My first collective pitch radio control helicopter.
I have been flying radio control airplane models of various types and sizes since 1984. Although this is not the first RC Helicopter I have owned, this is the first one that I actually learned to fly.
My interest in radio control helicopters got tweaked by a fellow club member who started a business doing aerial photography with large radio control helicopters. Watching and helping him set up his equipment allowed me to have a close look at the machines and how they worked.
On a visit to the local hobby shop for some glue, I purchased a eflite blade cp that had been damaged at a greatly reduced price. I could never pass up a bargain when it comes to rc stuff. After some haggling the shop owner threw in the required parts for repair also.
Before I got the first replacement part (the main shaft) installed I had a few questions that the manual did not explain. I don’t believe these heli’s were designed as beginners machines. Although they are often marketed in this way.
A quick search on the popular radio control hobby forums resulted in pages upon pages of info on the blade cp. The vast majority of this info was how to upgrade and change out pieces from some other machine apparently to make the blade actually fly. After sifting threw the mountain of posts my questions were answered and I got the thing together and set up.
One of the best finds I made searching the forums was a link to site that explains in detail with a well laid out learning program that actually works and is free for the reading. A link to the program can be found on my web site.
Following the steps laid out in the flight program I was soon hovering a couple feet off the floor in my basement. My flying area is a 15’X15’ clear space. I could not seem to manage to stay inside a 10’X10’ space when hovering regardless of how I tried. After reading all the stuff on the forums I was a little disappointed as I was sure there was something amiss with the helicopter and I was going to have to start buying more parts to get it to work properly.
My Buddy from our club dropped by and I asked him to check it out. He lifted it off the floor in my basement to about 5’ and hovered in a 6” space for a few minutes then landed and said its set up pretty good. This got me away from the computer and forums and back to practicing. It took a few weeks practicing every night to get to the point where I could hover inside a 2’ space for a whole battery pack and a couple more weeks to get proficient enough to have complete control. Actual daily flying time was about 10 minutes each day.
Next Blog Post
What to expect from this helicopter and how to get it.