Last time, I told you a bit about my growing desire to get a remote-control helicopter. After doing my due diligence (more on that later), I decided to buy a Walkera 4#3B micro helicopter.
(Okay, the heli veterans around here can stop laughing now).
There are roughly two categories of helicopter out there: coaxial craft and single-rotor craft. Coaxials are very stable and great for beginners. Single-rotor craft are a nightmare-on-a-stick and eat beginners for lunch. Well, perhaps I exaggerate. Anyway, coaxials are stable. They hover with little persuasion. They have two rotors that rotate in opposite directions, and this cancels out most of the gyroscopic effects from the rotors, and the copter has no desire to spin.
Single-rotors, on the other hand, have a single main rotor. This produces various gyroscopic effects, and it also makes the ‘copter want to spin around uncontrollably. To counter this, a tail rotor is added. It pushes the ‘copter tail in opposition to the forces created by the main rotor. Single-rotor craft are not very stable, and have all kinds of squirrely behaviour.
My problem is that coaxial helicopters are toys. You can’t upgrade from them to the next step without learning all the ins and outs of a single-rotor craft. Some of your experience helps, but most of it doesn’t.
So, I decided to skip coaxials altogether and go straight for a single-rotor helicopter. Stupid and gung ho? Wait, I’m not done yet.
The size of a helicopter really matters when talking about stability. A “real life” full size helicopter is a lot more stable than a model helicopter, and the pilot has the advantage of being in the helicopter to correct any mistakes. An RC ‘copter is way less stable, and you have to watch it fall over at a distance, correct for the orientation of the ‘copter relative to you, and only then can you tell the helicopter how to correct itself. If flying a full size helicopter is like balancing a broom on your finger, flying a model is like balancing a ruler on your friend’s finger by shouting instructions at him.
Then we get “micro” model single-rotor RC helicopters. Those are like balancing a pen instead of a ruler.
The Walkera 4#3B is a single-rotor micro.
In my defense, all the fiddly bits are made from metal, and the helicopter survives crashes with little or no damage. Also, I can practice indoors which means I don’t have to worry about wind, or annoying the neighbours.
So, I picked something difficult but robust, with the hope that I can keep practicing without having to wait for good weather, or for new parts to arrive.
Friday, I’ll have a bit of an aside while I tell you about some valuable resources I came across while doing my research.
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