models out in the garden for a photo.
Sadly, my minimost rotted away. Models are a bit easier to store. 😁
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