10 Footer finally flying

[Bigwheel]

Hi everyone,

Well, finally after three years of reading and experimenting I was able to raise it up. And no better day than christmas day.  When my daughter asked how it got there, I told her old santa stopped by and dropped it off for me.  All day it was like being a kid all over again.  Anyhow, we have had some great winds around here and was able to see it put out over 30 amps into my resistor bank the other evening.  For those of you that don't know I have a 24 volt setup and my genny is aloft about 84 feet.  It was furling like it is supposed to.  I am going to try and upload some pictures of how the day went.  Thanks again for all your help.  Chad

[bj]

   Beautiful build--Congrats

   bj

[TomW]

BigWheel;

Sweet. I live for these stories. Real people doing real things not theory, conjecture and hot air.

Bravo.

Exactly why this site exists.

Thanks for the share.

Tom

[ghurd]

Nice.  84' still sounds like a long ways up.

What is the hardware and rubber where the wires go into the tower?

Very neat and clean.

G-

[Sly]

Hi Chad,

Beautiful workmanship!!! Attention to detail will surely pay off in the long run.

P.S. I wish I had a tall tower like yours....

Keep us posted.

Thanks for sharing you and Tom inspired me to do the same!

sly

[Boondocker]

Bigwheel,

Good looking system.  It must be nice to have the project in your backyard.  You  also have an anemometer to play with as well.  Look forward to the results.

Have fun,

Boondocker

[tecker]

Really nice that's an interesting mod for the wire drop . Put it up in the snow that must have been wild .

[oztules]

Great to see thanks.....

.........oztules

[Bigwheel]

Hi again,

Thanks again for the wounderfull comments!!  It does seems like it took forever, But for those of you out there don't give up!!  The day will come and the hard work will be worth it and rewarding.  I couldn't of asked for a better day.  The winds died down for christmas day and the sun even came out for a while.  It was cold but I could care less.  I was determined to get this up but that was mostly procrastination on my part.  A little insite into the project. Thanks to the Dan's for the plans.  It's a copy and went together as their plans call for.  I added the locking hardward for the tail so the tail could never come up and make contact with the blades.  An answer to the down tube wiring, I ordered a rotary electrical union (slip ring) so I wouldn't have to worry about the wires ever getting tangled up.  I ran #6 all the way up the tower and also to my rectifier box located in my barn.  I used some short pieces of #10 at the top of the tower to make the necessary connections.  The whole machine sits on a timmkin taper bearing and supportated at the lower end with an uhmw slip bushing I spun up at work.  My tower is 80' tall with a 4' stub.  I used 4" square tubing with an 8" square bolting flange at the top and bottom of 20' sections.  Hope this helps you all out.  Thanks again and Keep Them Flying!!  Chad

[luv2weld]

Chad

Really nice work! Looks beautiful.

I'm sure you're still trying to get the grin off your face!!

Thanks for sharing it with us.

Ralph

[Dave B]

I agree with Tom, thank you for posting what you have done and not what you think other's should do. Great looking project and I wondered if your slip ring arrangement is one of those mercury types ? (Mercotac) The only thing that stopped me from using one is that there would be no way to run my brake cable directly up through the middle so I go with the manual un-wind and range plug system. Works fine as mine is 85' up also so it takes a lot of turns to have to be concerned but I would much rather have the slip ring arrangement and brake some how. I look forward to your updates on performance. Again, great looking project.  Dave B.

[Bigwheel]

Hi Dave,

That in fact is a Mercotac rotary union.  Don't know how it will hold up but it should last for some time.  The only draw back that I see with them is that the terminal lugs are very tight (close together).  I was in the car driving tonight and got to thinking about your setup and was woundering if you wanted to use one of these (mercotac unions).  Just might be able to model something over this idea.  What I was thinking was using a simular setup like I've seen on the front headset of those free style pedal bikes.  The one's used for the front brakes.  If you catch my drift.  Just a thought.  P.S. Like your set up and the blades also, are you guys making those by hand or is it automated??  Thanks again Chad

[Dave B]

Chad,

  My blades are machine carved by my partner Dave Moller who designed and fabricated the machine. Currently it is set to carve the Gottigen 222 profile common to the Wincharger machines and at single blade lengths up to 10' for a 20' diameter machine. Thanks for asking, see some information here at www.royalfabrication.com

  I have been thinking of a way to have a union for a cable activated brake without having to go up the middle. Thanks for the bike idea, I think I know what you are referring to with the handlebars that will turn all the way around and still provide the brake cable without twisting. I'll check it out thanks. Keep us posted on the Mercotac unit and it's performance, I know they ain't cheap.  Dave B.

[SparWeb]

Hi Chad,

That looks great!  Clean wiring and fresh paint.

I see you've got the anemometer on it, too.  Must be recording some terrific wind speeds way up there!