"Did u use the same mags I used?? (the ones I got from you) ??  same 14" diameter rotors?  "

Yes, its basicly identical to yours (And my last 14' machine), same magnets, same 14" steel rotors, same stator w/ 48 windings of 2 strands of #14 wire.  Cutin speed currently would justify a 16' prop, but the forces of a 16' prop intimidate me so Im thinking of detuning the airgap again and going with a 14' or 16' prop on it.  Ive got one alternator finished completely - just needing a tail and prop, and another one just like it under construction.

"You said yours came out suitable for a 15' prop. Is this with a 7/8" airgap or did u decrease it?"

My stator came out 9/16" thick, I suspect the airgap is around 7/8".  Cutin is around 65 rpm.

"How heavy is it?"

Ive not weighed it yet, my guess, without the tail or the prop - around 80 pounds.

"Mine will be quite heavy. Im working out the details as I go along and if you couldnt tell,... i kinda built this one backwards... the rotors, stator, and then the yaw/tail furling assembly. I usually do it the other way around. I think it worked out good so far because I can design and beef up the parts that really need it.  I still have to make the prop. I think i will wait till i get it all assembled before I decide what size prop to build. I was shooting for a 16-18' prop..."

After visiting Hughs seminar and looking at how robust the 12' machine we built was... it would inspire me to use larger bearings, larger pivots... more iron all around.  Why not!!  18' would be quite a lot... it would scare the heck out of me.  At 12 volts now - with my 14' machine I often see about 135 amps @ around 24 mph.

That alternator can be seen here: http://www.fieldlines.com/story/2003/12/8/82054/7361

(and at 12 volts my losses in the line are pretty significant I think)  Consider that 18' would have almost twice the swept area therefor almost twice the energy, I'd be afraid of melting the stator.  (that allready concerns me with the 14' machine)  My intuition tells me this is not powerful enough for an 18' prop and I think 16' might be the upper limit.  Hard to say though.  Im dying to be able to test these on the ground soon.

"If your came out to run well with a 15' then i might reconsider... "

My 14' machine has been quite good now since January....  so thats not really a very long time to know how reliable it will be over the long haul.  It truly makes more power than I can use if its even a little breezy!  16' has me a little scared - so I'm thinking of taking "baby steps" up at this point.  If I go with a 15' prop, I will wind up opening the airgap slightly I think - although Im not sure.  The tips of the prop are a bit narrow on my 14' machine and I think that may have added some to the stall problems I had to start with.  So on this one Ill probably go 15', and make the blades a bit wider and.... see what happens!  I believe its in the ballpark though for a 15' prop.

"There is a chance you will be finished with your machine before I am done. This machine is for a new place of mine and I have to build the system from the ground up since its a 24v system."

Things are busy for me right now, but I plan to spend one or two days/week on it so I suspect itll be done here in... a week or two.  Then we can worry about the tower!

"Dan, I hope you had fun with Hugh. Did u take any pics?  will you post them or will Hugh have them up on his site?"

Great looking work! The inside connections really tidy things up. Great idea too testing before resin!

To RobD - in addition to the above methods for holding coils together, I have been using a hot melt glue gun for this with pretty good success. Just the tiniest amount of hot glue seems to hold things in place. You have to be a little careful with the tip of the glue gun, it's hot enough to melt the enamel on the wire. But if you keep the tip off the wire it works fine.

Ted.