Remote Control Helicopters Flying Guide

Uneven tracking you should check the following:

• One of the blade pitch rods is slightly longer than the other
• Possibly a bent or damaged feathing shaft
• Paddles that are not level or not symetric. Just because they're parallel does not mean they are level.
• Damange thrust bearing in the blade grips

Helicopter gradually pulls up in forward flight check the following:

• The pitch in the paddles may be slightly positive overall.
• The helicopter may be nose heavy, yes - nose heavy.

Helicopter gradually dives in forward flight check the following:

• The pitch in the paddles may be slightly negative overall.
• The helicopter may be tail heavy, yes - tail heavy.

Helicopter is pitchy, rapidly pulls up and down check the following:

• You may need heavier paddles
• You may want to add flybar weights
• If it's optional, move to the mounting hole closer to the leading edge of the paddle.

Uneven tracking while performing high rate yanking and banking:

• Check that the center of gravity of each blade is the exact same distance out and that the blades are the exact same weight.
• Check for excessive slop in the control linkages

Vibrations

There are only a few systems that can cause a "low speed" shake. (5 - 30Hz) Low speed shakes are the most scarey kind because the thing looks like it might explode or resembles a paint shaker.

• Nonbalanced rotorblades
• Nontracked rotorblades
• Blade grips that are not exactly spaced from the head the same, or have slop in them alowing the blade grips to shift laterally more than .5mm.
• A flybar who's paddles are not exactly the same distance out from the center when the paddles are screwed in the same number of turns.
• A bent flybar or spindle.
• A bent main shaft. Unfortunately the only way to tell if it's bent is to remove it and roll it on glass.
• A damaged head.
• Excesive slop in the mixing arms possibly.
• A set of blades that don't have matched CGs (debatable) Matching the CG is different than just balancing.
• Warn out rubber dampeners.
• Training gear can amplify a otherwise harmles imbalance into a scarey violent shake. You can usually cure this by running a different head speed and or changing the length of the training gear and how securely or loosely they're fastened to the landing struts.

There are also only a limited number of things that can cause a "high freq shake." (100-300 Hz) High frequency vibrations are most evident by a hum sound comming from the canopy, blurred stabelizer fins, and or foamy fuel in the main tank.

• Engine vibrations or bent crank shaft.
• Damaged or unbalanced clutch or clutch bell.
• Cooling fan not balanced.
• Bent start shaft.
• Resonating tail drive shaft.
• Tail blades unbalanced or not tracking.
• Tail mast or hub bent.
• Damaged pinions or gears.

Radio Problems

There are many causes of radio interference and lockout. If you just have plain FM, radio hits will manifest themselves as control jerks and spasms. If you have PCM your controls will just stop responding and move to your pre-programed positions. Usually with a helicopter this is all servo's maintain last position and throttle to idle. I'll list as many causes as I can think of.

• Antenna touching something metal.
• Metal to metal screws that are not loc-tited.
• Any loose metal to metal connections that can rattle or vibrate.
• Bad bearings that are notchy, noisy or otherwise damaged.
• TV channel interference from a harmonic frequency. Channel 20 is bad around my area and channel 40 gets interference from the audio band of TV channel 4. Check your hobby stores for info.
• A reciever that is not sufficiently insulated from eingine vibrations.
• Antenna is too close to electronics. Try to avoid other wires, servo's, governers and gyros as much as possible.
• Grease any bearing that's supposed to be greased. Usually just in the tail gear case
• Make sure if you can, that you're not flying close to another field where people might be on the same channel
• Loose connections inside your receiver (maybe from a previous crash) or any other leads to servos or a loose frequency crystal in the receiver
• Low battery power on the reciever or transmitter.
• If you point your antenna directly at the helicopter it has the weakest signal. 45 degrees in any direction from the tip of the antenna has the strongest signal.
• If you have a short whip antenna, take special care to avoid mounting it near other electronics and that the electrical connections are very secure.

Tail Jerks (Non radio related)

Sometimes your tail wags, jerks or spasms randomly from time to time. Here are some things to check for...

• Gyro too sensitive, although if you have to make it so unsensitive the tail is "slippery" this isn't the problem.
• The gyro might be too sensitive for very high rpm's like those experienced when descending or the "weightless parts" of aerobatics. Also, fast flight makes the tail more sensitive so you might get tail wag if you're going faster than usual. You'll just need to decrease your gain 5%.
• Gyro mounted poorly. Avoid mounting a gyro in a manor that waging will be able to wobble the gyro along the verticle axis. Don't use the side of the gyro to mount it to a vertical section, use the base of it on a horizontal surface.
• Use the gyro tape suplied with the gyro, or material designed for gyro's.
• Bad high frequency vibrations and interfere with the electronics of a gyro and make it work poorly.
• If you have a belt drive make sure the teeth on the belt aren't hitting inside the boom, which can happen if your belt is too loose.
• If your engine is running too lean it can sputter which will cause sudden loss of tail power, or sudden burst of tail power which will "kick" the tail around.
• This could be a warning sign that your drive shaft is loose, slipping or backing out.
• This is also a good indication you're running low on gas, or sucking up air bubles from fuel intake.
• Many times the tail is the most sensitive part of the helicopter, so radio hits may be mostly noticed in tail jerks. See the above for troubleshooting radio interference.
• Perhaps your belt, gear or pinion are missing teeth or have damaged (rounded) teeth which are skipping. Check the clutch area, main gear and tail gears for rounded or missing teeth.

Remote Control Helicopters Flying Guide

Uneven tracking you should check the following:

• One of the blade pitch rods is slightly longer than the other
• Possibly a bent or damaged feathing shaft
• Paddles that are not level or not symetric. Just because they're parallel does not mean they are level.
• Damange thrust bearing in the blade grips
  

Helicopter gradually pulls up in forward flight check the following:

• The pitch in the paddles may be slightly positive overall.
• The helicopter may be nose heavy, yes - nose heavy.
  

Helicopter gradually dives in forward flight check the following:

• The pitch in the paddles may be slightly negative overall.
• The helicopter may be tail heavy, yes - tail heavy.
  

Helicopter is pitchy, rapidly pulls up and down check the following:

• You may need heavier paddles
• You may want to add flybar weights
• If it's optional, move to the mounting hole closer to the leading edge of the paddle.
  

Uneven tracking while performing high rate yanking and banking:

• Check that the center of gravity of each blade is the exact same distance out and that the blades are the exact same weight.
• Check for excessive slop in the control linkages
  

Vibrations
There are only a few systems that can cause a "low speed" shake. (5 - 30Hz) Low speed shakes are the most scarey kind because the thing looks like it might explode or resembles a paint shaker.

• Nonbalanced rotorblades
• Nontracked rotorblades
• Blade grips that are not exactly spaced from the head the same, or have slop in them alowing the blade grips to shift laterally more than .5mm.
• A flybar who's paddles are not exactly the same distance out from the center when the paddles are screwed in the same number of turns.
• A bent flybar or spindle.
• A bent main shaft. Unfortunately the only way to tell if it's bent is to remove it and roll it on glass.
• A damaged head.
• Excesive slop in the mixing arms possibly.
• A set of blades that don't have matched CGs (debatable) Matching the CG is different than just balancing.
• Warn out rubber dampeners.
• Training gear can amplify a otherwise harmles imbalance into a scarey violent shake. You can usually cure this by running a different head speed and or changing the length of the training gear and how securely or loosely they're fastened to the landing struts.
  

There are also only a limited number of things that can cause a "high freq shake." (100-300 Hz) High frequency vibrations are most evident by a hum sound comming from the canopy, blurred stabelizer fins, and or foamy fuel in the main tank.

• Engine vibrations or bent crank shaft.
• Damaged or unbalanced clutch or clutch bell.
• Cooling fan not balanced.
• Bent start shaft.
• Resonating tail drive shaft.
• Tail blades unbalanced or not tracking.
• Tail mast or hub bent.
• Damaged pinions or gears.
  

Radio Problems
There are many causes of radio interference and lockout. If you just have plain FM, radio hits will manifest themselves as control jerks and spasms. If you have PCM your controls will just stop responding and move to your pre-programed positions. Usually with a helicopter this is all servo's maintain last position and throttle to idle. I'll list as many causes as I can think of.

• Antenna touching something metal.
• Metal to metal screws that are not loc-tited.
• Any loose metal to metal connections that can rattle or vibrate.
• Bad bearings that are notchy, noisy or otherwise damaged.
• TV channel interference from a harmonic frequency. Channel 20 is bad around my area and channel 40 gets interference from the audio band of TV channel 4. Check your hobby stores for info.
• A reciever that is not sufficiently insulated from eingine vibrations.
• Antenna is too close to electronics. Try to avoid other wires, servo's, governers and gyros as much as possible.
• Grease any bearing that's supposed to be greased. Usually just in the tail gear case
• Make sure if you can, that you're not flying close to another field where people might be on the same channel
• Loose connections inside your receiver (maybe from a previous crash) or any other leads to servos or a loose frequency crystal in the receiver
• Low battery power on the reciever or transmitter.
• If you point your antenna directly at the helicopter it has the weakest signal. 45 degrees in any direction from the tip of the antenna has the strongest signal.
• If you have a short whip antenna, take special care to avoid mounting it near other electronics and that the electrical connections are very secure.
  

Tail Jerks (Non radio related)
Sometimes your tail wags, jerks or spasms randomly from time to time. Here are some things to check for...

• Gyro too sensitive, although if you have to make it so unsensitive the tail is "slippery" this isn't the problem.
• The gyro might be too sensitive for very high rpm's like those experienced when descending or the "weightless parts" of aerobatics. Also, fast flight makes the tail more sensitive so you might get tail wag if you're going faster than usual. You'll just need to decrease your gain 5%.
• Gyro mounted poorly. Avoid mounting a gyro in a manor that waging will be able to wobble the gyro along the verticle axis. Don't use the side of the gyro to mount it to a vertical section, use the base of it on a horizontal surface.
• Use the gyro tape suplied with the gyro, or material designed for gyro's.
• Bad high frequency vibrations and interfere with the electronics of a gyro and make it work poorly.
• If you have a belt drive make sure the teeth on the belt aren't hitting inside the boom, which can happen if your belt is too loose.
• If your engine is running too lean it can sputter which will cause sudden loss of tail power, or sudden burst of tail power which will "kick" the tail around.
• This could be a warning sign that your drive shaft is loose, slipping or backing out.
• This is also a good indication you're running low on gas, or sucking up air bubles from fuel intake.
• Many times the tail is the most sensitive part of the helicopter, so radio hits may be mostly noticed in tail jerks. See the above for troubleshooting radio interference.
• Perhaps your belt, gear or pinion are missing teeth or have damaged (rounded) teeth which are skipping. Check the clutch area, main gear and tail gears for rounded or missing teeth.
  

All About RTF Remote Control Helicopters

If you are interested in purchasing rtf remote control helicopters, then you’ve come to the right place. I personally recommend any type of rtf remote control helicopters because I have found them to be uniformly well made and durable. When I was recently out with a friend flying our rtf remote control helicopters, she mentioned that she was upset because she had also purchased a non-rtf remote control helicopters, and simply did not get the same type of quality, and it actually crashed and broke into a thousand pieces on the second day she owned it!




I’m happy to say that she was able to return it the next day and get her money back, but it was still an upsetting experience for her, and she’ll always remember from now on that she only should purchase rtf remote control helicopters.

Mine is blue with white stripes, and the propeller is really beautiful—gold and red glitter, so it really sparkles when it’s flying. I love flashy rtf remote control helicopters, but if you’re more into the utilitarian version, then you will be happy to know that there are many models out there, and you could probably even find one in all black or all white. Actually I think it might be fun to get one in black and one in white and fight them until one crashes and breaks. Of course, you’d have to purchase them wholesale, or at least on a good deal, because you know you’ll be breaking one of them completely, and the other one might never be the same. But it would certainly be a cool game to play once, and you could even video tape it and upload it to one of the video sites, such as You Tube.

Either way, I’m sure you’ll enjoy your rtf remote control helicopters when you finally decide to purchase them, and I would certainly recommend, as always doing a few hours of comparison shopping before making the purchase. This is especially important for rtf remote control helicopters, and I cannot stress it enough, because I have talked to people who have purchased the exact same models for wildly different prices. When I talked to two people, one of which paid twice as much as the other one for the same model, my jaw dropped, and it was then that I was sure of the importance of comparison shopping. And the funniest thing was, the person who spent twice as much ended up crashing her helicopter after only having it for one year! I felt so bad for her, but it was really the definition of irony.

Anyway, I hope that you’ll heed this advice before you purchase a rtf remote control helicopters, even though they are universally well made and durable, you can still pay hugely variable prices for the same degree of quality. No matter how much money you have, you should always try to make the most educated purchases, to retain your hard earned cash.

Big Remote Control Helicopters Require Skill

If space is not an issue for you, then you might be able to consider purchasing some of the new big remote control helicopters that recently were introduced from multiple brands. These helicopters, which can sometimes be as large as ten feet long, rival real helicopters in agility and of course, in price. They can run you up to 3 thousand dollars, or so I have heard.



But like many crazes, some people think that they just have to own one of their own. So now, if you go out to a long, open plain, you might see some of these big remote control helicopters flying around, and at first you’ll probably think they are real helicopters that are simply further away then you first think. But then you’ll probably see someone else controlling the helicopter through their equally big remote control, and then you’ll know the truth.

If you get a chance to see one of these in flight, consider yourself lucky. With the tremendous expense of owning one of these beauties, comes their rarity. Of course, being an avid collector myself, I have considered purchasing one of these big remote control helicopters, and I even put a bid on one in Ebay, but I ended up not getting it and instead deciding to wait until the price goes down a little bit.

Like with any other huge commodity, big remote control helicopters are the it factor now, but in a few years, I am sure they will overcome the demand with a bigger supply, and then I’ll be ready and waiting to purchase. Until then, I have a very generous and rich friend who owns one, and I will practice flying it on his. I have already taken it out once, and it’s so much more powerful than the typical small remote control helicopters that you may be used to. When you first turn it on, the big remote control helicopter’s blade spins with such ferocity, you may worry that you’re going to blow away. When it lifts off the ground, you will probably feel a huge sense of accomplishment, knowing that you are the one that is controlling it.

And if you’re able to nail the landing, then you can consider yourself a true helicopter connoisseur, because even those very well versed in small remote control helicopters would be impressed to see someone land a big remote control helicopters—it’s a whole different ball game, really. So if you happen to be lucky, rich, or determined enough to purchase one of your own, or if you’re able to practice on a friend’s helicopter like me, enjoy your time with your large helicopter.

I guarantee it’ll be one of the most exhilarating experiences of your life. For me, the entire process was unreal, and when it was all over, I had to call everyone I knew and tell them how I flew a 10 foot helicopter and prevented it from crashing. I bet that’s how pilots feel the first time they fly a fighter jet. It’s just incomprehensible unless you try it for yourself.

Bringing My Remote Control Helicopters to Gaithersburg, MD

I recently took a job located in Gaithersburg, MD, and with that comes a pretty sizeable move. I need to basically move across the country, and when I realized that this job offer was finalized, I almost had a panic attack, because I didn’t know how I would best transport my collection of remote control helicopters.


What ended up happening was a great story that I love to tell other helicopter enthusiasts or even other potential helicopter enthusiasts. Anyway, I called a few of my friends in the area, who are also remote control helicopter enthusiasts. Although none of them lived anywhere near Gaithersburg, MD, they were all ready and willing to help me in my move. They showed up a week in advance and helped me pack up my collection of about 7549 remote control helicopters, which ended up being a painstaking amount of wrapping, checking, and rewrapping of each helicopter and then placing them into a box and making sure that they won’t bump against each other or break during transport. I had to make sure that when I arrived in Gaithersburg, MD that my helicopters would still be intact, because I had a competition in the near future, and I didn’t want to lose even one of the helicopters in my large collection.

Luckily, my friends were extremely careful and considerate and made sure that they packaged each one carefully and when I finally arrived in Gaitherburg, by car, they were there to help with unloading as well. I just couldn’t believe that they took the time and the money for me. I never realized how helpful other helicopter enthusiasts could be, and I’ll never forget how wonderful they were during my move to my new job in Gaithersburg.

I am really now excited about my new job, and now that I’ve begun I am really thinking that this is the job for me, and someday when I find that someone else has to make a large move and they are worried about what they’ll do about packing up their own remote control helicopter collection, I will be right there to help them out. I am so happy that the helicopter enthusiasts in my community have such a “pay it forward” attitude, and I know that someday if I ever need them again, they’ll still be there for me. This is also something to consider when you purchase a remote control helicopter—are the people in the area going to be available to fly it with you? Because it’s often the most rewarding experience to teach someone else how to really master the flight of a helicopter, and without someone else there, you don’t get the same enjoyment out of flying.

Of course, if you’re the kind of person that really likes solitude, then maybe you would actually prefer to purchase you remote control helicopter in an area where there is a dearth of other helicopter enthusiasts, but these people are rare in the helicopter community. Believe me, I know a lot of them!

Take Care when Reading Reviews about Remote Control Helicopters

I have read tons of reviews for remote control helicopters, because I am the editor of a helicopter aficionado magazine that talks about all the types of helicopters on the market and recommends the best one to buy if you are a first time owner or a remote control helicopter veteran. The magazine is great, and it helps me see what other helicopter owners think about different models and brands of helicopters, and I really must say that people’s opinions vary widely, which is why it’s probably always best to just do your own research and get what best suits you, rather than getting what you think best suits you based on some stranger’s opinion. That said, many people who are buying their first remote control helicopters don’t really know what they are looking for, and it is these people that these reviews are written for.

But they are not meant to be taken literally, but rather as a framework to find what other people consider valuable aspects of helicopter buying. Then you need to think for yourself whether you care, for instance, whether the helicopter blades are made of paper or platinum (although your choices would most likely be more like metal or plastic, but I just meant that as an example). All in all, I like this magazine because it considers people from all walks of life, and it understands that even if you are interested in purchasing a helicopter, you may not be a rich and bored millionaire with any amount of money and no consideration for finding the best deal.

We all know that these days money is hard to come by, and consumers are becoming more and more knowledgeable about their purchases, which is a wonderful thing in my opinion. Of course, there are other people who just want to get the most money they can for themselves, so they mark up helicopter prices to exorbitant amounts and hope they’ll get a few foolish customers that didn’t do their homework.

And they probably do get a few of those customers, because they stay in business somehow, and I regularly hear horror stories about people who paid way too much for their remote control helicopter, and when I ask them why they didn’t take the time to read the reviews in my magazine, they usually say that they didn’t know about the magazine, or worse, that they didn’t have enough time. So they had enough time to work their butts off for that money, but then not enough time to read a measly magazine review? I think not. Hopefully, consumers in the future will just continue to become more and more careful about their purchases, because I hate to see people in debt.

It’s such a sad thing. If you happen to be a new helicopter enthusiast, or you know someone who is, please make sure you read the remote control helicopters reviews before making your purchase. It can literally save you hundreds of your hard earned dollars.

Caution When Using Gas or Nitro Powered Remote Control Helicopters

In contrast to electric helicopters, there also exist gas or nitro powered remote control helicopters that you should really check out, if you think you have it in you. Of course, the gas powered helicopters can be more work intensive, but they can also be more rewarding. You see, it is the gas or nitro powered remote control helicopters that are capable of really showcasing the best agility level and the highest, fastest flying capabilities.

At least that’s what I’ve typically found with my helicopter purchases. Either way, you can really have a ton of fun with gas or nitro powered remote control helicopters and if you don’t mind replacing their fuel when it runs out and working carefully to avoid fire when you’re setting them up for flight, you can really have a wonderful time.

I remember once helping another shopper with a gas or nitro powered remote control helicopter purchase, and they really found that they could have much more fun with this type of helicopter than the electric helicopter that they were using before then, because the electric one just didn’t respond as well to the remote control. I don’t know for sure if this is the case universally, or if this particular customer found that gas or nitro powered remote control helicopters were better than electric helicopters based on a single, isolated incident, but I do know that when I discuss which helicopter is better with other professional fliers, I typically get the same answer. Gas or nitro powered remote control helicopters are indeed more work, but they are also unparalleled in their ability to fly well.

For instance, let’s say you want to fly your helicopter further backwards than any other person and make it to the Guiness Book of World Records. Well, I have typically heard that people find the gas helicopters to last longer—the electrical charge in electric helicopters runs out before the fuel does. That said, the gas or nitro powered remote control helicopters are also much more expensive, and you do need to know that you have to restore the gas whenever it runs out, and cleaning the apparatus also takes more ingenuity and work. But of course, if you’re up for the challenge, the rewards are well worth it. Just make sure that when you purchase gas or nitro powered remote control helicopters, as with any large transaction, that you are buying from a reputable independent or commercial dealer, and you have researched the price trends in your area, so you know you’re getting the best deal you possibly can for your money.

There is little more frustrating that purchasing your first real gas or nitro powered remote control helicopter and finding out that your next door neighbor got a similar one for a lot cheaper, and is happier with it because they had money left over to take a trip out to the country and really fly it around. The choice is up to you, but if I had to choose one, I would choose the gas helicopter over the electric one!