Hi Graham,

Not sure either, maybe the more outward cog helps stability but hinders spin up. Forgot to mention I started with no shim but with poor spin up added 0.8mm which I glued to the trailing edge of the flex plate

Rich like his models responsive and so my Cog is damping down things. As always depends on flying style preferences I guess.

Yep fingers crossed for next weekend, planning to be here before midday Friday

Steve

OK Steve - Will go with the 0.8shim initially. Going with 46% from tip COG and uncovered blades so far at 46.5 g. The vicar cant spare any more church roof !!

See you Friday.

Graham

I have been away from gyros for awhile and wasn't paying attention to some of Rich's recent designs. I build one of his RPG machines a few years back....a great flyer once I figured out how to fly gyros

After I stumbled on the Atom Special build....I knew I had to have one so I downloaded the article & plans from the RCM&E site and got to work.

As you guys know its a fast build.....I started on Saturday

Here's a few build photos.

Now that is a very nice clean job.....just a bit different from my "hacking"... but if you like Rich's designs I have a feeling that you may have to fire that laser up again soon.
Happy Landings
Chris...

Must be very nice to have access to a laser!! But then, I guess if I had put my money into a laser instead of machine tools, I could have had one also...

SteveT.

Thanks guys.

I had been using a cnc router to make balsa parts but fixturing to hold the part was always a PIA. Laser cutting balsa is fast and simple....just lay the balsa stock on the bed and press go.

After looking at some of the machines available it seemed it would be possible to make a better machine at a lower cost...on top of that I wanted a left handed machine (controls on the left side) as they don't exist.

Here's a link to my build log if your interested.
http://www.buildlog.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1990

Here she is

So... you are an "evil, wicked, mean and nasty" person!!... The word sinister comes from the Latin word "sinistra" which means left (or left handed).. There was recently a school teacher who was forcing a child to write right handed as that was her belief!!! Stupid people!!

And by the way.... I am a lefty also... (so..to paraphrase part of a song by Steppenwolf... I'm evil, wicked, mean and nasty)...

Oh...and great job on the laser build!!!!!

SteveT.

Few but proud!
Us lefties need to stick together and build our own machines

Finished the canopy plug and blades yesterday....if I push hard I should get some stick time this afternoon.

A few years ago one of our older club members gave me a couple balsa planks that he found when he was cleaning out his shop. At the time I wasn't sure what I would ever use them for.....well the canopy plug was a perfect application

Blade carving on the router is pretty quick once you get the design completed. I don't do a lot of 3D design/cutting so I spent nearly 3hrs screwing around to get the NC file right.

Used a Clark Y airfoil for the profile.

Rad

Forgive me if you already know this, but you need the bottom of the leading edge to be sharp & not rounded. A standard clark y has a rounded lower leading edge. Otherwise the blades might have a problem spinning up.

Good luck

Graham

Thanks Graham, I actually only carved the top half of the Clark airfoil leaving the bottom flat and the leading edge sharp.

Very interested in building this design but am having no luck in downloading the magazine. Can anybody help with the plans?

Rich your Atom tail has been very popular

https://jeancousin4923.wordpress.com...toujours-bien/