johnpyro Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 Hi guys. I ordered these girandola frames and was thinking it would be a lot easier to mount my vertical drivers 90 degrees/straight up and down. I know this isn't how it is traditionally done, but I was still going to use to 2-3 horizontal drivers as well. Will the horizontal drivers be enough to provide some spin? This isn't anything I'm taking terribly seriously (other than the safety and unpredictability of these things), just something I thought would be fun to experiment with. I am probably just going to use some large consumer sky rockets for the drivers. I know these aren't preferred but once again, just experimenting with some things while I'm down at the huge open field I intend to launch these things from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloyd Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 John,Unless your horizontal drivers last long enough to not only spin-up the wheel, but also for the entire duration of lift, you risk a chance of the wheel's slowing down enough to become unstable. Usually, I've not found it to be any harder to mount a driver at a 5 or 6 degree angle than to mount it straight. LLoyd 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnpyro Posted May 4, 2016 Author Share Posted May 4, 2016 Thank you for the input LLoyd. I think I've come up with a solution to allow me to angle the drivers properly. There isn't a whole lot of room to work with on these frames I have, but I think I came up with something that should allow for easy and accurate angling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted May 4, 2016 Share Posted May 4, 2016 If your drivers are really rockets than they will burn fiercely for 7 seconds and the whole duration will be short. You may need to source drivers that last a long time. or to fuse drivers in sequence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 A 15 degree vertical driver angle will create both lift and stability. With dola`s its a good idea to ground test the burn duration of both horizontal and vertical drivers so the finished article will be a little less unpredictable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mumbles Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 I would also make sure you have a wide open area to test. Girandolas somehow have an innate person and property seeking guidance system. I'd also recommend these little guys to anyone who wants to dabble and see what they're all about. The WPAG holds an annual competition with them. It's a lot of fun, and people get really creative at times. http://www.wpag.us/learn/Mini%20Girandolas%20by%20Jim%20Biersach.pdf 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloyd Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 (edited) The other thing I should have made clear is that I would only place vertical drivers at as small an angle as 5-6 degrees IF I'm also using horizontal drivers to 'get it going'. 5-6 degrees is plenty to maintain rotation, but not enough to provide the primary spin impetus. If you want that - no horizontal drivers - then count on the 10-15 degrees mentioned by Col.I happen to like the added visual effect of the horizontal drivers, and wouldn't (personally) do them any other way. Below is a view of my "StyroCopter" gyro... no 'frame', per se. Hey! IT FLEW! <G> Lloydhttp://www.pyrobin.com/files/me%20with%20styro-ii%20by%20ned%20gorski.jpg Edited May 5, 2016 by lloyd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 I would also make sure you have a wide open area to test. Girandolas somehow have an innate person and property seeking guidance system. I'd also recommend these little guys to anyone who wants to dabble and see what they're all about. The WPAG holds an annual competition with them. It's a lot of fun, and people get really creative at times. http://www.wpag.us/learn/Mini%20Girandolas%20by%20Jim%20Biersach.pdf He make an appearance at PGI and at IPA every year too with his bucket bottoms and root beer floats! We make a dozen or so for the 4th of July every year using those instructions. LOTS of fun!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloyd Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 Jim does things for FUN! And that's the best reason for doing them. I've been friends with JimB for a while, and he's fine folks. If he says it will fly... it'll probably fly! Lloyd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted May 5, 2016 Share Posted May 5, 2016 (edited) Lloyd, Sorry, attributed to the wrong person. Edited May 5, 2016 by dagabu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnpyro Posted May 6, 2016 Author Share Posted May 6, 2016 (edited) Thanks again for the info guys. That pdf is actually what started the gears turning on this project so I'm glad to see people referencing it for reliable guidelines. As far as space is concerned, I actually have a giant open field with round about 350ft. open in any direction. Not even a single tree, so I'm for sure good on space. It's all grass to and has had a good wetting in the past few days. I'm thinking of picking up some estes motors to play around with. There's a local hobby store that sells the E size motors. A bit expensive I know, but I don't have the time to gather the resources to make my own end burners unfortunately. I can honestly see this as sort of a new mini obsession. Since I'm getting married in a few weeks, I know I'm probably never going to have the money to put on large displays again, so projects like this could really scratch the pyro itch and yield some awesome results with maybe not as much investment. Seeing these big time bamboo structures and things, it all seems like a very serious art form. I'll try to get video and if I actually manage to accomplish anything worth sharing, I will post it here! Edited May 6, 2016 by johnpyro Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 PM sent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlaMtnBkr Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Pyro can become a very expensive hobby if you let it. But if you keep things simple and stick to BP based formulas, you can also do quite a bit for not much money if good at improvising and making things yourself. Lloyd, Alma was such a beautiful location! It's a shame we can no longer use it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lloyd Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Boy, you've got that right! I made myself a promise that if I ever won a multi-millions lottery (which I hardly EVER play!), I'll find a site LIKE Alma...centrally-located, friendly, high-and-dry, small town... all that stuff, set aside about 300 acres JUST for pyro, and build a full-time home-base for FPAG. Eh... just dreams. But you never know! Lloyd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dagabu Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Boy, you've got that right! I made myself a promise that if I ever won a multi-millions lottery (which I hardly EVER play!), I'll find a site LIKE Alma...centrally-located, friendly, high-and-dry, small town... all that stuff, set aside about 300 acres JUST for pyro, and build a full-time home-base for FPAG. Eh... just dreams. But you never know! Lloyd Lloyd, you do that and Ill move me and the wife down to be caretakers of the land for you!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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