This was not at all what I had set out to build. I was going to build a single-person helicopter, true, but I was envisioning something sleek, low, and curvy, and I got something tall and boxy. Sometimes, my builds take on a shape of their own, despite my plans. In this case, I am very pleased with what my build decided to be.
At first, I was trying various configurations for the pontoons that would support the helicopter. Nothing seemed to look right, however. I kept looking at those “insect legs,” but I was determined to have pontoons. Finally, I admitted that the “insect legs” looked better than pontoons. But: Should the legs face forward or backward? Backward looked better, somehow, but it created a problem. The helicopter kept tipping forward. I tried connecting the legs forward of the nose, but it didn’t look right. Then I hit up the solution of putting hinge pieces in front of the legs. It worked – those two tiny hinge pins made the helicopter amazingly stable.
This helicopter sat for a long time, finished but not done. Something just didn’t look right. I thought the problem was the back, where the tail is connected. It was flat and grey, and looked too plain. Phillip, however, thought the main rotor was too short. I lengthened the rotors by six studs, and it was a big improvement. Then I replaced the grey back with white blocks – to match the side window pieces – and also added an asymmetrical angled piece for interest. It was done, and I liked it.
The poor pilot of this thing has to fly it standing up. I am pleased that the upper hatch opens without interfering with the rotors. I admit, however, that I don’t know how that poor pilot is supposed to get in and out of the helicopter.
