RC Helicopters
Eric Hawkinson, 319 Yellowstone Ave., Billings MT 59101; E-mail: [email protected]
It's another perfect month to enjoy the most challenging Radio Control (RC) aircraft!
If I have the schedule figured out correctly, you'll read this column in early fall—the time of year when everyone can be enjoying the hobby to its fullest.
In the North, it's still warm and the weather is usually more stable. In the South, it has cooled down to a tolerable level after the summer heat. No matter where you live in the US, you are probably getting plenty of flying time.
Some pilots have an abundance of flying time, as evidenced by the ever-increasing number of those who are flying aggressive 3-D (three-dimensional)-style maneuvers without crashing too often.
After each major event, I hear from helicopter pilots who have mixed feelings about the level of flying they saw. On one hand, they are amazed at how many really good helicopter pilots there are today, and how "easy" some of the pilots make flying look.
On the other hand, the person who is telling me about what he or she saw will often express newfound disgust for his or her own level of flying. "I'll never be as good" or "Maybe I'm just too old for this" are common sentiments after watching an especially skilled pilot perform.
Although it's understandable how you can feel that you're "no good" after watching someone who is very skilled and very practiced, it does miss the point of this endeavor: flying a helicopter is a hobby!
Whatever your current level of piloting proficiency, the true goal is to enjoy a very rewarding and fairly challenging activity.
Most of us would like to be the best pilot at the field, but there's only room for one person at the top. You have to settle for being the best pilot you can be.
I still marvel each time I push the collective stick up, and watch the pile of parts I assembled and tweaked rise into the air and hover. I never lose the fascination of that simple act.
To be sure I never lose that fascination, I spend more time flying aerobatics and trying to learn or perfect more maneuvers than I spend hovering, but every aspect of flying a helicopter is deeply rewarding.
I know pilots who don't care if they ever do anything but hover! They confide this as though it's some deep, dark family secret, but a few years ago, even a simple sustained hover was a very successful adventure with an RC helicopter.
There is no "right" level of skill or involvement with the hobby, except for the level that is right for you. Everyone has a reason for being involved in the hobby, his or her own aptitude for building, allotment of time available for the hobby, and personal level of tolerance for pain in the pocketbook.
Acuity of vision, hand-eye coordination, and the availability of local mentors also make a big difference. And people who have more time, money, and support will progress faster than those who have less.
So what? Flying RC helicopters is not a destination. It is a journey, and it's best enjoyed when you're traveling at the speed you are able to maintain and enjoy.
... the true goal is to enjoy a very rewarding and fairly challenging activity.
The November 2000 Model Aviation is a milestone of sorts—it's my fourth column as your helicopter scribe.
The first column I wrote (in the August 2000 issue) has arrived at your door, and there should be some feedback from you by the time I put the next column together.
Please send me your questions, tips, news, and most of all, your pictures!
Model Aviation does not accept digital images, so take your best shots with a film camera. Color prints are fine. Make the photos as interesting as possible, and be sure to send a note explaining what the picture shows, and the basic who, what, when, and where.
In last month's column, I wrote about the infrared noncontact thermometer that I consider a necessity in my flight box. This month I'll discuss another tool that is extremely useful in getting your helicopter set up for optimum performance: the tachometer.
First experiences and the need for a tachometer
I was alone the first time I flew an RC helicopter. I had only seen two pilots fly helicopters, and they were living in other areas of the US.
With the pitch angles set as precisely as possible, and the controls properly hooked up and checked, I was ready to go. All that remained was to get the throttle settings right—you can't actually measure those on the bench.
I ran some fuel through the engine on my airplane break-in stand, and I knew the needles were right, so I started the engine and set the helicopter on the runway.
The blades spun faster and faster, but no liftoff. At roughly 60% stick, the helicopter finally levitated—I was flying!
I changed the setup, so that liftoff occurred at approximately mid-stick, and for a while I didn't give head speed another thought—there were plenty of other new challenges to master.
One day, a local club member came out to the field with a helicopter and tried to fly it. When he opened the throttle, I nearly had a heart attack. By the time this helicopter lifted off, it sounded as though the blades were supersonic!
He was having trouble with control sensitivity, and he had reduced all of the servo throws. I thought his blade speed was too high, but I had no way of really knowing. I stood way back in the pits whenever he tried to fly it.
Later, a helicopter pilot came to the field. He watched me fly, and he commented that my head speed was too low. He could tell by ear what was wrong, and he had a tool that indicated exactly what my rotor speed was. He said he would bring it out to the field the next day.
Meanwhile, I adjusted the pitch- and throttle-curve to bring the speed up, and the helicopter seemed "happier," although it sounded like too much speed to me.
Early the next morning, I met the gentleman at the field and lifted off into a hover. He looked through his "magic box," then he looked at its face several times. I landed the helicopter to get the verdict.
"1,300 rpm is probably still a touch low," he informed me.
I was amazed. Even after bumping the speed up, I was still a few hundred rpm slower than I had thought.
Since that time, I've learned two things about head speed: most novices run their helicopters much slower than they think they are, and there is no way to estimate your head speed with any degree of accuracy if you are new to the hobby.
Tachometers
This person was using an optical tachometer designed for helicopters. I had a couple tachometers in my flight box as an airplane pilot, but none that could read a speed from many distances or that were particularly useful in the 1,500–2,000 rpm range.
I didn't ask the gentleman what brand the tachometer was, but later I saw what looked like the same tool; it was sold by Miniature Aircraft USA—the company that kits and distributes X-Cell helicopters.
- Miniature Aircraft optical tachometer (part 0524)
- Widely used and probably the most common one at helicopter flying fields.
- Simple, rugged, and accurate at a distance.
- Best-suited for use by a helper—not by the pilot; you must look through the sight (like looking through a camera viewfinder) and operate a rocker switch to find the rotor speed.
- When the blades appear to be "stopped," read the large LCD screen.
- You can check speed in a hover, at full-stick, inverted, descending, and in any flight condition.
- Price ranges from $130 to $150. It will last for years and is handy to share with a local group.
- Comes with a protective soft case and includes the battery.
Another tachometer that has been gaining popularity is imported by the people who make the popular Raptor helicopters. The Tera MFT-301 is distributed by Ace Hobby Distributors—Thunder Tiger's American connection.
- Tera MFT-301 (mounted tachometer)
- Designed to be mounted on a helicopter tailboom, with the display viewable from the side or rear.
- A simple bracket and tie-wrap hold the unit in place.
- An integral sensor "looks" through the blades and displays rpm on a 1/2-inch LCD screen.
- Can also display receiver-pack voltage with the push of a button.
- Hover your helicopter close enough so you can read the display.
- Price is less than $120.
- Better choice for a novice without a helper because it doesn't require a second person to operate.
- Requires extra caution: keep focused on your helicopter and not on the tachometer when hovering nearby.
- It can't help much with determining rpm during full-throttle or high-speed flight, but you can judge changes accurately with your ears once head speed is set in a hover.
Both tachometers work well in a variety of lighting conditions and with all colors of blades they've been tried with.
The Miniature Aircraft tachometer will probably last longer, unless you crash into your flight box and hit it. It's also more useful for a group or for a pilot with many helicopters to set up. The Tera tachometer is the better choice for a solo novice who needs an onboard rpm readout.
Getting your model's head speed right is important when you try to get it to fly the way it's supposed to.
Keeping your helicopter's head speed relatively constant during all flight conditions is another challenge, and a topic for a future column.
Until next time, happy rotor! MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
