# I need some help with my flying ghost idea



## vincerules (Sep 10, 2013)

After watching the video from this thread: http://www.hauntforum.com/showthread.php?t=38093
I would like to do a prop like this but make it automated, meaning after it swoops down I want a motor to pull it back up so that it can fly back down without me having to crank it into place.
I'm not sure if I should be looking at fcg or axworthy builds to get ideas on how to do this.

I also am not decided whether I want it to swoop down when I press a button or automatically using a motion sensor.

Here's a picture of my house, I am putting in a ~13 foot pole on the left side of my yard that I am thinking of using as the starting point and then have it swoop down near the walkway by the black mailbox.









Thanks for any ideas and input.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

From only a maximum of 13' you won't get much speed or swooping action, especially if you are depending upon gravity to power it downward. Why not go from the chimney down to a pole? That would give you the height and ability to have the witch "swoop" because of the curve of the line.
If you didn't want to to the fishing reel setup, maybe a high-speed, reversible electric drill? While you could do a setup with an automatic trigger, I think you having control is much more effective. It lets you decide if and when the witch swoops down, and whether she comes down all of the way or not. The problem I see with an automatic trigger is that unless the TOTs are regulated as to how often a child can approach the door or gate, you may not have enough time to get the witch back up to the starting point when the TOTs straggle in, like they do to my house. You triggering it also lets you play with the kid's minds who've been forewarned about the witch. The "Brave" one who marches in because he knows what to expect loses his/or her, edge when things don't go quite the way they thought it would.


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## niblique71 (Dec 2, 2009)

I can't find it, but there is a mechanism that uses two servos. One is a continuous servo(Spins all the way around indefinitely, used as a spool winder), and another servo that changes the angle of the spool to allow it to quickly unwind (Dropping the spider in this case). once fully dropped it triggers the spool angle to change back to a winding position and the continuous servo winds the line back up. It was designed for a small mechanism, but it could be adapted using larger servos and perhaps a small motor as a spool winder.

Other than that I'd bet a fishing reel could be hacked with a little effort.


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

I've moved you over to Tech Terror where the motor/controller gurus hang out Should be a better place for you to get help.


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## HomeyDaClown (Oct 3, 2009)

My first thought would be to use some type of spider drop mechanism. Especially if you want a quick drop then a slow rewind. Should be easy to find examples online. If you use a screw eye on the ghost head or whatever, you could have it ride along another tight line to allow it to follow an angled path instead of dropping straight down. So the drop line would be firmly attached to the ghost and the separate control line would go through the screw eye to guide it down.


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## bfjou812 (Aug 15, 2008)

niblique71, is this what you're looking for? 
http://www.nutsvolts.com/index.php?/blog/post/the_halloween_prop_dropper/


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## HomeyDaClown (Oct 3, 2009)

bfjou812 said:


> niblique71, is this what you're looking for?
> http://www.nutsvolts.com/index.php?/blog/post/the_halloween_prop_dropper/


Looks like the vid link is dead but the link to the article is still active and you should be able to download the pdf. I have most all of them in pdfs somewhere, I'll have to dig and look for October 2009 and see if it can be adapted to carry a larger object. The release servo would be fairly quick but the rewind would be pretty slow from a servo. Maybe it can be adapted with either gears or pulleys to get some speed to help cover a longer distance.


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## heresjohnny (Feb 15, 2006)

You could add a small rod at the top, say about 12", that the eyebolt would slip onto as you raise the ghost to the top position prior to release. Thread a spring onto the rod which would get compressed by the eyebolt. This would give you a little extra kick to make up for the lack oh height.


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## HomeyDaClown (Oct 3, 2009)

After looking over the article I believe the mechanism could be simplified.

The cone shaped take-up reel could be made larger and attached to a wiper motor shaft to get plenty of torque to wind up even a large ghost. Then by mounting the wiper motor to a hinge (like a common door hinge) you could use an automotive door actuator to make the whole thing tilt and quickly release the line. The wiper motor only needs to spin in one direction in order to rewind the line on the reel. So two switches one for the actuator to tilt the reel and drop the ghost and another to activate the rewind motor (and maybe a lever switch as a top limit switch to stop the rewind motor from going too far).

something like this:


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## Hippofeet (Nov 26, 2012)

You can do it with a single wiper motor and 2 channel controller, set up like an axworthy. You have to maintain enough tension of the cable on the rollers to prevent the cable slipping at the downward end. You will need a 10 amp 12vdc power supply running into the controller. What you don't want is the cable to slip, and end up feeding the attachment point for the prop into the pulleys, as the cable slips and your programming goes slowly out of synch. I've run 35 pounds 30 feet back and forth this way, gravity helps on the way down, and its a bit slower heading back up hill.

That said, I like the guide wire and spider drop mech idea, too. With a fat cylinder and a long mech, you could get 15 feet of movement. Have to be a strong set up, though.

Interesting ideas on the tipping cone winder. We made something similar for welding lead at a steel mill where I worked, for spooling up hundreds of feet of lead. It was manual, though. Worked like a charm, but you got some really cruddy lead.


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## spinman1949 (Jun 29, 2009)

Vince,

The chimney is in a perfect position to mount a horizontal pole. The use a simple motor and spool concept. Mount the pole halfway down the chimney and then use a couple of wires to support. I did a simple drawing for you attached.


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