TycoPro Museum

The Ultimate Upside Down Pancake...

Question:...The "Upside down pancake"...would have loved to seen the magazine article on this one!!

Answer.."I also would have loved to finish it, but I think you would agree that it would be a stretch for the average Car Model reader to actually follow and build."

This was a design intending to use the Aurora "pancake" motor & gear train in an unconventional configuration. The intent was to move everything toward the rear for better weight balance by rotating the magnets 90 degrees and placing the gear train on the bottom, beneath the armature. Conceptually, it was an interesting project, but the request by Car Model to pursue the "Project Wide" car, with the scratch built chassis put this on "the shelf" so long that the arrival of the Mabuchi ST 02 made it obsolete.

The ULTIMATE Upside Down Pancake.....

"This project was to incorporate a Mabuchi 16D armature, Super magnets, full flux return path, etc. You will note the gears have been shaped to allow the crown to sit very close to the bottom of the chassis. I had some doubts concerning the efficiency of the laminate shape, the winding portion is much narrower than an Aurora. Note that by this time I had a diamind cutting wheel to cut the magnets. My employment with Tyco halted any further work..."

Armature Housing and "Gearbox"