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Hot Topic (More than 10 Replies) MIA rubber powered helicopters. (Read 12891 times)
Mario I. Arguello
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Vintage MIA Scale R/B
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Re: MIA rubber powered helicopters.
Reply #14 - Jun 8th, 2017 at 10:06pm
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If you are going to employ stretch winding for horizontal rubber mount, you will need a gear box or some flex cable to the main motor.  A geared flex cable done properly will work beautifully!




« Last Edit: Jun 11th, 2017 at 2:11pm by Mario I. Arguello »  

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Ray_K
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Re: MIA rubber powered helicopters.
Reply #13 - May 30th, 2017 at 9:04pm
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5-30-2017

No luck contacting Mario, so I will continue with my re-design of the RB500, it will look close but design changes had to be made for stretch winding.

Cheers, Ray K.  Smiley
  
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Mario I. Arguello
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Vintage MIA Scale R/B
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Re: MIA rubber powered helicopters.
Reply #12 - May 23rd, 2017 at 11:58am
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Hi Guys, I stumbled on this site by doing a search on Rubber Powered Helis and my designs popped up along with a link to a sketch posted here of my MIA RB500 heli. So it caught my interest as to who was doing a sketch of it and it led me here. I decided to join to give you a bit more info and help you out.

May I say, that there is no need to reverse engineer my designs. All you had to do is contact me directly at MIADSGNS@COX.net and request more info.

As you can see I am still around, although I have moved on to other more elaborate projects.

History


My original company MIA Designs expanded to MIA Micro-FLIGHT, back in 1999,  but the Rubber Powered helis I did, have not been forgotten. None of the stuff I have designed is really forgotten, only placed on temporarily hold, until the grace of our heavenly father decides it is no longer in our control.

I don't often get people e-mailing me for Rubber Powered Helis, or stick and tissue helis, as some folks prefer to call these models, but I have sent out full size plans in exchange for a small fee to several people who have requested such while I still had plans available.

I still have the master drawings of all my RP helis done in vellum, as was the typical way, back in the day, before the internet went wild.

With this in mind. Let me say that the MIA RP or RB, Rubber Powered or Rubber Band Helis as you've already seen it and as it comes up in Google search when you key in MIA Rubber Powered Helicopters, all were available at the time I was selling them in kit form.  The only ones not available were the more free-style designs in the background of the display I showed in one of the Chicago Hobby and Model shows, back in the day. See photo.

The original MIA MD500 Rubber powered heli Kit

When I was selling the rubber powered heli kits, 80's early 90's, I had been in constant contact already on several projects with Flying Models magazine and had sent to one of their columnists, Earl VanGorder, who was publishing my micro heli work, in general, back in those days (Flying Models 1993), a full kit and he did a multi page spread review of it which came out on Flying Models March 1994.

The Kit came with all the balsa stick and the plan itself (big sheets) was the "tissue" covering for the heli. Now some of you may be wondering why use the plan paper to cover the model. Well, this was a decision I made considering that I wanted all the graphics laid out on the covering and it was a lot easier to simply use the plan itself, color as you wish,  trim it and apply it with paper glue to the balsa sticks. The model was indeed a bit heavier than one covered with traditional light tissue, but considering the size of the model and the rubber power I was using in those days, it was not that critical. I demo'd flight at the Chicago Model and Hobby show and many people were very interested.

Now I also did the same model in color tissue and a few of my customers at the time took the same model and covered it in monocote, silkspan, and similar even, so the option of  covering was not limited, if you were not too concerned with weight.

OK so weight is very important in a rubber powered model, but it depends how it is build also. To keep the model lightweight, using the plan as covering, I elected not to cover any areas that did not need covering such as the top and bottom to save on weight and these actually improved flights since there was less drag on the verticals of the model being only side plates, if you will, made from balsa and paper.  Now these areas were x-reinforced with balsa sticks to give the rather  boxy but 3-dimensional scale like structure more mechanical rigidity, while keeping it as light as possible, with the given components, for the reasons mentioned.

The power pod was a drop-in assembly, a simple long rectangular frame, that extended below the belly of the model, to  house a powerful rubber motor and keep it from being too distractive and within the scale and required power of the model.

In similar fashion, my other designs, the Bell 47G, Hughes 300, Bell Huey and Long Ranger kits, were a balancing act of material selection, looks and power to give as best of a satisfying flight with a look that was more realistic than any previously designed Rubber Powered stick and rubber heli-. After all, this is one reason I started designing rubber powered helicopters, it was because the stuff available, at the time, was mainly sticks with opposing props powered by a few strings of rubber and I wanted something more realistic. This is basically the gist and direction I took with all the rubber powered heli designs you see still on my pages and also when you search on Google MIA Rubber Powered Helicopter. In fact it is these helis that paved the way to my electric heli designs, later turned into full RC Kits that I was offering back in 1999 before any company had a micro heli of the type, size and weight I was making in those years.
« Last Edit: May 23rd, 2017 at 5:29pm by Mario I. Arguello »  

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bigrip74
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Re: MIA rubber powered helicopters.
Reply #11 - Apr 19th, 2017 at 6:35pm
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I would be interested in building a simple Helicopter for a cookup.

Bob
  
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Ray_K
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Re: MIA rubber powered helicopters.
Reply #10 - Apr 19th, 2017 at 6:00pm
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4-19-2017

Just send me a PM and an e-mail to where you want the file sent to when ready.

Cheers, Ray K.
  
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Ray_K
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Re: MIA rubber powered helicopters.
Reply #9 - Apr 19th, 2017 at 5:57pm
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4-19-2017

Hello all,

I have not forgot about this one, still working on the structure lay-out, I am kind of jumping in between the Huey and this one, as soon as workable plans are ready I will send them to anyone who would like to try one for maybe a cook-up on this.  Wink

Cheers, Ray K.
  
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Ray_K
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Re: MIA rubber powered helicopters.
Reply #8 - Feb 24th, 2017 at 5:01pm
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2-24-2017

Once I blew the line drawings I made up to the 21" length this model is quite big! I will start the structure lay out this weekend and I will go from there.

Cheers, Ray K.
  
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Sky9pilot
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Re: MIA rubber powered helicopters.
Reply #7 - Feb 24th, 2017 at 8:42am
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Ray_K wrote on Feb 23rd, 2017 at 10:23pm:
2-23-2017

If all goes well we should have a cook up on this one, should be simple to build and could be a lot of fun, I would provide the plans for anyone who wants to try and build it.  Wink

Cheers, Ray K.


As soon as I complete my Schneider Trophy plane I'd enjoy a heli cookup!
Tom
  

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Your attitude will determine your altitude!- John Maxwell
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. Jn 8:32
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staubkorb
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Re: MIA rubber powered helicopters.
Reply #6 - Feb 24th, 2017 at 7:14am
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I do remember these kits being advertised - even considered ordering one, but never did.  I think they were in Flying Models and Model Aviation.

I'd be interested in tying one of these - check your PM's.

Pete
  

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Ray_K
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Re: MIA rubber powered helicopters.
Reply #5 - Feb 23rd, 2017 at 10:23pm
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2-23-2017

If all goes well we should have a cook up on this one, should be simple to build and could be a lot of fun, I would provide the plans for anyone who wants to try and build it.  Wink

Cheers, Ray K.
  
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Sky9pilot
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Re: MIA rubber powered helicopters.
Reply #4 - Feb 23rd, 2017 at 9:28pm
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Alright Ray,
A re-creation of the original with a few tweaks sounds like a fun project.  These helicopters are amazing to me and I love seeing what you do with them!
Tom
  

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Your attitude will determine your altitude!- John Maxwell
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. Jn 8:32
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Ray_K
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Re: MIA rubber powered helicopters.
Reply #3 - Feb 23rd, 2017 at 8:30pm
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2-23-2017

Hello Tom,

This Hughes 500 I am thinking about doing is just a re-creation of the original done by MIA designs, some changes will have to be made of course but I will try to keep it as close to the original as possible. It will not be no where near scale and it will have that rough angular shape as it did in the early 90's. I just want to see if it will fly or not so what you see from my drawings is what it is going to look like.

Cheers, Ray K.  Smiley
  
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Re: MIA rubber powered helicopters.
Reply #2 - Feb 23rd, 2017 at 8:15pm
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With your skills I know I'll be seeing a Hugh's 500 with smooth lines and looking like your Huey which is marvelous!  Can't wait!  Go for it Ray Smiley

I'll never forget an airshow in the Sacramento, CA area where the Hugh's test pilot did an actual loop with one.  The FAA shut down his routine for the next day!  They didn't want him to do another loop.  I have the slide of that heli with the sun shinning on the bottom side of the fuselage!!!  Was a wild show!
Tom
  

If God is your Co-pilot...switch seats...
Your attitude will determine your altitude!- John Maxwell
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. Jn 8:32
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Ray_K
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Re: MIA rubber powered helicopters.
Reply #1 - Feb 23rd, 2017 at 7:29pm
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2-23-2017

This is a pretty basic model, just two side frames, some cross members, landing gear and rotors, looks like it was direct drive with some kind of balsawood cage to hold the rubber, it was hand wound, there was no way to stretch wind it, it was covered with what was printed on the plan, some re-designing will have to be done but I think I can wing this, here is where things are at.

Basic side view and front view line drawings done, it was 21" long and had a rotor Dia of 20" once I blow these drawings up to the correct size I will then design the structure, should not take long to build.

Cheers, Ray K.
  

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Ray_K
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MIA rubber powered helicopters.
Feb 23rd, 2017 at 7:21pm
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2-23-2017

I found this picture of rubber powered helicopters that MIA use to make back in 93 - 95, these have not been made in over 20 years and no real information can be found about them, all I have is the picture to work from and an ad from Flying models mag that shows a drawing of it and mentions rotor dia and length. It is a semi or sport scale model of a Hughes 500, looks like they did a Hughes 300 and a Bell 47 but those never made it to market.

I will see if I can re-create this model for kicks.

Cheers, Ray K.
  

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