Stage 1 - Getting Ready.
- Controls Hovering Sideways Forwards & Backwards Backwards & Forwards Forward Diagonals Backward Diagonals Crosswind Parallels Lazy 8's Beyond The Hover
The instructor will explain our peg system to you and ask you to get "your" peg and transmitter. He will also explain the local flying rules to you.
Before you can fly a helicopter, you have to be able to control it using the transmitter. The instructor will demonstrate the effect of the various controls on the model and the various points that you have to check for (This is similar to a full size pre-flight check).
Pulling the right hand stick, the cyclic , back tilts the rotor disc rearward (relative to the fuselage) and the helicopter moves backward.
Similarly, moving the right hand stick to the left or right tilts the rotor disk to the left or right moving the helicopter appropriately.
The movements required to get the helicopter moving ( or to stop it moving!) in any direction are relatively small. Since a helicopter is positionally unstable, constant adjustment of the cyclic controls are required. If you're new to helicopters, try imagining all the movements required to balance one snooker (or pool) ball on top of another by only holding the lower ball. Try it!
Consequently, with a helicopter, the right hand stick operates forward, backward, left and right cyclic.
For many fixed wing pilots, the left hand is used for taking half the weight of the transmitter! With a helicopter, the left hand is much busier!
The forward/backward movement of the left hand stick controls the collective .
Pushing the left hand stick forward increases the pitch of the rotor and increases the engine throttle so the helicopter goes up. Similarly, pushing the left hand stick rearward decreases the pitch of the rotor and decreases the engine throttle so the helicopter goes down.
Moving the left hand stick to the left makes the nose go to the left (ie. the tail goes to the right) and moving the left hand stick to the right makes the nose go to the right (ie. the tail goes to the left). Note that on these pages the application of tail rotor refers to the direction the nose of the helicopter will move. All clear???
It is very important to remember that as far as the helicopter is concerned, there is no fixed forward direction. It is more common with beginners for the helicopter not to be pointing in the direction it is moving! Only practice will eliminate this.
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It is strongly recommended that a beginner should only try to fly in near calm wind conditions. The reason for this is that unlike a fixed wing aircraft which tends to get 'knocked about a bit', a helicopter rises and drops with increasing and decreasing wind speeds. However, very light winds can be an advantage as the helicopter tends to 'weathercock' ie. it wants to keep it's nose pointing into wind.
Your instructor will also demonstrate how to fuel, prime and start your engine safely and how to adjust it for optimum performance.
After these demonstrations, you should be able to carry out these procedures yourself. They are very straight-forward although starting the engine will take some practice. Remember that the instructor is always there to prompt or assist you.
Assessment of this stage will be monitored as you progress to later stages.