Thursday, October 25, 2012

The Workings of an RC Helicopter

By Joseph White


RC helicopters have actually been proven to be one of the toughest, yet most delightful, radio-controlled toys to have and operate. It takes a great deal of time and skill to be able to master the art of flying an RC helicopter. If you're brand-new to the whole radio-controlled helicopter craze that's expanding by leaps and bounds on a day-to-day basis, this write-up will give you a basic understanding of just how RC helicopters fly and exactly how they work.

How Do Radio Controlled Helicopters Work?

You may not know this by simply looking at them, however an RC helicopter is a very complicated toy to play with. On top of having lots of moving components to operate, a radio-controlled helicopter is made even more complicated by having a radio transmitter and radio receiver tossed into the mix. In fact, the transmitter and receiver are very important for flying an RC helicopter because they deliver and receive the radio signals that inform the helicopter exactly what to do.

The transmitter is the hand-held unit that you make use of to tell the RC helicopter what you wish it to do. The receiver is the unit that receives the radio signal inside the RC helicopter and passes it on to the rest of the electronic devices of the helicopter so that it can carry out as its been advised to do.

It's essential that you have actually a fully charged transmitter and receiver when you take your RC helicopter out for a flight. If one or another runs out of juice while you're trying to pilot, you're going to be looking a pricey repair, so always make sure they're both totally charged when you take them out.

How Do RC Helicopters Fly?

The very same concepts that enable full-size military helicopters to fly permits RC helicopters to fly too. The two primary components that enable an RC helicopter to fly are the main rotor and the tail rotor.

The main rotor is the huge blade that sits on top of the helicopter. This is the rotor that supplies the power required for lift off and flight. The major rotor usually spins at a consistent speed and causes lift by altering the pitch or angle of attack of the blades. The greater the pitch is, the greater lift the rotors will supply.

As the main rotor spins, it places a twisting force on the rest of the helicopter which is where the tail rotor steps in to help out. Basically, the tail rotor assists to neutralize the spinning force of the main rotor and helps in keeping the helicopter straight. The tail rotor is like a rudder on a ship: it goes the opposite direction so that the helicopter can be guided. The tail rotor is linked to the primary rotor through a belt or torque tube and in most cases the tail rotor will spin 3-6 times for each time that the primary rotor spins.

It's also essential to recognize that when you're pracing to fly an RC helicopter that you learn to fly with the nose of the helicopter and not the tail. Numerous novices get sidetracked by just what the tail is doing and don't recognize that the helicopter is going to fly any place the nose is aiming, even if it's aiming right at a structure or an individual! So always recognize exactly what's going on with the nose of the helicopter so that you're in complete control of piloting it at all times.




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