Black Betty, inspired by the Bell 360 Invictus
Evan S.
Follow Post1 followerShareMeet BLACK BETTY 🖤
Four years, 19 chapters, one scrapped plug, and a lot of late nights in Fusion later, this project finally has a name.
Meet Black Betty, a flying 1/6 scale helicopter inspired by the Bell 360 Invictus. She's 2360 mm (7 ft 8 in) nose to tail. And yes, she's still a BIG girl. 😎
A lot has changed since the early chapters, so here's where she stands today:
TAIL: Fenestron all the way. It's now the 10-blade Vario rotor, 180 mm tip diameter, on the Vario 92/76 Fenestron gearbox, driven by a straight boom and torque tube.
POWER AND ELECTRONICS: Kontronik Kosmik power with full Jeti telemetry. That answers the question I asked back in Chapter 9: the Kosmik can hold the RPM settings in the ESC itself.
AIRFRAME: The PETG detailed plug from Chapter 19 became the master for the molds. The fuselage will be molded glass with vacuum-formed clear windows. The wings, stabilator, and upper fin get molded glass skins too. The inside structure is laser-cut lite ply.
LANDING GEAR: Fully retractable main gear, modeled on the real Bell 360 gear drawings, plus a retractable tail gear.
COCKPIT: A removable unit with two pilots, working instrument panels, a functional gull-wing door on the left side, and Unilight scale lighting throughout.
WEIGHT: The target is 45 lb, kept under the AMA 55 lb limit no matter what.
PARTS UPDATE: The KDE motor request from Chapter 2 is closed. Thank you to everyone who reached out!
None of this happens without my team. Thank you, Mark and HeliWorkshop for the Vario side, Aeropanda for all things Jeti, and Kontronik for the power. You'll see them credited as each system comes together.
Next chapter: the molds. 🔥
Questions, ideas, "Coach, you're crazy"... drop them below. Let's all learn together.
36 Comments
It’s mean in green!
She is patiently waiting for the NATS and IRCHA to end so I can focus..
Bell has ditched that tail design and have opted for a conventional tailrotor. https://warriormaven.com/air/bell-360-invictus-attack-helicopter-ar...
yes they did. I am going to stick with prototype 2.
Looking forward to seeing this progress. I am a bit biased though, as I work for LM/Sikorsky. Lol
Any progress on this Evan?
actually yes i got some body filler finished. and the motor for the main mechanics came in.
Awesome!
after much thought i am going to design both type of models. With and with out the fenestrone.
Fenestrone huh? Can I get that with noodles? 😆😆
well i found the motor i needed.
Dry fit is looking good. I got some ESC work next!!
Evan,
Will be nice to watch this come together.
thanks i constantly get inspiration from your build.
Evan,
Amazing the difference in size from 1:7 to 1:6. Having the extra room will be a nice addition.
B
This will take the length from 6ft 7in to 7ft 8in. and the rotor diameter will be around 2000mm.
Nice.
That will make a statement for sure.
B
Evan,
I think you need a bigger boat.
That heli is going to make a really big statement for sure .
Holy crap!!
"Im going to have a couple drinks stare some more"
Amazing what one can dream up when following this protocol.
Looking good Mang,
UIH,
B
"Just... WOW!"
Time to get the buck prepped to get moving on the molds.
That is going to make a serious statement for sure.
B
Just so you know, we got now flexible filaments to extend possibilities. Printed part doesn't broke, has damper properties and form tolerence. E.g. I'm creating a turbine exhaust cap, similar to Vario 530/17. Flexibility allows easy fit and good grip.
Very cool
:I'm hoping the end result will be CNC'd in aluminum.
Do tell....
Mechanics for the 360. still got to get a 400kv motor with a 8mm. shaft. I'm looking at Kontronik, Scorpion, or Egodrift. 90 % sure it will be the Kontronik.
Evan... I recently got a "custom KV" Scorpion motor for the Chinook. The service was flawless and the motor is simply amazing. Get in touch with them as they can make whatever you require and the cost was completely reasonable...
I found a 455Kv in the parts. I swapped out the 6mm shaft with a new 8mm.
Looks like you're moving right along. You're in the worst part of the mold making process in my opinion. Prime, fill, sand, fill, sand, fill, repeat, repeat, repeat etc.
B
Showing my progress at the Heli storm event.
Looking good Evan, glad to see you still at it
Thank you charlie it is as grind.....
This will be most interesting to watch!
Evan,
Nice work my friend. I am sure it will be a beauty when finished.
Butch
Thank you sir. I'm hoping to ramp up my progress.
Your work has yet to begin man. just saying.
B