Flight Techniques Archives - Page 6 of 7

Become a better pilot today!

It may seem the expert pilots are so good because of all their practice, and that level of proficiency can only be reached after many months, if not years, of practice. Part of this is true in that good hovering does require practice, but it’s also important to understand how to practice. Certainly you have […]

Flying a fast forward roll

If you have been flying helicopters for a while now, you may be advancing into faster forward flight. One of the first aerobatic maneuvers I learned a long time ago was a straight forward roll. When you practice any maneuver for the first time, your first attempts will not always be the prettiest. However, with […]

Pro Hovering Tips & Tricks

One of the problems very common in hovering (as well as when learning to fly formation in full-scale airplanes) is that the pilot does not notice the need for a correction until the helicopter has moved, and then an over-correction is required. As an example, let’s compare two identical helicopters in a hover: one flown […]

7 tips for helicopter flight success!

Micro RC helicopters are fascinating. For many, they are the ultimate flying machines. To master a miniature helicopter so you can fly it in your living room or from your back porch and turn your picnic table into a heli pad is amazingly satisfying. Micro helis are great for someone wanting to learn to fly […]

Master the Jack Knife

What is the jack knife? Well, it’s a maneuver that looks like a helicopter flying knife-edge on a horizontal plane and doing a sliding half-circle turn inverted while going backward. I’ll break down this simplified description into key steps to help you learn the basics of performing the jack knife. To perform this […]

FLIGHT TRAINING TIPS

In today’s RC heli world there are more training options than ever before. Many newcomers start out with a micro coaxial bird, move on to a micro tail rotor heli and then gradually move up to larger, higher-performance machines. Others start out with a larger helicopter, working with an instructor to get over the initial […]

Mastering Autos

Helicopters and their electronics have improved in both design and performance, allowing us to perform 3D maneuvers never before thought possible. Although I’m continually amazed at the new pilots and their innovative maneuvers, one of my favorites is still the old-fashioned autorotation landing. I like this maneuver for several reasons. First, each and every one […]

Fly Helis in 10 Easy Steps

Flying model helicopters is exciting and fun and looks very easy, that is, until you try it. Unlike model airplanes, helicopters lack stability and must constantly be controlled in all the flight axis. The pilot must develop the reflexes to control it, and this takes practice and commitment. By following these 10 steps, you will be up in the air in no time.

Preflight Setup

Although computer radios make adjusting the helicopter very easy, I prefer to make mechanical adjustments first to get everything as close as possible to the settings I want, and then I use the radio’s features for fine-tuning. As an example, let’s consider the type of flying you would like to do. If you are ready […]

Flying inverted circuits and turns

The safest way of entering your first inverted flight is by trying to stop your heli while it’s inverted at the top of a loop. Enter the loop at a nice comfortable height, and when the heli reaches the inverted stage, release the elevator back to neutral and increase negative pitch to hold it inverted. […]

Slope Aerobatics: Gliders take center stage!

In the RC aerobatic arena there is something about flying a model airplane in a manner that delivers maximum satisfaction and freedom of expression. This inner desire to freely express and it look really good on the aerobatic canvas is infectious. So much so “it” can become ones sole purpose for modeling just to see […]

Tail-draggers: what you need to know

From Piper Cubs to P-51s, planes with tailwheels are some of our favorites. But they do have a tendency to be more difficult to control on the runway. In this article from Jerry Smith, you’ll learn how to set up your tail-dragger as well as flying tips for smooth takeoffs and landings. Though many planes […]