(Full disclosure:\u00a0 I sell these, but this is not a sales pitch.)\u00a0 Now, in an effort to make my thrust trimming easier, I have tried at least two other brands of adjustable nose buttons.\u00a0 I found that either they don’t hold the thrust angle, or they were too complex in their method of setting the angle.\u00a0 Then I tried a Gizmo Geezer Prop Assembly.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/volareproducts.com\/new2024\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/GG-orv-pic.png\")
<\/a>photo by Gizmo Geezer<\/p><\/div>\n
This assembly is a complex piece of engineering that provides a simple way for the average modeler to apply that complexity.\u00a0 They take care of the following issues for the modeler right out of the box:\u00a0 better rubber management, better thrust adjustment, and better propeller performance.\u00a0 How do they do that?\u00a0 Here’s a run-down:<\/p>\n
Better rubber management.<\/strong>\u00a0 Modelers throughout time have had problems with the motor.\u00a0 As turns get higher, and knots get bigger, the motor starts to bind on itself while unwinding.\u00a0 This is especially true if the motor is significantly longer than the hook-to-peg distance – which is most of the time for us looking for more duration.\u00a0 When we get long motors, they start to bunch at the rear.\u00a0 This wastes the turns as they are never unwound and it disturbs the balance of the model, making it tail heavy, and ruining the glide.\u00a0 One way to avoid this is to braid the motor.\u00a0 But this is a minor science that requires experience gained over time – how many braiding turns do I use and in which direction?\u00a0 These are debatable issues that, while they do have answers, are eliminated with the usage of the Gizmo Geezer Prop Assembly.<\/p>\n drawing by Gizmo Geezer<\/p><\/div>\n This prop assembly ELIMINATES the need for braiding motors – completely.\u00a0 In fact, the instructions tell you NOT to braid the motor.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because of the remarkable engineering that Orv Olm put into this item.\u00a0 This mechanical marvel relies on the unwinding motor to activate the freewheeling mechanism.\u00a0 To put is simply, there is a small compression spring in the nose of the assembly.\u00a0 The size of this spring is critical because it only activates when there is very few winds left – BUT JUST ENOUGH to keep the motor from becoming slack.<\/p>\n As the spring overpowers the motor, the freewheeler disengages from the prop, and withing two or three more motor revolutions, an internal screw engages the rotating motor into the stationary noseblock.\u00a0 This stops the motor from unwinding – the motor is now perfectly stretched between the noseblock and the motor peg without binding or bunching.\u00a0 One additional benefit to this locking motion is that you can wind your motor and install the prop assembly and the motor will not unwind.\u00a0 You can walk around without the danger of the motor unwinding accidentally until you give the prop a couple of turns with your finger (just like winding with the prop) and this transmission lock disengages and you are ready to fly.<\/p>\n Better Thrust Adjustment.<\/strong>\u00a0 Included in this package is a simple, efficient, and effective method of thrust adjustment.\u00a0 The nose button itself had BUILT-IN adjusters.\u00a0 These are in the form of three screws located around the perimeter.\u00a0 They are equally spaced (120 degrees around the circumference) and they provide an extremely easy method for the modeler to change thrust – on the workbench or on the field – and that thrust setting doesn’t change.<\/p>\n I, personally, put a single screw at the bottom of the nose button and then have two spread out across the top (some modelers choose to invert this – with the single screw at the top).\u00a0 The single screw, when screwed in, will add downthrust.\u00a0 When screwed out, it will take out downthrust.\u00a0 The upper screws will provide left and\/or right thrust.\u00a0 These are steel screws (currently with a hex head) with an interference fit into the plastic so the plastic grabs them – and they retain their setting regardless of how hard you crash your model.\u00a0 Of course, as you use them, you\u00a0 will crash your model less and less.<\/p>\n Better propeller performance.<\/strong>\u00a0 The Gizmo Geezer, from the start, realized that plastic props are not very efficient.\u00a0 Typically, they are at something around a 1:1 Diameter\/Pitch ratio.\u00a0 A better-performing ratio for rubber models is something slightly greater.\u00a0 Gizmo Geezer takes standard plastic props and resets the pitch on each one to 1:1.25.\u00a0 This ratio grabs the air better, reduces zooming, provides a slower and more deliberate climb-out, and extends the run-time of the motor (by slowing down the prop).\u00a0 And these assemblies are available in 7″, 8″, 9.5″ (for P-30), and 10″ diameters.<\/p>\n After some time,\u00a0 Gizmo Geezer received feedback that modelers wanted more.\u00a0 It was very difficult to swap props on the prop assembly.\u00a0 Modelers wanted to use the nose button and its wonderful adjustment capabilities with their own props.\u00a0 So now the Adjustable Nose Button is available separately.<\/p>\n At first, the nose button was available assembled, but this has changed.\u00a0 The modeler now needs to do the final assembly on the product, but this is to his (or her) benefit:\u00a0 now the modeler can select the prop shaft size they want for their particular application.\u00a0 The original nose button was designed for an 0.055″ prop shaft.\u00a0 This is an unusual size but it was selected for durability.\u00a0 But modelers were often drilling this out and re-bushing the hole for their specific application.\u00a0 Now all they have to do is select their desired prop shaft (1\/32″, 0.047″, or 1\/16″), install that bushing and complete the assembly.<\/p>\n The Gizmo Geezer Prop Assembly opened my eyes to how to finally apply thrust adjustments with precision.\u00a0 And once I was able to use just the nose button, my modeling and flying really started to improve.\u00a0 No more finding a sliver just right for each flight.\u00a0 No more ugly shimmed and sanded (or not sanded!) front ends on my planes.\u00a0 Thrust adjustments are easily made right on the field and are now usually 1\/4 turn or less of one of the screws.\u00a0 Once you start using them, you can learn how to tame that model.\u00a0 Zooming can be controlled with a little bit of right – or a little bit of down – depending on what you need.\u00a0 These have helped me become a better flyer and I use them in all my models, Scale and Old Timer, excepting the smallest Peanuts.<\/p>\n The final article in my Keys to FF Success will be on Winding to Torque.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last week, I wrote about CG location and Trimming your model.\u00a0 This week, I will cover part 2 of 3 – Thrust Adjustments.\u00a0 I will give you a little background and then I will talk about some items that I … Continue reading <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n