The noobs thinking of flying!

            Not so fast hot shot! Your, no top gun! You also don’t have a flight crew who went over your birdie with a fine toothcomb to make sure she’s flight ready. RTF, Don’t you believe it, few if any heli’s have come out of the box and are set up for flying. Is your heli balanced? Don’t give me that look! How about the swash plate, is it level? Well, did you check the servo operation? I see, so I’d guess you’d like to see how fast you a get to the hobby shop for replacement parts or you prefer to wait for a deliveryman to come and spend some time with you! Oh, your Visa card isn’t maxed-out yet. You just might change your tune when wifey sees the parts bill. Have I gotten though to you yet? Stop smell the roses and avoid a pile of mangled, bend and broken heli parts. Doing these steps, will save you time, money and the wife’s rant. Remember this is a general guide for setup; your heli may vary in the details of how it is setup!

            Doubling your set up check will assure you of the best first flight. There are many types of heli’s and their set ups do very a bit. To set up your heli find a set up guide geared to the Bird you own. With that said, there are some basics to all heli’s that need to be done. Your heli should be balanced to check this extend your two index fingers and place them under the rod (fly Bar) that runs from one paddle of the main rotor to the other. With the paddles running across the heli’s body side to side, lift the heli using your two fingers. Does the Heli sit level or a bit nose down? Try moving the battery forward or back to level it out. Now, do the same thing with the paddle rod (fly bar) running in line with the heli’s body. How's it look that way? For Details on this, post your questions with a pro heli pilot.

            The Swash plate must be level when the Tx and heli are powered up. To check this, unplug the motor, or if you have a motor by-pass on your heli use it. (My Walkera dragonfly 36 has one). With the motor unplugged do the start up procedure for your heli. Be sure you have all your Tx trims centered. So, is that swash plate level? If not adjust it according to heli’s operations manual. Be sure the swash plate is level left right and front back. Are all the servo arms centered, usually 90 degrees to the body of the servo?  When you move the servo control sticks, do they move freely and return to center? A good set up will have your servos centered as well as your Tx trims. This will give you maximum control and extend flight time. Cp heli’s also have a servo for the blade pitch, which is controlled on the same stick as the throttle. More throttle, the greater the blade will pitch.

 On 4 Ch and models with tail motor the rudder is controlled with motor speed. Models having gear or belt drive tails, there is a rod and pivot arm to change tail rotor pitch for directional control. To check the rudder on these models you may have to by pass the Gyro. On a birdie like my Walkera 36 you unplug the servo controlled by the Gyro and plug the servo into the slot the Gyro is plugged into on the Rx. Does the rudder slider move freely and return to center, with the tail rotor blades straight? If the blades of the tail rotor are off, back to the manual or set up guide for your heli to reset them. This is important to give you best control and help rid the heli of tail wag. Now don’t forget to put your Gyro back in the loop when you’re done.

Ok now we go to a motor running check. It is important that you allow your motor cool down time in between each of these steps! Your servos should now be centered and your Tx trims are as well. With the motor back in the loop, tie or weight your heli down. A board across the skids with weight on it works well! Don’t try to hold it by hand, that is dangerous to you and your heli. I know what I’m talking here!

  Do your start up procedure. Now, give it a bit of throttle, No more than about 1/3 power at this point. Viewing the heli from the tail, move the aileron stick to left than right. Does the main rotor swing in the same direction as your stick, it should! If it doesn’t, time to read the section of your Tx manual about reversing your controls. The same is true for the elevators; did they go forward and backward?

 This tidbit is mostly for Cp heli’s. While we still have the heli pinned down, see those cool looking stripes on the main rotor blades. Well, they’re not just to look good. Rev the Heli up to full power watching for heavy vibration as you do. Now step back and get to eye level with the blades. Do the two colors blend into one if not note which color is low and which is high. This is your blade tracking and is adjusted on the rotor head. On all adjustments take your time and do it in babe steps, rechecking as you go.

Free your birdie she’s been pinned down long enough. Go back to the start procedure and this time in an open area, viewing the heli from the tail again. Give your birdie a small bit of power less than half way! The heli will want to swing counter clockwise. Try your best to counter this movement as you rev it up, by moving the rudder stick to the right. Did she respond by moving in a clockwise direction? If she didn’t and spun faster in the other direction, the rudder control is reversed. Think of it this way, you turn your car steering wheel to the left to make a left turn and so on for a right turn. So don’t get mixed up, it’s the heli’s head direction that should be matched to the rudder stick. All the controls are set as if you could sit in the pilot seat of your little birdie. Got it, left is left and right is right and it has to be this way to be correct!