110 MODEL AVIATION
IT SEEMS AS though the weather in the
Northeast is finally settling down into a nice
summer pattern. We actually got our first
Saturday without rain in quite sometime.
Every weekend has been a one-day washout
or a complete washout. Finally, it’s time to
fly!
As I promised, this month I’m including a
review of the FMA Direct Co-Pilot. This
handy little device will help keep a model
level during flight by using infrared
technology to sense the difference between
the sky and ground infrared levels. A newbie
pilot can use it to help in the first stages of
learning to hover. It can also be used in a
fixed-wing aircraft, but I’m going to write
about the helicopter application.
The Co-Pilot uses infrared sensors to receive
information from four viewpoints: one for
each 90° quadrant around a circle. This
allows the sensor to view all the way around
the model. It does not “see” the horizon as
other stabilizers do; instead, it uses the
infrared “heat” given off by the earth versus
the sky. It looks for a change in the infrared
heat signal based on how it was calibrated.
As the infrared sensor angle changes
toward the sky, the amount of heat given off
drops. The sensor on the opposite side of the
model will increase as its angle changes
toward the earth. The computer decides
which servos—fore-aft (elevator) or right-left
(aileron)—to actuate to bring the model back
to the calibration values.
As packaged, the unit comes with the Co-
Pilot infrared sensor, the Co-Pilot computer,
ribbon cable for connecting the sensor to the
computer, an infrared calibration button,
Velcro for installing the components on the
aircraft, and the instruction manual. It is
recommended that the model be completely
set up with the radio installed and working
properly before you connect the Co-Pilot.
Another important thing is that if you are
going to fly Futaba PCM (Pulse Code
Modulation), the Co-Pilot needs to have
digital servo buffers connected between the
receiver and the computer. FMA Direct part
number 505SB will take care of that. I chose
to fly FM for this experiment, so I opted to
use the FMA Direct Quantum 8 receiver with
my Futaba 9Z transmitter.
I read the manual before installing the Co-
Pilot. What a novel idea: to read the
instructions first. Since I was going to trust
this thing to fly in one of my 3-D machines, I
wanted to be sure I was doing the right thing.
The basic concept of how the Co-Pilot works
was straightforward and well explained in the
manual.
However, reading all of the setup and
calibration instructions became slightly
overwhelming until I sat down with the
Dan Williams, 27 Treeline Dr., Liverpool NY 13090; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL HELICOPTERS
Co-Pilot sensor mounting on the tailboom of the author’s Intrepid 46. The sensor must
be secure, so it is imperative to use servo tape and a cable tie.
This is where Dan mounted the computer. He removed padding to show how everything
is hooked up. He isolated and padded the computer as you would the receiver.
helicopter and went through the procedure.
Things quickly became clear. The pictures
included in the manual are for a fixed-wing
and helicopter installation. The photos are
clear and concise, but for the Tim Taylor
types out there, you must actually read the
instructions—not just look at the pictures.
I installed the Co-Pilot in my Bergen
Intrepid 46 with an O.S. .50 engine, Futaba
9202 servos, 600-millimeter V-Blades, and
KSJ flybar paddles. The helicopter is outfitted
for 3-D flight, which is probably not the best
choice for testing the Co-Pilot, but I decided
to see what would happen.
I mounted the sensor on the tailboom near
the back end of the side frames, as was
suggested in the manual. I used double-stick
tape on the tailboom and a plastic cable tie
around the sensor and tailboom. Velcro came
with the package, but the instructions
discussed a cable tie and double-stick tape,
and they specifically instructed not to use the
Velcro for helicopter installation.
I ran the sensor cable up to the computer
mounted on top of the receiver, and it was
wrapped in foam. I used Velcro ties to secure
the sensor cable. The calibration switch was
mounted in an extra hole by my battery
switch. So far, so good! It was time for the
setup routine.
During the setup calibration phase I set up
the remote sensitivity control to be one of the
channel control knobs on the front of my
radio. A fully clockwise rotation provides
maximum gain, and fully counterclockwise
deactivates the Co-Pilot.
In the course of setup, the Co-Pilot
responds to activation and deactivation by
moving servos back and forth as an indicator
while you turn the remote gain
adjustment/activation on and off. It works out
quite nicely.
The next procedure involves getting the
computer to move the correct servo in the
correct direction. Stick your hand in front of
one of the four sensors and look for a
response; it sees the heat from your hand. The
manual refers to swashplate movement—not
servo movement—which minimizes any
confusion.
Incorrect response from the hand
placement means that one or more of the
switches on the computer needs changing.
This was slightly confusing for me at first, but
after rereading that section in the manual a
few times and experimenting, I managed to
get everything correct.
It reminds me quite a bit of setting up the
CSM 540 heading-hold gyro. It took me a
few times to sort that out too, so it’s a
problem in my brain—not the manual. Once I
got everything functioning correctly, it was
time to fly the machine.
The first day of flying the Co-Pilot happened
to be one of those “1% days.” In Central New
York, that refers to getting one of those
awesome-weather days that you only get 1%
of the time around here. It was 70-something
degrees, and there was not a cloud in the sky.
There was a slight breeze blowing down the
flightline, but that kept the exhaust away from
the pilots.
I went through the field calibration. It
gives the Co-Pilot the baseline readings that it
uses for the level point in all directions.
Terrain, temperatures, and conditions in the
sky can affect this. We have an open area to
fly in, so I didn’t have to worry about trees or
buildings compromising the tests.
After the daily calibration procedure was
completed, I got a count of “9” from the
computer; one is looking for a minimum of
“3” to use the Co-Pilot. This is a figure of
merit from the computer that shows how
large of a difference it sees between the sky
and the earth infrared measurement.
I started the first flight with the Co-Pilot
activated but with minimum gain. I needed
some trimming at hover to get the machine
hovering well at center stick. This machine
was previously completely trimmed out, so I
was seeing some correction from the
computer to what it thought was level. There
is an autotrim function that takes care of this,
but I ignored that for now. I just wanted to get
the machine flying with the Co-Pilot, so I
forged ahead.
Because of the clockwise rotation of the
blades and the effect of the tail rotor for
torque compensation, some right and forward
trimming is going to be necessary for correct
hover. Once in the air, the machine felt
sluggish. It wasn’t responding as usual to my
stick movements. It’s a lot like flying a nonheading-
hold gyro in that you have to
compensate for the corrections that the gyro is
trying to make.
I flew it like that for a bit. I noticed that it
took some time for the machine to get
corrections when I made it tip one way or the
other. Then I turned up the gain to
approximately 3⁄4 and flew it again. I
immediately noticed a big difference in flying
characteristics. The insensitive feeling was
still there, but I could see immediate
corrections from the Co-Pilot.
While I hovered the Intrepid for a while, I
noticed a few things as I got used to it; one
was that it wouldn’t keep the helicopter
stationary. It kept it level, but it wouldn’t stop
any drift. That’s up to the pilot. It wouldn’t
November 2003 113
Custom Struts Also Available. Direct add $3.00 S&H (USA)
1-800-909-3632, Fax 217-351-3590
Fults Tooling PO Box 155 Savoy, IL 61874
● Learning to fly?
● Breaking props?
● Move up to FULTS!
These rugged constructed
Dual Struts will improve the
performance of your airplane.
RF 300 $16.85
$16.85
$16.85
$17.18
$21.06
$21.51
$22.47
$22.47
$22.92
$22.92
$28.48
$33.95
Model (A) Price
Length
(A)
Wire
Size
(B)
Length
(B)
Wire
Size
Engine
Size*
3" 1/8" 4" 3/16" .20 - .40
3.5" 1/8" 4" 3/16" .40
4" 1/8" 4" 3/16" .40 - .60
4.5" 1/8" 4" 3/16" .40 - .60
5" 5/32" 4" 3/16" .60 - .90
5" 5/32" 4.3/8" 7/32" .60 - 1.2
6" 5/32" 4 3/8" 7/32" .60 - 1.2
7" 5/32" 4 3/8" 7/32" .60 - 1.2
3" to 6" 5/32" 4 3/8" 7/32" .40 - 1.2
5" to 7" 5/32" 4 3/8" 7/32" .40 - 1.2
Gas
Powered
3" to 8.5"
3" to 8.5"
3/16" 4 1/2" 1/4"
3/16" 4 1/2" 5/8"
RF 350
RF 400
RF 450
RF 500
RF 510
RF 610
RF 710
RF 36J
RF 57J
RF 770
RF 800
speed up noticeably in the drift, though.
The machine sort of wandered off in one
direction or another without any input from
the stick. That was to be expected.
I did notice a bit of nervousness from
the Intrepid. It appeared that the machine
was responding to the slight inputs from
the computer as it tried to keep the machine
level. It became more noticeable as I turned
up the gain. Eventually it would start to
oscillate a bit. This means that there is too
much gain. It’s the same thing as too much
gyro gain.
The nervousness probably wouldn’t be
noticeable with a helicopter that was more
tuned for training. Since I was using a 3-D
machine, it was responding to every little
correction from the computer.
Our field is sloped a bit, and it slowly
drops away from the flightline. I noticed
the machine attempting to level itself, and
it was constantly drifting away from me as
I was trying to hover. Some trim helps, but
it still wanted to wander away. The wind
was coming from another direction, so that
wasn’t it.
Later I positioned myself in a different
direction and made a flight. The helicopter
still wanted to move away from the sloped
area. It wasn’t a big deal, in that you still
have to fly the machine. This Co-Pilot
keeps the model under control while a
newbie sorts everything out.
My next attempt was forward flight.
Again it responded a bit sluggishly to my
stick inputs, but other than that the flight
was uneventful. From altitude I purposely
threw the Intrepid on its side, and the Co-
Pilot immediately corrected it back to level.
The machine kept moving a bit in that
direction, but that was it. It was back to
level in less than a second.
I played around with it in various
attitudes in the air, letting the computer reestablish
level flight. In every case the
helicopter was back to level before anything
major could happen. This was an unusual
case because new pilots shouldn’t be up that
high doing crazy things. On the other hand,
they probably could end up like that. The
Co-Pilot doesn’t do everything for you.
My last flight of the day was an extreme
experiment. In the manual, FMA Direct
warns you not to fly the machine inverted
while under Co-Pilot control. I did anyway,
and the helicopter immediately flipped back
over! I could flip the machine sideways to
inverted just long enough to have the Co-
Pilot flip it back over level. I never could get
it to flip backward or forward; the Co-Pilot
wouldn’t let me. This has nothing to do with
this review, but I thought it was cool!
On my next flying day the sky was dark
and overcast. I only got a count of “4” from
the computer, but I flew anyway. I didn’t
notice anything different with its flying
characteristics, but I did notice the raindrops
on my transmitter and stopped flying.
I found nothing that I would consider a real
problem with setting up or flying the Co-
Pilot. Would it help a new pilot? I think it
would, with the understanding that it will
not fly the helicopter for him or her. It does
a good job of keeping the machine level.
The pilot has to do the rest.
Is it worth the investment for a new
pilot? I’m donating the Co-Pilot to my club
to be used with the next new flier, and I’ll
see how he or she progresses with the
device’s help.
As of this writing, the Co-Pilot is
incapable of working with a CCPM (Cyclic
Collective Pitch Mixing) helicopter. It is
being developed by FMA Direct and should
be available soon. For more information
contact FMA Direct at 5716A Industry Ln.,
Fredrick MD 21704, by calling (800) 343-
2934, or on the Web at
www.fmadirect.com.
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
Edition: Model Aviation - 2003/11
Page Numbers: 110,113,114
Edition: Model Aviation - 2003/11
Page Numbers: 110,113,114
110 MODEL AVIATION
IT SEEMS AS though the weather in the
Northeast is finally settling down into a nice
summer pattern. We actually got our first
Saturday without rain in quite sometime.
Every weekend has been a one-day washout
or a complete washout. Finally, it’s time to
fly!
As I promised, this month I’m including a
review of the FMA Direct Co-Pilot. This
handy little device will help keep a model
level during flight by using infrared
technology to sense the difference between
the sky and ground infrared levels. A newbie
pilot can use it to help in the first stages of
learning to hover. It can also be used in a
fixed-wing aircraft, but I’m going to write
about the helicopter application.
The Co-Pilot uses infrared sensors to receive
information from four viewpoints: one for
each 90° quadrant around a circle. This
allows the sensor to view all the way around
the model. It does not “see” the horizon as
other stabilizers do; instead, it uses the
infrared “heat” given off by the earth versus
the sky. It looks for a change in the infrared
heat signal based on how it was calibrated.
As the infrared sensor angle changes
toward the sky, the amount of heat given off
drops. The sensor on the opposite side of the
model will increase as its angle changes
toward the earth. The computer decides
which servos—fore-aft (elevator) or right-left
(aileron)—to actuate to bring the model back
to the calibration values.
As packaged, the unit comes with the Co-
Pilot infrared sensor, the Co-Pilot computer,
ribbon cable for connecting the sensor to the
computer, an infrared calibration button,
Velcro for installing the components on the
aircraft, and the instruction manual. It is
recommended that the model be completely
set up with the radio installed and working
properly before you connect the Co-Pilot.
Another important thing is that if you are
going to fly Futaba PCM (Pulse Code
Modulation), the Co-Pilot needs to have
digital servo buffers connected between the
receiver and the computer. FMA Direct part
number 505SB will take care of that. I chose
to fly FM for this experiment, so I opted to
use the FMA Direct Quantum 8 receiver with
my Futaba 9Z transmitter.
I read the manual before installing the Co-
Pilot. What a novel idea: to read the
instructions first. Since I was going to trust
this thing to fly in one of my 3-D machines, I
wanted to be sure I was doing the right thing.
The basic concept of how the Co-Pilot works
was straightforward and well explained in the
manual.
However, reading all of the setup and
calibration instructions became slightly
overwhelming until I sat down with the
Dan Williams, 27 Treeline Dr., Liverpool NY 13090; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL HELICOPTERS
Co-Pilot sensor mounting on the tailboom of the author’s Intrepid 46. The sensor must
be secure, so it is imperative to use servo tape and a cable tie.
This is where Dan mounted the computer. He removed padding to show how everything
is hooked up. He isolated and padded the computer as you would the receiver.
helicopter and went through the procedure.
Things quickly became clear. The pictures
included in the manual are for a fixed-wing
and helicopter installation. The photos are
clear and concise, but for the Tim Taylor
types out there, you must actually read the
instructions—not just look at the pictures.
I installed the Co-Pilot in my Bergen
Intrepid 46 with an O.S. .50 engine, Futaba
9202 servos, 600-millimeter V-Blades, and
KSJ flybar paddles. The helicopter is outfitted
for 3-D flight, which is probably not the best
choice for testing the Co-Pilot, but I decided
to see what would happen.
I mounted the sensor on the tailboom near
the back end of the side frames, as was
suggested in the manual. I used double-stick
tape on the tailboom and a plastic cable tie
around the sensor and tailboom. Velcro came
with the package, but the instructions
discussed a cable tie and double-stick tape,
and they specifically instructed not to use the
Velcro for helicopter installation.
I ran the sensor cable up to the computer
mounted on top of the receiver, and it was
wrapped in foam. I used Velcro ties to secure
the sensor cable. The calibration switch was
mounted in an extra hole by my battery
switch. So far, so good! It was time for the
setup routine.
During the setup calibration phase I set up
the remote sensitivity control to be one of the
channel control knobs on the front of my
radio. A fully clockwise rotation provides
maximum gain, and fully counterclockwise
deactivates the Co-Pilot.
In the course of setup, the Co-Pilot
responds to activation and deactivation by
moving servos back and forth as an indicator
while you turn the remote gain
adjustment/activation on and off. It works out
quite nicely.
The next procedure involves getting the
computer to move the correct servo in the
correct direction. Stick your hand in front of
one of the four sensors and look for a
response; it sees the heat from your hand. The
manual refers to swashplate movement—not
servo movement—which minimizes any
confusion.
Incorrect response from the hand
placement means that one or more of the
switches on the computer needs changing.
This was slightly confusing for me at first, but
after rereading that section in the manual a
few times and experimenting, I managed to
get everything correct.
It reminds me quite a bit of setting up the
CSM 540 heading-hold gyro. It took me a
few times to sort that out too, so it’s a
problem in my brain—not the manual. Once I
got everything functioning correctly, it was
time to fly the machine.
The first day of flying the Co-Pilot happened
to be one of those “1% days.” In Central New
York, that refers to getting one of those
awesome-weather days that you only get 1%
of the time around here. It was 70-something
degrees, and there was not a cloud in the sky.
There was a slight breeze blowing down the
flightline, but that kept the exhaust away from
the pilots.
I went through the field calibration. It
gives the Co-Pilot the baseline readings that it
uses for the level point in all directions.
Terrain, temperatures, and conditions in the
sky can affect this. We have an open area to
fly in, so I didn’t have to worry about trees or
buildings compromising the tests.
After the daily calibration procedure was
completed, I got a count of “9” from the
computer; one is looking for a minimum of
“3” to use the Co-Pilot. This is a figure of
merit from the computer that shows how
large of a difference it sees between the sky
and the earth infrared measurement.
I started the first flight with the Co-Pilot
activated but with minimum gain. I needed
some trimming at hover to get the machine
hovering well at center stick. This machine
was previously completely trimmed out, so I
was seeing some correction from the
computer to what it thought was level. There
is an autotrim function that takes care of this,
but I ignored that for now. I just wanted to get
the machine flying with the Co-Pilot, so I
forged ahead.
Because of the clockwise rotation of the
blades and the effect of the tail rotor for
torque compensation, some right and forward
trimming is going to be necessary for correct
hover. Once in the air, the machine felt
sluggish. It wasn’t responding as usual to my
stick movements. It’s a lot like flying a nonheading-
hold gyro in that you have to
compensate for the corrections that the gyro is
trying to make.
I flew it like that for a bit. I noticed that it
took some time for the machine to get
corrections when I made it tip one way or the
other. Then I turned up the gain to
approximately 3⁄4 and flew it again. I
immediately noticed a big difference in flying
characteristics. The insensitive feeling was
still there, but I could see immediate
corrections from the Co-Pilot.
While I hovered the Intrepid for a while, I
noticed a few things as I got used to it; one
was that it wouldn’t keep the helicopter
stationary. It kept it level, but it wouldn’t stop
any drift. That’s up to the pilot. It wouldn’t
November 2003 113
Custom Struts Also Available. Direct add $3.00 S&H (USA)
1-800-909-3632, Fax 217-351-3590
Fults Tooling PO Box 155 Savoy, IL 61874
● Learning to fly?
● Breaking props?
● Move up to FULTS!
These rugged constructed
Dual Struts will improve the
performance of your airplane.
RF 300 $16.85
$16.85
$16.85
$17.18
$21.06
$21.51
$22.47
$22.47
$22.92
$22.92
$28.48
$33.95
Model (A) Price
Length
(A)
Wire
Size
(B)
Length
(B)
Wire
Size
Engine
Size*
3" 1/8" 4" 3/16" .20 - .40
3.5" 1/8" 4" 3/16" .40
4" 1/8" 4" 3/16" .40 - .60
4.5" 1/8" 4" 3/16" .40 - .60
5" 5/32" 4" 3/16" .60 - .90
5" 5/32" 4.3/8" 7/32" .60 - 1.2
6" 5/32" 4 3/8" 7/32" .60 - 1.2
7" 5/32" 4 3/8" 7/32" .60 - 1.2
3" to 6" 5/32" 4 3/8" 7/32" .40 - 1.2
5" to 7" 5/32" 4 3/8" 7/32" .40 - 1.2
Gas
Powered
3" to 8.5"
3" to 8.5"
3/16" 4 1/2" 1/4"
3/16" 4 1/2" 5/8"
RF 350
RF 400
RF 450
RF 500
RF 510
RF 610
RF 710
RF 36J
RF 57J
RF 770
RF 800
speed up noticeably in the drift, though.
The machine sort of wandered off in one
direction or another without any input from
the stick. That was to be expected.
I did notice a bit of nervousness from
the Intrepid. It appeared that the machine
was responding to the slight inputs from
the computer as it tried to keep the machine
level. It became more noticeable as I turned
up the gain. Eventually it would start to
oscillate a bit. This means that there is too
much gain. It’s the same thing as too much
gyro gain.
The nervousness probably wouldn’t be
noticeable with a helicopter that was more
tuned for training. Since I was using a 3-D
machine, it was responding to every little
correction from the computer.
Our field is sloped a bit, and it slowly
drops away from the flightline. I noticed
the machine attempting to level itself, and
it was constantly drifting away from me as
I was trying to hover. Some trim helps, but
it still wanted to wander away. The wind
was coming from another direction, so that
wasn’t it.
Later I positioned myself in a different
direction and made a flight. The helicopter
still wanted to move away from the sloped
area. It wasn’t a big deal, in that you still
have to fly the machine. This Co-Pilot
keeps the model under control while a
newbie sorts everything out.
My next attempt was forward flight.
Again it responded a bit sluggishly to my
stick inputs, but other than that the flight
was uneventful. From altitude I purposely
threw the Intrepid on its side, and the Co-
Pilot immediately corrected it back to level.
The machine kept moving a bit in that
direction, but that was it. It was back to
level in less than a second.
I played around with it in various
attitudes in the air, letting the computer reestablish
level flight. In every case the
helicopter was back to level before anything
major could happen. This was an unusual
case because new pilots shouldn’t be up that
high doing crazy things. On the other hand,
they probably could end up like that. The
Co-Pilot doesn’t do everything for you.
My last flight of the day was an extreme
experiment. In the manual, FMA Direct
warns you not to fly the machine inverted
while under Co-Pilot control. I did anyway,
and the helicopter immediately flipped back
over! I could flip the machine sideways to
inverted just long enough to have the Co-
Pilot flip it back over level. I never could get
it to flip backward or forward; the Co-Pilot
wouldn’t let me. This has nothing to do with
this review, but I thought it was cool!
On my next flying day the sky was dark
and overcast. I only got a count of “4” from
the computer, but I flew anyway. I didn’t
notice anything different with its flying
characteristics, but I did notice the raindrops
on my transmitter and stopped flying.
I found nothing that I would consider a real
problem with setting up or flying the Co-
Pilot. Would it help a new pilot? I think it
would, with the understanding that it will
not fly the helicopter for him or her. It does
a good job of keeping the machine level.
The pilot has to do the rest.
Is it worth the investment for a new
pilot? I’m donating the Co-Pilot to my club
to be used with the next new flier, and I’ll
see how he or she progresses with the
device’s help.
As of this writing, the Co-Pilot is
incapable of working with a CCPM (Cyclic
Collective Pitch Mixing) helicopter. It is
being developed by FMA Direct and should
be available soon. For more information
contact FMA Direct at 5716A Industry Ln.,
Fredrick MD 21704, by calling (800) 343-
2934, or on the Web at
www.fmadirect.com.
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
Edition: Model Aviation - 2003/11
Page Numbers: 110,113,114
110 MODEL AVIATION
IT SEEMS AS though the weather in the
Northeast is finally settling down into a nice
summer pattern. We actually got our first
Saturday without rain in quite sometime.
Every weekend has been a one-day washout
or a complete washout. Finally, it’s time to
fly!
As I promised, this month I’m including a
review of the FMA Direct Co-Pilot. This
handy little device will help keep a model
level during flight by using infrared
technology to sense the difference between
the sky and ground infrared levels. A newbie
pilot can use it to help in the first stages of
learning to hover. It can also be used in a
fixed-wing aircraft, but I’m going to write
about the helicopter application.
The Co-Pilot uses infrared sensors to receive
information from four viewpoints: one for
each 90° quadrant around a circle. This
allows the sensor to view all the way around
the model. It does not “see” the horizon as
other stabilizers do; instead, it uses the
infrared “heat” given off by the earth versus
the sky. It looks for a change in the infrared
heat signal based on how it was calibrated.
As the infrared sensor angle changes
toward the sky, the amount of heat given off
drops. The sensor on the opposite side of the
model will increase as its angle changes
toward the earth. The computer decides
which servos—fore-aft (elevator) or right-left
(aileron)—to actuate to bring the model back
to the calibration values.
As packaged, the unit comes with the Co-
Pilot infrared sensor, the Co-Pilot computer,
ribbon cable for connecting the sensor to the
computer, an infrared calibration button,
Velcro for installing the components on the
aircraft, and the instruction manual. It is
recommended that the model be completely
set up with the radio installed and working
properly before you connect the Co-Pilot.
Another important thing is that if you are
going to fly Futaba PCM (Pulse Code
Modulation), the Co-Pilot needs to have
digital servo buffers connected between the
receiver and the computer. FMA Direct part
number 505SB will take care of that. I chose
to fly FM for this experiment, so I opted to
use the FMA Direct Quantum 8 receiver with
my Futaba 9Z transmitter.
I read the manual before installing the Co-
Pilot. What a novel idea: to read the
instructions first. Since I was going to trust
this thing to fly in one of my 3-D machines, I
wanted to be sure I was doing the right thing.
The basic concept of how the Co-Pilot works
was straightforward and well explained in the
manual.
However, reading all of the setup and
calibration instructions became slightly
overwhelming until I sat down with the
Dan Williams, 27 Treeline Dr., Liverpool NY 13090; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL HELICOPTERS
Co-Pilot sensor mounting on the tailboom of the author’s Intrepid 46. The sensor must
be secure, so it is imperative to use servo tape and a cable tie.
This is where Dan mounted the computer. He removed padding to show how everything
is hooked up. He isolated and padded the computer as you would the receiver.
helicopter and went through the procedure.
Things quickly became clear. The pictures
included in the manual are for a fixed-wing
and helicopter installation. The photos are
clear and concise, but for the Tim Taylor
types out there, you must actually read the
instructions—not just look at the pictures.
I installed the Co-Pilot in my Bergen
Intrepid 46 with an O.S. .50 engine, Futaba
9202 servos, 600-millimeter V-Blades, and
KSJ flybar paddles. The helicopter is outfitted
for 3-D flight, which is probably not the best
choice for testing the Co-Pilot, but I decided
to see what would happen.
I mounted the sensor on the tailboom near
the back end of the side frames, as was
suggested in the manual. I used double-stick
tape on the tailboom and a plastic cable tie
around the sensor and tailboom. Velcro came
with the package, but the instructions
discussed a cable tie and double-stick tape,
and they specifically instructed not to use the
Velcro for helicopter installation.
I ran the sensor cable up to the computer
mounted on top of the receiver, and it was
wrapped in foam. I used Velcro ties to secure
the sensor cable. The calibration switch was
mounted in an extra hole by my battery
switch. So far, so good! It was time for the
setup routine.
During the setup calibration phase I set up
the remote sensitivity control to be one of the
channel control knobs on the front of my
radio. A fully clockwise rotation provides
maximum gain, and fully counterclockwise
deactivates the Co-Pilot.
In the course of setup, the Co-Pilot
responds to activation and deactivation by
moving servos back and forth as an indicator
while you turn the remote gain
adjustment/activation on and off. It works out
quite nicely.
The next procedure involves getting the
computer to move the correct servo in the
correct direction. Stick your hand in front of
one of the four sensors and look for a
response; it sees the heat from your hand. The
manual refers to swashplate movement—not
servo movement—which minimizes any
confusion.
Incorrect response from the hand
placement means that one or more of the
switches on the computer needs changing.
This was slightly confusing for me at first, but
after rereading that section in the manual a
few times and experimenting, I managed to
get everything correct.
It reminds me quite a bit of setting up the
CSM 540 heading-hold gyro. It took me a
few times to sort that out too, so it’s a
problem in my brain—not the manual. Once I
got everything functioning correctly, it was
time to fly the machine.
The first day of flying the Co-Pilot happened
to be one of those “1% days.” In Central New
York, that refers to getting one of those
awesome-weather days that you only get 1%
of the time around here. It was 70-something
degrees, and there was not a cloud in the sky.
There was a slight breeze blowing down the
flightline, but that kept the exhaust away from
the pilots.
I went through the field calibration. It
gives the Co-Pilot the baseline readings that it
uses for the level point in all directions.
Terrain, temperatures, and conditions in the
sky can affect this. We have an open area to
fly in, so I didn’t have to worry about trees or
buildings compromising the tests.
After the daily calibration procedure was
completed, I got a count of “9” from the
computer; one is looking for a minimum of
“3” to use the Co-Pilot. This is a figure of
merit from the computer that shows how
large of a difference it sees between the sky
and the earth infrared measurement.
I started the first flight with the Co-Pilot
activated but with minimum gain. I needed
some trimming at hover to get the machine
hovering well at center stick. This machine
was previously completely trimmed out, so I
was seeing some correction from the
computer to what it thought was level. There
is an autotrim function that takes care of this,
but I ignored that for now. I just wanted to get
the machine flying with the Co-Pilot, so I
forged ahead.
Because of the clockwise rotation of the
blades and the effect of the tail rotor for
torque compensation, some right and forward
trimming is going to be necessary for correct
hover. Once in the air, the machine felt
sluggish. It wasn’t responding as usual to my
stick movements. It’s a lot like flying a nonheading-
hold gyro in that you have to
compensate for the corrections that the gyro is
trying to make.
I flew it like that for a bit. I noticed that it
took some time for the machine to get
corrections when I made it tip one way or the
other. Then I turned up the gain to
approximately 3⁄4 and flew it again. I
immediately noticed a big difference in flying
characteristics. The insensitive feeling was
still there, but I could see immediate
corrections from the Co-Pilot.
While I hovered the Intrepid for a while, I
noticed a few things as I got used to it; one
was that it wouldn’t keep the helicopter
stationary. It kept it level, but it wouldn’t stop
any drift. That’s up to the pilot. It wouldn’t
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speed up noticeably in the drift, though.
The machine sort of wandered off in one
direction or another without any input from
the stick. That was to be expected.
I did notice a bit of nervousness from
the Intrepid. It appeared that the machine
was responding to the slight inputs from
the computer as it tried to keep the machine
level. It became more noticeable as I turned
up the gain. Eventually it would start to
oscillate a bit. This means that there is too
much gain. It’s the same thing as too much
gyro gain.
The nervousness probably wouldn’t be
noticeable with a helicopter that was more
tuned for training. Since I was using a 3-D
machine, it was responding to every little
correction from the computer.
Our field is sloped a bit, and it slowly
drops away from the flightline. I noticed
the machine attempting to level itself, and
it was constantly drifting away from me as
I was trying to hover. Some trim helps, but
it still wanted to wander away. The wind
was coming from another direction, so that
wasn’t it.
Later I positioned myself in a different
direction and made a flight. The helicopter
still wanted to move away from the sloped
area. It wasn’t a big deal, in that you still
have to fly the machine. This Co-Pilot
keeps the model under control while a
newbie sorts everything out.
My next attempt was forward flight.
Again it responded a bit sluggishly to my
stick inputs, but other than that the flight
was uneventful. From altitude I purposely
threw the Intrepid on its side, and the Co-
Pilot immediately corrected it back to level.
The machine kept moving a bit in that
direction, but that was it. It was back to
level in less than a second.
I played around with it in various
attitudes in the air, letting the computer reestablish
level flight. In every case the
helicopter was back to level before anything
major could happen. This was an unusual
case because new pilots shouldn’t be up that
high doing crazy things. On the other hand,
they probably could end up like that. The
Co-Pilot doesn’t do everything for you.
My last flight of the day was an extreme
experiment. In the manual, FMA Direct
warns you not to fly the machine inverted
while under Co-Pilot control. I did anyway,
and the helicopter immediately flipped back
over! I could flip the machine sideways to
inverted just long enough to have the Co-
Pilot flip it back over level. I never could get
it to flip backward or forward; the Co-Pilot
wouldn’t let me. This has nothing to do with
this review, but I thought it was cool!
On my next flying day the sky was dark
and overcast. I only got a count of “4” from
the computer, but I flew anyway. I didn’t
notice anything different with its flying
characteristics, but I did notice the raindrops
on my transmitter and stopped flying.
I found nothing that I would consider a real
problem with setting up or flying the Co-
Pilot. Would it help a new pilot? I think it
would, with the understanding that it will
not fly the helicopter for him or her. It does
a good job of keeping the machine level.
The pilot has to do the rest.
Is it worth the investment for a new
pilot? I’m donating the Co-Pilot to my club
to be used with the next new flier, and I’ll
see how he or she progresses with the
device’s help.
As of this writing, the Co-Pilot is
incapable of working with a CCPM (Cyclic
Collective Pitch Mixing) helicopter. It is
being developed by FMA Direct and should
be available soon. For more information
contact FMA Direct at 5716A Industry Ln.,
Fredrick MD 21704, by calling (800) 343-
2934, or on the Web at
www.fmadirect.com.
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
