genovia
04-10-2003, 04:46 PM
The Electric Helicopter Beginner's Guide
by Toshiyasu Morita (TMorita on the Ezone and Ikarus BBS)
Many thanks to all the people on the Ezone forums and the Ikarus BBS who have posted many helpful messages - many of these tips were taken from these excellent discussion forums!
Use this information at your own risk! I make no guarantees as to the validity of any of this information! If in doubt, double-check!
1. How helicopters work
A helicopter is basically a rock with a propeller. The only lift it generates is from the main rotor, and it uses a tail rotor to avoid yawing from the torque generated by the main rotor.
Parts of an electric helicopter
First, an r/c helicopter has a radio receiver. This receiver produces signals to control the various parts of the helicopter.
The ESC (electronic speed control) is controlled by the receiver and controls the main motor speed. The ESC may have a governor mode which will keep the motor speed constant even if the load on the motor changes (during aerobatic maneuvers).
The main motor has a pinion and drives the main gear, which is attached to the main shaft. This typically has a gear ratio of 10:1 or more. On a fixed pitch helicopter, the amount of lift is controlled by the motor speed, so the motor speed varies widely. On a collective pitch helicopter, the lift is controlled by the pitch of the main blades, so the motor speed is fairly constant during flight.
The cyclic servos are controlled by the radio, and control the tilt (and for CCPM also the position) of the swashplate. There are usually either two or three cyclic servos.
The swashplate is a mechanical device which transmits the mechanical position of the servos to the main rotor hub parts which are rotating.
In a CCPM (Cyclic/Collective Pitch Mixing) system, the swashplate is connected via series of mechanical linkages to the flybar and the main rotor blade grips. The tilt of the swashplate controls the flybar paddle attack angle as it rotates, and the height of the swashplate as it slides up and down the main rotor shaft controls the angle of attack of the main blades.
In a non-CCPM system (like the Piccolo CP), the swashplate is connected only to the flybar, and a separate series of linkages controls the pitch of the main rotor blades. The tilt of the swashplate controls the flybar attack angle as it rotates, and the swashplate does not slide up and down the main rotor shaft.
In a fixed pitch system, the pitch of the main rotor blades cannot be changed, so there are no linkages which control the pitch of the main rotor blades.
The antirotation pin and the antirotation arm keep the bottom part of the swashplate from rotating while the top portion rotates along with the main rotor.
The main shaft is attached to the main gear. The main shaft typically rotates at about 1200-2000 rpm.
The main rotor hub is attached to the main shaft. This main rotor hub holds the flybar and the main blade grips.
The main blade grips are attached to the main rotor blades. The main rotor blades provide lift for the helicopter. Most aerobatic helicopters have a main rotor pitch range of at least -5 degrees to +10 degrees. Most helicopters are able to hover at about 5 degrees of positive pitch on the main blades.
The flybar goes through the main rotor hub. This flybar is offset at 90 degrees from the main rotor blades. On most non-micro electrics this is a 2mm steel rod.
The flybar paddles are attached to both ends of the flybar. These paddles provide extra lift to directly control the roll and pitch of the helicopter.
On some helicopters, there is an arrangement which also drives the tail rotor. There may be two bevel gears and a wire shaft, or a gear connected to a pulley which drives a belt. These drive the tail rotor shaft.
On these helicopters, there will be an arrangement which controls the pitch of the tail rotor blades. This will usually be a servo controlled by a gyro which pushes and pulls a wire or carbon fiber shaft which leads to the tail.
On other helicopters, the tail rotor shaft is driven by a secondary electric motor. This tail motor is controlled by a secondary ESC which is controlled a gyro.
The gyro is controlled by the radio. The gyro assists in controlling the yaw of the helicopter, and will either dampen the unwanted yaw movement or eliminate it, depending on the gyro type.
The tail rotor hub is connected to the tail rotor shaft, and it in turn is attached to the tail rotor blade grips, which are connected to the tail rotor blades.
The tail rotor blades produce thrust to counteract the torque of the main rotor.
2. Before you enter the model helicopter hobby - things you should know
a. Helicopters require SIGNIFICANT TIME COMMITMENT to learn to fly.
A helicopter is basically a radio-controlled UNICYCLE. It takes a lot of time to develop a good sense of balance and orientation. You will learn much faster if you can dedicate at least a half-hour a day to practicing on a flight simulator.
b. Helicopters crash, and they are somewhat expensive to fix.
Some helicopters are more durable than others, and some are much cheaper to fix - these are good trainers. But, you cannot expect to learn to fly without spending some money for repairs. Be sure to allocate some money for repairs.
c. It is really frustrating to learn how to hover.
Eventually, something will "click" inside your head, and you will get it. For some people, this occurs all of a sudden and everything makes sense. For other people it seems to be a more gradual process.
Basically, helicopters suck horribly. Then you get your first hover, and it's an incredible head rush, and you're psyched for a whole week, and then you're hooked. J
3. First Helicopter Selection
a. The three things to consider when selecting your first helicopter are:
1. Price
2. Durability
3. Availability of replacement parts
4. Size
The reason for this is: when you are learning to hover, you will crash. This is a given. Everyone crashes. When you crash, you do not want to spend a fortune repairing the helicopter, because everyone has limited funds. When you crash, you do not want to wait forever for replacement parts, because every day you spend waiting for a part is a day you are not flying the helicopter, and learning something.
Size is very important, because larger helis are easier to hover. They have more inertia, so they move slower and they give more warning of their intent. Smaller helis are more difficult to hover because they are very "skittish" and wander off in a new direction with very little warning of their intent.
If you live in an area like Seattle where it rains almost continuously for nine months of each year, I would recommend a Piccolo. Otherwise the Lite Machines Corona is the best electric trainer available today.
Also, GET A SIMULATOR. Even a free simulator such as FMS will save you at least 100 dollars or so in replacement parts when learning hovering.
Recommended first heli choices:
1. Corona (very durable, easy to hover, inexpensive)
2. Logo 10 (durable, easy to hover, expensive)
3. ECO Piccolo / Piccolo Fun (very durable, hard to hover, inexpensive)
4. Voyager E (durable, easy to hover, expensive)
Not recommended first heli choices:
1. Hornet FP/CP (fragile)
2. ECO 8/16 (somewhat fragile)
3. Logo 16/20 (expensive)
4. Joker / Joker CX (expensive)
5. Kyosho EP Concept (expensive)
Overview of selected machines:
a. Lite Machines Corona
1. A very good trainer
2. Moderately inexpensive (retail about $180)
3. Very durable
4. Manufacturer is in the US. Parts availability is very good
5. 1250 grams AUW - large, moderate head speed, easy to learn hovering - not indoors in small venues (gym ok)
b. Ikarus Fixed Pitch Piccolos (Fun or ECO)
1. Trainer, but harder to learn (probably 50% harder than Corona)
2. Inexpensive (Fun retail ~$90, ECO retail ~$140)
3. Fairly durable
4. Manufacturer in Germany. Parts availability is good.
5. 280 grams AUW - small, low headspeed, hard to learn hovering, - but can be flown indoors
The main differences between an ECO Piccolo and a Fun Piccolo are:
1. The ECO Piccolo includes six ball bearings for the rotor head, the main shaft, and the tail shaft. The Fun Piccolo includes bushings instead.
2. The ECO Piccolo has CF main and tail rotor shafts. The Fun Piccolo has steel main and tail rotor shafts. The steel shafts run smoother than the CF shafts but they are somewhat heavier.
3. The ECO Piccolo includes tail motor connectors. The Fun Piccolo includes with no tail motor connectors, and the tail motor wires must be soldered directly to the Piccoboard or the ESC wires.
4. The ECO Piccolo has a very lightweight tail boom. The Fun Piccolo has a slightly heavier tail boom.
c. Ikarus Collective Pitch Piccolos (CP upgrade/Pro)
1. Medium to advanced flyers
2. Inexpensive (CP upgrade ~$99, Pro retail ~$199)
3. Fairly durable except for balsa main rotor blades (68213) and pitch arm base (68211).
4. Manufacturer in Germany. Parts availability is good.
5. 330 grams AUW - small, high headspeed
d. Ikarus ECO Lite
1. Only for experienced pilots - only does forward flight
2. Inexpensive (retail about $140)
3. Somewhat fragile
4. Manufacturer in Germany. Parts availability spotty,
5. 1150 grams AUW - doesn't hover. Forward flight only. Difficult to learn to fly, outdoors only.
e. Ikarus ECO 8
1. Duration flying/slope soaring/light aerobatics capable
2. Moderately inexpensive (retail about $180)
3. Somewhat fragile
4. Manufacturer in Germany. Parts availability spotty, up to 4 weeks wait time for some parts
5. 1300-1500 grams AUW - large, high head speed, easy to learn hovering - outdoors only!
f. Ikarus ECO 16
1. Moderate to serious aerobatics capable
2. Moderately inexpensive (retail about $250)
3. Somewhat fragile
4. Manufacturer in Germany. Parts availability spotty, up to 4 weeks wait time for parts
4. 2000 grams AUW - large, high headspeed, easy to learn hovering - outdoors only!
g. JR Voyager E
1. Trainer/light aerobatics capable
2. Expensive (retail about $400 incl. motor, cannot buy without motor)
3. About average
4. Manufacturer in Japan. Parts availability very good.
5. 1500 grams AUW - large, high headspeed, easy to learn hovering - outdoors only!
h. Mikado Logo 10
1. Trainer/moderate aerobatics capable
2. Expensive (retail about $340)
3. About average
4. Manufacturer in Germany. Parts availability okay.
5. >2000 grams AUW - large, high head speed, easy to learn hovering - outdoors only!
i. Mikado Logo 20
1. Serious aerobatics capable
2. Expensive (retail about $470)
3. About average
4. Manufacturer in Germany. Parts availability okay.
5. >3000 grams AUW - large, high headspeed, easy to learn hovering - outdoors only!
4. First Helicopter Parts Selection
a. Gyros
A heading hold gyro is highly recommended for beginners. The heading hold gyro will "lock" the tail so the helicopter will not spin around. This makes hovering much easier since you can concentrate on learning proper cyclic response without worrying about the rudder. Learning to hover is about twice as hard with a non-heading hold gyro compared to a heading hold gyro - so get a heading hold.
The GY240 is a very popular beginner gyro and is very easy to setup. The GY401 is a more advanced gyro with remote sensitivity adjust and is also very popular. Both are good choices for the beginner heli.
The inexpensive Hobbico gyro is NOT recommended for beginners. It is a yaw rate gyro, which makes hovering difficult for beginners. Also, it is very fragile and there are many reports of it breaking on the first heli crash from only 1.5 feet.
b. Tail (rudder) servo
The tail servo for a helicopter needs to be very fast to respond quickly to small random tail movements. The tail servo should have a specification of faster than 0.16 sec / 60 degrees of travel.
For the Corona, Logo 10, and ECO 8/16, the most popular tail servos are:
1. HS-81
2. DS368
Logo 10 or larger, the Futaba S9253 is very popular used with the GY401.
Some servo mounts will allow you to use high-speed micro servos for the tail pitch servo, such as the Precision Model Products tail servo mount for the ECO 8/16.
The metal gear servos are not recommended for the tail because the metal gear servos wear faster and have more backlash than plastic gear servos, which will result in less precise tail control.
The slower digital servos (such as the JR DS368, 0.21 sec/60 degrees) do not work well as a tail servo unless the stock servo arms are replaced by extra-long servo arms (Du-bro, Servo City, etc). This sacrifices some precision for extra speed.
JR does not recommend the DS3421 for tail gyros because the servo motor is too small to handle the frequent movement required.
c. Swashplate (Cyclic) servos
Torque, speed, and precision should be considered for swashplate servos.
The Corona works fine on the stock HS-81 servos, although some people choose to use the HS-85BBs for more torque.
The ECO 8 requires a servo no taller than 1.1 inches, so this limits servo choices considerably. The HS-81, HS-85BB, Volz Micro-maxx, and the JR DS368 will fit in the ECO frame.
1. JR 341 (0.22 secs/60 degrees, 32 oz-in)
2. JR 351 (0.22 secs/60 degrees, 32 oz-in)
3. HS-81 (0.11 secs/60 degrees, 36 oz-in)
4. HS-85MG/BB+ (0.16 secs/60 degrees, 42 oz-in)
5. JR 341 (0.23 secs/60 degrees, 42 oz-in)
6. Futaba S3102 (0.25 secs/60 degrees, 51 oz-in)
6. Volz Micro-Maxx (0.16 secs/60 degrees, 55 oz-in)
7. Volz Micro-Maxx XP (0.16 secs/60 degrees, 66 oz-in)
8. JR DS368
The Logo 10 uses servos from 1.1 inches to 1.3 inches tall, so it can use all the servos used in the ECO 8/16 except the servos with less torque are not suitable. Probably 42 oz-in of torque is a reasonable minimum requirement for a Logo 10.
For the Piccolo, the most popular choices seem to be the Hitec HS-50 and the HS-55.
d. Receiver
If you are using a gyro without remote sensitivity (like the GY240) then you only need a five channel receiver with channels 1-4 and 6. If your gyro has a remote sensitivity adjustment (like the GY401) then you will need a six channel receiver with channels 1-6.
For a Piccolo you can use a Piccoboard instead. The Piccoboard is a tiny board with a yaw-rate gyro and two brushed ESCs, one for the main motor and one for the tail motor.
The Piccoboard Plus is the same except it can be upgraded to heading hold with a heading hold module. I haven't tried this, but people have said the GY240 works better than the HH module.
e. Motor
There are many, many motors available, but only a few are suitable for each helicopters. This is because the rpm/V or the Kv of the motor is very important due to the fixed gearing ratio of the drive system. Motors are listed from mild to powerful. Please note that I have no experience with most of these motors therefore the ordering should only be considered a rough guide, and not absolute oracle. For more info, I recommend searching the Ezone electric helicopter and micro helicopter forums for people's opinions on various motor and pinion combinations.
For the Corona:
- Kyosho Atomic Force (brushed) mild
- Mega Motor ACn16/15/3 (brushless) mild
- Mega Motor ACn16/15/4 (brushless) mild
- Hacker C40-12s (brushless) powerful
For the FP Piccolo:
- Astro Flight Astro 010 (brushless) mild
- Team Orion Modified Elite (brushed) powerful
- Hacker B20-36S (brushless) powerful
- Model Motors ACn1215/20 (brushless) powerful
For the CP Piccolo:
- Hacker B20-36S (brushless) mild
- Team Orion Modified Elite (brushed) powerful
- Hacker B20-31S (brushless) powerful
- Hacker B20-18L (brushless) powerful
- Model Motors ACn1215/20 (brushless) powerful
For the ECO 8:
- Magnetic Mayhem (brushed) mild
- Aveox 27/30/1.5 (brushless) ???
- Aveox 36/15/1.5 (brushless) ???
- Mega Motor ACn22/20/3H (brushless) powerful
- Hacker B50-18S (brushless) powerful
- Hacker B50-15L (brushless) powerful
- Hacker B50-13L (brushless) very powerful
- Hacker B50-11L (brushless) insanely powerful
(requires very good matched batteries)
For the Logo 10:
- Aveox 36/24/2 (brushless) ???
- Hacker B50-15L (brushless) mild
- Hacker B50-13L (brushless) powerful
- Kontronik Fun 600-18 (brushless) very powerful
- Hacker B50-11L (brushless) super powerful
(requires very good matched) batteries)
If you choose a brushless motor, then an autorotation gear is highly recommended. The brushless motors have extremely high cogging torque so when the motor spools down, the "braking" effect will be very strong. This will very likely break the main gear teeth if you do not have an autorotation gear.
The older sensored Aveox motors (12xx and 14xx series) are only rated to 20,000 rpm, and the JETI motors are only rated to 15,000 rpm. You must be careful not to exceed these rotational speeds otherwise the motor may eject a magnet from the rotor (e.g. "throw a magnet"). Therefore, I do not recommend these motors for helicopter use.
f. Wire
(The Corona kit does not need extra wire if using the Fusion 35, Pegasus 35, or Phoenix 35 controller)
The motor and battery wires are especially important on an electric helicopter. If the wires are too thin, then your helicopter will have less power because power is lost overcoming the resistance of the wire and the wire will become very hot.
For an Corona, ECOs, and Logos, you will need good quality 12-14 gauge wire for the motor and battery leads. These wires will work well:
Castle Creations W13RB (13 gauge)
W.S. Dean's Ultra Wire (12 gauge)
Team Orion 12 gauge
For the Piccolos and Hornets, you will need good quality 20-22 gauge wire for the motor and battery leads. This wire works well:
Castle Creations W20RB (20 gauge)
g. Battery Connectors
Heavy-duty connectors are recommended to minimize power loss.
The following connectors work well for the Corona/ECO/Logo:
Anderson's Power Poles (13 gauge)
Sermos Connectors
4mm gold-plated "bullet" connectors
The stock Corona includes R/C car-type "Tamiya" connectors which do not handle high current well and therefore should be replaced if possible.
h. ESC
In order to use an ESC for a helicopter, it needs to have the following characteristics (or else have these functions programmable):
1. No brake
2. No reverse
2. Slow start-up
3. No low voltage cutoff or very low voltage cutoff
(0.7 volts/cell or less, which should never trigger)
Most airplane ESCs are not suitable for helicopters because they include a brake and have a fairly high low-voltage cutoff.
The JETI Microprocessor (red label series) is not suitable for helis because the throttle control is not smooth and is rather "steppy". The Advance (blue label series) is supposedly better, but nobody I know has tried this.
For the Piccolo, the following work:
Pixie-7P (brushed)
Schulze Future 11.20e (brushless, rather heavy)
Castle Creations Phoenix 10 (brushless, very light)
For the Corona, the following work:
Castle Creations Pegasus 35 (brushed)
Castle Creations Phoenix 35 (brushless)
Hacker Master 40-3P (brushless, do not use the BEC on this ESC because the ESC will overheat on 3 servos)
For the ECO 8/16, the following work:
Schulze Future 12.46k
Schulze Future 18.46k
Castle Creations Phoenix 45
For the Logo 10, the following work:
Kontronik Beat 55-6-18
Do not use the SMILE in the Logo 10 - it tends to burn out!!!
i. BEC (battery eliminator circuit)
If your heli uses up to 10 cells and uses only analog servos, then you can use the BEC which is included on many ESCs such as the Schulze Future 12.46k and the Castle Creations Phoenix 45.
If you are using more than 10 cells on a helicopter such as the Logo 16/20 or ECO 16, then you must use a BEC which is designed for more than 10 cells. Currently there is only one popular BEC, the Kool Flight Systems Ultimate BEC. There are two models, one which handles up to 29 cells and another which handles up to 36 cells.
If you are using any digital servos, then you will need to check the ESC's onboard BEC amperage rating. Most ESC BECs are rated for only 1 or 1.5 amps which is insufficient to run a digital servo + 3 analog servos. The exception to this is the Schulze ESCs which have either 2 or 3 amp BECs. One digital servo with three regular servos can easily draw over one amp, so if your ESC's built-in BEC is rated for only one amp, you will definitely need to use an external BEC.
If you use a one amp BEC with digital servos, it will probably overheat during flight and shut down. This will cause you to lose control of the helicopter and it will crash.
To use an external BEC with an ESC which already has a BEC, then you will need to disable the built-in BEC of the ESC. To do this, look at the ESC leads that plug into the receiver. There should be three wires, and the middle wire should be red. Pull the red wire out of the connector and tape it with some electrical tape to prevent it from touching anything metal.
j. Batteries
Helicopters need batteries that can deliver high current. If you use cheap batteries, your helicopter will likely not fly well.
The batteries known to work well are:
Corona / Logo 10/16/20 / ECO 8/16:
Sanyo CP1700SCR (NiCad 1700 maH)
Sanyo CP2400 (NiCad 2400 maH)
Sanyo RC2400 (NiCad 2400 maH)
Panasonic HHR300SCU (NiMH 3000 maH)
Panasonic RC-3300HV (NiMH 3300 maH
Sanyo HR-SC (NiMH 2600maH)
Piccolo:
Sanyo HR-AAAU
PowerEx AAA NiMH
If you intend to fly aerobatics, do NOT use commercial battery packs. Most of them use a flat springy metal to connect the battery terminals and the springy metal will melt at high (50-60+) amps.
Be sure to use your own inline-soldered battery packs if you intend to do hard aerobatics with your helicopter.
k. Mods
You should avoid adding any aftermarket modifications to the helicopter when you are learning to hover. The reason for this is:
1. If you crash the helicopter, you may destroy your expensive aftermarket modifications
2. You will be distracted by trying to avoid destroying your expensive mods and therefore learn slower
The modifications to avoid when learning to hover are:
1. Carbon Fiber frames (cracks when stressed)
Some mods are justifiable because they improve control and are less likely to be damaged in a crash, such as:
1. 120 degree swashplate
2. Tail servo mount
3. Carbon fiber pushrod (only costs ~$3 to replace anyway)
4. Autorotation gear (REQUIRED for a brushless motor)
but in general, a stock helicopter is recommended.
5. Support Equipment
a. Pitch gauge
A pitch gauge is an absolute must for collective pitch helicopters. It is unlikely you will be able to properly setup your CP heli to hover without using a pitch gauge.
b. Blade balancer (optional)
If you don't buy a blade balancer, it is still possible to balance the blades using a dowel or other method, but a good blade balancer makes the job much easier.
The KSJ-528 blade balancer works well. The Koll Rotor Pro is better than the KSJ-528 but is overkill unless you're doing advanced flying.
I highly recommend CAing the tip of a sewing pin to the pointer of the KSJ-528 to make the scale easier to read.
c. Paddle pitch gauge (optional)
This is very handy for ensuring your paddles are completely flat relative to each other. For non-micro helicopters, the KSJ-624 paddle gauge works well.
d. Prop balancer (optional)
In order to balance the rotor head, you need a prop balancer. The Du-bro Tru-spin prop balancer works well because you can hang the rotor head over the edge of a table.
e. Tachometer
There are about three tachometers in wide use for helicopters.
The first is the Anderson Hobby tachometer. This is fairly cheap (about $35) and works well on the ECO/Logo, but it does NOT work on micro helis such as the Piccolo CP! It also drains batteries quickly even when not turned on, so I recommend removing the battery when not in use.
The second is the X-cell optical tachometer. This is expensive (about $150) but works with almost any helicopter, including micros.
The third is a white tachometer that I've seen occasionally. I don't know very much about it.
There are other tachometers, including:
- Magnum mini-tach. Price is about $35.
- Hangar 9 micro digital tach
- Thunder Tiger 2642 mini tachometer
For some reason, Quantum Models (http://www.quantummodels.com) stocks more tachometers than any other online store I've seen.
f. Ball link pliers
Ball link pliers are highly recommended for non-micro helicopters because ball links are very difficult to remove properly without ball link pliers.
Both JR and Century make nice ball link pliers.
Be very careful when removing ball links on plastic balls (such as the ECO 8/16 stock swashplate) with ball link pliers. You can scratch deep grooves in the plastic balls if you fail to center the ball in the jaws before squeezing.
g. Battery Chargers
There are many nice chargers on the market.
Here are the features I recommend you look for:
- Able to charge at 5 amps or more (for non-micro helis only)
- Delta-peak charge termination
- Has soft-start or false peak rejection capability
The soft-start/false peak rejection capability is especially important. Helicopters tend to discharge cells rather deeply, and when these cells are charged, they charger may often "false peak" because the cell chemistry is unstable when deeply discharged. Soft-start or false peak rejection avoids having to restart the charger multiple times in the first 5-10 minutes of a charge.
The chargers which are known to fit these criteria are:
- Hitec CG-330 (NiCad)
- Hitec CG-335 (NiCad)
- Hitec CG-340 (NiCad, NiMH)
- Robbe Infinity II (NiCad, NiMH)
- Schulze ISL 6-330d (NiCad, NiMH, Li-on)
- Orbit Microlader (NiCad, NiMH, Li-on, Pb)
- Orbit Microlader Pro (NiCad, NiMH, Li-on, Pb)
Before buying a charger, make sure it can charge the number of cells in your pack! Some chargers can only handle up to 10 or 12 cells, which is insufficient for a Logo 16/20 or ECO 16. This may be important if you're planning on buying a larger helicopter eventually.
6. Simulators
A simulator is highly recommended for helicopter beginners.
The hardest part of flying a helicopter is developing the "reflexes" and the "delicate touch" necessary to instinctively correct the tilt/direction of a helicopter. A simulator will help you develop these skills quickly without spending a lot of money on replacement parts.
Here is a quick review of some sims:
a. FMS - free! (score: 3/10)
FMS is okay for learning hovering in all orientations. The models move extremely slowly so hovering is a little too easy. However, it does not seem to model forward flight correctly, so once you are into forward flight, I would recommend finding another simulator.
b. Piccofly with Game Commander - ~$80 (score: 7/10)
Piccofly is excellent for learning to fly the FP Piccolo. It doesn't model forward flight well, but it simulates the "squirreliness" of hovering the Piccolo very well.
It has a very nice "slow time" function which allows you to slow down the movement of the Piccolo so you can build your reflexes without getting too frustrated.
I would recommend starting off at about 70% time and gradually increasing the time until you can hover at 100% time (real time).
c. Easyfly (included with Piccofly) (score: 4/10)
The quality of Easyflight's helicopter flight model is a little better than FMS, but not by much. The helis move faster, which is good, but forward flight doesn't feel right because there isn't any translational lift. Okay for learning hovering, but not forward flight.
d. Aerofly Professional - $130 to $200 (score: 5/10)
The helicopter flight model is a little bit better than Easyfly but it still doesn't feel quite right. There's still not enough translational lift, but at least it won't let you loop the heli with 5 ft of altitude without negative collective like Easyfly does. Good for learning hovering, but not forward flight.
e. Realflight G2 w/USB Interlink - ~$200 (score: 8/10)
Realflight G2 has a pretty good helicopter flight model, and is a good simulator for learning non-micro helicopter skills. The helicopter flight model is probably best of all the flight sims mentioned here, and it will probably be good enough to practice 3D aerobatics.
I would recommend practicing hovering on the Impala model initially, then later when you acquire proficiency I would recommend buying the Add-ons 3 and practicing with the Raptor 30 model.
Basically, Realflight G2 is the only one which seems to simulate helicopters properly. All other sims seem to model helicopters as a special type of airplane, which does not produce the right flight characteristics.
The incorrect translational lift model actually affects hovering as well, because real (light) helicopters tend to bob up and down when there is a slight wind. This is because the wind has the same effect as forward flight - it makes the heli generate extra lift.
So, in Aerofly Professional, if you turn on wind, your heli doesn't bob up and down properly - it just slides around horizontally, which is incorrect. Realflight G2 models translational lift correctly, and the heli will gently bob up and down as the wind gusts.
Therefore, if you learn to hover completely in FMS, Easyfly, or Piccofly, you will not learn how to properly use the collective to compensate for the effect of wind making your heli bob up and down.
7. Helicopter Construction
General Tips:
a. Only use threadlock on metal-to-metal areas. Do not use threadlock on metal-to-plastic or plastic-to-plastic areas.
b. Blue threadlock is temporary, for stuff which may require disassembly later (after a crash, etc). Red threadlock is permanent, for stuff which will never be disassembled.
Example: Blue threadlock for a setscrew on a tail blade grip
Red threadlock for assembling the swashplate balls
c. If your gears (including bevel gears and motor pinions) are meshing together too tightly, you will lose a lot of power and your flights will be very short. Make sure that the gear teeth only mesh together by about 2/3rds to 1/2 of a tooth. This will allow the gears to transfer power more efficiently
d. When assembling a plastic frame with metal screws (e.g. ECO 8/16 and Logo 10) be sure to use a jeweler's screwdriver or a Wiha with a small handle to assemble the frame. If you use a large-handled screwdriver you will not be able to "feel" when the screw is fully inserted and you will probably strip the hole in the plastic frame.
e. If you strip a plastic screw hole, then you can fix it by squirting a small bit of CA into the screw hole and letting it dry to give the screw additional friction.
f. If you are using a brushed motor, you should "break-in" the motor before your first flight. Breaking in the motor will allow the motor to run at maximum efficiency and also prolongs motor life. There are at least two ways to do this:
1. Dry method: Run the motor for two hours at 1/4 throttle.
2. Wet method: Run the motor for 10-15 minutes in a glass of water. Be sure to disassemble the motor afterwards and thoroughly dry everything, otherwise parts may rust.
g. Beware of carbon fiber dust. It is classified as a hazardous material and can cause severe breathing difficulty, especially if you are asthmatic. Be sure to blow the carbon dust out OUTSIDE with some compressed air and don't get the carbon dust into your lungs.
DO NOT CUT CARBON FIBER INDOORS. ALWAYS CUT CARBON FIBER OUTSIDE.
h. If you are using a brushed motor, be sure to solder three capacitors to the motor: one between the positive terminal and negative terminal, one between the positive terminal and case, and one between the negative terminal and case. This will reduce the amount of interference generated by the brushed motor.
i. If you are using a brushed motor, it may come with a diode which you may need to attach to the motor. The diode looks like a black barrel with a gray stripe on one side, and two leads coming out each end.
This diode prevents ESC damage by shunting the spikes of reverse current generated when the brushed motor rotates. So, you put the diode on the power terminals of the brushed motor. The end with the silver band goes on the positive terminal of the motor, and the end with no band goes on the negative terminal of the motor.
j. Your ball links must move freely, but not be loose. If your ball links are too tight, you can put the ball link on the ball and gently squeeze around the edge of the ball link with a pair of slip-joint pliers. If your ball links are too loose, then they can be tightened by removing them from the ball then squeezing them gently across the face of the ball link with a pair of slip-joint or ball-link pliers.
k. For non-micro helicopters: If your motor output shaft does not have a "flat" on the shaft, the pinion may spin around on the shaft because the setscrew can't grip the shaft.
To put a flat on the shaft you need a Dremel with a diamond grinding tip, and a plastic bag.
1. Put the motor in the plastic bag, then punch a hole in the plastic with the motor shaft so the motor shaft sticks out the bottom. Tie the back end of the plastic bag. This will prevent metal shavings from falling into the motor and destroying it.
2. Grind a flat on the shaft using the Dremel.
3. Remove motor from plastic bag, being careful not to get any metal shavings into the motor.
l. For the Piccolo: The stock plastic motor pinion may slip on the motor shaft. We recommend using CA to glue the motor pinion onto the motor shaft to prevent this from occurring.
m. For Futaba transmitters:
If you have only two servos controlling your swashplate (with either non-CCPM or any CCPM) then the channel assignments are:
channel 1: left/right (roll) servo
channel 2: front/back (pitch) servo
channel 3: throttle (ESC)
channel 4: tail servo
channel 5: gyro sensitivity (optional)
n. For Futaba transmitters:
If you have three servos controlling your swashplate (either non-CCPM or any CCPM) then the channel assignments are:
channel 1: left (roll) servo
channel 2: front/back (pitch) servo
channel 3: throttle (ESC)
channel 4: tail servo
channel 5: gyro sensitivity (optional)
channel 6: right (roll) servo
o. For JR transmitters:
If you have only two servos controlling your swashplate (either non-CCPM or any CCPM) then the channel assignments are:
channel 1: throttle (ESC)
channel 2: left/right (roll) servo
channel 3: front/back (pitch) servo
channel 4: tail servo
channel 5: gyro sensitivity (optional)
p. For JR transmitters:
If you have three servos controlling your swashplate (either non-CCPM or any CCPM) then the channel assignments are:
channel 1: throttle (ESC)
channel 2: right (roll) servo
channel 3: front/back (pitch) servo
channel 4: tail servo
channel 5: gyro sensitivity (optional)
channel 6: left (roll) servo
Component Placement:
a. If you are using a brushed motor, the motor itself will be the main source of RFI. Pragmatically speaking, you want to keep your radio and gyro as far away from the brushed motor as possible. This will eliminate and/or reduce the number of radio glitches.
b. If you are using a brushless motor, the ESC for the motor will be the main source of RFI. So, it is desirable to locate the radio and gyro as far away from the ESC as possible.
c. Most gyros (GY240/GY401) require mounting on a horizontal surface, but some gyros (Ikarus Profi) require mounting on a vertical surface. Be sure to check your gyro documentation to see how it should be mounted on your heli!
d. Do not shorten any radio/servo wires until you have flown a flight or two and have checked for glitching.
Specific Tips for LMH Corona only:
a. Many Corona kits seem to have missing parts. If you are missing a part and you bought the kit directly from Lite Machines, call them and explain your situation. If you bought from a retailer and not Lite Machines, then talk to your retailer about the missing parts. You may want to finish most of the model before reporting missing parts so you don't need to call multiple times.
b. The general consensus on the Ezone regarding the Fusion-7 motor is it's not very good. People have reported the motor dying after as few as 5-10 flights. The Kyosho Atomic Force seems to be the best alternative motor. It is available from Tower Hobbies.
c. Make sure there is enough room between the two cyclic servos for the servo arms to rotate freely without hitting the other servo. If the servo arm rubs against the other servo, your front/back cyclic control will be sluggish and hovering will be very difficult.
d. The manual recommends using one 4 dot blade grip and one 6 dot blade grip, but the heli is more stable and easier to hover if you use two 4 dot blade grips because the head speed is higher. Later on if you want more lift you can switch one of the blade grips to a 6 dot blade grip.
e. The labels on the main rotor blades seem to be attached using the world's stickiest adhesive. The residue from the adhesive can be easily removed using WD-40 or Goo Gone.
DO NOT USE ACETONE. ACETONE WILL MAKE THE BLADES BRITTLE.
IF YOU USE ACETONE, THE BLADES MAY SHATTER WHEN THEY HIT AN OBJECT.
f. The Fusion 35 controller on the LMH Corona is a relabeled Castle Creations Pegasus 35.
g. The Fusion 35/Pegasus 35 seems to have trouble arming on many transmitters. If you turn on the transmitter, then turn on the Corona and do not hear two beeps, then you are having this problem. To fix this problem, you need to set a lower endpoint for the throttle channel on your transmitter. For a Futaba 9C, go to Menu->End Point->THR and set it to 125/125.
h. Many people are making "tail boom protectors" to protect the tail boom from boom strikes. This is usually foam wrapped around the tail boom or a piece of wood or angle aluminum mounted on the tail to deflect the rotor blade.
Specific Tips for all Piccolo (Fun/ECO/CP upgrade/Pro):
a. Drill a hole through the landing skid (67361) so the struts (67378)will go all the way through the skid. This will make the landing skid much stronger. If you don't do this, then the nipple on the landing skid will probably break off in a hard landing.
b. When building the landing skids (67361), use thick CA instead of the thin CA included in the kit. The thin CA runs all over the place and is difficult to get in the right place. Also, CA the rear skid struts into the frame FIRST. Then CA the front skids into the frame and make sure they almost align with the rear skid struts. If you don’t do this the landing skids will probably be crooked.
c. Do not use CA to glue in the tail boom. This usually works too well. When you crash, it will be almost impossible to remove all the tail boom bits and you will have to drill out the remaining pieces. It is much better to put a few layers of CA on the ends of the tail boom and friction-fit the tailboom into the body and the tail rotor assembly.
d. The landing skids may pop off the frame in even the mildest landings. You can reinforce the landing gear by CAing a length of CF rod across the front and rear landing gear skids about a half-inch (1.25cm) below the chassis (67360). This absorbs most of the landing stress that would normally pop the landing skid struts off the frame.
e. The Piccolo tends to lose the bearings on the hub (67566) on hard crashes. You may want to purchase an aftermarket aluminum hub or carefully glue the bearings to the hub to avoid losing the bearings. Beware when purchasing an aluminum hub; some of them appear to be made from soft aluminum and will bend easily. I do not recommend J's aluminum hubs for this reason. The Precision Model Products hubs are of much better quality.
Specific Tips for fixed pitch Piccolo (ECO/Fun):
a. The stock Piccolo FP has excessive play in the control mechanism. Specifically, the swashplate wobbles around too much. There are two mods which are required to fix this: the ball-in-swash mod and the Chris Rigoleth antirotation strap. These will make your initial hover attempts somewhat easier.
b. The older FP Piccolo kits had a anti-rotation link (67366) with only a single hinge rather than the newer double hinges. If you receive a one of these single hinge anti-rotation links, they do not work well, and I recommend you replace it with a newer double-hinge one.
Specific Tips for collective pitch Piccolo (CP upgrade/Pro)
a. The pitch case (68211) will usually be too tight on the main rotor shaft (68203). This will cause drag on the motor. To fix this, put a 3mm drill bit into Dremel, then put the pitch case onto the drill bit, then run the Dremel at low speed for about five minutes. Hold the pitch case very gently to prevent it from spinning around. After this, lubricate the inside of the pitch case with some graphite to further reduce friction.
b. The M2x6 screw which holds in the pitch bellcranks (68212) will usually rub against the flybar control levers (68209). To fix this problem, put the M2x6 screws into a drill and hold the head of the screw against a metal file to shave down the screw head. This will prevent the screw head from rubbing against the flybar control lever.
c. Some CP upgrade kits include an older style flybar (68208) which is not very good. The older style flybar is completely smooth and does not have the grooves stamped into the flybar to prevent the control arms (68209) and flybar paddle (67371) from slipping. If you have one of these flybars, you should replace it, because it will be almost impossible to prevent the control arms from slipping on the older flybar even if you roughen the flybar.
Specific Tips for Ikarus ECO 8/16 only:
a. It is possible make the ECO more durable and crash-resistant by "doubling up" the sideframes. To do this, you buy another set of sideframes, and epoxy each set together - don't forget to rough up the mating surfaces of the sideframes with 200 grit sandpaper first for better epoxy adhesion. You will need to replace the M2x8 screws with M2x10 screws, and also replace the M2x30 screws with two extra-long M2 bolts or two M2 threaded rods, because the M2x30 screws will be too short to reach through the tail boom mounts. The double frames will add about 41 grams to your AUW and reduce your flight times by about 30 seconds, but the frame will be much stiffer for better control and also survive most crashes.
b. The stock ECO 8 landing gear is a bit narrow and makes landing difficult for beginners. You may want to replace it with the ECO 16 landing gear, which is about 1 inch longer, two inches wider, and more sturdy.
c. The control balls on the plastic swashplate (67701) have been known to break off on extremely hard crashes. You may want to upgrade to the aluminum swashplate (67707) immediately. Also, the aluminum swashplate can be configured to support 120 CCPM which offers better control than 90 CCPM.
d. The main rotor shaft (67535), the stock feathering shaft (67509), and the stock tail rotor shaft (67550) are very soft and bends easily in minor crashes. If this happens, I recommend replacing them with the hardened versions: 67940, 67942, and 67941 respectively.
e. I don't recommend you use the mechanical mixer, because electronic mixing works much better than the mechanical mixer. If you do choose to use the mechanical mixer anyway, you will need fairly strong servos because the mechanical mixer needs a lot of force to move it around. Probably HS-81s are not adequate for mechanical mixing - you need at least HS-85BBs.
f. The stock wooden main rotor blades are fairly durable and are very good for beginners because they will survive minor crashes. I would recommend using with the wooden rotor blades for as long as possible - definitely while learning hovering in all orientations.
g. Pg 6: The tail drive belt pulley (67702) may wobble because the hole is not drilled exactly in the center of the pulley. This usually does not cause problems, but in some cases the hole is very out of center, and the tail belt may slap against the tail boom as it spins up or while it's flying. In this case, it is advisable to replace the tail belt pulley with a new one, or replace both with Voyager E rear belt pulleys (060860), or replace with aftermarket aluminum pulleys.
h. Pg 8: The ECO 8/16 manual shows the undercarriage (67562) mounted with the point facing forwards. It's better to mount these pointing backwards; it reduces the chance of a tipping over backwards during takeoff and landing and causing a boom strike. Also, the heli is less likely to tip over backwards when a battery pack is not installed on the undercarriage.
i. Pg 8: If the aluminum skids (67563) are difficult to fit into the undercarriage cross member (67562) try using a hairdryer to heat the cross member until it softens slightly, then slide in the aluminum skids.
j. Pg 9: When building the pitch compensator, the manual does not mention the arm (67591) has a TAPERED hole for the pin. If you try to force the pin through the narrow hole instead of the wide one, this may cause damage to the arm.
k. Pg 10: The flybar (67609) usually does not rotate smoothly in the flybar seesaw (67610). You MUST make the flybar seesaw rotate smoothly in the flybar seesaw otherwise the heli will be very difficult to hover. You will need to push the flybar through the flybar seesaw repeatedly (like playing a violin) for about 5 minutes until the rod slides smoothly through the flybar seesaw. This will make the heli much more stable and easier to hover.
l. Pg 13: The tail blade grips (67542) should be controlled by the leading edge of the blade, and not the trailing edge. If the tail blade pitch is controlled by the trailing edge, the tail may wag. Double-check and make sure the Ikarus logo on the tail blades is visible from the right side of the heli, and the control ball for the tail blade grips is on the leading edge of the blade.
m. Pg 13: There is a serious problem on this page. In some versions of the English manual, the instructions do not mention using threadlock on the screw holding the tail blade grip (67603) to the tail hub (67549). The German version of the manual correctly tells you to use threadlock on this screw. If you fail to do this your tail rotor grip may fall apart in flight causing the heli to pirouette out of control. Do not skip the threadlock on this screw! Also, if you disassemble and reassemble the tail rotor later, don’t forget to reapply fresh threadlock on this screw! Also, be sure the screw tail blade grip is left slightly loose so it can rotate freely on the ball bearing and screw. If the tail blade grip is screwed too tightly to the tail rotor hub, then the tail may "wag" because the mechanics may bind and gyro will have trouble controlling the tail blade pitch.
n. Pg 13: The M2x6 screw (67561) should not be screwed too tightly into the short ballend (67564) on the tail. If the screws are too tight, then the tail pitch lever will not move smoothly around the middle of its range because the ballends will not be free to flex outwards. To adjust this screw properly, screw it in completely, then reverse it approximately one-eighth turn. This should be about right but you should check the pitch lever movement to verify it moves smoothly.
o. Pg 16-21: Don't use servo grommets to mount the servos to the frame. Instead, cut a 4mm length of very small fuel tubing and slide this onto the 2mm screw. When this tubing is compressed, it will fatten out and fill the space between the servo and screw.
p. Pg 16-21: If you are using the aluminum swashplate with 120 CCPM, mount one servo in front and two in the back at the 12 o'clock, 4 o'clock, and 8 o'clock positions. This is easier to mount than two servos in front and one in back.
Specific Tips for Logo 10:
a. Some Logo 10 kits are missing parts and/or including the wrong sized ball links. If your kit has this problem, you should contact the retailer who sold you the kit and explain your problem.
b. Many Logo 10 owners have reported the tail belt builds up static electricity in the tail boom. This can cause glitching and/or ESC failure. Extreme care must be taken with component placement.
8. Basic Setup
a. Balancing the heli - forward/aft
The lengthwise CG of a helicopter should be at its main rotor shaft. Otherwise, the heli will have a tendency to go forwards or backwards.
To check this, first install the heli's batteries where you think they should go. rotate the main rotor so the blades are perpendicular to the body. Grab the main rotor blade grip closet to you and raise the heli up to eye level. Now find a wall corner or door jamb, and move the heli around so you can see the vertical line of the wall corner behind the helicopter.
Now try to align the main shaft with the vertical line. If the main shaft aligns perfectly with the line, then no adjustment is necessary. If the nose is light, then you will need to pull the battery pack forward. If the nose is heavy, then pull the battery pack backwards. Repeat until you find the correct battery position to balance the heli correctly.
If you use a tail servo mount on the ECO, the battery pack will need to be shifted forward quite a bit to adjust the CG properly. If you do this, you will need to put a rubber band over the two front side frame pegs to support the battery pack.
b. Balancing the main rotor blades using the KSJ-528 blade balancer
This step is not necessary for the Corona because the blades are balanced while building (great manual).
Balancing the blades will minimize vibration which will make hovering easier, and it will give the heli more power because less energy is wasted shaking the heli, and the gyro will work better with less vibration.
Therefore, balancing the main rotor blades is very, very important.
There are multiple ways to balance the blades, but this method works best for me so far.
Step one: Matching the CG
1. Remove the blade holder posts from the balancing tray of the KSJ-528.
2. Make sure the balancing tray balances evenly when nothing is on the tray. If necessary, use the setscrews to balance the tray.
3. Place one blade in the KSJ-528 tray and delicately shift the blade left or right across the balancing tray until the blade balances.
4. Mark this point with a felt tip pen.
5. Repeat for the other blade.
6. Place the two blades next to each other and check if the CG of the blades match within 1/16th of an inch.
7. If the CGs are close enough, go to Step two: Matching weight
8. Determine which blade has CG farthest away from the mounting bolt hole.
9. Move the CG inward on this blade by putting 1-2 inches of electrical tape on the leading edge of the blade near he bolt hole. We want to put the tape near the bolt hole because the other edge is traveling at high speed and putting tape on that edge will disrupt the airflow.
10. Measure the CG on this blade again and mark it.
11. Go to step 6
Step two: Matching the weight
1. Determine which of the blade holder posts fit your blades, then mount them on the balancing tray.
2. Make sure the balancing tray balances evenly when nothing is on the tray. If necessary, use the setscrews to balance the tray.
3. Mount the blades on the blade holder posts and make sure both blades "are pointed straight out".
4. If the blades do not balance, put a small strip of electrical tape on the lighter blade at the CG point near the leading edge of the blade.
5. Add or remove tape on the lighter blade at the CG point until the blades balance.
c. Flybar paddle setup
This step is not necessary for the Corona.
The tilt of the flybar paddles needs to match the tilt of the swashplate. This is done by adjusting one flybar paddle at a time.
First, rotate the main rotor so the main rotor blades are aligned with the body.
Pick one flybar paddle, and lower it slightly so it almost obscures the swashplate. Now align the outer edge of the flybar paddle with the top of the swashplate. It should be almost level with the top of the swashplate. If it isn't, loosen the flybar paddle and twist it.
Now rotate the rotor head 90 degrees so the flybar paddles are aligned with the body. Check the same paddle against the top of the swashplate again. It should still be aligned.
Repeat the last two steps for the other flybar paddle and make sure it is aligned with the top of the swashplate at two different angles 90 degrees apart.
d. Transmitter Throttle setup
1. If you are using a negative shft transmitter (all Futaba/Hitec transmitters) then you will need to reverse the throttle servo direction.
2. Remove the main rotor blades temporarily so you can check the spin direction of the rotor head.
3. Install a battery in your heli, then follow the ESC directions to arm the ESC.
4. Give just enough throttle on your transmitter to make the head spin a little.
5. If you have a brushed motor and your main rotor blades are spinning backwards, then you need to reverse the motor rotation direction. Swap the two wires connected to the motor. If you have a diode wired to your motor, be sure to swap this also so the gray band is still on the positive terminal of the motor.
6. If you have a brushless motor and your main rotor blades are spinning backwards, then you need to reverse the motor rotation direction. To do this, swap any two of the three wires connected to the motor.
e. Transmitter Swashplate setup
If using 90 or 1290 CCPM:
1. First, set the correct swashplate type in your transmitter. You will probably need to consult your transmitter manual to select the correct swashplate configuration for your transmitter.
2. Disconnect the motor. Make sure the ESC motor leads cannot touch together because if they touch during testing, you will probably destroy the ESC. Put electrical tape on the ESC motor leads if necessary to ensure they don't touch.
3. Move the throttle up on the transmitter, and make sure all the servos move the swashplate UP. Move the throttle down and make sure the swashplate moves DOWN.
If this doesn't work and some servos are moving in the wrong direction, reverse the direction of those servos until the swashplate moves up and down correctly.
For transmitter mode 2 (US):
4. Move the RIGHT transmitter stick up and down. This should move the swashplate forwards and backwards. Move the RIGHT transmitter stick left and right. This should move the swashplate left and right.
For transmitter mode 1 (Asia and Europe)
4. Move the LEFT transmitter stick up and down. This should move the swashplate forwards and backwards. Move the RIGHT transmitter stick left and right. This should move the swashplate left and right.
If any of these swashplate movements are reversed, then use the SWASHPLATE AFR (on Futaba 9C) and change the aileron or elevator from +50% to -50% to fix the swashplate movement.
Also, ensure that the servos do not bind at the minimum/maximum servo positions. If binding is observed, you will need to adjust the servo endpoints on your transmitter.
When the sticks are centered, the swashplate should be level. The easiest way to check this is by holding the helicopter at eye level, then looking at a bookcase behind it. Align the main shaft with the edge of the bookshelf, then raise/lower the helicopter until the swashplate is at the same level as one of the shelves. You should be able to easily tell if the swashplate is perfectly level or not.
f. Transmitter exponential setup
The "exponential" can be used to increase or decrease the servo movement around the stick center.
For a helicopter, you want to decrease the servo movement around the stick center so you can make smaller corrections when hovering.
For the Futaba radios, I would recommend a setting of -20% to start.
For JR radios, this value is reversed, so set this to 20%.
g. Transmitter Throttle curve setup
For a fixed pitch heli the throttle curve should be left as default - linear from 0 to 100%.
For a collective pitch heli you need a tachometer to measure the head speed.
With a collective pitch heli with a five point curve on the transmitter, it should be set to 0-50-x-x-x where x is the throttle position at which you have about 1600 rpm of head speed.
For a collective pitch heli with a three point curve on the transmitter, it should be set to 0-x-x where x is the throttle position for 1600 rpm of head speed.
If x is not between 80% and 90% of throttle, you should select a different sized motor pinion because the motor will not be running efficiently which will decrease your flight time and power.
Note: If you have a Futaba radio and a Fusion 35 ESC, then you may have problems properly arming the ESC. If you have this problem, then try increasing the throttle range to 125% so the low endpoint is lower.
h. Transmitter Throttle Hold setup
You should follow the transmitter manual directions to enable the throttle hold function on your transmitter.
Throttle hold is very good because it prevents the heli from throttling up if you must work on the heli while it's powered and something bumps the joysticks.
i. Tail rotor pitch servo setup
1. If your tail rotor is on the right side of the boom and you push the rudder right, the tail blades should increase in pitch.
2. If your tail rotor is on the left side of the boom and you push the transmitter rudder left, the tail blades should increase in pitch.
The tail pitch control servo should be able to move the tail pitch control lever all the way from one limit to the other with about 150 degrees of servo arm travel.
If the servo needs more than 150 degrees of travel to reach both limits of the pitch control lever, then replace the servo arm with a longer one.
If the servo needs considerably less than 150 degrees of travel to reach bottom limits of the pitch control lever, then move the servo arm linkage to a hole closer to the servo arm pivot then check again.
The tail servo should be in the middle of its travel range when the tail pitch lever is also in the middle of its travel range. If this is not true, then adjust the linkages until the midpoints are matched.
j. Gyro setup
First, if you are using a heading hold gyro (such as the GY240 or GY401) you must make sure your transmitter REVO MIXING option is disabled, because this option is only for non-heading hold gyros.
GY240 setup:
There are three controls which require setup on the GY240.
Setting AVCS:
Set to ON. You want heading hold enabled.
Setting DIR:
Turn on the transmitter.
Disconnect the heli motor.
Plug in the heli battery.
Wait for the gyro to initialize.
Turn the heli right about 20 degrees. If your tail rotor faces left (Corona), then the tail rotor blades should increase in pitch. If your tail rotor faces right (ECO, Logo), then the tail rotor blades should decrease in pitch.
If the tail rotor blade pitch change is wrong, then flip the direction switch on the gyro, and retest.
Setting GAIN:
Set this to about 50% to start. It can be adjusted later if the tail wags too much.
GY401 setup:
There are five controls on the gyro and one on the transmitter which require setup on the GY401.
Setting DS:
This should be off unless you are using an S9253, S9250, S9450, etc digital servo.
Setting DIR:
See GY240 section on setting this switch.
Setting DELAY:
Set this to about 50 initially.
Setting LIMIT:
(This controls the amount of tail servo travel)
Turn on the transmitter.
Disconnect the heli motor.
Plug in the heli battery.
Wait for the gyro to initialize.
Turn the heli right 90 degrees. The tail servo should peg at the maximum or minimum position. This should correspond to the maximum or minimum tail pitch position. If the servo is not moving far enough, you will need to increase the LIMIT control. If the servo is moving too far and is making buzzing sounds, then decrease the LIMIT control.
Turn the heli left 90 degrees and check the other servo position. The servo should not be buzzing. It may be necessary to move the tail servo mount on the tail boom or adjust a ball link or other to ensure that:
1. The tail servo can move the tail rotor pitch from minimum to maximum without binding (making a buzzing sound as it fights the linkage).
2. The tail servo should be centered when the tail rotor pitch is at the middle of its range.
Setting SENSITIVITY:
This is done at the transmitter on channel 5 for both Futaba and JR radios. If you have a newer Futaba radio (like a 9C), this is already handled in the GYRO SENS menu. In this menu set the mode to AVC and the sensitivity to about 75%.
If you have a Futaba/Hitec (negative shift) radio, channel 5 settings below 50% are non-heading hold mode sensitivity and settings above 50% are heading-hold mode sensitivity. Initially, set your channel 5 to about 88% travel.
If you have a JR (positive shift) radio, the settings are swapped, e.g. below 50% is heading hold sensitivity and above 50% is non-heading hold sensitivity. Try setting your channel 50 to about 12% travel.
j. Adjusting blade pitch
This step is only necessary for collective pitch helicopters like the ECO 8/16 and Logo 10/16/20. This step is not necessary for fixed pitch helicopters like the Piccolo FP and the Corona.
You should have a pitch gauge, either from the manufacturer of your heli designed specifically for your heli or a general-purpose helicopter pitch gauge.
1. Disconnect the heli motor from the ESC. Put some electrical tape on the exposed connectors to insulate them so they will not short out against each other or against other electrical components.
2. Put the pitch gauge on the helicopter following the pitch gauge instructions.
3. Turn on the transmitter.
4. Connect the heli battery.
5. Adjust the blade pitch:
For hover practice, adjust the blade pitch so the pitch range goes from 0 degrees at zero throttle to about 8 degrees at full throttle.
For normal (non-inverted) flight, adjust the blade pitch so the pitch range goes from -3 degrees at zero throttle to 10 degrees at full throttle.
6. Put the pitch gauge on the other blade and adjust its blade pitch too.
k. Blade tracking - CP helicopters
If the pitch of the blades is not the same, then one blade will generate more lift than the other when hovering. This will cause vibration and steals power.
1. Temporarily put a piece of bright colored tape on one of the rotor blades. This will cause the blades to be unbalanced but don't worry about this for now. Just remember to remove the tape after tracking the blades. You need this tape to determine which blade is higher or lower when checking the tracking.
2. Find a 6 foot length of 1" x 4" board.
3. Put the heli in the middle of the room where the blades won't hit anything, and slide the board through the landing gear on top of the landing skids. The board will hold down the heli in case Something Really Bad Happens.
4. Perform a preflight inspection and check everything.
5. Turn on the transmitter
6. Connect the heli battery
7. Arm the helicopter and slowly increase the throttle to about 1/4.
8. Walk a safe distance away, then get on your stomach, and apply throttle and look at the rotor blades from exactly the side. If both rotor blades are spinning exactly in the same plane and look like this: -- then no adjustments are needed. If both rotor blades are not tracking in the same plane and look like this: >< then the blades are not tracking properly and require adjustment.
An alternative way to check the tracking is to place a mirror on your feet, then tilt the mirror so you can see the blades while standing up. This is considerably safer since your face will not be hit if the heli decides to throw a blade.
9. Shut off the throttle and wait for the rotor blades to spin down.
10. Disconnect the heli battery.
11. If the blades did not track evenly, then increase the pitch of the low blade and/or increase the pitch of the high blade
12. Go back to step 4 if necessary.
l. Blade tracking - FP helicopters
The Corona does not need blade tracking adjustments. The head mechanics are very stiff and fairly precise which simplifies setup considerably.
The Piccolo FP has a soft rotor head and therefore the tracking is frequently off. This is especially bad because bad tracking steals a lot of power in micro helicopters.
To check the blade tracking on a Piccolo:
Temporarily put a piece of bright colored tape on one of the rotor blades. This will cause the blades to be unbalanced but don't worry about this for now. Just remember to remove the tape after tracking the blades. You need this tape to determine which blade is higher or lower when checking the tracking.
Apply throttle and look at the rotor blades from exactly the side. If both rotor blades are spinning exactly in the same plane and look like this: -- then no adjustments are needed. If both rotor blades are not tracking in the same plane and look like this: >< then the blades are not tracking properly and require adjustment.
The tracking of the stock Piccolo FP blades can be adjusted by holding the blade firmly at the root and twisting the blade at the widest point. Be sure not to twist the rotor head (67370). You should increase the pitch on the low blade and decrease the pitch on the high blade until the two blades track evenly.
9. R/C heli rules/tips (Read before hovering)
a. Always turn on the heli and wait for it to transmit before connecting the heli battery. If you connect the heli battery without the transmitter on, it may go to full throttle which may injure or kill you.
b. Always turn off the heli before turning off the transmitter. If you turn off the transmitter first, the heli may go to full throttle which may injure or kill you.
c. THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES ARE TRAVELING AT HIGH VELOCITY AND CAN KILL OR MAIM YOU. BE VERY CAREFUL.
When I first started flying helicopters, I read every single web page I could find on the Internet regarding helicopters.
One web page mentioned a story where a guy was flying his helicopter in a park, and a little dog started chasing his helicopter around. The heli pilot asked the dog owner to retrieve his dog, but the dog owner thought it was cute and wouldn't do it.
When the heli landed, the dog ran to the helicopter. The main rotor blades were still spinning at full speed and chopped off the top of the dog's skull.
Also, there are stories about R/C helicopter rotor blades chopping off people's fingers.
Don't believe it? Let's do the math.:
An ECO 8 has a rotor diameter of 41.7 inches. This means the rotor tips travel 41.7 * 3.14 or 130.9 inches in one revolution. The rotor is spinning at about 1600 rpm. This means the rotor tips travel 130.9 * 1600 or 209,440 inches in a minute. In one hour the rotor tips will travel 60 * 209,440 or 12,566,400 inches.
12,566,400 inches/hr = 1,047,200 feet/hr = 198.3 mph!!!
So, when an ECO 8 rotor blade is spinning at 1600 rpm, the blade tips are traveling at 198 mph. That's why helicopter rotor blades can slice off fingers and the top of skulls.
d. ALWAYS DISCONNECT THE BATTERY WHEN WORKING ON THE HELICOPTER.
e. An AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) membership is highly recommended, because it will give you insurance coverage. This is very good if your heli damages somebody's car, or injures someone.
10. Learning how to fly - the steps
The classical steps in learning to fly a heli are:
1. Tail-in hovering
2. Side-in hovering
3. Figure eights
These steps work well if you are already flying R/C planes.
11. Tail-in hovering
The first helicopter orientation to learn is "tail-in" hovering. This is called tail-in because the tail of the helicopter will be closest to you.
a. Preparation
1. The most common helicopter "minor crash" is a boom strike. This occurs the helicopter lands too hard and the main rotor blade strikes the tail boom. It is advisable to have at least one extra tail boom on hand to avoiding waiting for parts.
2. You should have some practice time on a flight simulator. This will really reduce the number of crashes and save you A LOT of money.
3. You should have training gear on your heli. The training gear prevents the heli from tipping over and damaging itself, and additionally makes the heli more stable by slowing the cyclic response.
For a 1000-2000 gram heli, the best and cheapest training gear can be made from a small hula-hoop and some 1/4 inch dowels. Do not use a dowel thicker than 1/4 inch, because the 1/4 inch dowels will break in a hard landing and absorb some of the impact.
a. Put the dowel across the diameter of the hula-hoop, and cut the dowel so it's about 1 inch longer than the diameter.
b. Cut another dowel the same length.
c. Use two tie-wraps to lash the two dowels together in an X pattern.
d. Use tie wraps to attach the X to the hula-hoop.
e. Use tie-wraps to attach the X to the training gear of your helicopter.
f. Make sure the hula-hoop is on the bottom, so it will slide along the floor on the hula-hoop.
4. The CG will shift a little when you attach the training gear, so be sure to readjust the battery pack to move the forward/aft CG back to the main rotor shaft.
b. Tail-in Hovering - Phase 1
1. The objective for Phase 1 is to get a feel for the helicopter controls, but not lift off the ground.
You will be learning the "tail-in" orientation, which is the tail of the helicopter pointed towards you and the nose away from you.
Be sure to focus on the nose of the helicopter, and not the tail. If you focus on the tail, this is very bad.
2. For a non-micro helicopter, find an empty parking lot that is fairly level and is fairly clean (no rocks or debris for the training gear to hit). You will need at least a 20 ft by 20 ft area for this.
For a microheli, you probably want to find a hard level indoor surface, possibly an empty garage or the kitchen. A 10 ft by 10 ft surface is probably necessary.
3. Make sure there is no wind, or almost no wind. Wind will make the helicopter bob up and down, and if the heli doesn't have a heading hold gyro, it will also spin the heli around, which makes learning hovering very difficult.
2. Find an empty parking lot that is fairly level and is fairly clean (no rocks or debris for the training gear to hit). You will need at least a 20 ft by 20 ft area for this.
4. Place the helicopter and training gear on the ground, with the nose of the helicopter pointed away from you.
5. Preflight check the helicopter. Make sure all ball links are secure.
6. Do a radio range check and make sure all servos move correctly.
7. Arm the ESC.
8. Wait for the gyro to initialize.
9. VERY, VERY SLOWLY apply enough power for the helicopter to become light on the skids. *** DO NOT LIFT OFF *** If you accidentally lift off, you will probably panic and crash. So try not to lift off.
10. The heli will start to wander around on its own. Use the cyclic control to keep the helicopter within a 10 foot circle.
11. You may need to apply some trim to reduce the amount of wandering.
12. Always keep the tail of the helicopter pointed towards you. If you are using a heading hold gyro, this should occur automatically. If you are using a yaw rate gyro, you will need to use the rudder to maintain the tail position.
13. Always fly the nose of the helicopter. This is very important. Do not fly the tail. Always fly the nose of the helicopter.
When you push the rudder stick left, the heli should rotate counterclockwise. When you push the rudder stick right, it should rotate clockwise. If these directions are reversed, then you should fix the problem before continuing.
14. For a non-Piccolo, use a very delicate touch on the controls. The heli should be very responsive and respond to very little pressure on the joystick. Use very light stick pressure and avoid large stick movements.
The stock Piccolo requires a different technique. You will need very quick half-stick movements with the joystick to make corrections due to the slop in the swashplate.
15. If the helicopter starts to wander too far, reduce the throttle to let the helicopter settle and stop moving. Don't "chop" the throttle - reduce the throttle smoothly. Later on when you are actually hovering, chopping the throttle will cause the helicopter to crash. So, it’s good to not acquire this habit in the first place.
16. When your nerves become frazzled, take a break. Don’t push yourself too hard, because you may lose concentration and crash the helicopter
17. When your batteries become weak, switch packs. Be sure to wait a little while between flights to allow the motor to cool down. For maximum battery life, let the battery cool a little before recharging.
18. For a non-micro helicopter, when you can hold the heli in a 10 foot circle, you are ready for the next phase.
For a microheli, you should be able to hold the heli in a 3 foot circle.
c. Tail-in Hovering - Phase 2
1. The objective for Phase 2 is to hover at 3-4 inches of altitude (1 inch for a micro). Do not go any higher.
2. Go back to empty parking lot, preflight the helicopter, and perform range check/servo movement checks.
3. Arm the ESC, then SLOWLY apply enough power to lift the helicopter to the desired altitude.
4. When the helicopter tilts, you will hear a scraping sound, because the edge of the hula-hoop (or a ping-pong ball) will drag along the asphalt (or carpet). Pay attention to this sound, because it indicates your helicopter is tilted.
5. Watch the circle made by the rotor blades as they spin. Try to keep the circle level, because when the circle is level, your heli is level.
6. When the helicopter moves left, you should push the joystick right to halt the movement, then when the helicopter has stopped moving you need to push in the joystick left to level the helicopter. Same for the other three directions.
So, to stop a heli from moving in direction x requires two small stick movements. This requires a while to learn properly.
7. Try to keep the helicopter within a 10 foot circle, and try to keep it level.
8. At some point, you will start to hover longer and longer periods without an edge of the training gear touching the pavement. This may require 5-10 battery charges or more.
9. Congrats. You're tail-in hovering. J
10. When you can hold the heli within about a 5 ft circle, you should practice hovering with the heli slightly to the left of you or slightly to the right of you (in about the 10 o'clock position and 2 o'clock position) to prepare for the next section.
11. When you can hover an entire pack with tail-in hovering, you are probably ready to go to the next section.
12. Side-in and tail-in hovering orientations
The next step after tail-in hovering is side-in hovering. There are two orientations for side-in hovering: left-in and right-in hovering where the left side and the right side of the helicopter are facing you, respectively.
Follow the same steps as for tail-in hovering, except start with the side of the heli facing you (whichever side you're learning at the time). If you "lose orientation" just use the tail and rotate the heli back to the tail-in position to avoid crashing.
After left-in and right-in hovering, you might choose to learn nose-in hovering. People say this is "very difficult" but it's just another orientation to learn. If you've learned three orientations, you might as well learn the fourth before you go on to the next part.
It's probably okay to remove the training gear after you are fairly comfortable with side-in hovering or nose-in hovering. After you have removed the training gear, you should hover at about 3 ft instead of six inches.
When you can hover entire packs with each orientation, you are probably ready to go to figure-eights and circles.
13. Maintenance and Crash Repair
1. Brushed motors
After every ten flights or so, the carbon dust should be blown out of the motor with compressed air and the commutator checked to see if it is clean. If the motor is assembled with screws and the commutator is dirty, burnish it with some extra fine steel wool or 1000-1200 grit sandpaper.
2. Main rotor shaft bearings
Some helicopters (ECO, etc) have open-faced bearings. These bearings are not sealed, and because the ball-bearings are exposed, they can become contaminated with dirt and grit.
If you notice the main rotor shaft bearings grinding or not rotating smoothly, then they should be removed and cleaned in some good solvent. If they still sound or feel funny, they should be replaced.
3. Tail rotor shaft bearings
The tail rotor shaft bearings may incur damage if the tail blades touch the ground, especially on the ECO 8/16. They should also be checked periodically and cleaned or replaced if necessary.
4. Tail belt tension
Tail belts tend to loosen over time especially if the tail boom mount is loose. They should be checked and retensioned periodically.
Corona specific maintenance:
a. If you have a boom strike, the tail boom can be straightened by pushing a 3/8" dowel inside the tail boom.
b. If you left the Corona come down too fast it may "bounce" off the ground and break a main gear tooth. So, the main gear should be checked periodically for missing teeth.
c. Be sure to check HS-81s for broken gear teeth after each crash. They may rotate properly through the whole rotation, but they may have a broken tooth somewhere.
I consider the HS-81 gears a "sacrificial" part...they break to prevent other things from being broken, and at $3-$5 a set they are fairly cheap.
Piccolo specific maintenance:
a. There isn't much maintenance required on a Piccolo. The stock brushed motor (the 280 or 310) should last 300 flights or more without maintenance or more without maintenance if properly broken-in..
b. If the antirotation pin breaks off the swashplate but the stub is left, then it can be fixed with a small nylon tie wrap. Cut the tip from the tie-wrap and lash it the remnants of the antirotation pin by using several loops of cotton thread. After tying, put a drop of thin CA on the thread to harden it.
ECO 8/16 specific maintenance:
a. The one-way bearing in both plastic and aluminum autorotation hubs has been known to become loose. Usually when this happens, the one-way bearing can be pushed out of the hub with firm finger pressure.
This can be easily fixed by roughing up the bearing and autorotation hub mating surfaces with 200 grit sandpaper and using thick CA to reassemble the unit.
b. The tail blade grips (67542) should be checked periodically to make sure they are not too loose. If they are, be sure to unscrew them from the tail rotor hub and apply fresh loctite to the screw before reassembling.
c. The main rotor shaft bolt (67599) is rather soft and can become bent in a hard crash. Be sure to check this bolt if the main rotor blades have hit anything. If the bolt is bent, be sure to replace it and do not fly with it.
14. Troubleshooting common problems
1. Low flight times and/or not enough power
a. For brushed motors: the commutator may be dirty. (See section on maintenance.)
b. Pinion meshing may be too tight. Ideal pinion meshing is between 1/2 to 2/3rds of a tooth.
c. Motor pinion may be slipping on motor shaft.
If your motor pinion has a setscrew, then your motor should have a flat spot on the motor shaft so the setscrew will not slip on the motor shaft.
If the motor shaft has no flat spot for the setscrew to bite, then you should make one with a Dremel and a diamond cylinder point bit (#7123).
For the Piccolo using the stock motor (G280 or G310) and the plastic motor pinions, it may be necessary to glue the motor pinion onto the motor shaft to prevent it from slipping.
2. Cyclic servos wiggle around without joystick input when motor is running at near hovering throttle.
a. This could be radio interference. Make sure your motor leads are short and routed away from the receiver.
b. With a brushed motor, the motor brushes may be worn or the commutator may be dirty which causes radio interference. Check your brushes and make sure they are in good condition and check the condition of the commutator.
3. Tail wags back and forth with HH gyro.
a. The main gear or other gear may be missing a tooth. Visually inspect the teeth of all gears and verify that they are intact.
b. Tail belt may be loose. The belt should be firm but not too tight.
c. Excessive play in the tail pitch control system can cause tail wag. Make sure there are no loose screws/ball links/clevises in the tail pitch control system.
4. Tail swings 30-90 degrees abruptly then rights itself with HH gyro.
a. This could be caused by radio glitches. Make sure your motor leads are short and routed away from the receiver.
b. The radio receiver crystal may have been damaged in a previous crash. Try replacing the crystal or entire receiver.
c. The one-way bearing in the autorotation hub may be loose.
5. Heli wobbles and is very unstable
a. Your headspeed may be too low and you may be compensating for this by using more main motor pitch which makes the heli motor bog down and the heli unstable.
b. Your rotor head may not be firmly attached to the main rotor shaft. This usually occurs when the hole in the rotor head is reamed out after multiple hard crashes. If the rotor head is not fitting snugly on the main rotor shaft, it should be replaced. This problem is seen on MS Hornets. because the E044 pivot support is fragile.
6. The blade tracking is fine at low speeds, but the blade tracking becomes worse at high head speeds.
a. On a CP Piccolo, this is usually caused by a broken pitch arm base (68211). Visually inspect the two thin "legs" which are between the arms and the tube. One of the legs may have broken.
15. Electric Helicopter & parts vendors
These are vendors which are mentioned frequently on various popular Internet discussion forums.
I do not necessarily endorse any vendors on this list.
For brevity, any e-heli vendors who also stock servos/motors/etc. will not be listed again in the servos/motors/etc section.
a. Lite Machines Corona and replacement parts
http://www.litemachines.com
http://www.roffeetvhobby.com
b. Mikado Logo 10
http://www.fxaeromodels.com
http://www.cyberheli.com
http://www.heliguys.com
c. Ikarus ECO Piccolo and Piccolo Fun
http://www.dreamhobbies.com
http://www.precisionmodelproducts.com
http://www.fxaeromodels.com
http://www.helihobby.com
http://www.hobby-lobby.com
http://www.backyardhobbies.com
d. Ikarus ECO 8/16
http://www.fxaeromodels.com
http://www.precisionmodelproducts.com
http://www.hobby-lobby.com
http://www.backyardhobbies.com
http://www.helihobby.com
e. MS Composite Hornet
http://www.fxaeromodels.com
http://www.precisionmodelproducts.com
http://www.edogfight.com
http://www.aeromicro.com
http://www.helihobby.com
http://www.hobby-lobby.com
f. Motor vendors
http://www.towerhobbies.com
http://www.icare-rc.com
http://www.megamotorusa.com
http://www.aveox.com
g. Servo vendors
http://www.servo-city.com
http://www.nesail.com
http://www.towerhobbies.com
http://www.shredair.com
http://www.horizonhobby.com
h. Batteries
http://www.dynamoelectrics.com
http://www.batterystation.com
http://www.eflightpacks.com
http://www.nicdlady.com
http://www.modelelectronicscorp.com
i. Carbon Fiber tubes and rods
http://www.cstsales.com
http://www.acp-composites.com
j. Other
http://www.modelaircraft.org (AMA)
14. Terminology
120 CCPM
A type of CCPM using three servos arranged at equal 120 degrees from each other. The advantage of 120 CCPM is the load of the swashplate is evenly distributed across all three servos resulting in more precise control. 120 CCPM requires a special transmitter ("computer radio") which supports this mode.
90 CCPM
A type of CCPM using three servos arranged at 90 degrees to each other (and one spot empty). On an ECO 8/16 using 90 CCPM there is a servo at the left, right, and front positions of the swashplate.
AR pin: Antirotation pin.
AR arm: Antirotation arm.
Autorotation
A controlled, unpowered helicopter descent (and landing). A helicopter is a brick with a rotor, so it doesn't glide well when unpowered. The autorotation is the closest to gliding possible. The autorotation consists of a steep descent using negative pitch to keep the rotor blades spinning followed by a slight flaring performed with positive pitch to convert the momentum of the blades into lift to soften the landing.
AR gear
Autorotation gear. A gear with a one-way bearing so the motor can only drive the main shaft in one rotational direction. Required for performing autorotations.
AUW
All-Up Weight. The weight of the heli when ready to fly, including batteries.
Ball-link pliers
A special plier made especially for handling ball links. It can quickly remove the ball joint from a ball link. One jaw has a U-shaped cut in it and the other jaw has a small cup on it.
Bell-Hiller mixer
The seesaw arm on the head of a CCPM helicopter which isolates the height component of the swashplate position and controls the main blade pitch.
BL
Brushless, usually in the context of brushless motors.
Boom strike
A type of helicopter crash where the main rotor blade hits the tailboom. This may dent/bend the tail boom and damage the main rotor blades.
Collective Pitch Compensator
The assembly with two seesaw arms directly above the swashplate.
CCPM
Cyclic/Collective Pitch Mixing. A type of control system where the swashplate controls both main blade pitch and flybar pitch. The swashplate relative tilt controls the pitch of the flybar as the main rotor rotates, and the absolute height of the swashplate controls the pitch of the main rotor blades.
CF
Carbon fiber, usually in the context of rotor blades, frames, tubes, rods, or sheets.
CG
Center of Gravity. The point at which an object's center of mass appears to be; its balance point.
Coning Angle
Some helicopters like the FP Piccolo are designed so the rotor blades are flexible and will bend upwards in flight. The amount which the blade bends upwards is called the "coning angle". The coning effect is good for beginner helicopters because it makes hovering more stable, but is bad for forward flight because it makes the helicopter pitch up which makes forward flight difficult.
CP
Collective Pitch. A helicopter that adjust vertical lift by changing the pitch of the main rotor blades.
Eheli
Electric Helicopter - hard to figure out, isn't it?
Electronic Mixing
A control system where the radio transmitter controls the mixing between the roll/pitch servos and the main rotor pitch servo. Also called colloquially eCCPM. (See also CCPM.)
ESC
Electronic Speed Control. Basically, the motor controller for brushed and brushless motors.
Flybar
The metal or CF rod which holds the smaller paddles to the main rotor head
Flybar paddles
The smaller blades (not the main rotor blades) on the main rotor of a helicopter.
FP
Fixed Pitch. A helicopter that adjusts altitude by changing the speed of the motor driving the main rotor.
GE
Ground Effect. When a helicopter is hovering at approximately less than one rotor length above the ground, the heli will become a little more skittish, as though it is trying to balance on a ball. This is the ground effect.
GF
Glass fiber, usually in the context of rotor blades.
Governor
A feature of an ESC which will try to keep the motor speed constant despite variable load placed on the motor.
This is like the cruise control on a car as it's going up and down hills. Even though the load on the motor is variable as the car goes up and down hills, the cruise control will try to maintain the same speed.
The governor mode on an ESC will try to do something similar. Even if the heli is doing wild maneuvers and the load on the main rotor blade is highly variable, it will try to maintain a constant head speed.
If using a governor mode, the throttle curve should not be set to 100%. This is because the governor mode needs a little bit of extra power so it can maintain headspeed. Using the cruise control analogy, if you set the cruise control of a car to its maximum speed the cruise control cannot maintain the maximum speed going up hills. Similarly, if you set the throttle to 100% RPM then the governor mode will not be able to maintain it when the rotor is heavily loaded.
This is why the motor pinion should be selected so the desired headspeed can be achieved at 80 to 85% of the throttle - so the governor mode can work properly.
Heading Hold Gyro
A gyro which attempts to "lock" the heading of the gyro and keep the helicopter pointed in the same direction until you choose to turn it via the rudder. (See yaw-rate gyro).
HH
Heading Hold (gyro)
HS
Head Speed. The RPM of the main rotor. Most helicopters need between 1400-2000 RPM of headspeed to fly. There are a few exceptions like the FP Piccolo, which only needs 1200 rpm. If the headspeed is too low, then the heli will not lift off or will require extra pitch to fly, which will make the heli very unstable. For aerobatics, most people raise their headspeed to about 2000 RPM. Most helicopter rotor hubs are only rated for a maximum of 2000 RPM. If you exceed 2000 RPM, this places excessive stress on the main rotor hub and the heli is likely to throw a blade.
Kv
The RPM per volt of the motor. This is very important because a helicopter typically requires a head speed of about 1400-1800 RPM to hover/fly properly.
LHS
Local Hobby Shop
LVC
The low-voltage cutoff point of the ESC, if it has one. For a heli, you want an ESC with no or very low LVC.
Mechanical mixing
A type of control system where the roll/pitch and main blade pitch are not mixed at the transmitter but are instead mixed mechanically at the helicopter. (See also CCPM.)
RFI
Radio Frequency Interference. RFI causes little "glitches" in your control and the heli will twitch abruptly in one direction or another and/or the tail may suddenly jerk around.
Swashplate
The control mechanism component which mechanically joins the non-rotating control portions to the rotating control portions of the main rotor.
Throw a blade
Refers to a main rotor blade being flung off the rotor head (usually with the blade grip) at very high speed while the head is spinning. This is very, very dangerous.
TL
Translational Lift. The extra lift produced by the main rotor when a helicopter is moving horizontally or when hovering in windy conditions. When a helicopter stops moving horizontally it tends to drop, because it loses the extra lift.
TR
Tail rotor.
Woodies
Wooden main rotor blades
Yaw-rate gyro
A type of gyro which dampens but not eliminates unwanted yaw rotation. If a gust of wind blows the tail of a helicopter with a yaw-rate gyro, the gyro will make the tail rotor "push back" against the wind to reduce the amount of unwanted tail movement, but since it does not keep track of total tail movement, it cannot return the tail back to its original position.
by Toshiyasu Morita (TMorita on the Ezone and Ikarus BBS)
Many thanks to all the people on the Ezone forums and the Ikarus BBS who have posted many helpful messages - many of these tips were taken from these excellent discussion forums!
Use this information at your own risk! I make no guarantees as to the validity of any of this information! If in doubt, double-check!
1. How helicopters work
A helicopter is basically a rock with a propeller. The only lift it generates is from the main rotor, and it uses a tail rotor to avoid yawing from the torque generated by the main rotor.
Parts of an electric helicopter
First, an r/c helicopter has a radio receiver. This receiver produces signals to control the various parts of the helicopter.
The ESC (electronic speed control) is controlled by the receiver and controls the main motor speed. The ESC may have a governor mode which will keep the motor speed constant even if the load on the motor changes (during aerobatic maneuvers).
The main motor has a pinion and drives the main gear, which is attached to the main shaft. This typically has a gear ratio of 10:1 or more. On a fixed pitch helicopter, the amount of lift is controlled by the motor speed, so the motor speed varies widely. On a collective pitch helicopter, the lift is controlled by the pitch of the main blades, so the motor speed is fairly constant during flight.
The cyclic servos are controlled by the radio, and control the tilt (and for CCPM also the position) of the swashplate. There are usually either two or three cyclic servos.
The swashplate is a mechanical device which transmits the mechanical position of the servos to the main rotor hub parts which are rotating.
In a CCPM (Cyclic/Collective Pitch Mixing) system, the swashplate is connected via series of mechanical linkages to the flybar and the main rotor blade grips. The tilt of the swashplate controls the flybar paddle attack angle as it rotates, and the height of the swashplate as it slides up and down the main rotor shaft controls the angle of attack of the main blades.
In a non-CCPM system (like the Piccolo CP), the swashplate is connected only to the flybar, and a separate series of linkages controls the pitch of the main rotor blades. The tilt of the swashplate controls the flybar attack angle as it rotates, and the swashplate does not slide up and down the main rotor shaft.
In a fixed pitch system, the pitch of the main rotor blades cannot be changed, so there are no linkages which control the pitch of the main rotor blades.
The antirotation pin and the antirotation arm keep the bottom part of the swashplate from rotating while the top portion rotates along with the main rotor.
The main shaft is attached to the main gear. The main shaft typically rotates at about 1200-2000 rpm.
The main rotor hub is attached to the main shaft. This main rotor hub holds the flybar and the main blade grips.
The main blade grips are attached to the main rotor blades. The main rotor blades provide lift for the helicopter. Most aerobatic helicopters have a main rotor pitch range of at least -5 degrees to +10 degrees. Most helicopters are able to hover at about 5 degrees of positive pitch on the main blades.
The flybar goes through the main rotor hub. This flybar is offset at 90 degrees from the main rotor blades. On most non-micro electrics this is a 2mm steel rod.
The flybar paddles are attached to both ends of the flybar. These paddles provide extra lift to directly control the roll and pitch of the helicopter.
On some helicopters, there is an arrangement which also drives the tail rotor. There may be two bevel gears and a wire shaft, or a gear connected to a pulley which drives a belt. These drive the tail rotor shaft.
On these helicopters, there will be an arrangement which controls the pitch of the tail rotor blades. This will usually be a servo controlled by a gyro which pushes and pulls a wire or carbon fiber shaft which leads to the tail.
On other helicopters, the tail rotor shaft is driven by a secondary electric motor. This tail motor is controlled by a secondary ESC which is controlled a gyro.
The gyro is controlled by the radio. The gyro assists in controlling the yaw of the helicopter, and will either dampen the unwanted yaw movement or eliminate it, depending on the gyro type.
The tail rotor hub is connected to the tail rotor shaft, and it in turn is attached to the tail rotor blade grips, which are connected to the tail rotor blades.
The tail rotor blades produce thrust to counteract the torque of the main rotor.
2. Before you enter the model helicopter hobby - things you should know
a. Helicopters require SIGNIFICANT TIME COMMITMENT to learn to fly.
A helicopter is basically a radio-controlled UNICYCLE. It takes a lot of time to develop a good sense of balance and orientation. You will learn much faster if you can dedicate at least a half-hour a day to practicing on a flight simulator.
b. Helicopters crash, and they are somewhat expensive to fix.
Some helicopters are more durable than others, and some are much cheaper to fix - these are good trainers. But, you cannot expect to learn to fly without spending some money for repairs. Be sure to allocate some money for repairs.
c. It is really frustrating to learn how to hover.
Eventually, something will "click" inside your head, and you will get it. For some people, this occurs all of a sudden and everything makes sense. For other people it seems to be a more gradual process.
Basically, helicopters suck horribly. Then you get your first hover, and it's an incredible head rush, and you're psyched for a whole week, and then you're hooked. J
3. First Helicopter Selection
a. The three things to consider when selecting your first helicopter are:
1. Price
2. Durability
3. Availability of replacement parts
4. Size
The reason for this is: when you are learning to hover, you will crash. This is a given. Everyone crashes. When you crash, you do not want to spend a fortune repairing the helicopter, because everyone has limited funds. When you crash, you do not want to wait forever for replacement parts, because every day you spend waiting for a part is a day you are not flying the helicopter, and learning something.
Size is very important, because larger helis are easier to hover. They have more inertia, so they move slower and they give more warning of their intent. Smaller helis are more difficult to hover because they are very "skittish" and wander off in a new direction with very little warning of their intent.
If you live in an area like Seattle where it rains almost continuously for nine months of each year, I would recommend a Piccolo. Otherwise the Lite Machines Corona is the best electric trainer available today.
Also, GET A SIMULATOR. Even a free simulator such as FMS will save you at least 100 dollars or so in replacement parts when learning hovering.
Recommended first heli choices:
1. Corona (very durable, easy to hover, inexpensive)
2. Logo 10 (durable, easy to hover, expensive)
3. ECO Piccolo / Piccolo Fun (very durable, hard to hover, inexpensive)
4. Voyager E (durable, easy to hover, expensive)
Not recommended first heli choices:
1. Hornet FP/CP (fragile)
2. ECO 8/16 (somewhat fragile)
3. Logo 16/20 (expensive)
4. Joker / Joker CX (expensive)
5. Kyosho EP Concept (expensive)
Overview of selected machines:
a. Lite Machines Corona
1. A very good trainer
2. Moderately inexpensive (retail about $180)
3. Very durable
4. Manufacturer is in the US. Parts availability is very good
5. 1250 grams AUW - large, moderate head speed, easy to learn hovering - not indoors in small venues (gym ok)
b. Ikarus Fixed Pitch Piccolos (Fun or ECO)
1. Trainer, but harder to learn (probably 50% harder than Corona)
2. Inexpensive (Fun retail ~$90, ECO retail ~$140)
3. Fairly durable
4. Manufacturer in Germany. Parts availability is good.
5. 280 grams AUW - small, low headspeed, hard to learn hovering, - but can be flown indoors
The main differences between an ECO Piccolo and a Fun Piccolo are:
1. The ECO Piccolo includes six ball bearings for the rotor head, the main shaft, and the tail shaft. The Fun Piccolo includes bushings instead.
2. The ECO Piccolo has CF main and tail rotor shafts. The Fun Piccolo has steel main and tail rotor shafts. The steel shafts run smoother than the CF shafts but they are somewhat heavier.
3. The ECO Piccolo includes tail motor connectors. The Fun Piccolo includes with no tail motor connectors, and the tail motor wires must be soldered directly to the Piccoboard or the ESC wires.
4. The ECO Piccolo has a very lightweight tail boom. The Fun Piccolo has a slightly heavier tail boom.
c. Ikarus Collective Pitch Piccolos (CP upgrade/Pro)
1. Medium to advanced flyers
2. Inexpensive (CP upgrade ~$99, Pro retail ~$199)
3. Fairly durable except for balsa main rotor blades (68213) and pitch arm base (68211).
4. Manufacturer in Germany. Parts availability is good.
5. 330 grams AUW - small, high headspeed
d. Ikarus ECO Lite
1. Only for experienced pilots - only does forward flight
2. Inexpensive (retail about $140)
3. Somewhat fragile
4. Manufacturer in Germany. Parts availability spotty,
5. 1150 grams AUW - doesn't hover. Forward flight only. Difficult to learn to fly, outdoors only.
e. Ikarus ECO 8
1. Duration flying/slope soaring/light aerobatics capable
2. Moderately inexpensive (retail about $180)
3. Somewhat fragile
4. Manufacturer in Germany. Parts availability spotty, up to 4 weeks wait time for some parts
5. 1300-1500 grams AUW - large, high head speed, easy to learn hovering - outdoors only!
f. Ikarus ECO 16
1. Moderate to serious aerobatics capable
2. Moderately inexpensive (retail about $250)
3. Somewhat fragile
4. Manufacturer in Germany. Parts availability spotty, up to 4 weeks wait time for parts
4. 2000 grams AUW - large, high headspeed, easy to learn hovering - outdoors only!
g. JR Voyager E
1. Trainer/light aerobatics capable
2. Expensive (retail about $400 incl. motor, cannot buy without motor)
3. About average
4. Manufacturer in Japan. Parts availability very good.
5. 1500 grams AUW - large, high headspeed, easy to learn hovering - outdoors only!
h. Mikado Logo 10
1. Trainer/moderate aerobatics capable
2. Expensive (retail about $340)
3. About average
4. Manufacturer in Germany. Parts availability okay.
5. >2000 grams AUW - large, high head speed, easy to learn hovering - outdoors only!
i. Mikado Logo 20
1. Serious aerobatics capable
2. Expensive (retail about $470)
3. About average
4. Manufacturer in Germany. Parts availability okay.
5. >3000 grams AUW - large, high headspeed, easy to learn hovering - outdoors only!
4. First Helicopter Parts Selection
a. Gyros
A heading hold gyro is highly recommended for beginners. The heading hold gyro will "lock" the tail so the helicopter will not spin around. This makes hovering much easier since you can concentrate on learning proper cyclic response without worrying about the rudder. Learning to hover is about twice as hard with a non-heading hold gyro compared to a heading hold gyro - so get a heading hold.
The GY240 is a very popular beginner gyro and is very easy to setup. The GY401 is a more advanced gyro with remote sensitivity adjust and is also very popular. Both are good choices for the beginner heli.
The inexpensive Hobbico gyro is NOT recommended for beginners. It is a yaw rate gyro, which makes hovering difficult for beginners. Also, it is very fragile and there are many reports of it breaking on the first heli crash from only 1.5 feet.
b. Tail (rudder) servo
The tail servo for a helicopter needs to be very fast to respond quickly to small random tail movements. The tail servo should have a specification of faster than 0.16 sec / 60 degrees of travel.
For the Corona, Logo 10, and ECO 8/16, the most popular tail servos are:
1. HS-81
2. DS368
Logo 10 or larger, the Futaba S9253 is very popular used with the GY401.
Some servo mounts will allow you to use high-speed micro servos for the tail pitch servo, such as the Precision Model Products tail servo mount for the ECO 8/16.
The metal gear servos are not recommended for the tail because the metal gear servos wear faster and have more backlash than plastic gear servos, which will result in less precise tail control.
The slower digital servos (such as the JR DS368, 0.21 sec/60 degrees) do not work well as a tail servo unless the stock servo arms are replaced by extra-long servo arms (Du-bro, Servo City, etc). This sacrifices some precision for extra speed.
JR does not recommend the DS3421 for tail gyros because the servo motor is too small to handle the frequent movement required.
c. Swashplate (Cyclic) servos
Torque, speed, and precision should be considered for swashplate servos.
The Corona works fine on the stock HS-81 servos, although some people choose to use the HS-85BBs for more torque.
The ECO 8 requires a servo no taller than 1.1 inches, so this limits servo choices considerably. The HS-81, HS-85BB, Volz Micro-maxx, and the JR DS368 will fit in the ECO frame.
1. JR 341 (0.22 secs/60 degrees, 32 oz-in)
2. JR 351 (0.22 secs/60 degrees, 32 oz-in)
3. HS-81 (0.11 secs/60 degrees, 36 oz-in)
4. HS-85MG/BB+ (0.16 secs/60 degrees, 42 oz-in)
5. JR 341 (0.23 secs/60 degrees, 42 oz-in)
6. Futaba S3102 (0.25 secs/60 degrees, 51 oz-in)
6. Volz Micro-Maxx (0.16 secs/60 degrees, 55 oz-in)
7. Volz Micro-Maxx XP (0.16 secs/60 degrees, 66 oz-in)
8. JR DS368
The Logo 10 uses servos from 1.1 inches to 1.3 inches tall, so it can use all the servos used in the ECO 8/16 except the servos with less torque are not suitable. Probably 42 oz-in of torque is a reasonable minimum requirement for a Logo 10.
For the Piccolo, the most popular choices seem to be the Hitec HS-50 and the HS-55.
d. Receiver
If you are using a gyro without remote sensitivity (like the GY240) then you only need a five channel receiver with channels 1-4 and 6. If your gyro has a remote sensitivity adjustment (like the GY401) then you will need a six channel receiver with channels 1-6.
For a Piccolo you can use a Piccoboard instead. The Piccoboard is a tiny board with a yaw-rate gyro and two brushed ESCs, one for the main motor and one for the tail motor.
The Piccoboard Plus is the same except it can be upgraded to heading hold with a heading hold module. I haven't tried this, but people have said the GY240 works better than the HH module.
e. Motor
There are many, many motors available, but only a few are suitable for each helicopters. This is because the rpm/V or the Kv of the motor is very important due to the fixed gearing ratio of the drive system. Motors are listed from mild to powerful. Please note that I have no experience with most of these motors therefore the ordering should only be considered a rough guide, and not absolute oracle. For more info, I recommend searching the Ezone electric helicopter and micro helicopter forums for people's opinions on various motor and pinion combinations.
For the Corona:
- Kyosho Atomic Force (brushed) mild
- Mega Motor ACn16/15/3 (brushless) mild
- Mega Motor ACn16/15/4 (brushless) mild
- Hacker C40-12s (brushless) powerful
For the FP Piccolo:
- Astro Flight Astro 010 (brushless) mild
- Team Orion Modified Elite (brushed) powerful
- Hacker B20-36S (brushless) powerful
- Model Motors ACn1215/20 (brushless) powerful
For the CP Piccolo:
- Hacker B20-36S (brushless) mild
- Team Orion Modified Elite (brushed) powerful
- Hacker B20-31S (brushless) powerful
- Hacker B20-18L (brushless) powerful
- Model Motors ACn1215/20 (brushless) powerful
For the ECO 8:
- Magnetic Mayhem (brushed) mild
- Aveox 27/30/1.5 (brushless) ???
- Aveox 36/15/1.5 (brushless) ???
- Mega Motor ACn22/20/3H (brushless) powerful
- Hacker B50-18S (brushless) powerful
- Hacker B50-15L (brushless) powerful
- Hacker B50-13L (brushless) very powerful
- Hacker B50-11L (brushless) insanely powerful
(requires very good matched batteries)
For the Logo 10:
- Aveox 36/24/2 (brushless) ???
- Hacker B50-15L (brushless) mild
- Hacker B50-13L (brushless) powerful
- Kontronik Fun 600-18 (brushless) very powerful
- Hacker B50-11L (brushless) super powerful
(requires very good matched) batteries)
If you choose a brushless motor, then an autorotation gear is highly recommended. The brushless motors have extremely high cogging torque so when the motor spools down, the "braking" effect will be very strong. This will very likely break the main gear teeth if you do not have an autorotation gear.
The older sensored Aveox motors (12xx and 14xx series) are only rated to 20,000 rpm, and the JETI motors are only rated to 15,000 rpm. You must be careful not to exceed these rotational speeds otherwise the motor may eject a magnet from the rotor (e.g. "throw a magnet"). Therefore, I do not recommend these motors for helicopter use.
f. Wire
(The Corona kit does not need extra wire if using the Fusion 35, Pegasus 35, or Phoenix 35 controller)
The motor and battery wires are especially important on an electric helicopter. If the wires are too thin, then your helicopter will have less power because power is lost overcoming the resistance of the wire and the wire will become very hot.
For an Corona, ECOs, and Logos, you will need good quality 12-14 gauge wire for the motor and battery leads. These wires will work well:
Castle Creations W13RB (13 gauge)
W.S. Dean's Ultra Wire (12 gauge)
Team Orion 12 gauge
For the Piccolos and Hornets, you will need good quality 20-22 gauge wire for the motor and battery leads. This wire works well:
Castle Creations W20RB (20 gauge)
g. Battery Connectors
Heavy-duty connectors are recommended to minimize power loss.
The following connectors work well for the Corona/ECO/Logo:
Anderson's Power Poles (13 gauge)
Sermos Connectors
4mm gold-plated "bullet" connectors
The stock Corona includes R/C car-type "Tamiya" connectors which do not handle high current well and therefore should be replaced if possible.
h. ESC
In order to use an ESC for a helicopter, it needs to have the following characteristics (or else have these functions programmable):
1. No brake
2. No reverse
2. Slow start-up
3. No low voltage cutoff or very low voltage cutoff
(0.7 volts/cell or less, which should never trigger)
Most airplane ESCs are not suitable for helicopters because they include a brake and have a fairly high low-voltage cutoff.
The JETI Microprocessor (red label series) is not suitable for helis because the throttle control is not smooth and is rather "steppy". The Advance (blue label series) is supposedly better, but nobody I know has tried this.
For the Piccolo, the following work:
Pixie-7P (brushed)
Schulze Future 11.20e (brushless, rather heavy)
Castle Creations Phoenix 10 (brushless, very light)
For the Corona, the following work:
Castle Creations Pegasus 35 (brushed)
Castle Creations Phoenix 35 (brushless)
Hacker Master 40-3P (brushless, do not use the BEC on this ESC because the ESC will overheat on 3 servos)
For the ECO 8/16, the following work:
Schulze Future 12.46k
Schulze Future 18.46k
Castle Creations Phoenix 45
For the Logo 10, the following work:
Kontronik Beat 55-6-18
Do not use the SMILE in the Logo 10 - it tends to burn out!!!
i. BEC (battery eliminator circuit)
If your heli uses up to 10 cells and uses only analog servos, then you can use the BEC which is included on many ESCs such as the Schulze Future 12.46k and the Castle Creations Phoenix 45.
If you are using more than 10 cells on a helicopter such as the Logo 16/20 or ECO 16, then you must use a BEC which is designed for more than 10 cells. Currently there is only one popular BEC, the Kool Flight Systems Ultimate BEC. There are two models, one which handles up to 29 cells and another which handles up to 36 cells.
If you are using any digital servos, then you will need to check the ESC's onboard BEC amperage rating. Most ESC BECs are rated for only 1 or 1.5 amps which is insufficient to run a digital servo + 3 analog servos. The exception to this is the Schulze ESCs which have either 2 or 3 amp BECs. One digital servo with three regular servos can easily draw over one amp, so if your ESC's built-in BEC is rated for only one amp, you will definitely need to use an external BEC.
If you use a one amp BEC with digital servos, it will probably overheat during flight and shut down. This will cause you to lose control of the helicopter and it will crash.
To use an external BEC with an ESC which already has a BEC, then you will need to disable the built-in BEC of the ESC. To do this, look at the ESC leads that plug into the receiver. There should be three wires, and the middle wire should be red. Pull the red wire out of the connector and tape it with some electrical tape to prevent it from touching anything metal.
j. Batteries
Helicopters need batteries that can deliver high current. If you use cheap batteries, your helicopter will likely not fly well.
The batteries known to work well are:
Corona / Logo 10/16/20 / ECO 8/16:
Sanyo CP1700SCR (NiCad 1700 maH)
Sanyo CP2400 (NiCad 2400 maH)
Sanyo RC2400 (NiCad 2400 maH)
Panasonic HHR300SCU (NiMH 3000 maH)
Panasonic RC-3300HV (NiMH 3300 maH
Sanyo HR-SC (NiMH 2600maH)
Piccolo:
Sanyo HR-AAAU
PowerEx AAA NiMH
If you intend to fly aerobatics, do NOT use commercial battery packs. Most of them use a flat springy metal to connect the battery terminals and the springy metal will melt at high (50-60+) amps.
Be sure to use your own inline-soldered battery packs if you intend to do hard aerobatics with your helicopter.
k. Mods
You should avoid adding any aftermarket modifications to the helicopter when you are learning to hover. The reason for this is:
1. If you crash the helicopter, you may destroy your expensive aftermarket modifications
2. You will be distracted by trying to avoid destroying your expensive mods and therefore learn slower
The modifications to avoid when learning to hover are:
1. Carbon Fiber frames (cracks when stressed)
Some mods are justifiable because they improve control and are less likely to be damaged in a crash, such as:
1. 120 degree swashplate
2. Tail servo mount
3. Carbon fiber pushrod (only costs ~$3 to replace anyway)
4. Autorotation gear (REQUIRED for a brushless motor)
but in general, a stock helicopter is recommended.
5. Support Equipment
a. Pitch gauge
A pitch gauge is an absolute must for collective pitch helicopters. It is unlikely you will be able to properly setup your CP heli to hover without using a pitch gauge.
b. Blade balancer (optional)
If you don't buy a blade balancer, it is still possible to balance the blades using a dowel or other method, but a good blade balancer makes the job much easier.
The KSJ-528 blade balancer works well. The Koll Rotor Pro is better than the KSJ-528 but is overkill unless you're doing advanced flying.
I highly recommend CAing the tip of a sewing pin to the pointer of the KSJ-528 to make the scale easier to read.
c. Paddle pitch gauge (optional)
This is very handy for ensuring your paddles are completely flat relative to each other. For non-micro helicopters, the KSJ-624 paddle gauge works well.
d. Prop balancer (optional)
In order to balance the rotor head, you need a prop balancer. The Du-bro Tru-spin prop balancer works well because you can hang the rotor head over the edge of a table.
e. Tachometer
There are about three tachometers in wide use for helicopters.
The first is the Anderson Hobby tachometer. This is fairly cheap (about $35) and works well on the ECO/Logo, but it does NOT work on micro helis such as the Piccolo CP! It also drains batteries quickly even when not turned on, so I recommend removing the battery when not in use.
The second is the X-cell optical tachometer. This is expensive (about $150) but works with almost any helicopter, including micros.
The third is a white tachometer that I've seen occasionally. I don't know very much about it.
There are other tachometers, including:
- Magnum mini-tach. Price is about $35.
- Hangar 9 micro digital tach
- Thunder Tiger 2642 mini tachometer
For some reason, Quantum Models (http://www.quantummodels.com) stocks more tachometers than any other online store I've seen.
f. Ball link pliers
Ball link pliers are highly recommended for non-micro helicopters because ball links are very difficult to remove properly without ball link pliers.
Both JR and Century make nice ball link pliers.
Be very careful when removing ball links on plastic balls (such as the ECO 8/16 stock swashplate) with ball link pliers. You can scratch deep grooves in the plastic balls if you fail to center the ball in the jaws before squeezing.
g. Battery Chargers
There are many nice chargers on the market.
Here are the features I recommend you look for:
- Able to charge at 5 amps or more (for non-micro helis only)
- Delta-peak charge termination
- Has soft-start or false peak rejection capability
The soft-start/false peak rejection capability is especially important. Helicopters tend to discharge cells rather deeply, and when these cells are charged, they charger may often "false peak" because the cell chemistry is unstable when deeply discharged. Soft-start or false peak rejection avoids having to restart the charger multiple times in the first 5-10 minutes of a charge.
The chargers which are known to fit these criteria are:
- Hitec CG-330 (NiCad)
- Hitec CG-335 (NiCad)
- Hitec CG-340 (NiCad, NiMH)
- Robbe Infinity II (NiCad, NiMH)
- Schulze ISL 6-330d (NiCad, NiMH, Li-on)
- Orbit Microlader (NiCad, NiMH, Li-on, Pb)
- Orbit Microlader Pro (NiCad, NiMH, Li-on, Pb)
Before buying a charger, make sure it can charge the number of cells in your pack! Some chargers can only handle up to 10 or 12 cells, which is insufficient for a Logo 16/20 or ECO 16. This may be important if you're planning on buying a larger helicopter eventually.
6. Simulators
A simulator is highly recommended for helicopter beginners.
The hardest part of flying a helicopter is developing the "reflexes" and the "delicate touch" necessary to instinctively correct the tilt/direction of a helicopter. A simulator will help you develop these skills quickly without spending a lot of money on replacement parts.
Here is a quick review of some sims:
a. FMS - free! (score: 3/10)
FMS is okay for learning hovering in all orientations. The models move extremely slowly so hovering is a little too easy. However, it does not seem to model forward flight correctly, so once you are into forward flight, I would recommend finding another simulator.
b. Piccofly with Game Commander - ~$80 (score: 7/10)
Piccofly is excellent for learning to fly the FP Piccolo. It doesn't model forward flight well, but it simulates the "squirreliness" of hovering the Piccolo very well.
It has a very nice "slow time" function which allows you to slow down the movement of the Piccolo so you can build your reflexes without getting too frustrated.
I would recommend starting off at about 70% time and gradually increasing the time until you can hover at 100% time (real time).
c. Easyfly (included with Piccofly) (score: 4/10)
The quality of Easyflight's helicopter flight model is a little better than FMS, but not by much. The helis move faster, which is good, but forward flight doesn't feel right because there isn't any translational lift. Okay for learning hovering, but not forward flight.
d. Aerofly Professional - $130 to $200 (score: 5/10)
The helicopter flight model is a little bit better than Easyfly but it still doesn't feel quite right. There's still not enough translational lift, but at least it won't let you loop the heli with 5 ft of altitude without negative collective like Easyfly does. Good for learning hovering, but not forward flight.
e. Realflight G2 w/USB Interlink - ~$200 (score: 8/10)
Realflight G2 has a pretty good helicopter flight model, and is a good simulator for learning non-micro helicopter skills. The helicopter flight model is probably best of all the flight sims mentioned here, and it will probably be good enough to practice 3D aerobatics.
I would recommend practicing hovering on the Impala model initially, then later when you acquire proficiency I would recommend buying the Add-ons 3 and practicing with the Raptor 30 model.
Basically, Realflight G2 is the only one which seems to simulate helicopters properly. All other sims seem to model helicopters as a special type of airplane, which does not produce the right flight characteristics.
The incorrect translational lift model actually affects hovering as well, because real (light) helicopters tend to bob up and down when there is a slight wind. This is because the wind has the same effect as forward flight - it makes the heli generate extra lift.
So, in Aerofly Professional, if you turn on wind, your heli doesn't bob up and down properly - it just slides around horizontally, which is incorrect. Realflight G2 models translational lift correctly, and the heli will gently bob up and down as the wind gusts.
Therefore, if you learn to hover completely in FMS, Easyfly, or Piccofly, you will not learn how to properly use the collective to compensate for the effect of wind making your heli bob up and down.
7. Helicopter Construction
General Tips:
a. Only use threadlock on metal-to-metal areas. Do not use threadlock on metal-to-plastic or plastic-to-plastic areas.
b. Blue threadlock is temporary, for stuff which may require disassembly later (after a crash, etc). Red threadlock is permanent, for stuff which will never be disassembled.
Example: Blue threadlock for a setscrew on a tail blade grip
Red threadlock for assembling the swashplate balls
c. If your gears (including bevel gears and motor pinions) are meshing together too tightly, you will lose a lot of power and your flights will be very short. Make sure that the gear teeth only mesh together by about 2/3rds to 1/2 of a tooth. This will allow the gears to transfer power more efficiently
d. When assembling a plastic frame with metal screws (e.g. ECO 8/16 and Logo 10) be sure to use a jeweler's screwdriver or a Wiha with a small handle to assemble the frame. If you use a large-handled screwdriver you will not be able to "feel" when the screw is fully inserted and you will probably strip the hole in the plastic frame.
e. If you strip a plastic screw hole, then you can fix it by squirting a small bit of CA into the screw hole and letting it dry to give the screw additional friction.
f. If you are using a brushed motor, you should "break-in" the motor before your first flight. Breaking in the motor will allow the motor to run at maximum efficiency and also prolongs motor life. There are at least two ways to do this:
1. Dry method: Run the motor for two hours at 1/4 throttle.
2. Wet method: Run the motor for 10-15 minutes in a glass of water. Be sure to disassemble the motor afterwards and thoroughly dry everything, otherwise parts may rust.
g. Beware of carbon fiber dust. It is classified as a hazardous material and can cause severe breathing difficulty, especially if you are asthmatic. Be sure to blow the carbon dust out OUTSIDE with some compressed air and don't get the carbon dust into your lungs.
DO NOT CUT CARBON FIBER INDOORS. ALWAYS CUT CARBON FIBER OUTSIDE.
h. If you are using a brushed motor, be sure to solder three capacitors to the motor: one between the positive terminal and negative terminal, one between the positive terminal and case, and one between the negative terminal and case. This will reduce the amount of interference generated by the brushed motor.
i. If you are using a brushed motor, it may come with a diode which you may need to attach to the motor. The diode looks like a black barrel with a gray stripe on one side, and two leads coming out each end.
This diode prevents ESC damage by shunting the spikes of reverse current generated when the brushed motor rotates. So, you put the diode on the power terminals of the brushed motor. The end with the silver band goes on the positive terminal of the motor, and the end with no band goes on the negative terminal of the motor.
j. Your ball links must move freely, but not be loose. If your ball links are too tight, you can put the ball link on the ball and gently squeeze around the edge of the ball link with a pair of slip-joint pliers. If your ball links are too loose, then they can be tightened by removing them from the ball then squeezing them gently across the face of the ball link with a pair of slip-joint or ball-link pliers.
k. For non-micro helicopters: If your motor output shaft does not have a "flat" on the shaft, the pinion may spin around on the shaft because the setscrew can't grip the shaft.
To put a flat on the shaft you need a Dremel with a diamond grinding tip, and a plastic bag.
1. Put the motor in the plastic bag, then punch a hole in the plastic with the motor shaft so the motor shaft sticks out the bottom. Tie the back end of the plastic bag. This will prevent metal shavings from falling into the motor and destroying it.
2. Grind a flat on the shaft using the Dremel.
3. Remove motor from plastic bag, being careful not to get any metal shavings into the motor.
l. For the Piccolo: The stock plastic motor pinion may slip on the motor shaft. We recommend using CA to glue the motor pinion onto the motor shaft to prevent this from occurring.
m. For Futaba transmitters:
If you have only two servos controlling your swashplate (with either non-CCPM or any CCPM) then the channel assignments are:
channel 1: left/right (roll) servo
channel 2: front/back (pitch) servo
channel 3: throttle (ESC)
channel 4: tail servo
channel 5: gyro sensitivity (optional)
n. For Futaba transmitters:
If you have three servos controlling your swashplate (either non-CCPM or any CCPM) then the channel assignments are:
channel 1: left (roll) servo
channel 2: front/back (pitch) servo
channel 3: throttle (ESC)
channel 4: tail servo
channel 5: gyro sensitivity (optional)
channel 6: right (roll) servo
o. For JR transmitters:
If you have only two servos controlling your swashplate (either non-CCPM or any CCPM) then the channel assignments are:
channel 1: throttle (ESC)
channel 2: left/right (roll) servo
channel 3: front/back (pitch) servo
channel 4: tail servo
channel 5: gyro sensitivity (optional)
p. For JR transmitters:
If you have three servos controlling your swashplate (either non-CCPM or any CCPM) then the channel assignments are:
channel 1: throttle (ESC)
channel 2: right (roll) servo
channel 3: front/back (pitch) servo
channel 4: tail servo
channel 5: gyro sensitivity (optional)
channel 6: left (roll) servo
Component Placement:
a. If you are using a brushed motor, the motor itself will be the main source of RFI. Pragmatically speaking, you want to keep your radio and gyro as far away from the brushed motor as possible. This will eliminate and/or reduce the number of radio glitches.
b. If you are using a brushless motor, the ESC for the motor will be the main source of RFI. So, it is desirable to locate the radio and gyro as far away from the ESC as possible.
c. Most gyros (GY240/GY401) require mounting on a horizontal surface, but some gyros (Ikarus Profi) require mounting on a vertical surface. Be sure to check your gyro documentation to see how it should be mounted on your heli!
d. Do not shorten any radio/servo wires until you have flown a flight or two and have checked for glitching.
Specific Tips for LMH Corona only:
a. Many Corona kits seem to have missing parts. If you are missing a part and you bought the kit directly from Lite Machines, call them and explain your situation. If you bought from a retailer and not Lite Machines, then talk to your retailer about the missing parts. You may want to finish most of the model before reporting missing parts so you don't need to call multiple times.
b. The general consensus on the Ezone regarding the Fusion-7 motor is it's not very good. People have reported the motor dying after as few as 5-10 flights. The Kyosho Atomic Force seems to be the best alternative motor. It is available from Tower Hobbies.
c. Make sure there is enough room between the two cyclic servos for the servo arms to rotate freely without hitting the other servo. If the servo arm rubs against the other servo, your front/back cyclic control will be sluggish and hovering will be very difficult.
d. The manual recommends using one 4 dot blade grip and one 6 dot blade grip, but the heli is more stable and easier to hover if you use two 4 dot blade grips because the head speed is higher. Later on if you want more lift you can switch one of the blade grips to a 6 dot blade grip.
e. The labels on the main rotor blades seem to be attached using the world's stickiest adhesive. The residue from the adhesive can be easily removed using WD-40 or Goo Gone.
DO NOT USE ACETONE. ACETONE WILL MAKE THE BLADES BRITTLE.
IF YOU USE ACETONE, THE BLADES MAY SHATTER WHEN THEY HIT AN OBJECT.
f. The Fusion 35 controller on the LMH Corona is a relabeled Castle Creations Pegasus 35.
g. The Fusion 35/Pegasus 35 seems to have trouble arming on many transmitters. If you turn on the transmitter, then turn on the Corona and do not hear two beeps, then you are having this problem. To fix this problem, you need to set a lower endpoint for the throttle channel on your transmitter. For a Futaba 9C, go to Menu->End Point->THR and set it to 125/125.
h. Many people are making "tail boom protectors" to protect the tail boom from boom strikes. This is usually foam wrapped around the tail boom or a piece of wood or angle aluminum mounted on the tail to deflect the rotor blade.
Specific Tips for all Piccolo (Fun/ECO/CP upgrade/Pro):
a. Drill a hole through the landing skid (67361) so the struts (67378)will go all the way through the skid. This will make the landing skid much stronger. If you don't do this, then the nipple on the landing skid will probably break off in a hard landing.
b. When building the landing skids (67361), use thick CA instead of the thin CA included in the kit. The thin CA runs all over the place and is difficult to get in the right place. Also, CA the rear skid struts into the frame FIRST. Then CA the front skids into the frame and make sure they almost align with the rear skid struts. If you don’t do this the landing skids will probably be crooked.
c. Do not use CA to glue in the tail boom. This usually works too well. When you crash, it will be almost impossible to remove all the tail boom bits and you will have to drill out the remaining pieces. It is much better to put a few layers of CA on the ends of the tail boom and friction-fit the tailboom into the body and the tail rotor assembly.
d. The landing skids may pop off the frame in even the mildest landings. You can reinforce the landing gear by CAing a length of CF rod across the front and rear landing gear skids about a half-inch (1.25cm) below the chassis (67360). This absorbs most of the landing stress that would normally pop the landing skid struts off the frame.
e. The Piccolo tends to lose the bearings on the hub (67566) on hard crashes. You may want to purchase an aftermarket aluminum hub or carefully glue the bearings to the hub to avoid losing the bearings. Beware when purchasing an aluminum hub; some of them appear to be made from soft aluminum and will bend easily. I do not recommend J's aluminum hubs for this reason. The Precision Model Products hubs are of much better quality.
Specific Tips for fixed pitch Piccolo (ECO/Fun):
a. The stock Piccolo FP has excessive play in the control mechanism. Specifically, the swashplate wobbles around too much. There are two mods which are required to fix this: the ball-in-swash mod and the Chris Rigoleth antirotation strap. These will make your initial hover attempts somewhat easier.
b. The older FP Piccolo kits had a anti-rotation link (67366) with only a single hinge rather than the newer double hinges. If you receive a one of these single hinge anti-rotation links, they do not work well, and I recommend you replace it with a newer double-hinge one.
Specific Tips for collective pitch Piccolo (CP upgrade/Pro)
a. The pitch case (68211) will usually be too tight on the main rotor shaft (68203). This will cause drag on the motor. To fix this, put a 3mm drill bit into Dremel, then put the pitch case onto the drill bit, then run the Dremel at low speed for about five minutes. Hold the pitch case very gently to prevent it from spinning around. After this, lubricate the inside of the pitch case with some graphite to further reduce friction.
b. The M2x6 screw which holds in the pitch bellcranks (68212) will usually rub against the flybar control levers (68209). To fix this problem, put the M2x6 screws into a drill and hold the head of the screw against a metal file to shave down the screw head. This will prevent the screw head from rubbing against the flybar control lever.
c. Some CP upgrade kits include an older style flybar (68208) which is not very good. The older style flybar is completely smooth and does not have the grooves stamped into the flybar to prevent the control arms (68209) and flybar paddle (67371) from slipping. If you have one of these flybars, you should replace it, because it will be almost impossible to prevent the control arms from slipping on the older flybar even if you roughen the flybar.
Specific Tips for Ikarus ECO 8/16 only:
a. It is possible make the ECO more durable and crash-resistant by "doubling up" the sideframes. To do this, you buy another set of sideframes, and epoxy each set together - don't forget to rough up the mating surfaces of the sideframes with 200 grit sandpaper first for better epoxy adhesion. You will need to replace the M2x8 screws with M2x10 screws, and also replace the M2x30 screws with two extra-long M2 bolts or two M2 threaded rods, because the M2x30 screws will be too short to reach through the tail boom mounts. The double frames will add about 41 grams to your AUW and reduce your flight times by about 30 seconds, but the frame will be much stiffer for better control and also survive most crashes.
b. The stock ECO 8 landing gear is a bit narrow and makes landing difficult for beginners. You may want to replace it with the ECO 16 landing gear, which is about 1 inch longer, two inches wider, and more sturdy.
c. The control balls on the plastic swashplate (67701) have been known to break off on extremely hard crashes. You may want to upgrade to the aluminum swashplate (67707) immediately. Also, the aluminum swashplate can be configured to support 120 CCPM which offers better control than 90 CCPM.
d. The main rotor shaft (67535), the stock feathering shaft (67509), and the stock tail rotor shaft (67550) are very soft and bends easily in minor crashes. If this happens, I recommend replacing them with the hardened versions: 67940, 67942, and 67941 respectively.
e. I don't recommend you use the mechanical mixer, because electronic mixing works much better than the mechanical mixer. If you do choose to use the mechanical mixer anyway, you will need fairly strong servos because the mechanical mixer needs a lot of force to move it around. Probably HS-81s are not adequate for mechanical mixing - you need at least HS-85BBs.
f. The stock wooden main rotor blades are fairly durable and are very good for beginners because they will survive minor crashes. I would recommend using with the wooden rotor blades for as long as possible - definitely while learning hovering in all orientations.
g. Pg 6: The tail drive belt pulley (67702) may wobble because the hole is not drilled exactly in the center of the pulley. This usually does not cause problems, but in some cases the hole is very out of center, and the tail belt may slap against the tail boom as it spins up or while it's flying. In this case, it is advisable to replace the tail belt pulley with a new one, or replace both with Voyager E rear belt pulleys (060860), or replace with aftermarket aluminum pulleys.
h. Pg 8: The ECO 8/16 manual shows the undercarriage (67562) mounted with the point facing forwards. It's better to mount these pointing backwards; it reduces the chance of a tipping over backwards during takeoff and landing and causing a boom strike. Also, the heli is less likely to tip over backwards when a battery pack is not installed on the undercarriage.
i. Pg 8: If the aluminum skids (67563) are difficult to fit into the undercarriage cross member (67562) try using a hairdryer to heat the cross member until it softens slightly, then slide in the aluminum skids.
j. Pg 9: When building the pitch compensator, the manual does not mention the arm (67591) has a TAPERED hole for the pin. If you try to force the pin through the narrow hole instead of the wide one, this may cause damage to the arm.
k. Pg 10: The flybar (67609) usually does not rotate smoothly in the flybar seesaw (67610). You MUST make the flybar seesaw rotate smoothly in the flybar seesaw otherwise the heli will be very difficult to hover. You will need to push the flybar through the flybar seesaw repeatedly (like playing a violin) for about 5 minutes until the rod slides smoothly through the flybar seesaw. This will make the heli much more stable and easier to hover.
l. Pg 13: The tail blade grips (67542) should be controlled by the leading edge of the blade, and not the trailing edge. If the tail blade pitch is controlled by the trailing edge, the tail may wag. Double-check and make sure the Ikarus logo on the tail blades is visible from the right side of the heli, and the control ball for the tail blade grips is on the leading edge of the blade.
m. Pg 13: There is a serious problem on this page. In some versions of the English manual, the instructions do not mention using threadlock on the screw holding the tail blade grip (67603) to the tail hub (67549). The German version of the manual correctly tells you to use threadlock on this screw. If you fail to do this your tail rotor grip may fall apart in flight causing the heli to pirouette out of control. Do not skip the threadlock on this screw! Also, if you disassemble and reassemble the tail rotor later, don’t forget to reapply fresh threadlock on this screw! Also, be sure the screw tail blade grip is left slightly loose so it can rotate freely on the ball bearing and screw. If the tail blade grip is screwed too tightly to the tail rotor hub, then the tail may "wag" because the mechanics may bind and gyro will have trouble controlling the tail blade pitch.
n. Pg 13: The M2x6 screw (67561) should not be screwed too tightly into the short ballend (67564) on the tail. If the screws are too tight, then the tail pitch lever will not move smoothly around the middle of its range because the ballends will not be free to flex outwards. To adjust this screw properly, screw it in completely, then reverse it approximately one-eighth turn. This should be about right but you should check the pitch lever movement to verify it moves smoothly.
o. Pg 16-21: Don't use servo grommets to mount the servos to the frame. Instead, cut a 4mm length of very small fuel tubing and slide this onto the 2mm screw. When this tubing is compressed, it will fatten out and fill the space between the servo and screw.
p. Pg 16-21: If you are using the aluminum swashplate with 120 CCPM, mount one servo in front and two in the back at the 12 o'clock, 4 o'clock, and 8 o'clock positions. This is easier to mount than two servos in front and one in back.
Specific Tips for Logo 10:
a. Some Logo 10 kits are missing parts and/or including the wrong sized ball links. If your kit has this problem, you should contact the retailer who sold you the kit and explain your problem.
b. Many Logo 10 owners have reported the tail belt builds up static electricity in the tail boom. This can cause glitching and/or ESC failure. Extreme care must be taken with component placement.
8. Basic Setup
a. Balancing the heli - forward/aft
The lengthwise CG of a helicopter should be at its main rotor shaft. Otherwise, the heli will have a tendency to go forwards or backwards.
To check this, first install the heli's batteries where you think they should go. rotate the main rotor so the blades are perpendicular to the body. Grab the main rotor blade grip closet to you and raise the heli up to eye level. Now find a wall corner or door jamb, and move the heli around so you can see the vertical line of the wall corner behind the helicopter.
Now try to align the main shaft with the vertical line. If the main shaft aligns perfectly with the line, then no adjustment is necessary. If the nose is light, then you will need to pull the battery pack forward. If the nose is heavy, then pull the battery pack backwards. Repeat until you find the correct battery position to balance the heli correctly.
If you use a tail servo mount on the ECO, the battery pack will need to be shifted forward quite a bit to adjust the CG properly. If you do this, you will need to put a rubber band over the two front side frame pegs to support the battery pack.
b. Balancing the main rotor blades using the KSJ-528 blade balancer
This step is not necessary for the Corona because the blades are balanced while building (great manual).
Balancing the blades will minimize vibration which will make hovering easier, and it will give the heli more power because less energy is wasted shaking the heli, and the gyro will work better with less vibration.
Therefore, balancing the main rotor blades is very, very important.
There are multiple ways to balance the blades, but this method works best for me so far.
Step one: Matching the CG
1. Remove the blade holder posts from the balancing tray of the KSJ-528.
2. Make sure the balancing tray balances evenly when nothing is on the tray. If necessary, use the setscrews to balance the tray.
3. Place one blade in the KSJ-528 tray and delicately shift the blade left or right across the balancing tray until the blade balances.
4. Mark this point with a felt tip pen.
5. Repeat for the other blade.
6. Place the two blades next to each other and check if the CG of the blades match within 1/16th of an inch.
7. If the CGs are close enough, go to Step two: Matching weight
8. Determine which blade has CG farthest away from the mounting bolt hole.
9. Move the CG inward on this blade by putting 1-2 inches of electrical tape on the leading edge of the blade near he bolt hole. We want to put the tape near the bolt hole because the other edge is traveling at high speed and putting tape on that edge will disrupt the airflow.
10. Measure the CG on this blade again and mark it.
11. Go to step 6
Step two: Matching the weight
1. Determine which of the blade holder posts fit your blades, then mount them on the balancing tray.
2. Make sure the balancing tray balances evenly when nothing is on the tray. If necessary, use the setscrews to balance the tray.
3. Mount the blades on the blade holder posts and make sure both blades "are pointed straight out".
4. If the blades do not balance, put a small strip of electrical tape on the lighter blade at the CG point near the leading edge of the blade.
5. Add or remove tape on the lighter blade at the CG point until the blades balance.
c. Flybar paddle setup
This step is not necessary for the Corona.
The tilt of the flybar paddles needs to match the tilt of the swashplate. This is done by adjusting one flybar paddle at a time.
First, rotate the main rotor so the main rotor blades are aligned with the body.
Pick one flybar paddle, and lower it slightly so it almost obscures the swashplate. Now align the outer edge of the flybar paddle with the top of the swashplate. It should be almost level with the top of the swashplate. If it isn't, loosen the flybar paddle and twist it.
Now rotate the rotor head 90 degrees so the flybar paddles are aligned with the body. Check the same paddle against the top of the swashplate again. It should still be aligned.
Repeat the last two steps for the other flybar paddle and make sure it is aligned with the top of the swashplate at two different angles 90 degrees apart.
d. Transmitter Throttle setup
1. If you are using a negative shft transmitter (all Futaba/Hitec transmitters) then you will need to reverse the throttle servo direction.
2. Remove the main rotor blades temporarily so you can check the spin direction of the rotor head.
3. Install a battery in your heli, then follow the ESC directions to arm the ESC.
4. Give just enough throttle on your transmitter to make the head spin a little.
5. If you have a brushed motor and your main rotor blades are spinning backwards, then you need to reverse the motor rotation direction. Swap the two wires connected to the motor. If you have a diode wired to your motor, be sure to swap this also so the gray band is still on the positive terminal of the motor.
6. If you have a brushless motor and your main rotor blades are spinning backwards, then you need to reverse the motor rotation direction. To do this, swap any two of the three wires connected to the motor.
e. Transmitter Swashplate setup
If using 90 or 1290 CCPM:
1. First, set the correct swashplate type in your transmitter. You will probably need to consult your transmitter manual to select the correct swashplate configuration for your transmitter.
2. Disconnect the motor. Make sure the ESC motor leads cannot touch together because if they touch during testing, you will probably destroy the ESC. Put electrical tape on the ESC motor leads if necessary to ensure they don't touch.
3. Move the throttle up on the transmitter, and make sure all the servos move the swashplate UP. Move the throttle down and make sure the swashplate moves DOWN.
If this doesn't work and some servos are moving in the wrong direction, reverse the direction of those servos until the swashplate moves up and down correctly.
For transmitter mode 2 (US):
4. Move the RIGHT transmitter stick up and down. This should move the swashplate forwards and backwards. Move the RIGHT transmitter stick left and right. This should move the swashplate left and right.
For transmitter mode 1 (Asia and Europe)
4. Move the LEFT transmitter stick up and down. This should move the swashplate forwards and backwards. Move the RIGHT transmitter stick left and right. This should move the swashplate left and right.
If any of these swashplate movements are reversed, then use the SWASHPLATE AFR (on Futaba 9C) and change the aileron or elevator from +50% to -50% to fix the swashplate movement.
Also, ensure that the servos do not bind at the minimum/maximum servo positions. If binding is observed, you will need to adjust the servo endpoints on your transmitter.
When the sticks are centered, the swashplate should be level. The easiest way to check this is by holding the helicopter at eye level, then looking at a bookcase behind it. Align the main shaft with the edge of the bookshelf, then raise/lower the helicopter until the swashplate is at the same level as one of the shelves. You should be able to easily tell if the swashplate is perfectly level or not.
f. Transmitter exponential setup
The "exponential" can be used to increase or decrease the servo movement around the stick center.
For a helicopter, you want to decrease the servo movement around the stick center so you can make smaller corrections when hovering.
For the Futaba radios, I would recommend a setting of -20% to start.
For JR radios, this value is reversed, so set this to 20%.
g. Transmitter Throttle curve setup
For a fixed pitch heli the throttle curve should be left as default - linear from 0 to 100%.
For a collective pitch heli you need a tachometer to measure the head speed.
With a collective pitch heli with a five point curve on the transmitter, it should be set to 0-50-x-x-x where x is the throttle position at which you have about 1600 rpm of head speed.
For a collective pitch heli with a three point curve on the transmitter, it should be set to 0-x-x where x is the throttle position for 1600 rpm of head speed.
If x is not between 80% and 90% of throttle, you should select a different sized motor pinion because the motor will not be running efficiently which will decrease your flight time and power.
Note: If you have a Futaba radio and a Fusion 35 ESC, then you may have problems properly arming the ESC. If you have this problem, then try increasing the throttle range to 125% so the low endpoint is lower.
h. Transmitter Throttle Hold setup
You should follow the transmitter manual directions to enable the throttle hold function on your transmitter.
Throttle hold is very good because it prevents the heli from throttling up if you must work on the heli while it's powered and something bumps the joysticks.
i. Tail rotor pitch servo setup
1. If your tail rotor is on the right side of the boom and you push the rudder right, the tail blades should increase in pitch.
2. If your tail rotor is on the left side of the boom and you push the transmitter rudder left, the tail blades should increase in pitch.
The tail pitch control servo should be able to move the tail pitch control lever all the way from one limit to the other with about 150 degrees of servo arm travel.
If the servo needs more than 150 degrees of travel to reach both limits of the pitch control lever, then replace the servo arm with a longer one.
If the servo needs considerably less than 150 degrees of travel to reach bottom limits of the pitch control lever, then move the servo arm linkage to a hole closer to the servo arm pivot then check again.
The tail servo should be in the middle of its travel range when the tail pitch lever is also in the middle of its travel range. If this is not true, then adjust the linkages until the midpoints are matched.
j. Gyro setup
First, if you are using a heading hold gyro (such as the GY240 or GY401) you must make sure your transmitter REVO MIXING option is disabled, because this option is only for non-heading hold gyros.
GY240 setup:
There are three controls which require setup on the GY240.
Setting AVCS:
Set to ON. You want heading hold enabled.
Setting DIR:
Turn on the transmitter.
Disconnect the heli motor.
Plug in the heli battery.
Wait for the gyro to initialize.
Turn the heli right about 20 degrees. If your tail rotor faces left (Corona), then the tail rotor blades should increase in pitch. If your tail rotor faces right (ECO, Logo), then the tail rotor blades should decrease in pitch.
If the tail rotor blade pitch change is wrong, then flip the direction switch on the gyro, and retest.
Setting GAIN:
Set this to about 50% to start. It can be adjusted later if the tail wags too much.
GY401 setup:
There are five controls on the gyro and one on the transmitter which require setup on the GY401.
Setting DS:
This should be off unless you are using an S9253, S9250, S9450, etc digital servo.
Setting DIR:
See GY240 section on setting this switch.
Setting DELAY:
Set this to about 50 initially.
Setting LIMIT:
(This controls the amount of tail servo travel)
Turn on the transmitter.
Disconnect the heli motor.
Plug in the heli battery.
Wait for the gyro to initialize.
Turn the heli right 90 degrees. The tail servo should peg at the maximum or minimum position. This should correspond to the maximum or minimum tail pitch position. If the servo is not moving far enough, you will need to increase the LIMIT control. If the servo is moving too far and is making buzzing sounds, then decrease the LIMIT control.
Turn the heli left 90 degrees and check the other servo position. The servo should not be buzzing. It may be necessary to move the tail servo mount on the tail boom or adjust a ball link or other to ensure that:
1. The tail servo can move the tail rotor pitch from minimum to maximum without binding (making a buzzing sound as it fights the linkage).
2. The tail servo should be centered when the tail rotor pitch is at the middle of its range.
Setting SENSITIVITY:
This is done at the transmitter on channel 5 for both Futaba and JR radios. If you have a newer Futaba radio (like a 9C), this is already handled in the GYRO SENS menu. In this menu set the mode to AVC and the sensitivity to about 75%.
If you have a Futaba/Hitec (negative shift) radio, channel 5 settings below 50% are non-heading hold mode sensitivity and settings above 50% are heading-hold mode sensitivity. Initially, set your channel 5 to about 88% travel.
If you have a JR (positive shift) radio, the settings are swapped, e.g. below 50% is heading hold sensitivity and above 50% is non-heading hold sensitivity. Try setting your channel 50 to about 12% travel.
j. Adjusting blade pitch
This step is only necessary for collective pitch helicopters like the ECO 8/16 and Logo 10/16/20. This step is not necessary for fixed pitch helicopters like the Piccolo FP and the Corona.
You should have a pitch gauge, either from the manufacturer of your heli designed specifically for your heli or a general-purpose helicopter pitch gauge.
1. Disconnect the heli motor from the ESC. Put some electrical tape on the exposed connectors to insulate them so they will not short out against each other or against other electrical components.
2. Put the pitch gauge on the helicopter following the pitch gauge instructions.
3. Turn on the transmitter.
4. Connect the heli battery.
5. Adjust the blade pitch:
For hover practice, adjust the blade pitch so the pitch range goes from 0 degrees at zero throttle to about 8 degrees at full throttle.
For normal (non-inverted) flight, adjust the blade pitch so the pitch range goes from -3 degrees at zero throttle to 10 degrees at full throttle.
6. Put the pitch gauge on the other blade and adjust its blade pitch too.
k. Blade tracking - CP helicopters
If the pitch of the blades is not the same, then one blade will generate more lift than the other when hovering. This will cause vibration and steals power.
1. Temporarily put a piece of bright colored tape on one of the rotor blades. This will cause the blades to be unbalanced but don't worry about this for now. Just remember to remove the tape after tracking the blades. You need this tape to determine which blade is higher or lower when checking the tracking.
2. Find a 6 foot length of 1" x 4" board.
3. Put the heli in the middle of the room where the blades won't hit anything, and slide the board through the landing gear on top of the landing skids. The board will hold down the heli in case Something Really Bad Happens.
4. Perform a preflight inspection and check everything.
5. Turn on the transmitter
6. Connect the heli battery
7. Arm the helicopter and slowly increase the throttle to about 1/4.
8. Walk a safe distance away, then get on your stomach, and apply throttle and look at the rotor blades from exactly the side. If both rotor blades are spinning exactly in the same plane and look like this: -- then no adjustments are needed. If both rotor blades are not tracking in the same plane and look like this: >< then the blades are not tracking properly and require adjustment.
An alternative way to check the tracking is to place a mirror on your feet, then tilt the mirror so you can see the blades while standing up. This is considerably safer since your face will not be hit if the heli decides to throw a blade.
9. Shut off the throttle and wait for the rotor blades to spin down.
10. Disconnect the heli battery.
11. If the blades did not track evenly, then increase the pitch of the low blade and/or increase the pitch of the high blade
12. Go back to step 4 if necessary.
l. Blade tracking - FP helicopters
The Corona does not need blade tracking adjustments. The head mechanics are very stiff and fairly precise which simplifies setup considerably.
The Piccolo FP has a soft rotor head and therefore the tracking is frequently off. This is especially bad because bad tracking steals a lot of power in micro helicopters.
To check the blade tracking on a Piccolo:
Temporarily put a piece of bright colored tape on one of the rotor blades. This will cause the blades to be unbalanced but don't worry about this for now. Just remember to remove the tape after tracking the blades. You need this tape to determine which blade is higher or lower when checking the tracking.
Apply throttle and look at the rotor blades from exactly the side. If both rotor blades are spinning exactly in the same plane and look like this: -- then no adjustments are needed. If both rotor blades are not tracking in the same plane and look like this: >< then the blades are not tracking properly and require adjustment.
The tracking of the stock Piccolo FP blades can be adjusted by holding the blade firmly at the root and twisting the blade at the widest point. Be sure not to twist the rotor head (67370). You should increase the pitch on the low blade and decrease the pitch on the high blade until the two blades track evenly.
9. R/C heli rules/tips (Read before hovering)
a. Always turn on the heli and wait for it to transmit before connecting the heli battery. If you connect the heli battery without the transmitter on, it may go to full throttle which may injure or kill you.
b. Always turn off the heli before turning off the transmitter. If you turn off the transmitter first, the heli may go to full throttle which may injure or kill you.
c. THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES ARE TRAVELING AT HIGH VELOCITY AND CAN KILL OR MAIM YOU. BE VERY CAREFUL.
When I first started flying helicopters, I read every single web page I could find on the Internet regarding helicopters.
One web page mentioned a story where a guy was flying his helicopter in a park, and a little dog started chasing his helicopter around. The heli pilot asked the dog owner to retrieve his dog, but the dog owner thought it was cute and wouldn't do it.
When the heli landed, the dog ran to the helicopter. The main rotor blades were still spinning at full speed and chopped off the top of the dog's skull.
Also, there are stories about R/C helicopter rotor blades chopping off people's fingers.
Don't believe it? Let's do the math.:
An ECO 8 has a rotor diameter of 41.7 inches. This means the rotor tips travel 41.7 * 3.14 or 130.9 inches in one revolution. The rotor is spinning at about 1600 rpm. This means the rotor tips travel 130.9 * 1600 or 209,440 inches in a minute. In one hour the rotor tips will travel 60 * 209,440 or 12,566,400 inches.
12,566,400 inches/hr = 1,047,200 feet/hr = 198.3 mph!!!
So, when an ECO 8 rotor blade is spinning at 1600 rpm, the blade tips are traveling at 198 mph. That's why helicopter rotor blades can slice off fingers and the top of skulls.
d. ALWAYS DISCONNECT THE BATTERY WHEN WORKING ON THE HELICOPTER.
e. An AMA (Academy of Model Aeronautics) membership is highly recommended, because it will give you insurance coverage. This is very good if your heli damages somebody's car, or injures someone.
10. Learning how to fly - the steps
The classical steps in learning to fly a heli are:
1. Tail-in hovering
2. Side-in hovering
3. Figure eights
These steps work well if you are already flying R/C planes.
11. Tail-in hovering
The first helicopter orientation to learn is "tail-in" hovering. This is called tail-in because the tail of the helicopter will be closest to you.
a. Preparation
1. The most common helicopter "minor crash" is a boom strike. This occurs the helicopter lands too hard and the main rotor blade strikes the tail boom. It is advisable to have at least one extra tail boom on hand to avoiding waiting for parts.
2. You should have some practice time on a flight simulator. This will really reduce the number of crashes and save you A LOT of money.
3. You should have training gear on your heli. The training gear prevents the heli from tipping over and damaging itself, and additionally makes the heli more stable by slowing the cyclic response.
For a 1000-2000 gram heli, the best and cheapest training gear can be made from a small hula-hoop and some 1/4 inch dowels. Do not use a dowel thicker than 1/4 inch, because the 1/4 inch dowels will break in a hard landing and absorb some of the impact.
a. Put the dowel across the diameter of the hula-hoop, and cut the dowel so it's about 1 inch longer than the diameter.
b. Cut another dowel the same length.
c. Use two tie-wraps to lash the two dowels together in an X pattern.
d. Use tie wraps to attach the X to the hula-hoop.
e. Use tie-wraps to attach the X to the training gear of your helicopter.
f. Make sure the hula-hoop is on the bottom, so it will slide along the floor on the hula-hoop.
4. The CG will shift a little when you attach the training gear, so be sure to readjust the battery pack to move the forward/aft CG back to the main rotor shaft.
b. Tail-in Hovering - Phase 1
1. The objective for Phase 1 is to get a feel for the helicopter controls, but not lift off the ground.
You will be learning the "tail-in" orientation, which is the tail of the helicopter pointed towards you and the nose away from you.
Be sure to focus on the nose of the helicopter, and not the tail. If you focus on the tail, this is very bad.
2. For a non-micro helicopter, find an empty parking lot that is fairly level and is fairly clean (no rocks or debris for the training gear to hit). You will need at least a 20 ft by 20 ft area for this.
For a microheli, you probably want to find a hard level indoor surface, possibly an empty garage or the kitchen. A 10 ft by 10 ft surface is probably necessary.
3. Make sure there is no wind, or almost no wind. Wind will make the helicopter bob up and down, and if the heli doesn't have a heading hold gyro, it will also spin the heli around, which makes learning hovering very difficult.
2. Find an empty parking lot that is fairly level and is fairly clean (no rocks or debris for the training gear to hit). You will need at least a 20 ft by 20 ft area for this.
4. Place the helicopter and training gear on the ground, with the nose of the helicopter pointed away from you.
5. Preflight check the helicopter. Make sure all ball links are secure.
6. Do a radio range check and make sure all servos move correctly.
7. Arm the ESC.
8. Wait for the gyro to initialize.
9. VERY, VERY SLOWLY apply enough power for the helicopter to become light on the skids. *** DO NOT LIFT OFF *** If you accidentally lift off, you will probably panic and crash. So try not to lift off.
10. The heli will start to wander around on its own. Use the cyclic control to keep the helicopter within a 10 foot circle.
11. You may need to apply some trim to reduce the amount of wandering.
12. Always keep the tail of the helicopter pointed towards you. If you are using a heading hold gyro, this should occur automatically. If you are using a yaw rate gyro, you will need to use the rudder to maintain the tail position.
13. Always fly the nose of the helicopter. This is very important. Do not fly the tail. Always fly the nose of the helicopter.
When you push the rudder stick left, the heli should rotate counterclockwise. When you push the rudder stick right, it should rotate clockwise. If these directions are reversed, then you should fix the problem before continuing.
14. For a non-Piccolo, use a very delicate touch on the controls. The heli should be very responsive and respond to very little pressure on the joystick. Use very light stick pressure and avoid large stick movements.
The stock Piccolo requires a different technique. You will need very quick half-stick movements with the joystick to make corrections due to the slop in the swashplate.
15. If the helicopter starts to wander too far, reduce the throttle to let the helicopter settle and stop moving. Don't "chop" the throttle - reduce the throttle smoothly. Later on when you are actually hovering, chopping the throttle will cause the helicopter to crash. So, it’s good to not acquire this habit in the first place.
16. When your nerves become frazzled, take a break. Don’t push yourself too hard, because you may lose concentration and crash the helicopter
17. When your batteries become weak, switch packs. Be sure to wait a little while between flights to allow the motor to cool down. For maximum battery life, let the battery cool a little before recharging.
18. For a non-micro helicopter, when you can hold the heli in a 10 foot circle, you are ready for the next phase.
For a microheli, you should be able to hold the heli in a 3 foot circle.
c. Tail-in Hovering - Phase 2
1. The objective for Phase 2 is to hover at 3-4 inches of altitude (1 inch for a micro). Do not go any higher.
2. Go back to empty parking lot, preflight the helicopter, and perform range check/servo movement checks.
3. Arm the ESC, then SLOWLY apply enough power to lift the helicopter to the desired altitude.
4. When the helicopter tilts, you will hear a scraping sound, because the edge of the hula-hoop (or a ping-pong ball) will drag along the asphalt (or carpet). Pay attention to this sound, because it indicates your helicopter is tilted.
5. Watch the circle made by the rotor blades as they spin. Try to keep the circle level, because when the circle is level, your heli is level.
6. When the helicopter moves left, you should push the joystick right to halt the movement, then when the helicopter has stopped moving you need to push in the joystick left to level the helicopter. Same for the other three directions.
So, to stop a heli from moving in direction x requires two small stick movements. This requires a while to learn properly.
7. Try to keep the helicopter within a 10 foot circle, and try to keep it level.
8. At some point, you will start to hover longer and longer periods without an edge of the training gear touching the pavement. This may require 5-10 battery charges or more.
9. Congrats. You're tail-in hovering. J
10. When you can hold the heli within about a 5 ft circle, you should practice hovering with the heli slightly to the left of you or slightly to the right of you (in about the 10 o'clock position and 2 o'clock position) to prepare for the next section.
11. When you can hover an entire pack with tail-in hovering, you are probably ready to go to the next section.
12. Side-in and tail-in hovering orientations
The next step after tail-in hovering is side-in hovering. There are two orientations for side-in hovering: left-in and right-in hovering where the left side and the right side of the helicopter are facing you, respectively.
Follow the same steps as for tail-in hovering, except start with the side of the heli facing you (whichever side you're learning at the time). If you "lose orientation" just use the tail and rotate the heli back to the tail-in position to avoid crashing.
After left-in and right-in hovering, you might choose to learn nose-in hovering. People say this is "very difficult" but it's just another orientation to learn. If you've learned three orientations, you might as well learn the fourth before you go on to the next part.
It's probably okay to remove the training gear after you are fairly comfortable with side-in hovering or nose-in hovering. After you have removed the training gear, you should hover at about 3 ft instead of six inches.
When you can hover entire packs with each orientation, you are probably ready to go to figure-eights and circles.
13. Maintenance and Crash Repair
1. Brushed motors
After every ten flights or so, the carbon dust should be blown out of the motor with compressed air and the commutator checked to see if it is clean. If the motor is assembled with screws and the commutator is dirty, burnish it with some extra fine steel wool or 1000-1200 grit sandpaper.
2. Main rotor shaft bearings
Some helicopters (ECO, etc) have open-faced bearings. These bearings are not sealed, and because the ball-bearings are exposed, they can become contaminated with dirt and grit.
If you notice the main rotor shaft bearings grinding or not rotating smoothly, then they should be removed and cleaned in some good solvent. If they still sound or feel funny, they should be replaced.
3. Tail rotor shaft bearings
The tail rotor shaft bearings may incur damage if the tail blades touch the ground, especially on the ECO 8/16. They should also be checked periodically and cleaned or replaced if necessary.
4. Tail belt tension
Tail belts tend to loosen over time especially if the tail boom mount is loose. They should be checked and retensioned periodically.
Corona specific maintenance:
a. If you have a boom strike, the tail boom can be straightened by pushing a 3/8" dowel inside the tail boom.
b. If you left the Corona come down too fast it may "bounce" off the ground and break a main gear tooth. So, the main gear should be checked periodically for missing teeth.
c. Be sure to check HS-81s for broken gear teeth after each crash. They may rotate properly through the whole rotation, but they may have a broken tooth somewhere.
I consider the HS-81 gears a "sacrificial" part...they break to prevent other things from being broken, and at $3-$5 a set they are fairly cheap.
Piccolo specific maintenance:
a. There isn't much maintenance required on a Piccolo. The stock brushed motor (the 280 or 310) should last 300 flights or more without maintenance or more without maintenance if properly broken-in..
b. If the antirotation pin breaks off the swashplate but the stub is left, then it can be fixed with a small nylon tie wrap. Cut the tip from the tie-wrap and lash it the remnants of the antirotation pin by using several loops of cotton thread. After tying, put a drop of thin CA on the thread to harden it.
ECO 8/16 specific maintenance:
a. The one-way bearing in both plastic and aluminum autorotation hubs has been known to become loose. Usually when this happens, the one-way bearing can be pushed out of the hub with firm finger pressure.
This can be easily fixed by roughing up the bearing and autorotation hub mating surfaces with 200 grit sandpaper and using thick CA to reassemble the unit.
b. The tail blade grips (67542) should be checked periodically to make sure they are not too loose. If they are, be sure to unscrew them from the tail rotor hub and apply fresh loctite to the screw before reassembling.
c. The main rotor shaft bolt (67599) is rather soft and can become bent in a hard crash. Be sure to check this bolt if the main rotor blades have hit anything. If the bolt is bent, be sure to replace it and do not fly with it.
14. Troubleshooting common problems
1. Low flight times and/or not enough power
a. For brushed motors: the commutator may be dirty. (See section on maintenance.)
b. Pinion meshing may be too tight. Ideal pinion meshing is between 1/2 to 2/3rds of a tooth.
c. Motor pinion may be slipping on motor shaft.
If your motor pinion has a setscrew, then your motor should have a flat spot on the motor shaft so the setscrew will not slip on the motor shaft.
If the motor shaft has no flat spot for the setscrew to bite, then you should make one with a Dremel and a diamond cylinder point bit (#7123).
For the Piccolo using the stock motor (G280 or G310) and the plastic motor pinions, it may be necessary to glue the motor pinion onto the motor shaft to prevent it from slipping.
2. Cyclic servos wiggle around without joystick input when motor is running at near hovering throttle.
a. This could be radio interference. Make sure your motor leads are short and routed away from the receiver.
b. With a brushed motor, the motor brushes may be worn or the commutator may be dirty which causes radio interference. Check your brushes and make sure they are in good condition and check the condition of the commutator.
3. Tail wags back and forth with HH gyro.
a. The main gear or other gear may be missing a tooth. Visually inspect the teeth of all gears and verify that they are intact.
b. Tail belt may be loose. The belt should be firm but not too tight.
c. Excessive play in the tail pitch control system can cause tail wag. Make sure there are no loose screws/ball links/clevises in the tail pitch control system.
4. Tail swings 30-90 degrees abruptly then rights itself with HH gyro.
a. This could be caused by radio glitches. Make sure your motor leads are short and routed away from the receiver.
b. The radio receiver crystal may have been damaged in a previous crash. Try replacing the crystal or entire receiver.
c. The one-way bearing in the autorotation hub may be loose.
5. Heli wobbles and is very unstable
a. Your headspeed may be too low and you may be compensating for this by using more main motor pitch which makes the heli motor bog down and the heli unstable.
b. Your rotor head may not be firmly attached to the main rotor shaft. This usually occurs when the hole in the rotor head is reamed out after multiple hard crashes. If the rotor head is not fitting snugly on the main rotor shaft, it should be replaced. This problem is seen on MS Hornets. because the E044 pivot support is fragile.
6. The blade tracking is fine at low speeds, but the blade tracking becomes worse at high head speeds.
a. On a CP Piccolo, this is usually caused by a broken pitch arm base (68211). Visually inspect the two thin "legs" which are between the arms and the tube. One of the legs may have broken.
15. Electric Helicopter & parts vendors
These are vendors which are mentioned frequently on various popular Internet discussion forums.
I do not necessarily endorse any vendors on this list.
For brevity, any e-heli vendors who also stock servos/motors/etc. will not be listed again in the servos/motors/etc section.
a. Lite Machines Corona and replacement parts
http://www.litemachines.com
http://www.roffeetvhobby.com
b. Mikado Logo 10
http://www.fxaeromodels.com
http://www.cyberheli.com
http://www.heliguys.com
c. Ikarus ECO Piccolo and Piccolo Fun
http://www.dreamhobbies.com
http://www.precisionmodelproducts.com
http://www.fxaeromodels.com
http://www.helihobby.com
http://www.hobby-lobby.com
http://www.backyardhobbies.com
d. Ikarus ECO 8/16
http://www.fxaeromodels.com
http://www.precisionmodelproducts.com
http://www.hobby-lobby.com
http://www.backyardhobbies.com
http://www.helihobby.com
e. MS Composite Hornet
http://www.fxaeromodels.com
http://www.precisionmodelproducts.com
http://www.edogfight.com
http://www.aeromicro.com
http://www.helihobby.com
http://www.hobby-lobby.com
f. Motor vendors
http://www.towerhobbies.com
http://www.icare-rc.com
http://www.megamotorusa.com
http://www.aveox.com
g. Servo vendors
http://www.servo-city.com
http://www.nesail.com
http://www.towerhobbies.com
http://www.shredair.com
http://www.horizonhobby.com
h. Batteries
http://www.dynamoelectrics.com
http://www.batterystation.com
http://www.eflightpacks.com
http://www.nicdlady.com
http://www.modelelectronicscorp.com
i. Carbon Fiber tubes and rods
http://www.cstsales.com
http://www.acp-composites.com
j. Other
http://www.modelaircraft.org (AMA)
14. Terminology
120 CCPM
A type of CCPM using three servos arranged at equal 120 degrees from each other. The advantage of 120 CCPM is the load of the swashplate is evenly distributed across all three servos resulting in more precise control. 120 CCPM requires a special transmitter ("computer radio") which supports this mode.
90 CCPM
A type of CCPM using three servos arranged at 90 degrees to each other (and one spot empty). On an ECO 8/16 using 90 CCPM there is a servo at the left, right, and front positions of the swashplate.
AR pin: Antirotation pin.
AR arm: Antirotation arm.
Autorotation
A controlled, unpowered helicopter descent (and landing). A helicopter is a brick with a rotor, so it doesn't glide well when unpowered. The autorotation is the closest to gliding possible. The autorotation consists of a steep descent using negative pitch to keep the rotor blades spinning followed by a slight flaring performed with positive pitch to convert the momentum of the blades into lift to soften the landing.
AR gear
Autorotation gear. A gear with a one-way bearing so the motor can only drive the main shaft in one rotational direction. Required for performing autorotations.
AUW
All-Up Weight. The weight of the heli when ready to fly, including batteries.
Ball-link pliers
A special plier made especially for handling ball links. It can quickly remove the ball joint from a ball link. One jaw has a U-shaped cut in it and the other jaw has a small cup on it.
Bell-Hiller mixer
The seesaw arm on the head of a CCPM helicopter which isolates the height component of the swashplate position and controls the main blade pitch.
BL
Brushless, usually in the context of brushless motors.
Boom strike
A type of helicopter crash where the main rotor blade hits the tailboom. This may dent/bend the tail boom and damage the main rotor blades.
Collective Pitch Compensator
The assembly with two seesaw arms directly above the swashplate.
CCPM
Cyclic/Collective Pitch Mixing. A type of control system where the swashplate controls both main blade pitch and flybar pitch. The swashplate relative tilt controls the pitch of the flybar as the main rotor rotates, and the absolute height of the swashplate controls the pitch of the main rotor blades.
CF
Carbon fiber, usually in the context of rotor blades, frames, tubes, rods, or sheets.
CG
Center of Gravity. The point at which an object's center of mass appears to be; its balance point.
Coning Angle
Some helicopters like the FP Piccolo are designed so the rotor blades are flexible and will bend upwards in flight. The amount which the blade bends upwards is called the "coning angle". The coning effect is good for beginner helicopters because it makes hovering more stable, but is bad for forward flight because it makes the helicopter pitch up which makes forward flight difficult.
CP
Collective Pitch. A helicopter that adjust vertical lift by changing the pitch of the main rotor blades.
Eheli
Electric Helicopter - hard to figure out, isn't it?
Electronic Mixing
A control system where the radio transmitter controls the mixing between the roll/pitch servos and the main rotor pitch servo. Also called colloquially eCCPM. (See also CCPM.)
ESC
Electronic Speed Control. Basically, the motor controller for brushed and brushless motors.
Flybar
The metal or CF rod which holds the smaller paddles to the main rotor head
Flybar paddles
The smaller blades (not the main rotor blades) on the main rotor of a helicopter.
FP
Fixed Pitch. A helicopter that adjusts altitude by changing the speed of the motor driving the main rotor.
GE
Ground Effect. When a helicopter is hovering at approximately less than one rotor length above the ground, the heli will become a little more skittish, as though it is trying to balance on a ball. This is the ground effect.
GF
Glass fiber, usually in the context of rotor blades.
Governor
A feature of an ESC which will try to keep the motor speed constant despite variable load placed on the motor.
This is like the cruise control on a car as it's going up and down hills. Even though the load on the motor is variable as the car goes up and down hills, the cruise control will try to maintain the same speed.
The governor mode on an ESC will try to do something similar. Even if the heli is doing wild maneuvers and the load on the main rotor blade is highly variable, it will try to maintain a constant head speed.
If using a governor mode, the throttle curve should not be set to 100%. This is because the governor mode needs a little bit of extra power so it can maintain headspeed. Using the cruise control analogy, if you set the cruise control of a car to its maximum speed the cruise control cannot maintain the maximum speed going up hills. Similarly, if you set the throttle to 100% RPM then the governor mode will not be able to maintain it when the rotor is heavily loaded.
This is why the motor pinion should be selected so the desired headspeed can be achieved at 80 to 85% of the throttle - so the governor mode can work properly.
Heading Hold Gyro
A gyro which attempts to "lock" the heading of the gyro and keep the helicopter pointed in the same direction until you choose to turn it via the rudder. (See yaw-rate gyro).
HH
Heading Hold (gyro)
HS
Head Speed. The RPM of the main rotor. Most helicopters need between 1400-2000 RPM of headspeed to fly. There are a few exceptions like the FP Piccolo, which only needs 1200 rpm. If the headspeed is too low, then the heli will not lift off or will require extra pitch to fly, which will make the heli very unstable. For aerobatics, most people raise their headspeed to about 2000 RPM. Most helicopter rotor hubs are only rated for a maximum of 2000 RPM. If you exceed 2000 RPM, this places excessive stress on the main rotor hub and the heli is likely to throw a blade.
Kv
The RPM per volt of the motor. This is very important because a helicopter typically requires a head speed of about 1400-1800 RPM to hover/fly properly.
LHS
Local Hobby Shop
LVC
The low-voltage cutoff point of the ESC, if it has one. For a heli, you want an ESC with no or very low LVC.
Mechanical mixing
A type of control system where the roll/pitch and main blade pitch are not mixed at the transmitter but are instead mixed mechanically at the helicopter. (See also CCPM.)
RFI
Radio Frequency Interference. RFI causes little "glitches" in your control and the heli will twitch abruptly in one direction or another and/or the tail may suddenly jerk around.
Swashplate
The control mechanism component which mechanically joins the non-rotating control portions to the rotating control portions of the main rotor.
Throw a blade
Refers to a main rotor blade being flung off the rotor head (usually with the blade grip) at very high speed while the head is spinning. This is very, very dangerous.
TL
Translational Lift. The extra lift produced by the main rotor when a helicopter is moving horizontally or when hovering in windy conditions. When a helicopter stops moving horizontally it tends to drop, because it loses the extra lift.
TR
Tail rotor.
Woodies
Wooden main rotor blades
Yaw-rate gyro
A type of gyro which dampens but not eliminates unwanted yaw rotation. If a gust of wind blows the tail of a helicopter with a yaw-rate gyro, the gyro will make the tail rotor "push back" against the wind to reduce the amount of unwanted tail movement, but since it does not keep track of total tail movement, it cannot return the tail back to its original position.