Helicopter Lift weight

[kabutor]

I can't find out how to build an helicopter that can lift the heavy generator you have to carry on one mission.

I did a new helicopter with the medium disel engine, and I can't lift it, I search on the internet and can't find anywhere a post of someone explining how to make it, I tried doing a double helix chopper and still can't lift it.

Can anoye ELI5?
thx

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

Helicopter's lift weight is based on 2 factors: How fast the props are rotating, and what angle their collective is set at.
Generally speaking the gyroscope under most circumstances does not set the collective to 1, or anywhere close to it. You can bypass this with a numerical switchbox that forces the collective to 1, which will allow maximum lift in most situations.

I can also take a personal look at it if you upload it.

[kabutor]

I see there is a default rotation speed do I have to make it higher? What are the pros/cons? Does it use more fuel?

Is there a too hig rotation speed?

I'll check the collective, but it should be 1 if I press the up key right?

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

If you're in basic mode, i have absolutely no idea how most of the stuff functions there, so i'm of not much help on that aspect. Probably "add more engines" is the solution in basic mode, it usually is.

If you're in advanced mode, the rotors are rotating at the exact same speed as the power-pipe gives out. I.e. if an engine is running at 10 RPS, and you have 1:3 gearing, they're rotating at 30 RPS.

Also should note that it might go without saying that larger props have more lift, so that also affects it, of course!

[Timothi' Graggle]

Seeing as real life birds usually are in the 500 RPM or 8 to 9 RPS speed shouldnt be the main issues id think, if the physics match up. I have not built a bird in SW yet tho. I'd assume that SW uses some of the same principals like Transitional lift and what not. so once the weight is up and forward flight is going, less collective will be needed.

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

Originally posted by kmfaordie:

Seeing as real life birds usually are in the 500 RPM or 8 to 9 RPS speed shouldnt be the main issues id think, if the physics match up. I have not built a bird in SW yet tho. I'd assume that SW uses some of the same principals like Transitional lift and what not. so once the weight is up and forward flight is going, less collective will be needed.

Your issue is comparing reality to the game. Very large rotors have slower rotation speeds, because the material in question can't handle larger rotation speeds, but smaller rotors, like say, MD500's prop is nearer to 1000 RPM.

[kabutor]

I only have Large rotor an Tail rotor, still having problems. And yes playing in advanced mode

Is torque here important?
If I want to lift a heavy thing do I have to setup gearboxes for speed?
Engine < Gearbox < Rotor
or for more torque?
Engine > Gearbox > Rotor

Also if I pick a rotor with 8 blades does it has better lift power? whats the difference, if any from 3 blades to 8 blades?

Thanks

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

Torque allows higher RPS during load, but if your RPS doesn't significantly drop when you swap collective to 1, it shouldn't be an issue.

Your gearboxes should always be set to speed in helos. The engine should retain its 11RPS on autohover's 0 up/down setting (approx 0.5 collective) with about 60-65% throttle, so that when they hit 1 collective the throttle should be around 95% to maintain that RPS. The value may vary a bit on the prop and way the helo is made, but the key is keeping it a little bit below 100% on full collective.

More blades do have more lift, but they also require more torque because of higher drag. I've yet to conclusively test out what's the best design for each scenario with blade amounts, and it's one of the things delaying updates to my guide.

[kabutor]

I finally managed to lift the generator and deliver it, It was more because I used an 8 blade rotor than the gearboxes.

I had two 3/2 gearboxes in line, and when I enable one of those it lose a lot of stability and eventually I lose control on the chopper and crash. If I enable both it shakes the whole heli

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

2 3/2 gearboxes in line is very close to 5:2 with more power loss. 3:2 normalizes to 1.5:1 * 1.5 = 2.25:1. 5:2 normalizes to 2.5:1, which is higher ratio than 2.25, but when you take account the power loss of additional gearbox, it "feels" more like a 2.4:1 gear would

Happy that you could solve the issue, though!

[kabutor]

I did it because the heli was not stable with only one Gearbox, but I thought that maybe when I pick the weight I will need it so I can enable 1 Gearbox, 2 or none

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

I could take a personal look at it sometime if you want, but it's alright if you're perfectly happy with it too

[kabutor]

it's a crappy heli, it's not worthy to look at it really.

xD
Just trying to learn sometimes things are not very clear, and in yuotube there are 20 videos about gearboxes and none of them talk about helicopters

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

That's because Youtube is a silly place and not excessively wordy and long like my totally good (tm) guide on Gearboxes

[kabutor]

I've readed after you said that you need to update the guide, didn't know you did one.

These kind of games I'm used to learn them watching some videos, but in these case I couldn't find any that solves my problem

[Ra-Ra-Rasputin]

There are a plenty of videos on Youtube covering various topics for Stormworks, but the unfortunate part is that most of them are very out of date too, so something they help you build might just not work