Getting Into 3D Helicopter Flight
Posted on November 24, 2009 by aaronredbaron
Learning how to perform insane 3D aerobatics may seem like an impossible accomplishment, but in many ways its similar to riding a bike. If you had never seen a person ride a bicycle, the concept of balancing on two wheels while you pedal and steer would seem impossible. However, once you’ve mastered it, riding a bike comes naturally. Flying a 3D helicopter is similar because to the uninitiated the controls seem beyond daunting, yet with practice control comes without a second thought.
Its Just Stick Banging, Right?
How then does one progress from simple hovering and forward flight into advanced 3D? While everyone learns at their own pace, there are a few benchmarks I highly recommend achieving before stepping up. There is much more to flying 3D than just keeping the helicopter off the ground during wild aerobatics while constantly recovering and preventing a crash. Throwing the helicopter around wildly before you are proficient at precise inputs the entire flight can be costly and dangerous. Flying precision 3D can be wild, aggressive and incredibly fast, but its critical to master the fundamentals as you work your way up.
Fundamentals
They say before you can run you have to walk; with helicopters its no different. You need to be able to hover in all orientations, fly figure 8s in both directions, and feel very comfortable with all aspects of upright flight before you proceed into more complicated inverted flight. A model helicopter is able to fly inverted (upside down) by using negative pitch and fully symmetrical rotor blades to produce lift while upside down. Idle-up, or 3D flight modes, are used to keep the rotor speed at a consistent RPM while the pilot manipulates pitch inputs. A model heli can flip or roll to get inverted, or use a combination of both with yaw.
Which Way Is It Going?
One thing important to remember is how the helicopter responds to the controls. Beginners often panic with too much input when trying to recover, but the helicopter performs exactly the same upright or inverted (when set-up properly), its just a matter of teaching yourself the correct inputs. 3D helicopter flight eventually becomes like an aerial playground where anything is possible, but at the intro stages it feels very unstable and intimidating. One thing which helps tremendously is finding a way to orient yourself to the model in a way that won’t change when you flip it over. If you think of pulling back on the stick as causing the model to pitch up, you may get the opposite response you are looking for if you do the same inverted. If you think of pulling back on the stick as pulling the canopy toward the blades, it will never change regardless of orientation.
More Info
For now I’m going to leave off with these two excellent sources of information about heli training; RADD’s School of Rotary Flight which can be very helpful to master the basics, and the 7 steps of proficiency from IRCHA (International Radio Control Helicopter Association) which is good for every thing from the basics through advanced 3D. Be sure to Check back here soon for a feature article walking you through your first flips and rolls.
This video helps explain the concept explained above
