Welcome once again, helicopter people. I am happy you have found the Rotary department of MA. This is the time of year when temperatures warm up and the outdoor flying scene heats up. It is also a great time to lay out a plan for your flying in 2013. I have watched helicopter pilots throughout the years and they are often the most driven, goal-orientated pilots in RC. Helis have a steeper learning curve verses other forms of RC, so it makes sense that more ambitious personalities are attracted to the machines. Maybe you are one of those pilots. If you get a thrill out of conquering new challenges, then helis are a wonderful way to keep your interest.
A new flying season is upon us! It is exciting because the weather outside is getting more accommodating for our helis and us. Good flying weather should bring a smile to everyone’s’ faces by now. I just love the spring because I know the whole summer is ahead.
As a young boy I would spend the cold winter months building fleets of balsa airplanes. When the weather broke I would take all those models out for test flights. I can vividly remember those warm evenings as the sun was setting and the air became still. That was a special time in my modeling journey because it was just the airplane and I in a perfect setting.
The years passed and balsa airplanes became gas-powered CL birds, then RC Pattern ships, and finally my life-long hobby has evolved to RC helicopters. The one thing that has not changed is that I still despise winter here in the Midwest! We are lucky to have so many opportunities to fly indoors during the cold months in recent years.
What are your plans for your hobby life in 2013? Do you have any goals you would like to work toward, or are you satisfied to fly another season just like the last one? If you are like so many progressive pilots and would like to make some improvements, then now is a good time to plan your 2013 strategy. The joy of fulfilling goals makes you a more complete person in all aspects of life. All of the great pilots in this hobby have goals and strategic plans in order to achieve them.
I was speaking with top pilot Nick Maxwell recently, and he said he is constantly thinking and dreaming of new ways to explore the flight envelope of his heli. He won the worldwide ONE 3-D competition at the IRCHA Jamboree this past summer, but he never quits working hard to improve. Nick often plans out his routines and new maneuvers on a simulator before trying them for real.
Flying Inverted
I want to speak to the beginner 3-D pilot for a moment. One of the most exciting times for a pilot is when he/she is learning the very first aerobatic maneuvers. This is a time you will never forget. One of the biggest milestones of your heli career is when you fly inverted for the first time.
Hovering for the first time is always the biggest thrill for a pilot. Then later—usually much later—comes inverted hovering. Make sure you are comfortable doing loops before you try the technique I am about to explain.
There are a number of different ways to get your heli inverted. You can flip it over or roll it over. I found the easiest way for me was to do a half inside loop and stop at the top. I had difficulty rolling or flipping to inverted because the heli was stationary before the flip and it was too difficult to roll/flip over without the machine moving all over the place after the flip.
When you have never flown inverted it is hard to know what attitude the heli should be in to lock in a hover. First, make sure your heli is checked out for aerobatic flight by a qualified, expert pilot. That way you will know that your machine is capable of performing the maneuver first.
Doing the half-loop move helped me and here is how I did it for the first time. Go up to a safe altitude (approximately 75 feet) and fly the heli in nose-in forward flight at a medium speed. Then pull up into a loop and let the speed bleed off at the top while feeding in just enough negative pitch to not lose altitude. When the helicopter comes to a stop at the top of the loop you will be in an inverted tail-in position. I believe this is the easiest first-inverted position to learn.
All the controls will be reversed except for ailerons. You will have to make a “mental switch” realizing that up is down and left is right on tail rotor. Just try to hold it for a couple of seconds and then pull back on the cyclic stick and finish the loop as you normally would. It sounds easy enough … until you try it! Just make sure you bail early and build up slowly to longer inverted segments.
As you become more comfortable, try to keep the helicopter in an inverted position for longer and longer periods of time. Just remember; your stick inputs for recovery will be the same no matter which direction the nose is pointed, as long as the rotor disk is perpendicular to the ground when inverted.
If you feel you are ready to tackle inverted flight then make it a priority for 2013. I guarantee it will be one of the most exciting experiences you could ever have in RC. If you are new to flipping your helicopter upside down, you may want to check with your doctor to see if that much excitement is okay for you—haha. That is funny, but actually somewhat serious.
I remember when I started feeling pretty comfortable inverted. My confidence was growing so I started slowly flying around a little bit. I flew a slow, oval racetrack pattern and thought to myself, “Wow, this is not so hard.” Then on my second lap, I got messed up in a turn and gave two wrong inputs. That heli piled in with the help of full collective-pitch going towards the ground! Ouch! That was one of my worst crashes ever. The parts debris field covered a 50-foot diameter area and there were five various sub-assemblies of my heli scattered about. I had to do a little soul searching that evening. By the next day I was okay and the parts were on order. What a hobby!
Thanks for reading again this month and I will see you next time.[dingbat]
SOURCES:
International Radio Controlled Helicopter Association
www.ircha.org
