Of all the RC crafts available, radio
controlled helicopter is arguably the hardest to master. However,
with the advent and advances of today's RC flight simulators, the
learning curve have decreased. Now, new RC helicopter pilots can
literally crash as often as they want until they can eventually
keep their helicopter in the air. Nevertheless, conventional RC
helicopter training lessons has not lost their importance. For
some, they provide a guide to practicing in the simulator. For
others who don't like simulators - or for some reasons can't get
their hands on one, flying lessons are invaluable. For those that
choose to go the no-simulator route, it is generally recommended
that you hire a certified instructor. But, with the increasing
popularity of cheaper electric RC helicopters, the cost involved
with this hobby decreased exponentially. As a result, many new
pilots are choosing to learn to fly with neither a simulator nor
an instructor. No matter how you choose to learn to pilot RC
helicopters, this article which provides classic helicopter
lessons will definitely come in handy.
Lesson 1: First
Feel of Helicopter / Ground Exercise
First things first,
have your helicopter properly trimmed and set up before doing
anything. Most electric models are already set up right out of the
box. If your model requires any setting, make sure you follow the
instruction in the manual or hire/ask someone knowledgeable to do
it for you. Trimming won't be covered in this article because it
is a whole topic in itself.
Once your helicopter is
trimmed, you'll need a simple pair of training gear for bigger
models. You can actually make one yourself using two four-inch
rods and four balls (ping-pong balls will do nicely). However, it
may be easier to buy one. If you are learning with a co-axle
ready-to-fly electric helicopter such as the Lama or Walkera 54,
then the training gear is unnecessary. On the other hand, if you
are learning with a bigger and more conventional model such as the
T-REX, then having a training gear is absolutely mandatory.
Now, you're going to pilot your helicopter for the first time.
However, for this first lesson, the goal is to learn what it
"feels" like to control one. Therefore, what you want to do is to
bring up the throttle/collective to the point where the helicopter
is just about to lift off the ground but not quite taking to the
air yet. With the helicopter in this half on the ground, half
wanting to lift off phase, move the cyclic control around and see
as well as get a feel of how the helicopter will react to each
control. Do this several time until you have adequately felt all
of the controls and more importantly, understand them.
Lesson 2: Hover (Tail In)
Once you've mastered the ground
exercise, the next step is to hover. Every helicopter pilot and
instructor will tell you that one of the most (if not the most)
important component of a helicopter flight is hovering. In fact,
no matter how fancy the flight, at its most fundamental level, a
helicopter flight starts and ends with a hover.
For this
lesson, make sure the tail is pointing in towards you. Bring up
the throttle to the point that the helicopter is just about to
hover just as you did in the ground exercise. Then, get the
helicopter as stable as you can get it. After doing that, give it
a little more throttle/collective. Remember that you should make
the helicopter stable on the ground first before giving it the
extra throttle to lift it off the ground. Doing this will make
this lesson much easier. When the helicopter starts to lift off
the ground, it'll continue to ascend slowly. Bring the throttle
down slightly to stabilize it at around 1 foot.
Next comes
the hard part. Try to keep the helicopter hovering in one spot.
This will prove to be very difficult at first. Draw on what you've
learnt on from the ground exercise. Once you've hovered for around
30 seconds, bring the throttle down just slightly and the
helicopter will start to slowly descend back to the ground. Don't
throttle down too fast or your helicopter will come crashing down
and be damaged.
Try hovering many times. Between each
hover, reflect on what you did right and what you did wrong. You
will find that each hover will be more precise and more controlled
than the last.
Another important point during this lesson
is to always point the tail of the helicopter towards you. Don't
try to point the helicopter in any other direction at this point
as you will very likely get disoriented. Orientation training will
come later.
Once you're comfortable with hovering at 1
foot, try bringing the helicopter up to an altitude of 3 to 5
feet. It will seem scarier but in fact, hovering at 3 - 5 feet is
easier than hovering at 1 foot. Keep doing this exercise until you
can hover for an entire flight of the battery pack or the fuel
tank, which equals to around 7 to 10 minutes if you're practicing
on a simulator.
Each pilot takes different amount of time
to learn this crucial skill. Some get it extremely fast (within
days) while others take weeks or even months. Don't be
discouraged, take your time and learn at your own pace. As long as
you have fun while practicing, who cares how long it takes. Don't
rush through this lesson. It is very important that you learn to
hover and can do it comfortably.
Lesson 3: Basic Flight
Once you've mastered hovering, the next step is basic directional
flight. Get your helicopter to hover as you've done in the last
lesson, then pick a spot and pilot your helicopter there. Then
pick another spot and do the same thing. At this point, you want
to keep the helicopter in a tail-in position. Keep doing this
until you feel comfortable that you can get your helicopter to go
anywhere you want while it's in a tail-in orientation.
Lesson 4: Nose-In Hover
After having mastered hovering and
basic flight while flying tail-in, the next step, the nose-in
hover, will be relatively more challenging. The idea behind this
exercise is quite simple; simply hover like you did lesson 2, but
this time, hover with the nose of the helicopter pointed towards
you. While this may sound simple, many new pilots find this
extremely difficult due to the fact that most of all the controls
are now reversed. At this point, you may already confident about
flying and feel that you can easily perform this hovering exercise
at a high altitude. Please refrain from doing that. Instead, start
this exercise by hovering at 1 foot, then slowly increasing the
altitude to 5 feet as you are more confident and comfortable with
the now-reversed controls. Keep doing this exercise until you can
master hovering with the nose pointed towards you. Having
accomplished this lesson will greatly improve your orientation
awareness.
Lesson 5: Square and Figure 8 Flights
This final lesson will combine the skills you've learnt from
previous lessons, namely, hovering, orientation, and direction
flight. The combination of these skills will produce a full
flight. The first goal is to try to navigate your helicopter in a
square pattern. If you've been following the exercise without
cheating, you'll find that the square flight can be accomplished
quite easily. The next goal would be to fly in a figure 8 pattern.
This will prove to be more challenging but it is definitely not
out of reach. As you do more and more figure eights, concentrate
on keeping the 8 a perfect shape. Try your best not to veer off
course. Becoming more experienced, you should aim for more and
more flight control accuracy. Once you've mastered the figure 8,
you should be able to pilot your helicopter anywhere you desire.
Practice makes perfect, but also remember to have fun; after all,
that is the whole point of a hobby.
About the Author
Interested in the amazing hobby of
Electric RC Helicopters?
Tara Soonthornnont is an Electric RC
Helicopter enthusiast
who maintains a website dedicated to it.
Check Out
http://www.electric-rc-helicopter.com
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