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RC Helicopters – So Much Fun, Your Head Will Spin!
RC Helicopters are one of the most exciting of the radio controlled hobbies. Flying is more difficult and it takes more time to learn, but you can do so much more than you can with planes, cars, boats and trains!
So, how do you get started? I highly recommend you find a helicopter flying club and get involved, even before you purchase your first machine. The local pilots can give you advice about the type of equipment you should by and where you are likely to get the best value. In general, your first helicopter should be one that is cheap to repair. One thing is for certain, you will sooner or later crash.
There are a lot of options available to you as you get started. One tip I would give you is to buy something that is familiar to those people that you want to help you during these early days. Doing this will help simplify setup and they will know any obvious problems with your specific brand.
Even though you may have found some help, it is important that you build your helicopter yourself. This will help you understand how it works, how to set it up and most importantly how to repair it. Building your first helicopter is not easy, so get help if you need it.
So, now you have your new toy ready to fly. Unless you have money to burn, I recommend starting with a trainer. The trainer can help you learn to fly with a minimum risk of crashing. It really is worth it. Depending on your equipment, the trainer may be able to connect his controls into yours and be able to take over if you get into trouble.
Learning to FlyHere are some learning tips that will help you learn to fly fast, safe and hopefully without crashing every time you try.
Set Goals – Set some realistic goals for your flying, take small steps and practice your successes many times before moving on to the next harder maneuvers. If you don’t get impatient you will learn faster with fewer crashes.
RC Helicopter Flight Simulator – Get a proper flight simulator which allows you to hook your controls to your computer. This will allow you to get acquainted with the controls and learn some of the needed reflexes required to fly. While this will help you tremendously, it is still not quite the same as flying the real thing. Oh, one big difference is the time it takes to repair your helicopter, simulator versus real life. It helps to practice a lot!
Escape Plan – As you prepare for any flight, think through what could go wrong and always have an escape plan. Think about what you can do to recover from any potential problem. If you do this ahead of time, you will be better able to cope with the emergency if it occurs.
SafetyThe spinning blades of an RC helicopter contain a large amount of kinetic energy which you really want to keep away from your body and any other people or pets in the area. For this reason keep the following in mind:
- Make sure when preparing to start your machine, that the throttle control is in the start position. Having one of these fire up at full throttle is an experience that you want to avoid at all costs.
- Never fly at head high elevation. For obvious reasons, if a blade comes loose you will be better off if it doesn’t hit you or someone else in the head.
- Never fly close to yourself or others. There are simply too many accidents that can happen where you can get hurt if you are close by.
- Never let spectators get between you and your helicopter. They might block your vision and realize that judging distances gets harder as the machine gets farther away from you.
- Do not overestimate your abilities. Remember to advance your skills through small pre-thought out steps. And, don’t skip steps. Be patient and practice before moving to more advanced techniques.
- Never let anyone untrained fly your helicopter.
Finishing UpRC Helicopter flying is fun and exciting. While all of the safety warnings above make it sound as though you are risking danger, using the proper precautions will keep everyone safe. This will help make it a fun and rewarding hobby!
Additional ResourcesRC Helicopter Fun
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