The Electric Helicopter Beginner's Guide v18
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The Electric Helicopter Beginner's Guide v18

Toshiyasu Morita

Mark Pearson

Copyright © 2000-2009 Toshiyasu Morita

Copyright © 2005-2009 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. Summary of helicopter sizes
4. Helicopter Parts Selection
4.1. Control system
4.2. Servos
4.3. Batteries and related items
4.4. Motors and related items
4.5. Upgrades
5. Support Equipment
5.1. Hand tools
5.2. Toolboxes
5.3. Helicopter tools
5.4. Adhesives
5.5. Charging equipment
5.6. Electronic instruments
6. Simulators
6.1. FMS
6.2. Piccofly with Game Commander
6.3. Easyfly
6.4. Aerofly Professional Deluxe
6.5. Realflight G3 w/USB Interlink
6.6. Reflex XTR simulator w/USB interface
6.7. ClearView
6.8. PreFlight
6.9. PhoenixRC
6.10. HeliSimRC
6.11. Heli-X
6.12. Helicopter simulator for the Mac
6.13. Summary
6.14. Simulator practice
7. Transmitters
7.1. Suitable helicopter transmitters
7.2. Special transmitter notes
7.3. Transmitter tray
7.4. Transmitter hand position
7.5. Transmitter manuals
8. Helicopter Construction
8.1. General tips for all helicopters
9. Helicopter Electronics Mounting/Wiring
9.1. Channel assignments
9.2. Component placement
9.3. Wire routing
9.4. Soldering technique
10. Post-Construction/ARF Checklist
11. Helicopter and Transmitter Setup
11.1. Center of gravity setup
11.2. Swashplate setup
11.3. Main rotor setup - part 1
11.4. Main motor setup
11.5. Tail rotor setup
11.6. Main rotor setup - part 2
12. R/C Heli Rules and Tips
12.1. The proper way to carry a heli
12.2. Avoid pointing the transmitter antenna at the helicopter
12.3. The blades are traveling at high velocity!
12.4. Always disconnect the battery when working on the helicopter
12.5. Liability insurance
13. Learning to Fly an R/C Helicopter
13.1. The skills required
13.2. Making the learning process easier
13.3. Minimize repair time and maximize practice time
13.4. Divide the learning process into smaller, easier steps
13.5. There is no substitute for practice
14. Hovering Technique
15. Helicopter Power-On/Power-Off Procedure
15.1. Helicopter power-on procedure
15.2. Helicopter power-off procedure
15.3. Safety notes
16. Tail-In Hovering
16.1. Preparation
16.2. Tail-in hovering - Phase 1
16.3. Tail-in hovering - Phase 2
17. Side-In and Nose-In Hovering Orientations
17.1. To translate into a left side-in hover
17.2. To turn into a left side-in hover
18. Orientation Exercises
18.1. Introduction
18.2. Inverted T
18.3. 90 degree yaw
18.4. 180 degree yaw
18.5. 45 degree nose-in orientations
19. Forward and Backward Flight
19.1. Using idle-up mode
19.2. Entering and exiting fast forward flight
19.3. Banked forward turns
19.4. Backwards flight
19.5. Banked backwards turns
20. Forwards and Backwards Exercises
20.1. Figure eights
20.2. Backwards remote half circles
20.3. Backwards remote full circles
20.4. Backwards tail-in figure-eight
20.5. Backwards nose-in figure-eight
21. Advanced Exercises
21.1. Single pirouette
21.2. Multiple slow pirouettes
21.3. Pirouetting remote circles
21.4. Pirouetting figure eights
22. Tweaking Helicopter Twitchiness
22.1. Reduce the headspeed (CP helis only)
22.2. Reduce the swashplate mixing
22.3. Increase exponential on aileron/elevator
22.4. Add flybar weights or use heavier paddles
23. Your First Major Crash
24. Troubleshooting Common Problems
24.1. Vibration problems
24.2. Tail control problems
24.3. Throttle/ESC problems
24.4. Swashplate problems
24.5. Glitching
24.6. Other problems
25. Electric Helicopter and Parts Vendors
26. Frequently Asked Questions
26.1. General questions
26.2. Transmitters
26.3. Helicopter parts selection
26.4. Gyros
26.5. Helicopter setup
27. Helicopter Myths
27.1. Expo is bad because it slows cyclic response
27.2. Heading hold gyros are bad
27.3. Shorter flybar increases cyclic response
27.4. Rate gyros do not need revo mixing
27.5. A digital spread spectrum (2.4 Ghz) system will eliminate glitches
27.6. A heli flight simulator is a waste of time/is only good for beginners
28. Technical Appendix
28.1. How helicopters work
28.2. Recommended configurations
28.3. Brushless motor upgrade paths
28.4. Motor selection guide
28.5. Motor selection table
28.6. Pinion selection guide
28.7. Pinion selection tables
28.8. Servo selection guide
28.9. Electronics modification guide
28.10. Basic electrical theory
28.11. Battery info
28.12. Battery care and maintenance
28.13. Maintenance and crash repair
28.14. Useful equations
29. 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
4.1. Wire size recommended by current capacity
11.1. Swashplate type setup
11.2. Recommended headspeeds
26.1. Beginners setup cost breakdown
28.1. Mode 1 stick assignments
28.2. Mode 2 stick assignments
28.3. Mode 3 stick assignments
28.4. Mode 4 stick assignments
28.5. Piccolo Upgrade Motors
28.6. Heatsinks
28.7. Motor quality
28.8. Motors sorted by weight
28.9. Pinions 2mm bore 0.5 module
28.10. Pinions 2.3mm bore 0.5 module
28.11. Pinions 3mm bore 0.5 module
28.12. Pinions 3.17mm bore 0.5 module
28.13. Pinions 5mm bore 0.5 module
28.14. Pinions 5mm bore 0.7 module
28.15. Pinions 5mm bore 1.0 module
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