RC Helicopter Flying Tips
PART I: PROFILE
Important suggestions in order to learn to fly model helicopters
fast, safe and without crashing every week:
1. Invite an experienced flyer to help you:
Setting up a helicopter for the first time is not very easy. It
is very unlikely that you will setup the helicopter correctly by
yourself. A helicopter that has been setup properly flies much
better and is more predictable! So it’s necessary for you to
have an experienced flyer help you. He may give you additional
hints and tips on learning and he may point you at certain
mistakes you make, which may be very helpful.
2. Take small steps:
Always take very small steps on the learning curve. If you take
a big step, you may succeed, or you may crash. If you crash, you
may be de-motivated, it will cost you money, it will make you
less confident, you are grounded for some time and the worst it
is dangerous! Make sure that you learn a step thoroughly and in
all directions before you take the next step. In the end you
will learn faster if you take small steps because you know the
basics well and you will fly instead of repair.
3. Don't skip steps:
There are of course numerous ways to learn to fly a remotely
controlled helicopter. However, if you follow the steps listed
below, you will learn fast and with a minimum chance of
crashing. The steps are chosen such that you always have learned
the necessary steps before taking a new step.
4. Use a proper RC Helicopter fly
simulator: Having a proper simulator, which can
be controlled by your Tx ( transmitter is necessary). It allows
you to get acquainted to controlling an R/C helicopter and learn
the needed reflexes.
PART II: FUNCATION
1) Learn about the basic theory of helicopter aerodynamics.
This will help you to understand what is going on. Your
instructor can learn about the controls and their interactions
and the influence of wind on the model etc. Learn about when a
helicopter stalls etc, this is very different from a plane!
2) Have your helicopter checked over thoroughly by your
instructor for safety.
3) Use your simulator to train your reflexes required for
hovering the helicopter.
4) Setup a buddy lead between your TX and the TX of the
instructor and make sure that both transmitters are setup
properly. Here you can see the learning process
on the buddy lead in action. Both transmitters are connected,
and the instructor is ready to take over at any time.
5) Learn about the safety procedures on RC helicopter fly and
the specific safety procedures at the field you are going to
fly.
6) Make sure that you have your training gear connected
properly.
PART III: PRACTICE & PROGRESS
Make sure you practice until you are confident in a step before
you move on to the next step.
Make sure that you have your training gear connected properly.
Make sure that your instructorknows when you get in to trouble.
Learning Cyclic Control:
Step1) Your instructor will check the helicopter controls, he
will spool it up and check the controls with a spooled up
helicopter. If all is well, he will test fly the helicopter to
ensure that everything is operating as expected. Yes, this is
thrilling; you have just witnessed your helicopter actually fly.
Step 2) Your instructor will demonstrate what a sliding
helicopter is. Using your training gear it will be possible to
slowly land the helicopter while it still has significant
forward, backward or sideways speed.
Step 3) Position the helicopter with the nose in the wind. You
should stand 5m away behind the helicopter, and 1m to the left
of it. Rehearse in your mind what you are going to do (try to
make the helicopter stay put at one position). Rehearse what the
controls and their interactions are going to be.
Step 4) Now you are in control of the cyclic and your instructor
will lift the helicopter to a save height of 0.1m. Exercise only
very small control inputs. While trying to make the helicopter
stay put, the landing gear will now and then touch the ground,
but this will be no problem. Once you can control the helicopter
so it stays in one place, it will no longer touch the ground.
Your instructor will lift the helicopter to a height of 1m. This
will need a bit of time to get used to. Yes, you are flying a
helicopter!
Step 5) Practice to move the helicopter sideways 1m, stop in a
hover, and come back again. Practice this in both directions.
You will develop proper feel for controlling the cyclic.
Step 6) Practice to move the helicopter forwards 1m, stop in a
hover, and come back again.
Then, you mastered the basic controls on the right
stick.
Learning Collective and Rudder Control:
Step 1) Position the helicopter with the nose in the wind. You
should stand 5m away behind the helicopter, and 1m to the left
of it. Rehearse in your mind what you are going to do (try to
gently lift the helicopter 10cm of the ground and put it down
again). Rehearse what the controls and their interactions are
going to be. Remember that you must keep
calm when you slam down the helicopter and donot slam it down in
a hurry.
Step 2) Lift the helicopter slowly of the ground up to 10cm.
Hold the pitch control for a couple of seconds. Decrease pitch
slowly and set it down again. You will get confident in your
instructor in keeping the helicopter at one spot. Try to be very
precise on the stick so that you do not touch the rudder. The
helicopter will not stay at one height due to the wind effects.
Step 3) Lift the helicopter slowly to an height of 1m. Get
comfortable with this height, and practice to set it down slowly
and gently. Try to learn to keep the helicopter at a constant
height of 1m. If you feel uncomfortable landing the helicopter,
let the instructor land the helicopter until you are ready for
it.
Step 4) Lift the helicopter to a height of 1m. Keep it steady.
Now slowly rotate the nose of the helicopter left, back again,
right, and back again. The maximum rotation is about 20 degrees.
Get comfortable in controlling the rudder.
Step 5) Lift the helicopter slowly to an height of 1m. How does
a controlled ascent to 2m, back to 1m etc? Practice to get a
very controlled height.
Step 6) Lift the helicopter to a height of 1m. Your instructor
will move the helicopter sideways, forwards and backwards (1m).
Try to keep the helicopter at a constant height of 1m.
Step 7) Same as above, now the instructor moves the helicopter
in all directions up to a distance of 5m.
After these steps, you mastered the basic control of the
pitch/throttle and the rudder.
Learning to Control Both Sticks:
Step 1) Position the helicopter with the nose in the wind. You
should stand 5m away behind the helicopter, and 1m to the left
of it. Rehearse in your mind what you are going to do (try to
make the helicopter stay at a minimal height of 1m). Rehearse
what the controls and their interactions are going to be.
Step 2) Be prepared for the helicopter to drift to the left
(with a right hand rotating main rotor). It will do that!
Promptly lift the helicopter to a height of 1m. Don't try to
control the cyclic until it is of the ground! Don't hover below
1m, make sure that the liftoff is swiftly. Catch the left drift
of the helicopter. Practice until the helicopter stays put at
one place and you are in full control.
Step 3) Practice a gentle decent from 1m and a gentle touch
down. Practice this until you can land the helicopter with
little to no sideways movement and a gentle descent. From here
on, you always try to land the helicopter as if there is no
training gear attached (gently with no sideways movement).
Step 4) Practice to move the helicopter sideways 1m, stop in a
hover, and come back again. Practice this in both directions.
Take care of the control interaction, be aware of the wind
effects. You will develop proper feel for controlling the cyclic
and the pitch combination. Extend this slowly to a sideways
movement of 5m.
Step 5) Practice to move the helicopter forwards 1m, stop in a
hover, and come back again. Extend this slowly to a forward and
backward movement of 5m. Take care of the control interaction;
be aware of the wind effects. Practice this until you can make
forward, backward and sideways movement at a constant height.
Step 6) Lift the helicopter to a height of 1m. Keep it steady.
Now slowly rotate the nose of the helicopter left, back again,
right, and back again. The maximum rotation is about 20 degrees.
Get comfortable in controlling the rudder and keeping the
helicopter at one spot with a constant altitude.
After finished these steps, you have managed the first
hovering steps.
The Hovering trail like "M":
Step 1) Position the helicopter with the nose in the wind. You
should stand 5m away behind the helicopter, and 1m to the left
of it. Rehearse in your mind what you are going to do (try
diagonal movements and finally make the "M" maneuver at a
constant height of 1m). Rehearse what the controls and their
interactions are going to be.
Step 2) Bring the helicopter in a stable hover. Move the
helicopter 5m to the right of you and make it stop. From this
point, move the helicopter 5 m forwards and make it stop. You
are looking at the helicopter with a familiar angle, just a bit
further away. Make sure you can hold it there in a stable hover.
Step 3) Diagonally move the helicopter backwards and to the left
until it is again in front of you (5m in front of you, 1m to the
right). Practice this triangle until you feel comfortable.
Step 4) Now we are going to practice the left-hand side. Again,
start in front of you. Move the helicopter 5m to the left and
make it stop (near left corner). Move the helicopter 5m forward
and get it in a stable hover. Diagonally move the helicopter
backwards and to the right until it is again in front of you (5m
in front of you, 1m to the right). Practice this triangle until
you feel comfortable.
Step 5) Now repeat the steps above, but this time you extend the
diagonal sections. So you are going to move the helicopter
diagonally from the far right corner directly to the near left
corner. From here move the helicopter to the far left corner,
and then diagonally to the near right corner. From here to the
far right corner etc. Always hover at the corners first so that
errors do not get accumulated.
Step 6) Now we are going to practice the triangle in the other
direction. Start with the helicopter in front of you move
diagonally to the far right corner, back again to the near right
corner and back again in front of you. Also practice this on the
left hand side, with the diagonal movement away from you to the
far left corner.
Step 7) Extend the diagonal movements. Start in front of you,
move the helicopter to the near right corner, from here move the
helicopter to the far left corner and back to the near left
corner. From there move it in one diagonal to the far right
corner and back to the near right corner.
Step 8) Lift the helicopter in front of you. Move the helicopter
to the far right corner. From there move it diagonally back in
front of you, but now at a distance of 7.5M in front of you
(half way or middle point of the "M"). From that position move
the helicopter to the far left corner and back to the middle
point.
Step 9) Connect the exercises above until you make a nice "M"
with stopping at each corner. Practice the "M" in both
directions. Now reduce the stop time until you have a nice and
smooth continuous "M". Practice them in both directions.
After tried the steps above, you managed an essential
hovering skill that will help you through your future leaning
steps.
Landing and Takeoff
Step 1) Position the helicopter with the nose in the wind. You
should stand 5m away behind the helicopter, and 1m to the left
of it. Rehearse in your mind what you are going to do (try to
make the helicopter land as if there is no training gear).
Rehearse what the controls and their interactions are going to
be.
Step 2) Lift the helicopter to a height of 1m. Now land the
helicopter with absolute no sideways movement. Furthermore, the
landing should be very soft. Notice that without a training gear
the helicopter tips over very easy, and a rough landing will
break the landing gear.
Step 3) Put a marker in front of you and practice perfect
landings with no sideways movement and a very gentle descent
over and over again on top of the marker. Having the "landing
gear square" over the marker is good enough. Don't focus on the
landing gear or the marker; try to look at the overall picture.
Step 4) Move the helicopter to the far right corner, and
practice a gentle and stable landing.
Step 5) Move the helicopter to the far left corner, and practice
a gentle and stable landing.
Step 6) Take off the training gear. The longer the training gear
stays on, the more difficult it will be to remove it.
Furthermore, you might be using the training gear for deducting
the attitude of the helicopter. This is not a good thing, as it
is not going to be there in the future. A Raptor 30 with the
training gear still attached.
Step 7) Lift the helicopter promptly to a height of 1m. Don't
touch the cyclic before the helicopter is actually airborne! Get
comfortable hovering the helicopter without the training gear.
If you control the cyclic before the helicopter is actually
airborne, the helicopter is likely to tip over.
Step 8) Move the helicopter sideways 5m, stop, and back again in
both directions. You now get used to the controls of the
helicopter without the training gear. Move the helicopter
forwards 5m, stop, and back again. You now get used to the
controls of the helicopter in the forward direction without the
training gear.
Step 9) Descent the helicopter to 0.1m and back again to 1m. Get
comfortable of the semi landing of your helicopter without the
landing gear. Now you are going to do your first actual landing
without the training gear. Rehearse your escape first! Now while
landing the helicopter, keep reminding yourself to push the left
stick if you are not comfortable. Don't land the helicopter if
it moves sideways, abort the landing in that case. Remind
yourself that you can do this since you can make a perfect
landing with the training gear attached.
Step 9) You did your first landing without a training gear! Lift
the helicopter to a height of 1m and land the helicopter. Keep
practicing this until you can swiftly and confidently land your
helicopter.
Step 10) Practice to land the helicopter at the far right and
the near right corners. Keep practicing this until you can
swiftly and confidently land your helicopter. Now practice both
the far left and the near left corners.
Step 11) Practice a perfect landing in front of you "on top" of
the marker. Landing within 0.3m is good enough for now.
After finished the steps above, you managed to take off,
hover, move around and land your helicopter safely.
PART IV: SKILLS & DEVELOPMENT
Make sure you practice until you are confident in a step before
you move on to the next step.
Make sure that you have your training gear connected properly.
Make sure your instructor knows when you get in to trouble.
The wind must be gentle.
Tail in the Wind:
Step 1) This is an easy one with nowadays gyro's. Rehearse what
the wind effects on the tail will be in the hover in relation
with the pitch control. Put the helicopter in front of you with
the nose in the wind. Lift of the helicopter and practice a
comfortable hover and landing with the give wind. Make sure you
get used to the changed pitch range! The landings should be
precise and comfortable with the new pitch range and the wind.
Step 2) Put the helicopter in front of you, but this time with
the tail in the wind. Lift of the helicopter and practice a
comfortable hover and landing with the tail in the wind.
Step 3) Practice moving the helicopter to the near right and
near left corners and hovering at those corners. Practice to
hover the helicopter at the far right and far left corners.
Step 4) Practice the hovering "M" in both directions with the
tail in the wind.
Step 5) Hover the helicopter in front of you, and rotate the
nose to the left, back again, to the right and back again. The
rotation of the nose should not exceed 20 degrees or so.
Then, you managed an essential hovering skill with some
wind.
Learning Sideways Wind:
Step 1) This is an easy one with nowadays gyro's. Rehearse what
the wind effects on the tail will be in the hover in relation
with the pitch control. Rehearse what the sideways wind will do
with the attitude of the helicopter in a hover. Put the
helicopter in front of you with the nose in the wind. Lift of
the helicopter and practice a comfortable hover and landing with
the give wind. Get used to the wind of today.
Step 2) Put the helicopter in front of you, but this time with
the wind coming in at the left side of the helicopter (with
right hand rotating main blades). If your helicopter is rotating
counter clockwise, you should start with the wind on the right
side of the helicopter. Rehearse what the wind is going to do,
and what you are going to do to counter the wind effect. Be
aware of the effects of the wind on your pitch.
Step 3) Promptly lift the helicopter to a height of 1m, and try
to catch the drift. If you don't succeed, your instructor will
take over. Don't let the helicopter drop below 1m. Practice this
until you can make the helicopter stay put in one position at
one altitude. Note that you can always rotate the tail towards
you and in the wind if the helicopter keeps drifting. You are
then again hovering with the tail in the wind, which you already
mastered.
Step 4) Slowly land the helicopter without any sideways
movement. The left skid is likely going to touch the ground
first, which is absolutely no issue! Practice this until you can
comfortably takeoff and land the helicopter with the sideways
wind.
Step 5) Now position the helicopter in front of you with the
tail towards you, but with the wind coming in at the right side
of the helicopter (clockwise rotation of main blades). Rehearse
what will happen. The helicopter will tilt much more now.
Practice Step 3 and Step 4 with the wind coming from the right.
Finished the steps above you learned to handle sideways
wind without a problem.
Hovering Solo:
Step 1) Position the helicopter with the nose in the wind. Your
instructor will stand next to you to give confidence and useful
(vocal) help if necessary. Lift of the helicopter and hover it
in front of you. Practice until you feel comfortable. Land the
helicopter in a precise and gentle way.
Step 2) Practice all the Hovering "M" steps.
Step 3) Practice the Tail in the Wind steps.
Step 4) Practice the Sideways Wind steps.
Step 5) Your instructor will let you alone, he will put the nice
bottle
of wine he finally got from you in his car.
Step 6) Practice Step 2 to Step 4 while you are completely on
your own.
Now, you really mastered the basic skills to hover a
helicopter.
Tail-in Circle:
Step 1) Put the helicopter in front of you and hover for a
second so you get used to the wind. Rotate the nose 20 degrees
to the left and hover for some time like that. Rotate the nose
20 degrees to the right and hover for some time like that. This
way you get comfortable again with the wind on the side of the
helicopter.
Step 2) Position the helicopter with the tail in the wind, and
put it in a stable hover. Now let the helicopter make the first
90 degrees of a counter clockwise tail in circle with a radius
of 5m (with clockwise rotating main blades). The helicopter is
hovering with the wind coming in on the left side of the
helicopter. Slowly let the helicopter move back again to the
starting position (90 degrees clockwise) until the wind is on
the tail again.
Step 3) Position the helicopter with the tail in the wind, and
put it in a stable hover. Now let the helicopter make the first
90 degrees of a clockwise tail in circle with a radius of 5m
(with clockwise rotating main blades). The helicopter is
hovering with the wind coming in on the right side of the
helicopter. Slowly let the helicopter move back again to the
starting position (90 degrees clockwise) until the wind is on
the tail again. Note that the helicopter will need to bank a bit
more now, get comfortable with this banking angle.
Step 4) Position the helicopter with the tail in the wind, and
put it in a stable hover. Now let the helicopter make the first
180 degrees of a counter clockwise tail in circle with a radius
of 5m (with clockwise rotating main blades). The helicopter is
hovering with the nose in the wind. Slowly let the helicopter
move back again to the starting position (180 degrees clockwise)
until the wind is on the tail again.
Step 5) Position the helicopter with the tail in the wind, and
put it in a stable hover. Now let the helicopter make the first
180 degrees of a clockwise tail in circle with a radius of 5m
(with clockwise rotating main blades). The helicopter is
hovering with the nose in the wind. Slowly let the helicopter
move back again to the starting position (180 degrees clockwise)
until the wind is on the tail again.
Step 6) Just put the steps above together, and you are doing a
tail-in circle!
Step 7) Increase the radius of the circle to e.g. 10m. Practice
the circles in both directions until they are circular with a
constant speed and a constant height. Work up the speed of the
circles so that a complete circle with a radius of 10 takes
about 8 seconds or so on both directions.
Finished all the steps above and now you really mastered
flying a helicopter with a gentle wind. Hope you enjoy yourself
with your beloved helicopter!
