mini-boy

[june8781]

I just aquired a schulter mini-boy, minus electronics,but otherwise complete. when were these built? can i use a spectrum reciever with an aluminum frame? I was thinking ar 6200. I was thinking this thing would be really cool to get back in the air. any thoughts or recommendations?

[june8781]

somebody must have owned one of these back in the day, lets hear about it.

[biffj]

Never had a mini-boy but friends had heli-boy's. I started with a Revolution 40 which was a contemporary. They were all available in the late 70's and into the early 80's. I got my Revolution used in about '82 and a friend was flying a heli-boy at the time. They were fixed pitch heli's and gyros were a dream of the future at that time. The tails were twitchy and a pain to deal with as every power change screwed with you as it sped up the main and tail rotors. You never really knew what the response would be....
I don't really remember the mini-boy though I seem to remember a smaller heli-boy sized chopper. The Cricket came out in the early 80's and I would guess it replaced the mini. It was a small .30 sized fixed pitch heli that got a lot of guys into the hobby with lower cost and simpler construction. The aluminum frames shouldn't bother the radio especially if you insure that each antenna wire hangs out its respective side. There are guys flying alum frame heli's like the HK's with good results using the Spektrum 6200. Make sure you install a gyro, it will help a lot though you might consider turning it off just to see what a big deal it was when they came out.
Flying will be a challenge if you fly collective heli's now. The response is like flying in mud and forward flight is not as straightforward as today's machines. Post some pics if you can and show some of these guys a bit of Heli History. Dieter Schlueter was a pioneer in this hobby and is really responsible for its existance.
Hope that helps a bit.
Frank

[june8781]

helps alot, although this is a cp heli, and yes I plan on running a gyro. I.m going to say its a mini-boy as it looks just like the pictures I found last night. the gentleman I got it from knew nothing about it only that he aquired it used in the early 80's and last hovered it in 2007. he is 84 years young, and flies a cx2 and blade cp indoors all winter. He found out I was into helis and told me he wanted it out of his basement. the extra blades aren't even shinkwrapped. boy do i have alot to learn. hope to fly it this spring and yes I will post pics once I get it together

[The WoodCrafter]

What size motor is in it?

I would throw the wood blades in the trash and install some modern CF blades.

Depending what model it is it may have mechanical tail rotor compensation. I would bypass this because you are going to use a gyro.

And pictures would be nice.

[biffj]

Pictures would be great and for your info, Schlueter is the proper spelling. The "e" is placed into the name because we don't have the umlauts( two little dots over the u) on our keyboards normally. That spelling may get you more info from the search engines.
As for the wooden rotor blades if they aren't warped than by all means use them. They were carefully built from a very strong and solid hardwood leading edge with a lightweight balsa trailing edge. Wood has excellent damping properties that carbon can't match. It helps diminish the vibration and won't destroy your rotor system if you ding a blade on something solid. Most of the parts in that heli aren't readily available and while I like carbon fiber the woodies are your best bet for that heli. You won't likely be doing a lot of 3D stuff with it.

It is quite possible that the mini-boy was the first collective heli from Schlueter. I ended up going with the GMP Cobra as a lower cost alternative to the european heli's of the day. It was a .50 sized version of Hirobo's US importers .60 sized Competitor. They were great collective pitch machines that helped start the aerobatics with RC heli's. Schlueter's heli's were much more common out east while JR/Century and Hirobo were big out west. American RC was a builder in Oceanside California who actually built stuff in house of their own design while most of the GMP stuff was Hirobo mechanics. Lots of neat stuff and machinery back then with Kavan doing a lot of scale stuff. Keep us posted on progress and get the thing flying.

Frank

[The WoodCrafter]

The reason I said to trash the wood blades is the time involved with balancing and covering them, either shrink or paint.
I remember how much time I put into blades and every once in a while I could not get a set to not vibrate. One blade was softer than the other and would not track right.
Skip all that and bolt on some CF blade and don't even think about it.
CF blades are weighted and cord wise CG corrected, way better technology.

[mcbiggins]

[june8781]

I agree, no pics, no info. so hopefully they are attached, not very computer literate when it comes to stuff like this. anyway, here it is, has an os .40 engine in it. I do have a spare main gear, extra clutch and bell, 2 start shafts, one main shaft and 12 spindle shafts, so, I can rebuild it at least once, and no don't plan on any 3d. so, where should my pitch range be? I was thinking -2 to whatever, maybe +10? I guess I'll find out when I put the servos in it. I really am excited about restoring this one. hope it comes out ok.

[The WoodCrafter]

Thanks for the pictures. Looks like it will be a nice project.
I guess it is a collective pitch Mini-Boy.
I got into R/C helis after Schulter's popularity peeked so I never had one.
I started with Kalt and GMP. My buddies had there Schulter's hanging from the garage rafters by then.

[june8781]

when do you think this was built? I have seen pictures of one that had a wooden front frame area, glad this one is aluminum.

[JBajkor]

Originally Posted by biffj

... It is quite possible that the mini-boy was the first collective heli from Schlueter....
Frank

Very early 70's, Shlueter had a fixed pitch cobra. Later versions had collective added. Then, about 1974, the Helibaby came on the market. This was my first heli, a wonderful machine in it's day. Soon after came a collective version called the SuperBaby. It flew great but anything other than a "perfect" landing and it would boomstrike. After that came the heliboy and it was into the 80's before the miniboy hit the market.
Joe

[june8781]

I wasn't sure if it was older than me (born in 77), but thought it was a little piece of heli history.

[Skiddz]

Originally Posted by june8781

when do you think this was built? I have seen pictures of one that had a wooden front frame area, glad this one is aluminum.

My Schluter JR50 has a wooden "frame"... One of these days I'll get it flying again...

[kenh]

Originally Posted by june8781

where should my pitch range be? I was thinking -2 to whatever, maybe +10?

-2 to -4 should be good on the bottom side. I'm thinking that +8 on the top side is all the 40 will pull. Remember this was built at the dawn of the age so it will not perform like a "modern" heli will. A loop back in the day was worth several days of bench flying!!


Oh, as mentioned before....



Good luck

[june8781]

hey, I posted the pics, please look back. and thanks for the info. I just found this antique section and my post moved. this could be awesome to see some of the older stuff.

[kenh]

Originally Posted by june8781

hey, I posted the pics, please look back. and thanks for the info.

You're right... My bad!!

[piper]

I have a mini-boy that I bought sometime around 1980. It has a metal frame with a wooden front radio tray and wooden canopy frame. I still have the original box that the kit came in along with all of the original paper work, instructions, etc. I do not have the OS engine that I had in it. I removed it some years ago so that a friend could us it in an airplane. The mini-boy was never crashed but I only flew it a few times. I will take some pictures and post them later.

If anyone is interested I would like to sell this helicopter and all of the associated materials. I also have a spare wooden parts kit that was never needed and never assembled.

[partroy]

I have 2 mini boy's. I am in need of blades for them. Does anyone know where to get them?

[Erbid]

If someone can measure the blades, we can probably cut down some woodies which would preserve the heli in a blade strike. How long do they each need to be?

Erbid