28 Mar 2024, 20:44 [ UTC - 5; DST ]
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Post subject: Re: Anyone own a Mosquito helicopter? Posted: 22 Sep 2016, 13:20 |
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Joined: 11/03/08 Posts: 14529 Post Likes: +22859 Location: Peachtree City GA / Stoke-On-Trent UK
Aircraft: A33
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just to get this straight in my head - you think the stock market is too risky but you fly ultralight helicopters ?
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Post subject: Re: Anyone own a Mosquito helicopter? Posted: 22 Sep 2016, 13:35 |
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Joined: 12/12/07 Posts: 2948 Post Likes: +1462 Company: Stonehouse Supply,Inc. Location: Wellington-Palm Beach, Florida
Aircraft: Van's RV-14A
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Every time I hear the word rotary, this is what I think of safety wise. Attachment: pig roasting on a spit.gif
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_________________ "Don't Fight the Fed" ~ Martin Zweig
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Post subject: Re: Anyone own a Mosquito helicopter? Posted: 22 Sep 2016, 13:52 |
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Joined: 02/10/12 Posts: 6819 Post Likes: +7927 Company: Minister of Pith Location: Florida
Aircraft: Piper PA28/140
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Username Protected wrote: I loved my little Helicycle, but the Mosquito XE-285 has me intrigued. They are using an Arctic Cat 800HO engine that is designed to make 160HP at 8500 RPM. In the helicopter they re-map the computer, change a few small items, and run it at 6000RPM making about 50-70 HP depending on what phase of flight you are in.
Having ridden arctic snowmobiles for years I have faith in their engines and the Mosquito owners seem to swear by their little machines (especially auto rotation capabilities) but I have never flown one. Do the snowmobiles run continuously at 6000 RPM?
_________________ "No comment until the time limit is up."
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Post subject: Re: Anyone own a Mosquito helicopter? Posted: 22 Sep 2016, 13:56 |
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Joined: 12/19/08 Posts: 12161 Post Likes: +3535
Aircraft: C55
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Username Protected wrote: just to get this straight in my head - you think the stock market is too risky but you fly ultralight helicopters ? The 285 is not ultralight and it has a proven air frame and rotor system that has never failed. My concern is the engine. 2-strokes generally are not good power plant options due to the high RPM / Low MP in a descent which causes too little of oil to lubricate the engine. The way I understand the new engine is that the fuel and oil injection is computer controlled and compensates for the RPM problem, whereas a carb cannot since it is only a function of airflow to draw in oil. As for risk - I am in control of the machine. If you are in the markets the machine is in control of you. My Helicycle was actually a wonderful flying machine and the engine was bullet proof. I was not satisfied; however, that the rotor system was stable as 10 of us had a horrible shake develop. The Mosquito was designed from the ground up as a simple and robust helicopter with the designer being a very capable engineer. He is still alive today flying the machine after 20+ years. Some of the owners have even demonstrated hover autos from nearly 20 ft. This is something that cannot be done by almost every other helicopter out there without damage. Anyway, it intrigues me. I like challenges and things that are not common.
_________________ The kid gets it all. Just plant us in the damn garden, next to the stupid lion.
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Post subject: Re: Anyone own a Mosquito helicopter? Posted: 22 Sep 2016, 14:06 |
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Joined: 12/19/08 Posts: 12161 Post Likes: +3535
Aircraft: C55
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Username Protected wrote: I loved my little Helicycle, but the Mosquito XE-285 has me intrigued. They are using an Arctic Cat 800HO engine that is designed to make 160HP at 8500 RPM. In the helicopter they re-map the computer, change a few small items, and run it at 6000RPM making about 50-70 HP depending on what phase of flight you are in.
Having ridden arctic snowmobiles for years I have faith in their engines and the Mosquito owners seem to swear by their little machines (especially auto rotation capabilities) but I have never flown one. Do the snowmobiles run continuously at 6000 RPM?
The high performance snowmobiles generally do not engage the clutch (centrifugal) until 4000-4500 RPM and cruise at 30-50 MPH RPM is around 6000 depending on gearing. On my sled I ran it pretty hard averaging 70 MPH or so and 7500 RPM. Of course, you are on and off the throttle continuously in the woods. There were stretches that I would hold the throttle down for 5-10 miles turning 8500 RPM and 110 MPH (160 HP) and then when entering a wooded area with the throttle all the way down or all the way off. I never found sledding any fun anywhere in the middle
2-strokes generally make a lot of power with little weight and that is their advantage in a sled. From what I understand it is not a good idea to have an "unloaded" engine turning high RPM for any significant duration whether two stroke or 4 stroke. Maybe George B could opine here.
Like I said, I beat my snowmobile to death and never had a problem which included very rough terrain. In the helicopter I just don't know.
BTW, the designer of the helicopter claims that the 800cc engine is superior to the turbine in every way. Don't know what to think of that.
Pretty good demonstration here of it's power, ability to maintain RPM, and left pedal authority:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/spQJTpyiZiw[/youtube]
_________________ The kid gets it all. Just plant us in the damn garden, next to the stupid lion.
Last edited on 22 Sep 2016, 14:35, edited 1 time in total.
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Post subject: Re: Anyone own a Mosquito helicopter? Posted: 22 Sep 2016, 14:36 |
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Joined: 11/03/08 Posts: 14529 Post Likes: +22859 Location: Peachtree City GA / Stoke-On-Trent UK
Aircraft: A33
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Username Protected wrote: 2-strokes generally make a lot of power with little weight and that is their advantage in a sled. From what I understand it is not a good idea to have an "unloaded" engine turning high RPM for any significant duration whether two stroke or 4 stroke. Maybe George B could opine here. Worse for 2-strokes, it's more a matter of them being difficult to govern at light loads so an overspeed becomes a possibility. The concern applies to all sizes, for example this 2-stroke, which is usually prevented by its computer from getting close to its screaming top speed of 900RPM if the power demand is light
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Post subject: Re: Anyone own a Mosquito helicopter? Posted: 22 Sep 2016, 15:58 |
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Joined: 12/19/08 Posts: 12161 Post Likes: +3535
Aircraft: C55
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Username Protected wrote: Looks fun! why not another Helicycle? It scared me enough that I did not feel comfortable in it again. When a machine shakes so bad that you can't keep your mouth closed and your vision is compromised from the shake you tend to shy away. I entered an auto rotation and not long after the entry the machine went into a horrible shake that literally began tearing the machine apart in the air. The main rotor blades went into a whirl that was flexing them up and down 2-3 ft in each rotation. I did not know that another 8-9 owners had this same problem in the past. I also did not know that raising the collective stopped the shake. Had I been informed of this I would have been more comfortable, but the "secret" concerned me.
_________________ The kid gets it all. Just plant us in the damn garden, next to the stupid lion.
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Post subject: Re: Anyone own a Mosquito helicopter? Posted: 22 Sep 2016, 16:35 |
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Joined: 12/19/08 Posts: 12161 Post Likes: +3535
Aircraft: C55
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Username Protected wrote: Years ago I was on an interesting UAV rotorcraft project that used 2-stroke engines. We seized an engine many times with the engine at low power (low fuel flow) and up at nominal flight rpm (100% rotor speed). Running the rotor at 100% on the ground with no pitch was very problematic.
I wonder how they address this? Yes, this is the problem with carbed engines and helicopters. What happens is that you are still running on the "slow" jet when not pulling any real power, but are turning high RPM. This condition is too lean and causes either rod bearing failure due to lack of oil or piston burn and seizure due to the excessive lean condition. If you increase the slow jet size it solves the problem, but creates the problem of being too rich at lower RPM which fouls the plugs. With EFI and oil injection and the ability to custom program the ECU you can fine tune the programming to pump more oil and fuel at high RPM / Low power settings which solves the problem of being too lean and not enough oil and also tune it to cut back the oil and fuel and low RPM to avoid fouling. With a carb you this simply is not possible. Furthermore, with a carb you would have to rejet the slow jet and needle jet depending on altitude and temperature. Fuel injection is the answer.
_________________ The kid gets it all. Just plant us in the damn garden, next to the stupid lion.
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