Learning to Fly an RC Helicopter
Here I will begin the lesson of learning to fly a helicopter. You want an instructor. You want to learn the parts of the helicopter. What is a tail rotor and why is it important? How long to learn? Just some of the important steps to learn to fly.
The main parts of a helicopter are cockpit, cabin, tail boom, tail rotor, main rotor, skids, and engine. The cockpit is where the pilot sits in the helicopter. The cabin is the area to sit. Not as important on RC helicopters. The tail boom is the long part that looks like a tail. The tail rotor is the part that spins the blades in the back of the helicopter. The main rotor is the big blades on top of the helicopter. The skids are the ski looking things on the bottom of the helicopter. The engine is the main power on top of the cabin.
The tail rotor basically makes the rotor or blades in the back of the helicopter rotate in the opposite direction as the main rotor. This is done to keep the helicopter going straight. The skids are the landing gear. The cockpit is the control area of the helicopter. You need to know some of the main parts of a helicopter before you start the learning to fly process.
Learning to fly is the fun part. Once you know how to fly the helicopter all you have are the skills to get better. Practice makes you better at anything: landing, take offs, hovering, and forward movement. You want to perfect the landing. Why? It is crucial to skills challenges. It will impress your friends. It saves your heli from damage. The take off is important as well. You don't want to crash as soon as you take off. Sometimes the take off area is tight to maneuver. Hovering is just staying in the same spot in the air. It is pretty cool to hover. Forward movement is getting from one place to another in a straight line. Ok, you don't have to go exactly straight but it is even cooler to go exactly where you want to go.
Really the first step to helicopter piloting is getting an experienced instructor in your area. Pay the man some money to get him motivated. Now go flying. Take your time and learn the basics. You don't want to pay a couple hundred bucks for a RC helicopter and bust it on the first flight. Of course it just adds to the frustration of learning but if you slow down and give yourself a good 10 weeks of practice you will be happy with the results. Don't worry about being out the money for paying an instructor. If you have enough patience, one day you can return the favor to a rookie pilot.
