The Electric Helicopter Beginner's Guide v17
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The Electric Helicopter Beginner's Guide v17

Toshiyasu Morita

Mark Pearson

Copyright © 2000-2006 Toshiyasu Morita

Copyright © 2005-2006 Mark Pearson

Table of Contents

Preface
1. Things You Should Know
1.1. Helicopters require a SIGNIFICANT TIME COMMITMENT
1.2. Repairs are expensive
1.3. Hovering is difficult to learn
1.4. Airplane experience may not help
2. Types of R/C Helicopters
2.1. Single rotor helicopters with fewer than four channels
2.2. Coaxial helicopters with two to four channels
2.3. Multirotor helicopters with four channels
2.4. Four to six channel single rotor
2.5. Summary of skills
3. First Helicopter Selection Guide
3.1. Things to consider when selecting your first helicopter
3.2. Clones
3.3. Classification of helis used in this guide
3.4. Overview of selected machines
3.5. Summary of helicopter sizes
4. Recommended Configurations
4.1. Beginner configurations
4.2. Intermediate configurations
5. Brushless Motor Upgrade Paths
5.1. Corona upgrade paths
5.2. Piccolo upgrade paths
6. Helicopter Parts Selection
6.1. Control system
6.2. Servos
6.3. Batteries and related items
6.4. Motors and related items
6.5. Other
7. Support Equipment
7.1. Hand tools
7.2. Helicopter tools
7.3. Adhesives
7.4. Charging equipment
7.5. Electronic instruments
8. Simulators
8.1. FMS
8.2. Piccofly with Game Commander
8.3. Easyfly
8.4. Aerofly Professional
8.5. Aerofly Professional Deluxe
8.6. Realflight G2 w/USB Interlink
8.7. Realflight G3 w/USB Interlink
8.8. Reflex XTR simulator w/USB interface
8.9. ClearView
8.10. PreFlight
8.11. PhoenixRC
8.12. Helicopter simulator for the Mac
8.13. Summary
8.14. Simulator practice
9. Transmitters
9.1. Suitable helicopter transmitters
9.2. Special transmitter notes
9.3. Transmitter tray
9.4. Transmitter hand position
9.5. Transmitter manuals
10. Helicopter Construction
10.1. General tips for all helicopters
10.2. Specific tips for LMH Corona only
10.3. Specific tips for all Piccolo (Fun/ECO/CP upgrade/Pro)
10.4. Specific tips for fixed pitch Piccolo (ECO/Fun) only
10.5. Specific tips for collective pitch Piccolo (CP upgrade/Pro) only
10.6. Specific tips for the MS Composit Hornet II
10.7. Specific tips for Ikarus ECO 8/16 only
10.8. Specific tips for Logo 10 only
11. Helicopter Electronics Mounting/Wiring
11.1. Channel assignments
11.2. Component placement
11.3. Wire routing
11.4. Soldering technique
12. Post-Construction/ARF Checklist
13. Helicopter and Transmitter Setup
13.1. Center of gravity setup
13.2. Swashplate setup
13.3. Main rotor setup - part 1
13.4. Main motor setup
13.5. Tail rotor setup
13.6. Main rotor setup - part 2
14. R/C Heli Rules and Tips
14.1. The proper way to carry a heli
14.2. Avoid pointing the transmitter antenna at the helicopter
14.3. The blades are traveling at high velocity!
14.4. Always disconnect the battery when working on the helicopter
14.5. Liability insurance
15. Learning to Fly an R/C Helicopter
15.1. The skills required
15.2. Making the learning process easier
15.3. Minimize downtime; maximize practice time
15.4. Divide the learning process into smaller, easier steps
16. Hovering Technique
17. Helicopter Power-On/Power-Off Procedure
17.1. Helicopter power-on procedure
17.2. Helicopter power-off procedure
17.3. Safety notes
18. Tail-In Hovering
18.1. Preparation
18.2. Tail-in hovering - Phase 1
18.3. Tail-in hovering - Phase 2
19. Side-In and Nose-In Hovering Orientations
19.1. To translate into a left side-in hover
19.2. To turn into a left side-in hover
20. Orientation Exercises
20.1. Introduction
20.2. Inverted T
20.3. 90 degree yaw
20.4. 180 degree yaw
20.5. 45 degree nose-in orientations
21. Forward and Backward Flight
21.1. Using idle-up mode
21.2. Entering and exiting fast forward flight
21.3. Banked forward turns
21.4. Backwards flight
21.5. Banked backwards turns
22. Forwards and Backwards Exercises
22.1. Figure eights
22.2. Backwards remote half circles
22.3. Backwards remote full circles
22.4. Backwards tail-in figure-eight
22.5. Backwards nose-in figure-eight
23. Advanced Exercises
23.1. Single pirouette
23.2. Multiple slow pirouettes
23.3. Pirouetting remote circles
23.4. Pirouetting figure eights
24. Tweaking Helicopter Twitchiness
24.1. Reduce the headspeed (CP helis only)
24.2. Reduce the swashplate mixing
24.3. Increase exponential on aileron/elevator
24.4. Add flybar weights
25. Your First Major Crash
26. Troubleshooting Common Problems
26.1. Vibration problems
26.2. Tail control problems
26.3. Throttle/ESC problems
26.4. Swashplate problems
26.5. Glitching
26.6. Other problems
27. Electric Helicopter and Parts Vendors
28. Frequently Asked Questions
28.1. General questions
28.2. Transmitters
28.3. Helicopter parts selection
28.4. Gyros
28.5. Helicopter setup
29. Helicopter Myths
29.1. Expo is bad because it slows cyclic response
29.2. Heading hold gyros are bad
29.3. Shorter flybar increases cyclic response
29.4. Rate gyros do not need revo mixing
30. Technical Appendix
30.1. How helicopters work
30.2. Motor selection guide
30.3. Motor selection table
30.4. Pinion selection guide
30.5. Pinion selection tables
30.6. Servo selection guide
30.7. Electronics modification guide
30.8. Battery info
30.9. Battery care and maintenance
30.10. Maintenance and crash repair
30.11. Useful equations
31. Glossary
Glossary

List of Tables

2.1. Helicopter types
3.1. Helicopter size summary sorted by AUW
3.2. Helicopter size summary sorted by AUW
5.1. Piccolo Upgrade Motors
6.1. Wire size recommended by current capacity
13.1. Swashplate type setup
13.2. Recommended headspeeds
28.1. Beginners setup cost breakdown
30.1. Mode 1 stick assignments
30.2. Mode 2 stick assignments
30.3. Mode 3 stick assignments
30.4. Mode 4 stick assignments
30.5. Heatsinks
30.6. Motor quality
30.7. Motors sorted by weight
30.8. Pinions 2mm bore 0.5 module
30.9. Pinions 2.3mm bore 0.5 module
30.10. Pinions 3mm bore 0.5 module
30.11. Pinions 3.17mm bore 0.5 module
30.12. Pinions 5mm bore 0.5 module
30.13. Pinions 5mm bore 0.7 module
30.14. Pinions 5mm bore 1.0 module
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