Ruffler & Walker Helicopter Race

American, British, French or German? We want to know about it.
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moonriver
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Re: Ruffler & Walker Helicopter Race

Post by moonriver »

I'm very impressed with the rewire Tim. It's nice to see no modern plastic covered wiring and connectors in restorations.
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tim575
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Re: Ruffler & Walker Helicopter Race

Post by tim575 »

On the wiring, modern cloth covered wire is safe and looks correct for older period machines. It is available in a wide range from multiple sources. I buy a few types of line cord in 250' rolls and various color solid and stranded individual wire on 50' rolls. I can't stand getting a 1900 or 1930 machine with plastic line cord on it. First thing I swap out. I also use period lamps. A 100 year old machine should have a 100 year old carbon filament lamp. I have been able now and then to find working 100 year old bulbs on ebay incl. shipping $10- $20 ea, as cheap as replica lamps. I have maybe~100 used and working or NOS lamps collected over the years. I have so many in one game room I have to run the A/C as they really heat things up (very inefficient). The other vintage parts for terminal blocks, fuse blocks, lamp sockets etc are getting harder to find, but often they are listed not as antique electrical but as "steam punk" for decorators.

With regard to the question on history of the Greyhound racer in the photo, I purchased it in the same Morphy Auction as the Heli Racer. There is a separate PM forum thread for those which includes it. I should get some internal photos to post for reference by others on that other thread. One thing to note, the old VCA auction house in LV had a mechanic on staff to get machines working. Morphy bought them out and moved to the east coast, but does not seem to have mech. on staff. Often machines are left non-working, not fully unpacked and setup, or listed as good for restoration when the problems can be fixed in 5 minutes with an adjustment or screw missing etc. Only problem with the Greyhound racer was one screw fell out holding a linkage in place, and of course I replaced the plastic line cord on it. Another Greyhound Racer in the States
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treefrog
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R&W Helicopter Race

Post by treefrog »

Topic split & moved from Videos of the Secret Town Arcade private collection - Site Admin.

…..from a personal perspective love the video of the Helicopter Race, only because it’s the only machine you have that I also possess.

It's good to see the fans works and blades spinning. I notice the fans are turned down on the ends, I wonder if to help them spin. If you ever get a chance, I would love a photo of the fan assembly below the waves, as mine are missing and I may try and reproduce it. !!THUMBSX2!!
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tim575
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Re: R&W Helicopter Race

Post by tim575 »

So, I had the same problem of missing fan when I received my Heli Race. This website was a good resource to figure it out. I have some pics of how I added the fan, with the 'waves' removed so you can see it. I suspect you may be right on blade ends, but it was that way when I got it. In this before pic you can make out 4 cleaner areas with tapped holes used for original mount
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I went on Ebay and found an exhaust Fan that looked to be about right size and vintage look to it, then pulled out the motor and fan blade.
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I found a pic from another machine of the switch position, mine is a bit different switch and position but same concept.
Ref helicoters-motor-switch-a.jpg
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I used lengths of 1/2 inch iron flat from a hardware store (the type used in welding projects) and bent it into one U shape and one vertical post to mount the fan.
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treefrog
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Re: Videos of the Secret Town Arcade private collection

Post by treefrog »

Thanks Tim, certainly looks period and good way to go I had considered using compact modern fans, but think something older definitely looks better, appreciated !THUMBS!
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tim575
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Re: Ruffler & Walker Helicopter Race

Post by tim575 »

It takes considerable air flow to rotate the heli blades to the top. Modern electronics PC 'muffin' type fans mostly don't have the kind of updraft an old fashioned exhaust fan generates, that was the other factor in fan selection, need a good size motor on it as well as looking period. I had also put in a vintage bell transformer to use low voltage win lights as the switch for that used the metal frame and would be unsafe for 120V (or certainly unsafe for original 240V). Everything is properly isolated and chasses grounded.
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treefrog
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Re: Ruffler & Walker Helicopter Race

Post by treefrog »

Finally after 4 years sitting in a garage finally got my Helicopter Race out to get cabinet sorted and mechanism working properly and on old penny with new strings... Haven't put a fan in yet and need to install bulbs, but happy it is working perfectly...
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Now onto next one, needing love 😂
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tim575
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Re: Ruffler & Walker Helicopter Race

Post by tim575 »

The Monkey Climb looks like more than a bit of lot of love needed, maybe some CPR to start with. |/XX\| I bid on some machines needing work, but never on anything that distressed, at least not while I still have a day job to keep me busy...
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