--- title: Building A Swashplate-less Helicoper Rotor | daily.dev description: A maker called [worked in theory] is building an RC helicopter without a swashplate to cut weight and complexity. He first tried a linkage-less swashplate... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/building-a-swashplate-less-helicoper-rotor-be6aiiut9 twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Building A Swashplate-less Helicoper Rotor | daily.dev og:description: A maker called [worked in theory] is building an RC helicopter without a swashplate to cut weight and complexity. He first tried a linkage-less swashplate... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/building-a-swashplate-less-helicoper-rotor-be6aiiut9 og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/Be6aiIUT9.png og:image:alt: Building A Swashplate-less Helicoper Rotor og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Building A Swashplate-less Helicoper Rotor **[Hackaday](https://daily.dev/sources/hackaday)** · 2 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A maker called [worked in theory] is building an RC helicopter without a swashplate to cut weight and complexity. He first tried a linkage-less swashplate design like the Black Hornet drone, but friction in the hinges and wheels made it fail at higher speeds. He then switched to an under-actuated design with angled hinges, where varying motor speed uses inertia to change blade pitch. Testing two versions, a single shared hinge for both rotors gave lower friction, a more responsive feel, and a more linear control response than one hinge per rotor. He 3D printed flat blade blanks and thermoformed them with printed molds, then added weights to the blades to pull them back to a standard angle and damp vibration. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How can a helicopter rotor change blade pitch without a swashplate? An under-actuated design mounts blades on angled hinges and varies the motor's rotational speed throughout each turn. Inertia then causes the blades to swing backward or forward, changing their pitch angle without any linkages or actuators controlling a swashplate, cutting weight and mechanical complexity. _Builders experimenting with swashplate-less rotors can track mechanical design write-ups like this on daily.dev._ ### What is the Black Hornet linkage-less swashplate design used for drone rotor control? It is a design where the end of each rotor blade runs along a swashplate on wheels while a central spring presses the blades down, avoiding mechanical linkages. In testing of a homemade version, friction in the hinges and wheels proved too high, causing it to stop responding correctly at higher rotor speeds. _Anyone comparing rotor control mechanisms can follow detailed build logs like this on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Building A Flying Drone With A Single Propeller](https://daily.dev/posts/building-a-flying-drone-with-a-single-propeller-kssdu9q4s) · Hackaday · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Variable-Pitch Propellers For More Efficient Quadcopter](https://daily.dev/posts/variable-pitch-propellers-for-more-efficient-quadcopter-9dhrm0hdv) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [These tiny drones are powered by sound](https://daily.dev/posts/these-tiny-drones-are-powered-by-sound-rqya8ok3t) · Robohub · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Trying A New Radial Impeller Design For Quadcopters](https://daily.dev/posts/trying-a-new-radial-impeller-design-for-quadcopters-thu8zz5sh) · Hackaday · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#robotics](https://daily.dev/tags/robotics), [#mechanical-engineering](https://daily.dev/tags/mechanical-engineering) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/building-a-swashplate-less-helicoper-rotor-be6aiiut9) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Building A Swashplate-less Helicoper Rotor","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/building-a-swashplate-less-helicoper-rotor-be6aiiut9","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/building-a-swashplate-less-helicoper-rotor-be6aiiut9"},"datePublished":"2026-10-26T05:31:27.164Z","dateModified":"2026-10-26T05:32:00.579Z","description":"A maker called [worked in theory] is building an RC helicopter without a swashplate to cut weight and complexity. 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Inertia then causes the blades to swing backward or forward, changing their pitch angle without any linkages or actuators controlling a swashplate, cutting weight and mechanical complexity. Builders experimenting with swashplate-less rotors can track mechanical design write-ups like this on daily.dev."}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What is the Black Hornet linkage-less swashplate design used for drone rotor control?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It is a design where the end of each rotor blade runs along a swashplate on wheels while a central spring presses the blades down, avoiding mechanical linkages. In testing of a homemade version, friction in the hinges and wheels proved too high, causing it to stop responding correctly at higher rotor speeds. Anyone comparing rotor control mechanisms can follow detailed build logs like this on daily.dev."}}]} ```