helipad

[goldslinger]

hi I am wanting to make a helipad for my 1/9 scale bell 47g
as my garden has a bit of a slope to it i.e. one in four slope
I was thinking of putting four short posts (4"x4"x 1ft) into the ground then putting a four foot square 3/4 inch marine ply on top
would this be stable enough or would it need to be more solid

[SaneAdam]

Im no wood expert… but you would probably be fine if you added an extra post in the middle for support. Providing your not standing on it yourself it will be fine for the heli i think.

[goldslinger]

good thought a fifth post in the middle would reduce any bounce
I wasn't sure if a 4 foot pad would be big enough as the rotor disc is just under 4 foot

[SaneAdam]

good thought a fifth post in the middle would reduce any bounce
I wasn't sure if a 4 foot pad would be big enough as the rotor disc is just under 4 foot

It depends how confident you are landing and taking off. It only has to be big enough to sit the skids down on Plus you down want to ram it down hard so bounce shouldn't be too much of an issue but couldn't hurt to add a fifth post.

4 foot should be adequate for any slight misjudgments. Im guessing your not going be shooting big autos onto it if your back garden flying anyway.

[goldslinger]

I will be just doing standard landings and take offs its just that I am a relative newbie to flying
but as you say in reality it only needs to be big enough to place the skids on
thanks

[jwatts007]

A bit of 1200x1200 18mm ply on a 1000x1000 frame would do you nice...no need too support the centre..

[electricsceadu]

the other alternative is to do a scale take off from the slope
sit the heli across the slope
raise the lower skid first to square the heli up
lift into the hover and remove the cyclic input

[goldslinger]

the other alternative is to do a scale take off from the slope
sit the heli across the slope
raise the lower skid first to square the heli up
lift into the hover and remove the cyclic input

if I was more experienced then perhaps yes
but with the slope I've got I don't want to risk destroying the heli and or the blades
so I think for now I will go for the landing pad