Logo 800 with front mount

[AZ ChopperCam]

I was asked to build an economical 800mm electric powered ship capable of carrying larger HD cameras. The goal was to create a ship that doesn't break the bank and has good parts support for. That pretty much ruled out my first choice of a Maxi Joker.

So having had a great deal of experience with Logo 600's and having stretched them to fit 720's with much success I figured why not try a Logo airframe. The rotor head on the 600 is very stout with a large hardened feathering spindle. The weakest link in the stock L600 head is the headblock. I'll be installing a V-Bar head soon so that will be a moot point at that time. For testing I'm flying it with the stock flybar head. Mikado will be releasing 1.0 module main gear for the Logo in about 2 months. That ought to work nicely and give peace of mind. Flew it the past two days with the .7 mod gear and I really do think it's hold up fine, but I'm sure some would have their doubts.

All up weight with an HVX200 camera will be about 18lb. I flew it yesterday with ballast at 17lb and it flew great. Headspeeed on the 800's is 1475 and hovered at 6° pitch. Powered by a 10s 5000 setup I should get 7-9 minutes of flight.

Still have work to do on the mount but hoping to have it done within a month. The mount is my typical swing arm style which I've found to work great at giving up smooth footage. This newer design has gravity leveling roll built into it. Look closely at the front where the two plates are and you'll see some thrust bearings. The camera gimbal will have it's own receiver, battery and servos so it will be completely independent of the helicopter.

If all works well I'd like to add some form of electronic stabilization to the pan/tilt axis.

More to come.....

http://azchoppercam.com/forums/logo800/1.jpg

http://azchoppercam.com/forums/logo800/2.jpg

http://azchoppercam.com/forums/logo800/3.jpg

http://azchoppercam.com/forums/logo800/4.jpg

[bullaculla]

Wow DJ, thats awesome! do you think the plastic blades and stock spindle are up to it?
I do realize the RPMs are lower so force should be similar to 710s at 1700rpm, I'm actually working on an 800mm Trex stretch right now. Also, i plan on trying 105mm tails on mine, but left the boom long enough to fit 130s just in case the rpms are too low for the 105s.
Good to see you working on helis and mounts again :)

[Tabbytabb]

Cool!

Will the HVX200 fit in that gimbal?

Can you get it to balance with that much payload on the front?

Looks cool, keep up the good work.


Tabb

[Griffo]

Very nice DJ. Looking forward to some footage :)

[AZ ChopperCam]

Will the HVX200 fit in that gimbal?

Not yet. I'm sending out CAD files to my carbon machinist this week for larger gimbal plates.

Can you get it to balance with that much payload on the front?

Should be no problem. The batteries are mounted on the boom. The boom is a Vario gasser boom. Very thick wall tubing and can support the battery weight no problem. The issue that remains to be seen is how well the helicopter can handle the high moment in the pitch axis. There's a great deal of weight about 38cm on either side of the main shaft. If I find it doesn't react nicely I'll consider a mount similar to your large ship with the weight concentrated closer to the CG.

[trackhead]

Good to see you building and tweaking stuff again.

Looking forward to updates.

[rerazor]

That is a nice looking setup.

What time is happy hour at your house again?

[GJestico]

That room is way too clean. You should show us the actual "genius lair" where all these neat ideas come to life.

[Piton]

That room is way too clean. You should show us the actual "genius lair" where all these neat ideas come to life.

hahahahahah!

That would be a good thread title.

[bullaculla]

Haha!
BTW DJ, I noticed that you have two shocks/springs on one side, but only one set on the other. Is this to help compensate the disymmetry of lift?

[AZ ChopperCam]

You should show us the actual "genius lair"

:) maybe one day I'll take a pic of the devil's den

I noticed that you have two shocks/springs on one side

ran out of shock dampers. placed an order for more.

[jascamera]

bullaculla,

Can't wait for the T-rex 800. Let ups know soon as you have it ready.

And DJ, Want to get one of your 800 size camera mount. I have your current one, too small for HVX200.



Jason

[Hogster]

Perfect!! The neatest and simplist front mount I've ever seen, and I'm so impressed with it that I've just bought myself two large shocks and some CF tube to make my own - my current ball mount sucks rather ... too wobbly and no damping whatsoever :(

So glad to see you're still working on the helis mate!


David :)

[AZ ChopperCam]

So glad to see you're still working on the helis mate!

Things got crazy for me in March and had to stop almost all my works... but last month I got connected with a company and have received some funding to develop some new stuff.

I have a 360 pano mount design that is being sent out to the machinist next week... will look like no other pano mount available and solves several typical problematic areas with current pano mounts.

Anyhow.. this mount you see on the Logo 800 is still needing some design work but flight tests are going well.

It's all stuff that may not necessarily end up being produced and sold, mostly R&D more than anything, but it's fun either way to be able to be working on it.

[AZ ChopperCam]

installed a V-Bar head this evening. This will be the first flybarless helicopter I've built. The Helicommand Rigid should be arriving tomorrow.

Thanks to Sean at Aero-Model for supplying the V-Bar head!

I finished the mount this evening. Added the pan servo, receiver, and battery to the gimbal. Might be able to shoot some more video with it by end of next week.

Gotta tell ya... a flybarless head looks so clean and uncomplicated!

Regarding a post over on RR about stretching a 600 to 800. I've run the numbers and an 800mm ship spinning at 1400 rpm at about 900 watts exerts approx 8lb/ft. of torque on the main shaft. A 620mm ship flying 2200rpm at 2K to 4K watts exerts as much as 10lb ft. of torque on the main shaft. The one-way bearing is officially rated at only 4lb ft. of locking torque but I'm not sure how accurate that really is because a typical, mildly flown Logo 600 is putting at least 6lb/ft. of torque on the shaft.

I think the weak spots on this particular helicopter may be the one-way bearing and possibly the main grips. I think the one-way could be removed and the hub locked to the main shaft. A ship with heavy 800mm blades shouldn't have too much issues driving an motor during an auto in the event of a failed ESC.... but a motor that fails locked solid could create an interesting problem.

Rigorous flight testing on the factory equipment will provide all the answers.

[Griffo]

That's great news DJ. You'll love the flybarless head. Once dialled in it's very smooth :).

Here's mine with a "slightly modified" Askman underslung. An hours worth of cutting and drilling and vuala!

[Tritan]

Griffo,
nice looking solution you made - what blades are you running? No problems with stability vs regular head?

[Griffo]

Thanks Tritan :). It was a bit of fun and since I had a 50 size Askman mount lying about I thought I'd give it a bit of a face lift.

I'm running 690 blades and have no problems with stability. In fact I've found once the HC Rigid settings are dialled in correctly the flybarless head is far more stable than the flybar head. I won't be going back.

[qb7ops]

DJ.....any updates on your L-800 project? A briefing on the outcome and final specs would be great to see!

[AZ ChopperCam]

haven't quit on it, but the L800 project has taken a back burner while I help PhotoShip One on the VR360 design and a full scale helicopter pano mount design.

[Bullseye]

Will the L800 be finished in time for the AP Conference in October?

[qb7ops]

Wow....sounds like you have a plate full!

I was curious as I have opted to forgo on purchasing an MJ2 and try to take your direction with stretching to 800. Guess I will make see what I can do on my own in the meantime. Will still look forward to hearing more when your time permits. Good luck with the Photo Ship One project.

[Steve M.]

How did it work out?