RotorX Helicopter Build Thread

I know what happened - something is wrong ! lol, keep up your head up, it will get sorted as everything.

its just aircraft. I saw some video of a guy who fixed his plane in the wild literarily with duct tape :wink: :slight_smile:

I feel your pain. Sounds exactly where I was not that long ago. Could not get anything to remotely fit like I thought it would. I had to assemble the tub and measure and mark the center line in the front. I then marked the center line on the floor pan, put the floor pan in, lined up the marks and pulled it forward as far as it would go and put in some cleco’s to hold it in place. This was the only way I could be sure it wasn’t canted to one side or the other. (Doesn,t take much to throw everything else out of wack) I then measured from a straight edge across the skids to the top rear edge of the tub on both sides to make sure one side wasn’t higher than the other. Just to be honest here, after all this everything else didn’t just fall in place, but at least I knew the body was straight and centered. I had so many cleco holes I had to start marking which ones I was going to use! I figure once I’m done and bondo all the extra holes, no one will know but me! I’m sure you will get thru this. you need to keep in the back of your mind that this is a helicopter and not an airplane - it will still fly whether you have body panels on it or not, so cut, trim, sand, drill holes, whatever it takes - your not messing with the airworthiness of the ship. I am by no means an expert on any of this but if I can be of any help I’ll offer any assistance I can. I’ve used facetime to troubleshoot an electrical issue on a twin otter based in San Diego. works good when you can actually see what they are talking about! If we ever talk privately I’ll share an interesting story about a conservation I had with the engineer at rotorx (Wade).

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@Art, you are a hero and a mensch! I haven’t been to the hanger since posting above. But I believe I May understand part of my problem. I secured the seat with clecoes (per the manual but against the advice in the construction video). I was reluctant to do this but it kept moving with the clamps alone. It was aggravating. I felt that the fit was great and that I could save time and frustration by simply fixing the position onto the frame. I’ve learned though to trust the videos and not always the manual. The seat only needs to float back half a degree with two shims and the panels should match the tail per the diagram. That’s my hope anyway. The rotorhead arrives next week. Despite the setbacks, I am pretty stoked to finally see it.

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I’ve returned to the hangar for the first time since running into compounding snags with the body fit. I suspect that I will be able to sort that out by shimming the seat to push the aft part of the body closer to the tailboom. Hopefully, this won’t in turn push the doghouse danger close to the rotorhead.

Speaking of which, it’s unboxing time!

Nice crate. 120 pounds. My wife had to move it into the garage as I was on a trip when it arrived. When I asked her the size she said, “It’s almost exactly one ME.” (She’s lighter.)

Battery? Really? OK. I think the one I have on the frame now is much better but the unexpected extra is nice.

Digging for gold!

Before seeing it I figured that with a few friends it should be easy to lower onto the bearings. Now I think I should probably invest in a gantry. It will be nice to have later for weighing. That’s for later. For now I finally have the first of many of the “spinny bits”.

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Oooooh…! Shiny bits!

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Shiny bits are in! Temporarily. Just to be sure that the body doesn’t interfere with the controls.


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Hey man, that’s startin’ to look like a proper chopper mate!

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Hey, @smokinhole… Do you have a name for your chopper yet?

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I’ve never been one for naming stuff. Isn’t that weird? I haven’t even given it a thought. If I can ever call it airworthy someday, that will be name enough.

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I can already see the dialogue:

“This is my helicopter, airworthy.”

  • “sure, it looks airworthy.”

“No, that’s it’s name!”

  • “…ok…”
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I think you may have just unwittingly christened you helicopter … Airworthy … may god bless all who fly with her :laughing:

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Hm… I like it!
Reminds me of
air wolf helicopter GIF by MANGOTEETH

Paint it black and white!
Pleeease! :wink:

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#snorts# more like air-chihuahua :rofl:

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(yeah, I know, the original isn’t just italics, this is just a 2 minute graphics joke) :smiley:

EDIT: Here’s a better one:

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Yeah, the worst thing that you can do is complain about a proposed callsign.

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…. “Stringfellow @smokinhole” down the side canopy (once you get the pesky thing fitted) :slightly_smiling_face:

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glad you can see the solution now. looking good on the last pic :+1:

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Shimming the seat and securing it permanently is complete. The body
Lays down nicely now.


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How much did you end up shimming it?

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Just under 1/4 inch on the passenger (right) side. I sandwiched two 1/8th inch steel shims together. An eighth was needed at the back of the sim to level the seat and the other eighth at the front of the shim serves to recline the seat. The thicker portion pushed the top aft part of the body flush with the tailboom and resolved the distortions in the body. The pilot side needed nothing so I think the flaw was with the seat, because the frame is spot on.


The little mismatch at the top aft where the doghouse will be is by design and gets resolved later.

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