Slightly over engineered Pull Copter flies over 20 meters

This one Really flies high!

Update 23/03/09: I have been breaking many pulleys (for science!), and today a friend of mine also complained that his kids broke theirs, it couldn't have been any coincidence, so after looking better in cad…

I replaced pulley V2 with V3 in files, please print with new model when your v2 breaks!

Update 23/03/05: Busy day today, finally got the toroidal rotor working as intended, you can find the files now here! now the question is, V15 vs Toroidal? witch flies the highest??

(i will hopefully post a video tomorrow)

Update 23/03/05: if you want to use this in slow and low flights, make sure that you break the gearbox movement with the pulley, as shown on the video below:

Update 23/03/05: Toroidal rotor is on the works, I haven't manage to make one good enough yet!

This is my attempt to create and improve on a toy i had as a kid, objective was to use as little hardware as possible, Final design Requires:

4 x M4x10

4 x M3x25 (M3x15 will also work)

Print Settings:

NOTE: Planetary gearbox has fairly tight tolerances, please make sure your printer is finely tunned for the filament you are going to use, If all is good the gearbox is 100% free as soon as you remove from the build plate.

All Parts are printed with PLA, Disks, center hub and pulley Should be printed with PETG because of extra Flexibility, PLA works but not for long. 

Please use random seam to avoid week spots on the print.

Gearbox and toothed wheel - Default 0,2mm PLA setting + 6 Perimeters;

Handle assembly and pulley - Default 0,2mm PLA setting + 4 Perimeters + 5% infill;

Flying disk and center pulley - Default 0,2mm PETG + 6 Perimeters;

No supports in any of my models!

Assembly:

Gearbox:

Lubricate the planetary Gearbox.

Tight all the way the screws (M4x10), then loose ¼ of a turn.

Fit the Center Hub, optionally you can glue the hub if the fitting is too loose, you want it to nice and secure.

Insert the inner ring on the Lock ring, and insert the screws (M3x25) on the respective holes.

Set the ring assembly in top of the holder, make sure the little dent aligns with either lock or unlock sign.

Tight the screws all the way, and then release ½ of a turn.

The mechanism is designed to have a satisfying click when moved from lock to unlock position!

Get all the parts,

insert the gearbox on the slot, and lock it in!

And Ready to FLY! Have fun!

Just as a note, you can get crazy heights and speeds with this, so, be careful, also make sure your holding hand is only on the small diameter, you can get your hand crushed between the pulley and the entry. (example below)

HAVE FUN:

How we got Here?!

The adventure started in 2021:

First version had a big Stainless Steel bearing, Flat blades and a different center hub:

With some rough testing it was found very early that this type of blades if they hit something they have a tendency to break, first order of business, Improve the blades!

With the new version, when they hit objects because of the “fan type” design the blade can flex instead of break, though the PLA is quite brittle, from this point onwards Only PETG blades are allowed.

We got it flying and fairly resistant (PETG and curvy). One thing missing:

SPEEEEEEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDD

The way this toy traditionally works is in a 1:1 pulling to rotation ratio, That ENDS NOW!

Introducing V1 Planetary Gearbox:

This was a good opportunity/excuse to design my first planetary gearbox, with this gearbox i can replace the ball bearing and gain velocity on the pull! 

“With great speed comes great responsibility”, NERD SECTION WARNING

As you can see in the video below, the disk is subject of great stresses, while accelerating the lift is much higher than the centrifugal force, then as it keeps accelerating the centrifugal takes over making the disk “flat again”, with this it can achieve Great hights!

Next challenge was to make it modular and other small iterations as adding 1 more blade for extra lift and small cosmetic options until we finally got here:

If you want to make your own gearbox and blades, you can find the base file for each in the folders.

If you do make your own blades or gearboxes, please always refer to the original design.