Radio Control Helicopters
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Several D.M.A.C. club members own and fly model R/C Helicopters at Barry.
The most common are the " 450 sized electric" variety although a few members have "30 sized nitro's" and some have "50 sized nitro's".
The club has an are where beginners can practice hovering and more able flyers can use the runway. (You can arrange a free time with any fixed wing flyers present) The animated graphic here is probably closer to what the majority of us can manage!!!
Once again, if you're interested in coming down, just contact us .
Helicopters have a bad reputation for being difficult to fly and probably the most common reason for this is that many beginners are not entirely sure what they're letting themselves in for. How often have you heard "Always wanted a helicopter so I went out and bought all the gear. I tried to fly it and...crunch - £100 and...crunch - £100...
You know the rest of the story. The helicopter now sits (broken) in a cupboard somewhere while a ghostly voice is heard at dead of night - "Fly Me! Fly Me!"
A new heli pilot is up against a lot of difficulties. In general, a model aircraft wants to fly, a heli doesn't! He has to learn the most difficult part first - hovering. How do I get it going up? How do I stop it going up? Going down? Forward? Back? Forward? Sideways? You can see it all going to pieces.
Can't help thinking that in our club, those members who have had most success at heli's are those who have flown fixed wing aircraft for a while. Perhaps it's because they are well aware of which way to move all the controls on the transmitter. Perhaps they're more terrified!
Having to co-ordinate both "sticks" is something that doesn't come easy. Many fixed wing pilots hardly ever use rudder, for example, in flight. A heli pilot must learn to use all the controls all the time! Absolutely necessary are training aids which stop the heli toppling. With these fitted, the heli loses considerable performance (and looks) but it's more likely to survive!
The biggest help is undoubtedly having someone experienced with you to talk you through the first flights (hops and skitters) - hence our club nights.
Considerable concentration is required as a beginner so you mustn't try for too many flights - three or four fifteen minute flights are more than enough for one day or evening. The main thing is practice, practice, practice! Slow progress is much better than fast/whack.
Many hours will be spent following the helicopter wherever it wants to go until you get the hang of correcting the heli's motion. When you can make the heli go where you want it ALL the time, take the training aids off. This is a very dodgy time! The heli has much better performance. It is so marked that if you want to continue to be successful you should go back and re-learn everything again.
With the advent of more and more people having multimedia PC's at home, there is now a market for model flight simulators and several of our members are now learning on them. These should be used as an aid to training and not a replacement for "hands-on" experience. The danger with this is that a person can become a simulation expert and perhaps become less and less likely to fly the real thing. Time will tell.
