110 MODEL AVIATION
have
attended this
event many
times, and it
is all about
fun.
This year
it starts on
Friday March
17 and runs
through
Sunday March 19. Because the venue is in the South, the early
spring weather is usually great. It warms up quickly down there.
David Harkey, a longtime RCer, is the club president. He and
the other event organizers know how to run a show, and pilots
comment on how much fun they have.
IT IS GOOD to be back with another helicopter column. Spring
is almost here and we can look forward to some outdoor flying.
Now is a great time to thoroughly check all of your equipment
before the season gets going. Both electric- and nitro-powered
helicopters need close attention. Following is a good list of
inspections to perform.
1. Take off the canopy and check the wiring for chafed areas
or loose wires.
2. Pull ball links off and see if there is slop; replace if too
loose.
3. Use oil to wipe away rust on steel parts.
4. Examine bellcranks for slop.
5. Use Goop glue to secure wiring into the receiver.
6. Inspect blades for cracks or other structural problems;
replace if damaged.
7. Annually replace all fuel tubing on nitro-powered models.
8. Check all batteries for capacity and keep charged at “store”
charge when dormant.
9. Move the receiver switch around to make sure that there are
no intermittent connections.
10. Remove the backplate from a nitro engine and check
inside for corrosion.
11. If you use a fuel magnet, replace the foam pickup and
clean the filter.
12. Check all linkages for binding.
13. Ensure that all screws are tight.
14. Examine the engine area for black paste, which indicates
vibration problems.
After you finish
checking your
machine, you could
pack it up in the car
and head to one of
the biggest gatherings
in the nation: the
Central Alabama
Helicopter Fly-In,
which the
Birmingham
Helicopter
Modelers puts on. I
Preflight checklist for helicopters
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Helicopters Mark Fadely
Also included in this column:
• Central Alabama Helicopter
Fly-In
• New helicopter design
• Learning the rolling circle Rick Vinas gets a haircut from Bobby Watts’ Furion 6. Just
kidding! The helicopter was roughly 50 feet away. This shot was
taken during the 2010 IRCHA Jamboree.
This special four-blade tail rotor on the Sunami
moves a tremendous amount of air. Because the
model is heavy with a full payload, it causes much
torque in the main rotor head.
A low front view of the Sunami
shows the BD-5 contours and
cool-looking, custom-made
retractable landing gear. Several
full-scale helicopters and
airplanes provided inspiration for
the design.
The Indy Helis family poses with the new Sunami, which is Kerry
Muncy’s concept design for the ultimate show helicopter. Shown
are Kerry; his wife, Sarah; and daughters Dena (L) and Angelia (R).
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March 2011 111
This screenshot from the author’s RealFlight simulator chronicles flight positions during a
rolling circle. The maneuver is complicated and difficult to perform smoothly; it requires
practice to master.
Bobby Watts and Bert Kammerer show off their championship-winning team flying at night.
They will be attending the Birmingham Alabama Fly-In in March; you don’t want to miss it!
The fly-in is laid-back, with many
good pilots. It’s kind of an RC helicopter
“who’s who.” There are roughly 200
attendees each year; I mentioned that it
is big!
Another cool aspect of the Central
Alabama Helicopter Fly-In is the
“ditch”: a shallow drainage swale that
runs along the field a few yards out and
parallel to the flightline. Many
helicopters have been lost in it
throughout the years.
The idea is to fly your aircraft into
the ditch area and spray a little water
with the rotor blades. Of course this is
done from a safe distance. It is fun to see
top pilots taking turns flying in the
trench and hopefully surviving to claim
the “King of the Ditch” honor.
New Design: Kerry Muncy, who is a
friend of mine, has finished a new
project. He is the founder of Indy Helis,
which manufactures a special large-scale
RC version of the AH-1 Apache. It has
been popular worldwide and has won
several Scale contests.
Kerry has always wanted to produce
something different, and he has with an
unusual-looking new machine he named
the Sunami. Kerry wrote:
“Special retracts that we made
ourselves are all mechanical selfdesigned.
The drop-down hatch in the
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back can lower to drop parachutes or
candy for kids, etc.
“This helicopter was really designed to
be used at RC shows. It is multifunctional
in that several show stunts can be
performed during a flight without landing.
It can take off, make a pass to drop candy
for kids, then drop some mini parachutes ...
“Guidance is controlled by a Futaba 12
channel 2.4 GHz radio and stability is
enhanced with a Helicommand Rigid
autopilot system. The head is the same as
the four-bladed Apache from Indy.
“The concept for the machine is a
melding of components from a few various
aircraft. The fuselage planform is BD-5
jet-like with a helicopter’s tail extension.
It has F-4 Phantom-style wings minus the
anhedral, and the exterior finish is like an
F-86 Saberjet complete with rivet details.
“A RAM lighting package was
installed so the model could have a full
compliment of NAV lights, landing lights,
strobes, etc. The RAM lighting can be
plugged into a spare outlet in your receiver
for power and switching. It is a nice
setup.”
The Sunami is not designed for an
inexperienced flier. If there is sufficient
interest in the project, Kerry will begin
producing kits.
Congratulations on developing another
unique helicopter, Kerry.
Learning the Rolling Circle: It has been
awhile since I’ve covered a maneuver in
this column, so this month I’ll go through
something complex that has all the
challenges of a sophisticated maneuver.
Please do not get discouraged if you
have trouble performing this. It can take
years before some pilots feel comfortable
with it.
Many corrections go into making a
good rolling circle. The proper inputs
include all of the stick positions available
on your transmitter. Before you attempt
the maneuver, it is best to have mastered
the following:
1. Upright hover in all orientations
2. Inverted hover in all orientations
3. Forward flight, both upright and
inverted
Go higher so you can make a mistake
or two and still have time to save your
helicopter. The best way to initiate the
rolling circle is to fly parallel to the
flightline and then roll as you fly past
yourself.
Some fliers roll to the left and some
roll to the right. I will describe the rightrolling
version with a flight path that goes
right to left. The necessary inputs are
small, so it is easy to overcontrol the
model and make the maneuver look bad.
As the machine rolls inverted, you will
need to pull back slightly on the cyclic
stick and give it a bit of up-elevator. That
keeps the nose pointed down, which is one
of the most important things to keep your
momentum going.
When the aircraft rolls around upright,
there will need to be a slight blip of
forward elevator to maintain forward
speed. Following is the list of control
inputs you need to execute to perform the
rolling circle.
1. Fly straight and level, and then
initiate roll to the right.
2. While rolling, pull a small amount of
back-elevator when the helicopter is knife
edge and pull collective to neutral.
3. As the machine goes inverted, pull
slight left rudder to initiate the turning
process while continuing to move the
collective to negative pitch.
4. While the machine goes from
inverted to left-side knife-edge, push slight
forward elevator and neutralize the
collective.
5. As the helicopter comes around for its
first full roll, add a small amount of right
rudder and coordinate positive collective.
It looks fairly easy, doesn’t it? It’s not!
Many minute corrections are needed for
this maneuver.
While you are at a fun-fly, ask some of
the better pilots to perform rolling circles
for you and you will see what I mean.
When this trick is done well, it is a work
of art that is pleasing to watch.
When you try to learn it, take small
steps by completing one or two rolls first.
When you get to the point of doing a
quarter of a rolling circle, put four of those
sections together and you will have it.
Good luck with the maneuver. I hope
this helps everyone who wants to learn
how to perform it.
Thanks for tuning in to the helicopter
column this month. I will anxiously await
our next get-together. MA
Sources:
Central Alabama Fly-In
(205) 991-2049
http://bit.ly/h5vi6h
Indy Helis
(317) 831-1665
http://indyhelis.com
International Radio Controlled Helicopter
Association
www.ircha.org
112 MODEL AVIATION
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