Also included in this column:
• Lexington, Kentucky, fun-fly
Bill Pirschel’s Evo 50 down and dirty. Bill is one of the helicopter
gurus at the Lexington, Kentucky, field.
Bill Pirschel carries his helicopter back
from the flightline after a 3-D flight. The
weather was perfect, with light wind and
lots of sun.
Blake McBrayer readies his Raptor 90 for
flight. He puts in a great deal of time
helping new pilots at the club.
Andy Panoncillo’s smokin’ helicopter. He has placed in the AMA
Combat Nats and now flies helicopters exclusively.
HELLO, EVERYONE. I hope all of you
in the North are starting to get some flying
in to shake off the winter rust.
It seems that no matter how much you
practice on the simulator, it can never
replace the real experience. The simulator
is great for keeping your fingers going in
the right directions, but real-world
conditions always change things a bit. It
usually takes a few days of real flying to
get back into the groove after some time
off.
This month I will cover some learning
techniques and write about stick inputs for
the most popular advanced maneuver. Then
we will visit a fun-fly in Lexington,
Kentucky.
The numbers are in, and our local hobby
shop sold more RC helicopters than ever
before. This enthusiastic crop of new pilots
needs some good resources to get started
right.
If you’re serious about learning to fly
helicopters, there is a mountain of
information available to help guide you.
The tricky part is determining what
information is good and what is not.
“I got this micro helicopter for Christmas
and I’ve broken four sets of blades trying to
fly it! What do I do now?”
The late Ernie Huber ran a flight school
for years, and he had some good insights
into the hobby. He used to tell a story about
how the RC-helicopter manufacturers
would brag about the thousands of models
they had sold. He would ask, “Well, where
are they?” If so many helicopters had been
sold, why weren’t they seen at the flying
fields?
A Scale Bell 222’s retractable gear is up as it transitions from
hover into forward flight. It had a real “presence” in the air over
Lexington.
He knew the answer. Those helicopters
were broken and sitting in a closet
somewhere, never to be flown again.
That is a common scenario. A new pilot
gets a helicopter and tries to fly it with no
help, crashes, and then gives up on the
hobby. This was the type of experience
Ernie wanted to help eliminate.
He was a super guy, and he started his
flight school to help pilots get off on the
right foot. This is a difficult hobby, so it’s
rewarding when you are successful. Ernie
wanted to help people share the passion he
had for aeromodeling.
If you are having problems learning with
your new machine, the best thing you can do
is find someone who flies and ask for help.
When the RC helicopter hobby was getting
started it was common for pilots to drive
several hours just to meet someone with
which to fly.
Now that we have the Internet, a vast
amount of information is available instantly.
It’s good to read all you can and ask
questions in online forums, but there is no
substitute for flying in person with another
pilot.
There are flight schools still in operation,
and they cater to beginners all the way up to
expert pilots. Even the most advanced fliers
get stuck in a rut and need someone to help
get them over a hurdle in their training
sometimes. Some of the best pilots have
flying buddies to help them advance.
It’s easy to get down on yourself and
give up. As Chuck Yeager said, “There are
no born pilots.” It takes a lot of work for
anyone to learn.
When you see top pilots flying
unbelievable maneuvers, it looks easy, but
they had to go through the same gradual
learning process you do. It might seem as
though they have progressed faster, but it
usually means they have put in more hours
of practice.
If you can’t find anyone in your area to
fly with, check with the nearest hobby shop
that deals in helicopters. Someone there will
probably know of pilots in the area.
I have seen people learn to fly on their
own, but it is a tough road to follow. Most
expert pilots will tell you that someone was
instrumental in helping them learn.
Please don’t give up. If you were
interested enough to try it, I believe you will
have a lifetime of fun in this hobby.
“I’m getting pretty advanced in my flying,
but now I’m trying pirouetting flips and I’m
pulling my hair out trying to learn them.
Any advice?”
That’s a great question about one of the
most popular maneuvers. I went through the
same frustration.
I would take the helicopter up to
approximately 150 feet and give it a go.
Many times it would be falling while I kept
pushing the sticks in all the wrong
directions. I can’t tell you how many times I
almost crashed after starting that high.
That was a difficult time for me. I hope
you can avoid a little bit of my pain with the
following suggestions.
• Set your rudder to maintain a slow to
medium pirouette rate at full deflection.
• Have someone else do the maneuver with
your helicopter first (if possible). It is
important for the student to know that his or
her machine will actually perform the move.
• Practice on the simulator until you have it
down (if you own one).
• Bring an extra pair of underwear to the
field for your first attempts. Just kidding on
that one! (Sort of.)
The importance of having the rudder
stick at full deflection is to eliminate one
control input your brain would have to
process. Anything that can free up a little
brainpower is good.
If you’ve gotten good at doing the
maneuver on the simulator, you are going to
be ahead of the game for sure. Don’t get
disappointed if you do it perfectly on the
simulator and can’t pull one off for real.
There are so many factors that make
your real-world experience much different
from when you use the simulator. Wind,
visual perspective, timing, and flying
characteristics will change when you are
flying a model.
The most difficult thing about the
pirouetting flip is synchronizing the cyclic
inputs to the helicopter’s rotation. You have
to stir the cyclic stick in a circle that is
opposite from the yaw rotation to provide
the constant elevator and aileron inputs that
maintain the flipping motion.
Most pilots pirouette using left rudder
(with the torque on a clockwise rotor). You
can pirouette either direction, but going
against the torque will rob the machine of
power.
It’s a good idea to get a small toy
helicopter to help visualize the inputs as
you move it around. Full-scale aerobatic
pilots use small models all the time to plan
out their routines.
Take the helicopter up to a comfortable
altitude where you can still see it clearly;
100-150 feet works well for me. Decide
where your sync point is going to be,
meaning that you will be queuing off the
nose or tail to time your cyclic stirs. I use
nose-in as my sync point on normal
pirouetting flips.
Do a half flip to get started, and don’t
worry about collective input for now. Pull
the rudder stick to the left and let the
helicopter start pirouetting upright. As the
nose passes by, pull back on the cyclic and
start a clockwise circular motion with the
cyclic stick for a revolution or two and then
bail.
Practice stopping the tail and bailing out
of the maneuver in all orientations.
Knowing your bail-out procedure is
important, and if you don’t practice this
step you will crash! Ask me how I know
that! Keep doing this until you can
confidently flip the helicopter over on its
back and stop it in an inverted pirouetting
hover.
As you get comfortable, ease in some
collective to keep the model from falling
during the flip. A little bump of positive
AMA Class III Helicopter Champion Doug Trent makes a
screaming pass with his brightly colored FAI machine.
and negative is usually all it takes. It’s easy
to mess things up by overcontrolling the
collective at first.
Keep in mind that this could take days,
weeks, or months to master! One day it will
all click and you will wonder why it was so
hard. I never thought I would master this
maneuver.
If some of you more advanced fliers get
that part down, don’t stop. Doing full
consecutive pirouetting flips is next. When
you conquer the full pirouetting flips, you’re
still not finished. Yep, there’s more; there are
two more variations of pirouetting flips.
You can vary how many rotations the
helicopter performs by changing the size of
your cyclic stirring circle. Small circles mean
less flipping input, thus more pirouettes per
flip. Pirouetting flips with many fast
pirouettes are generally more pleasing to
watch than one flip per pirouette, but they
are much more difficult. The smaller-input
pirouetting flips require considerably less
power from the machine too.
Last, you can learn to do pirouetting flips
and change your sync point to all 360° of a
circle. That’s the true definition of a Chaos.
Once you have mastered that, you need
to E-mail the Extreme Flight Championships
and 3D Masters because you’ll be a
contender.
I have included a few pictures from the
Lexington Model Airplane Club’s (www.lm
acky.org) fun-fly, which is held in September
each year. I have attended it the last couple
years, and I compliment these guys on a
great event.
Bill Pirschel and Blake McBrayer are the
organizers, and their hospitality is top-notch.
The flying field is awesome, with a paved
runway, large shelter, and wide-open
airspace.
I hope you are enjoying the helicopter
column. Please E-mail me with anything
you would like see covered. I’ll be back next
month. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/04
Page Numbers: 126,128,131
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/04
Page Numbers: 126,128,131
Also included in this column:
• Lexington, Kentucky, fun-fly
Bill Pirschel’s Evo 50 down and dirty. Bill is one of the helicopter
gurus at the Lexington, Kentucky, field.
Bill Pirschel carries his helicopter back
from the flightline after a 3-D flight. The
weather was perfect, with light wind and
lots of sun.
Blake McBrayer readies his Raptor 90 for
flight. He puts in a great deal of time
helping new pilots at the club.
Andy Panoncillo’s smokin’ helicopter. He has placed in the AMA
Combat Nats and now flies helicopters exclusively.
HELLO, EVERYONE. I hope all of you
in the North are starting to get some flying
in to shake off the winter rust.
It seems that no matter how much you
practice on the simulator, it can never
replace the real experience. The simulator
is great for keeping your fingers going in
the right directions, but real-world
conditions always change things a bit. It
usually takes a few days of real flying to
get back into the groove after some time
off.
This month I will cover some learning
techniques and write about stick inputs for
the most popular advanced maneuver. Then
we will visit a fun-fly in Lexington,
Kentucky.
The numbers are in, and our local hobby
shop sold more RC helicopters than ever
before. This enthusiastic crop of new pilots
needs some good resources to get started
right.
If you’re serious about learning to fly
helicopters, there is a mountain of
information available to help guide you.
The tricky part is determining what
information is good and what is not.
“I got this micro helicopter for Christmas
and I’ve broken four sets of blades trying to
fly it! What do I do now?”
The late Ernie Huber ran a flight school
for years, and he had some good insights
into the hobby. He used to tell a story about
how the RC-helicopter manufacturers
would brag about the thousands of models
they had sold. He would ask, “Well, where
are they?” If so many helicopters had been
sold, why weren’t they seen at the flying
fields?
A Scale Bell 222’s retractable gear is up as it transitions from
hover into forward flight. It had a real “presence” in the air over
Lexington.
He knew the answer. Those helicopters
were broken and sitting in a closet
somewhere, never to be flown again.
That is a common scenario. A new pilot
gets a helicopter and tries to fly it with no
help, crashes, and then gives up on the
hobby. This was the type of experience
Ernie wanted to help eliminate.
He was a super guy, and he started his
flight school to help pilots get off on the
right foot. This is a difficult hobby, so it’s
rewarding when you are successful. Ernie
wanted to help people share the passion he
had for aeromodeling.
If you are having problems learning with
your new machine, the best thing you can do
is find someone who flies and ask for help.
When the RC helicopter hobby was getting
started it was common for pilots to drive
several hours just to meet someone with
which to fly.
Now that we have the Internet, a vast
amount of information is available instantly.
It’s good to read all you can and ask
questions in online forums, but there is no
substitute for flying in person with another
pilot.
There are flight schools still in operation,
and they cater to beginners all the way up to
expert pilots. Even the most advanced fliers
get stuck in a rut and need someone to help
get them over a hurdle in their training
sometimes. Some of the best pilots have
flying buddies to help them advance.
It’s easy to get down on yourself and
give up. As Chuck Yeager said, “There are
no born pilots.” It takes a lot of work for
anyone to learn.
When you see top pilots flying
unbelievable maneuvers, it looks easy, but
they had to go through the same gradual
learning process you do. It might seem as
though they have progressed faster, but it
usually means they have put in more hours
of practice.
If you can’t find anyone in your area to
fly with, check with the nearest hobby shop
that deals in helicopters. Someone there will
probably know of pilots in the area.
I have seen people learn to fly on their
own, but it is a tough road to follow. Most
expert pilots will tell you that someone was
instrumental in helping them learn.
Please don’t give up. If you were
interested enough to try it, I believe you will
have a lifetime of fun in this hobby.
“I’m getting pretty advanced in my flying,
but now I’m trying pirouetting flips and I’m
pulling my hair out trying to learn them.
Any advice?”
That’s a great question about one of the
most popular maneuvers. I went through the
same frustration.
I would take the helicopter up to
approximately 150 feet and give it a go.
Many times it would be falling while I kept
pushing the sticks in all the wrong
directions. I can’t tell you how many times I
almost crashed after starting that high.
That was a difficult time for me. I hope
you can avoid a little bit of my pain with the
following suggestions.
• Set your rudder to maintain a slow to
medium pirouette rate at full deflection.
• Have someone else do the maneuver with
your helicopter first (if possible). It is
important for the student to know that his or
her machine will actually perform the move.
• Practice on the simulator until you have it
down (if you own one).
• Bring an extra pair of underwear to the
field for your first attempts. Just kidding on
that one! (Sort of.)
The importance of having the rudder
stick at full deflection is to eliminate one
control input your brain would have to
process. Anything that can free up a little
brainpower is good.
If you’ve gotten good at doing the
maneuver on the simulator, you are going to
be ahead of the game for sure. Don’t get
disappointed if you do it perfectly on the
simulator and can’t pull one off for real.
There are so many factors that make
your real-world experience much different
from when you use the simulator. Wind,
visual perspective, timing, and flying
characteristics will change when you are
flying a model.
The most difficult thing about the
pirouetting flip is synchronizing the cyclic
inputs to the helicopter’s rotation. You have
to stir the cyclic stick in a circle that is
opposite from the yaw rotation to provide
the constant elevator and aileron inputs that
maintain the flipping motion.
Most pilots pirouette using left rudder
(with the torque on a clockwise rotor). You
can pirouette either direction, but going
against the torque will rob the machine of
power.
It’s a good idea to get a small toy
helicopter to help visualize the inputs as
you move it around. Full-scale aerobatic
pilots use small models all the time to plan
out their routines.
Take the helicopter up to a comfortable
altitude where you can still see it clearly;
100-150 feet works well for me. Decide
where your sync point is going to be,
meaning that you will be queuing off the
nose or tail to time your cyclic stirs. I use
nose-in as my sync point on normal
pirouetting flips.
Do a half flip to get started, and don’t
worry about collective input for now. Pull
the rudder stick to the left and let the
helicopter start pirouetting upright. As the
nose passes by, pull back on the cyclic and
start a clockwise circular motion with the
cyclic stick for a revolution or two and then
bail.
Practice stopping the tail and bailing out
of the maneuver in all orientations.
Knowing your bail-out procedure is
important, and if you don’t practice this
step you will crash! Ask me how I know
that! Keep doing this until you can
confidently flip the helicopter over on its
back and stop it in an inverted pirouetting
hover.
As you get comfortable, ease in some
collective to keep the model from falling
during the flip. A little bump of positive
AMA Class III Helicopter Champion Doug Trent makes a
screaming pass with his brightly colored FAI machine.
and negative is usually all it takes. It’s easy
to mess things up by overcontrolling the
collective at first.
Keep in mind that this could take days,
weeks, or months to master! One day it will
all click and you will wonder why it was so
hard. I never thought I would master this
maneuver.
If some of you more advanced fliers get
that part down, don’t stop. Doing full
consecutive pirouetting flips is next. When
you conquer the full pirouetting flips, you’re
still not finished. Yep, there’s more; there are
two more variations of pirouetting flips.
You can vary how many rotations the
helicopter performs by changing the size of
your cyclic stirring circle. Small circles mean
less flipping input, thus more pirouettes per
flip. Pirouetting flips with many fast
pirouettes are generally more pleasing to
watch than one flip per pirouette, but they
are much more difficult. The smaller-input
pirouetting flips require considerably less
power from the machine too.
Last, you can learn to do pirouetting flips
and change your sync point to all 360° of a
circle. That’s the true definition of a Chaos.
Once you have mastered that, you need
to E-mail the Extreme Flight Championships
and 3D Masters because you’ll be a
contender.
I have included a few pictures from the
Lexington Model Airplane Club’s (www.lm
acky.org) fun-fly, which is held in September
each year. I have attended it the last couple
years, and I compliment these guys on a
great event.
Bill Pirschel and Blake McBrayer are the
organizers, and their hospitality is top-notch.
The flying field is awesome, with a paved
runway, large shelter, and wide-open
airspace.
I hope you are enjoying the helicopter
column. Please E-mail me with anything
you would like see covered. I’ll be back next
month. MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2007/04
Page Numbers: 126,128,131
Also included in this column:
• Lexington, Kentucky, fun-fly
Bill Pirschel’s Evo 50 down and dirty. Bill is one of the helicopter
gurus at the Lexington, Kentucky, field.
Bill Pirschel carries his helicopter back
from the flightline after a 3-D flight. The
weather was perfect, with light wind and
lots of sun.
Blake McBrayer readies his Raptor 90 for
flight. He puts in a great deal of time
helping new pilots at the club.
Andy Panoncillo’s smokin’ helicopter. He has placed in the AMA
Combat Nats and now flies helicopters exclusively.
HELLO, EVERYONE. I hope all of you
in the North are starting to get some flying
in to shake off the winter rust.
It seems that no matter how much you
practice on the simulator, it can never
replace the real experience. The simulator
is great for keeping your fingers going in
the right directions, but real-world
conditions always change things a bit. It
usually takes a few days of real flying to
get back into the groove after some time
off.
This month I will cover some learning
techniques and write about stick inputs for
the most popular advanced maneuver. Then
we will visit a fun-fly in Lexington,
Kentucky.
The numbers are in, and our local hobby
shop sold more RC helicopters than ever
before. This enthusiastic crop of new pilots
needs some good resources to get started
right.
If you’re serious about learning to fly
helicopters, there is a mountain of
information available to help guide you.
The tricky part is determining what
information is good and what is not.
“I got this micro helicopter for Christmas
and I’ve broken four sets of blades trying to
fly it! What do I do now?”
The late Ernie Huber ran a flight school
for years, and he had some good insights
into the hobby. He used to tell a story about
how the RC-helicopter manufacturers
would brag about the thousands of models
they had sold. He would ask, “Well, where
are they?” If so many helicopters had been
sold, why weren’t they seen at the flying
fields?
A Scale Bell 222’s retractable gear is up as it transitions from
hover into forward flight. It had a real “presence” in the air over
Lexington.
He knew the answer. Those helicopters
were broken and sitting in a closet
somewhere, never to be flown again.
That is a common scenario. A new pilot
gets a helicopter and tries to fly it with no
help, crashes, and then gives up on the
hobby. This was the type of experience
Ernie wanted to help eliminate.
He was a super guy, and he started his
flight school to help pilots get off on the
right foot. This is a difficult hobby, so it’s
rewarding when you are successful. Ernie
wanted to help people share the passion he
had for aeromodeling.
If you are having problems learning with
your new machine, the best thing you can do
is find someone who flies and ask for help.
When the RC helicopter hobby was getting
started it was common for pilots to drive
several hours just to meet someone with
which to fly.
Now that we have the Internet, a vast
amount of information is available instantly.
It’s good to read all you can and ask
questions in online forums, but there is no
substitute for flying in person with another
pilot.
There are flight schools still in operation,
and they cater to beginners all the way up to
expert pilots. Even the most advanced fliers
get stuck in a rut and need someone to help
get them over a hurdle in their training
sometimes. Some of the best pilots have
flying buddies to help them advance.
It’s easy to get down on yourself and
give up. As Chuck Yeager said, “There are
no born pilots.” It takes a lot of work for
anyone to learn.
When you see top pilots flying
unbelievable maneuvers, it looks easy, but
they had to go through the same gradual
learning process you do. It might seem as
though they have progressed faster, but it
usually means they have put in more hours
of practice.
If you can’t find anyone in your area to
fly with, check with the nearest hobby shop
that deals in helicopters. Someone there will
probably know of pilots in the area.
I have seen people learn to fly on their
own, but it is a tough road to follow. Most
expert pilots will tell you that someone was
instrumental in helping them learn.
Please don’t give up. If you were
interested enough to try it, I believe you will
have a lifetime of fun in this hobby.
“I’m getting pretty advanced in my flying,
but now I’m trying pirouetting flips and I’m
pulling my hair out trying to learn them.
Any advice?”
That’s a great question about one of the
most popular maneuvers. I went through the
same frustration.
I would take the helicopter up to
approximately 150 feet and give it a go.
Many times it would be falling while I kept
pushing the sticks in all the wrong
directions. I can’t tell you how many times I
almost crashed after starting that high.
That was a difficult time for me. I hope
you can avoid a little bit of my pain with the
following suggestions.
• Set your rudder to maintain a slow to
medium pirouette rate at full deflection.
• Have someone else do the maneuver with
your helicopter first (if possible). It is
important for the student to know that his or
her machine will actually perform the move.
• Practice on the simulator until you have it
down (if you own one).
• Bring an extra pair of underwear to the
field for your first attempts. Just kidding on
that one! (Sort of.)
The importance of having the rudder
stick at full deflection is to eliminate one
control input your brain would have to
process. Anything that can free up a little
brainpower is good.
If you’ve gotten good at doing the
maneuver on the simulator, you are going to
be ahead of the game for sure. Don’t get
disappointed if you do it perfectly on the
simulator and can’t pull one off for real.
There are so many factors that make
your real-world experience much different
from when you use the simulator. Wind,
visual perspective, timing, and flying
characteristics will change when you are
flying a model.
The most difficult thing about the
pirouetting flip is synchronizing the cyclic
inputs to the helicopter’s rotation. You have
to stir the cyclic stick in a circle that is
opposite from the yaw rotation to provide
the constant elevator and aileron inputs that
maintain the flipping motion.
Most pilots pirouette using left rudder
(with the torque on a clockwise rotor). You
can pirouette either direction, but going
against the torque will rob the machine of
power.
It’s a good idea to get a small toy
helicopter to help visualize the inputs as
you move it around. Full-scale aerobatic
pilots use small models all the time to plan
out their routines.
Take the helicopter up to a comfortable
altitude where you can still see it clearly;
100-150 feet works well for me. Decide
where your sync point is going to be,
meaning that you will be queuing off the
nose or tail to time your cyclic stirs. I use
nose-in as my sync point on normal
pirouetting flips.
Do a half flip to get started, and don’t
worry about collective input for now. Pull
the rudder stick to the left and let the
helicopter start pirouetting upright. As the
nose passes by, pull back on the cyclic and
start a clockwise circular motion with the
cyclic stick for a revolution or two and then
bail.
Practice stopping the tail and bailing out
of the maneuver in all orientations.
Knowing your bail-out procedure is
important, and if you don’t practice this
step you will crash! Ask me how I know
that! Keep doing this until you can
confidently flip the helicopter over on its
back and stop it in an inverted pirouetting
hover.
As you get comfortable, ease in some
collective to keep the model from falling
during the flip. A little bump of positive
AMA Class III Helicopter Champion Doug Trent makes a
screaming pass with his brightly colored FAI machine.
and negative is usually all it takes. It’s easy
to mess things up by overcontrolling the
collective at first.
Keep in mind that this could take days,
weeks, or months to master! One day it will
all click and you will wonder why it was so
hard. I never thought I would master this
maneuver.
If some of you more advanced fliers get
that part down, don’t stop. Doing full
consecutive pirouetting flips is next. When
you conquer the full pirouetting flips, you’re
still not finished. Yep, there’s more; there are
two more variations of pirouetting flips.
You can vary how many rotations the
helicopter performs by changing the size of
your cyclic stirring circle. Small circles mean
less flipping input, thus more pirouettes per
flip. Pirouetting flips with many fast
pirouettes are generally more pleasing to
watch than one flip per pirouette, but they
are much more difficult. The smaller-input
pirouetting flips require considerably less
power from the machine too.
Last, you can learn to do pirouetting flips
and change your sync point to all 360° of a
circle. That’s the true definition of a Chaos.
Once you have mastered that, you need
to E-mail the Extreme Flight Championships
and 3D Masters because you’ll be a
contender.
I have included a few pictures from the
Lexington Model Airplane Club’s (www.lm
acky.org) fun-fly, which is held in September
each year. I have attended it the last couple
years, and I compliment these guys on a
great event.
Bill Pirschel and Blake McBrayer are the
organizers, and their hospitality is top-notch.
The flying field is awesome, with a paved
runway, large shelter, and wide-open
airspace.
I hope you are enjoying the helicopter
column. Please E-mail me with anything
you would like see covered. I’ll be back next
month. MA