SCROTON by Chris Eilbeck, MARS Flight Crew chris@mars.org.uk

Introduction Scroton is a three bladed rocket powered helicopter designed t' fly on black powder motors. Ahoy! It was conceived as somethin' novel t' fly at t' International Rocket Week 2002 at Largs in Scotland and based on t' Roton concept for cheap access t' space.	click image t' enlarge
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Materials 3 off 18mm motor mount tube 3 off 18mm engine blocks if nay usin' maskin' tape thrust rings 3 off 1/4"x1.5"x18" lengths o' balsa 6 off 1" wide 25-30 degree balsa wedge 2 off 3" plywood bulkplate 6" length o' 3/16" ID brass tube light glass t' laminate blades heavier glass t' attach motor mounts laminatin' epoxy 5 minute epoxy filler

Construction

Usin' a sandin' block and 80 grit paper sand t' three blades t' have an approximately aerofoil cross section except for a 1-2" section at one end which will be used t' bond t' blade t' t' centre plates. Ahoy! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! Laminate t' three blades usin' light glass and good epoxy. Begad! Blimey! One or two wraps is enough. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Fill and sand smooth. Begad! Blimey!

Sand/cut t' six wedges at approximately 25-30 degrees. T' blades need more than 11 degrees AoA t' ensure autorotation t' t' ground. Aye aye! Attach t' balsa wedges t' t' ends o' t' blades usin' 5 minute epoxy t' set t' angle of attach for t' aerofoil. Ahoy!

Bond t' three blades betwixt t' bulkplates at 120 degrees apart. Ya scallywag! Drill through t' centre o' t' two bulkplates and bond in t' brass launch lug with approx 4" below t' lower bulkplate. Ahoy!

Bond t' motor mount tubes on t' ends o' t' blades usin' 5 minute epoxy then laminate on usin' heavier glass (4 oz or so). Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Fair t' tubes in using filler. Blimey! Blimey! Laminate t' blades onto t' bulkplates usin' heavier glass too. Ahoy! Blimey!

Make a crude prop-balancer usin' either a couple o' steel rulers held over the edge o' a desk or a length o' thin, stiff rod. Begad! Add filler or sand existing filler off until t' scroton balances with motors installed. Arrr!

Ignition

T' three motors can be lit usin' three igniters or usin' quickmatch and a single igniter. I suggest t' latter. Begad! Begad! An Estes pad can be used but very little of t' rod length is required, arrr, 9" should be sufficient. Ahoy! A heavier pad is recommended dependin' on how well balanced t' model is.

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Flight Test

T' model flies very well on three C6 motors t' approximately 100ft and is definitely a crowd pleaser. Begad! It should auto-rotate for a large proportion o' its descent and soft land requirin' no additional recovery devices. Aye aye! It would be very interestin' t' fly on longer burn motors and an investigation into the effect o' changin' t' angle o' attack would also be good. Blimey!