RC Helipad required

Hello

I am preparing plans for a house boat. The house boat is a box with a lid on it ( I want to keep it strong, safe and simple) There is a covered front deck. The house boat is on pontoons - Aluminum. I want to place a heli landing pad on the second sun deck where the covered porch will be. The pad will like a squared coffee table - height 1 .5 feet, 3 feet by 3 feet. The weight of the heli is 100 pounds, and 2.5 meters long. I know that the construction of the porch extension isn`t strong enough to hold a person, so I need to reinforce the porch extension. The roof and porch are from glass. What is the best way to attach the helipad, should I make it removable (my preference is perm) how do I reinforce the the porch extension. Since the heli is heavy and I need to lock it on the helipad so it doesn't move (I have an idea on how to do this with magnets).

I don`t want to compromise the rest of the house boat and I don`t want to put additional stress on the porch.

 

Man, I'd love to see pictures of that heli! I did a lot of work with video piloted RC heli's back in the mid 80's and early 90's. Based on those experiences I think I would want the pad either floating behind the houseboat and picked up by some sort of davit or any method that keeps the "live" machine as far away from people as possible. But my machines were extraordinary fun to fly!

 

Hi Missboatbuilder,

I've flown rc sailplanes for decades, but I never took up serious (6 channel ) rc heli.
Its a whole other bird! anyway ... the first thing I wondered is can you put pontoons on the heli?

just a curious thought really

I'd like to see the Heli too.

 

Even though this is a fairly heavy bird, it's not much lighter then a small person, so arrange the "pad" to tolerate a fat kid, and you'll be good to go. At this point, this should be just considered an add on (a minor consideration) and your focus, should be on finding a design that is suitable for your needs.

 

here carl campert of yachtforums launching from his foredeck before the heli was stolen.
i had a big old bell RC 5 channel without autogiro heli i flew from my foredeck in 95
( 7kg, say 15pound? yet a pound in eu is considered by the public as 500 grams or half a kg )
with a "pointed" bow monohull ive seen real choppers parked belowdeck tailrotor fwd
really curious to see what your flying and landing on a dime wont be that easy i guess
100pound + pad + locking it with magnets? electric locks? and still want to trailer the house boat ?

 

Heli Pad

I am not flying that heli, that belongs to my brother and his wife and it is crazy. He has some special license to fly it- I don't get involved with it, because it scares me and yes you need to be isolated and away from people because it sounds like a real life heli and its dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. People have ducked when they heard it.

The magnets will work for this thing, it just needs to be locked until we get to a port, we don't want to lift it, we want to fly it to the heli pad and fly off when we are done - I don't want to lift that heli onto a sun deck. No risk of damage.

I will get a picture of it, right now it is in its own garage under lock and key.

The heli pad that I need for the boathouse will also serve to land my heli which is a raptor, about 20 pounds. So the pad needs to serve both helis. I will be investigating about weight issues, as this is my sister in law and my boat - a family boat. As for my last post, I took Par's advice and contacted a marine naval design school to see if they can put the houseboat plans on the prefab pontoons. I will contact the designer and ask how to reinforce the porch.

Thank you Par for giving your advice. It was nice to have someone steer me in the right direction.

 

Since its a family boat and our funds are pooled together the compromise was a heli pad for pressurized water and a shower. I need a shower with hot water.