RADIO CONTROL HELICOPTERS
Dan Williams 27 Treeline Dr., Liverpool NY 13090 E-mail: [email protected]
About the author
There is a new guy writing the helicopter column — and that would be me. Bear with me while I get my feet wet and find the format and tone for this column. I'll do my best to turn this little adventure in writing into something you enjoy reading every month.
That means I need to hear from you. If you want something you’re not seeing, let me know. If I'm making mistakes, you have to tell me and I'll certainly correct them. I'm on a different learning curve from the one I was on when I learned to fly helicopters, but I will need as much help as the newbie helicopter fliers do.
I've been involved with all kinds of aircraft for most of my life. My fondest memories are of the days when my dad used to take me to the airport just to watch all the activities. He taught me a word one day and had me go over to my neighbor's house and ask him if he wanted to talk about "aerodynamics." I had no clue what it meant at the time, considering that I was only approximately three years old. Apparently, though, it had lifelong impact.
I was always building plastic models. Cape Canaveral (North) was the field in the back of my house. I thought my mother was going to come completely unglued when I launched my first model rocket. Many control-line models had their first and last flights back there.
I spent many quarters on magazines at the bookstore that had their covers cut off. I remember all of the different radio-control (RC) systems that were advertised. Most of them are out of existence now.
I learned to fly fixed-wing RC while studying electrical engineering at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, where there is three months of summer and the rest is winter. I managed to take off, land, and taxi into the back of my instructor's airplane in the pits. At least it was a tail-dragger so I had an excuse. That winter in the dorm I learned how to MonoKote, helping my instructor fix his model.
After school I attended a full-scale air show at a small airport where there was a model-flying demonstration. Not only did I see a model helicopter fly for the first time, but it actually did a loop and a roll! That was it — I had to get one of those.
My first helicopter was a 40-size Mantis from American RC Helicopters. I hopped that thing around the field in back of my house for a whole summer before I could get a handle on hovering. It had no gyro and was fixed pitch. Learning this way wasn't pretty. The engine barely had enough power to get it into a hover with a hula hoop strapped to it. But I learned! I also saw how much more fun the fixed-wing fliers were having at the local model field and that ended my helicopter flying for a long time.
When I finally crossed back over to the "dark side" and left my fixed-wing experience, it was only roughly eight years ago. At that time there was hardly a collective-pitch machine to be found, and gyro use was the norm. I got a Kyosho Concept 30 SRX and I haven't looked back. I consider myself an intermediate-level pilot. I can hold my own with aerobatic maneuvers and many of the 3-D maneuvers. Some of the backward-inverted stuff eludes me, and I'm weak with pirouetting maneuvers. I don't consider myself a competition-level pilot, nor is it really my interest. I fly for the fun and the challenge.
Professionally I design brushless motor drives and controllers for a hybrid microelectronics firm that sells mainly to military and aerospace companies. On the side I did quite a bit of RC-system repair. I'm currently the AMA District II frequency coordinator. I've written some of the assembly manuals for Bergen R/C Helicopters, and I'm a field technical representative for the company. I don't get my stuff for free, but I got this cool shirt! I'm a private pilot, but I haven't flown much lately; it's getting expensive. I can get a bigger bang for the buck flying models.
That's enough about me. Let's move on to helicopters.
Toledo RC Expo — Weak Signals/RC Expo
I just got back from the model show in Toledo, Ohio: the Weak Signals/RC Expo. It was the first time I had gone. What an experience! If you go, you'll definitely need more than one day to take it all in. Everybody who is anybody is there. I spent most of my time visiting with the helicopter manufacturers. There's some good stuff coming this year. Unfortunately some of it may not hit the shelves until later this summer.
- Horizon Hobby / JR Heli Division
- JR Heli Division is coming out with something new to replace or enhance the Vigor. The company was understandably tight-lipped about the new model. I expect it will take good advantage of the new "big block" engines with displacements up to .91.
- Stay in touch with your local dealer or keep an eye on the Web site for updates.
- Contact: Horizon Hobby, 4105 Fieldstone Rd., Champaign IL 61822; (800) 338-4639; www.horizonhobby.com
- JR Voyager E (electric)
- The Voyager E drew constant interest. It is bigger than most of the other electric helicopters out there, and electric machines are becoming quite a bit more mainstream. I will devote space in a future column to discussing the various electric machines that are available.
- HUI (Helicopters Unlimited Inc.) / Robbe/Schulter
- The Millennium III Pro is due in the U.S. sometime this summer, and it will be utilizing the big engines as well. Various pinion gears will be available so, depending on the engine, the helicopter can have the optimum gear ratio for the power band.
- Robbe also introduced the little electric Eolo. Since its introduction earlier this year it has become very popular. We've already got one machine in our local flying group, and I bought one this spring. I'll let you know what I learn as I go.
- Contact: HUI Robbe/Schulter, Box 726, Avon CT 06001; (860) 677-7278; www.robbeusa.com
- Miniature Aircraft USA
- Miniature Aircraft USA has released the Fury Tempest. There's a Fury Tempest FAI (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale) machine and a Fury Tempest 3-D machine, each with a different head and setup depending on the style of flying. The big engines are used to put all of the available power to use.
- Contact: Miniature Aircraft USA, 31713 Long Acres Dr., Sorrento FL 32776; (352) 383-3201; www.x-cellrchelicopters.com
- Bergen R/C Helicopters
- Bergen has new production for its gas-powered Intrepid and a cool new canopy design. Production is just starting.
- Contact: Bergen R/C Helicopters, 1101 Follett Dr., Cassopolis MI 49031; (269) 445-2060; www.bergenrc.com
Products of interest to new pilots
Two items I saw at Toledo will be of particular interest to new helicopter pilots.
- Co-Pilot (FMA Direct)
- The Co-Pilot is a small device that stabilizes a helicopter or an airplane by keeping it level to the horizon.
- It uses four infrared sensors — one looking at each quadrant of a circle. Ground and trees emit much more infrared light than the sky. As it senses changes between ground and sky IR levels, the device converts the received IR signal into a voltage that a microprocessor uses to control pitch and roll servos to restore the initial signal.
- For a helicopter, it keeps the fuselage level to the ground. It may drift as the wind blows on the fuselage, but it will not tip and accelerate as it rolls or pitches. All the pilot has to do is let go of the right stick on the transmitter and the helicopter will level itself. If a new pilot uses this with a heading-hold gyro, the helicopter will literally float level to the ground until it gets an input from the pilot.
- The Co-Pilot has the potential to make learning to fly helicopters easier than learning to fly airplanes. It gives the new pilot time to collect thoughts and proceed. I will have a detailed review of the Co-Pilot in my next column.
- Contact: FMA Direct, Inc., 5716A Industry Ln., Frederick MD 21704; (800) 343-2934; www.fmadirect.com
Simulator
- Multi-Electronics simulator
- I found an inexpensive simulator by Multi-Electronics — the least expensive simulator I've seen. It needs nothing more than a 300 MHz Pentium III processor and basic video.
- The simulator has decent, pleasant-looking graphics, and — most important — it flies well in both helicopter and airplane mode for the beginner. For less than the price of a crash kit, one can learn the basics of hovering, flying, and basic aerobatics without risking the helicopter.
- This simulator looks ideal for the beginning helicopter pilot who wants to keep the investment to a minimum. I will have more information about this simulator in an upcoming column.
- Contact: Multi-Electronics, 7 Gore Road Park, Bennington VT 05201; (802) 442-0262; [email protected]
Closing
That's it for this month. Success is found at the bottom of each gallon of fuel burned. You've got to burn it to learn it!
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
