5
Wind: Basically, these are (approximately) 1/40th scale helicopters. Full sized helicopters can’t fly in
high winds – and neither can the models. If a full sized helicopter has difficulty overcoming 50mph
winds, then the model will have the same difficulty with 1~2 mph winds (i.e. 1/40th as much). There’s
nothing that can be done about this, it’s just physics.
Air conditioning: Hot air rises and cool air falls – this creates movement in the air, leading to an effect
called “wind shear”. Basically, this is when there’s a column of hot air going up next to cold air going
down. Many full-scale aircraft accidents have been caused by wind shear. Air conditioners create lots of
wind shear. If the helicopter flies through wind shear, it will seem to suddenly fly up or down (depending
on the direction of the wind shear).
The Ground Effect: When the helicopter is near the ground, the air it pushes down with its rotor has
nowhere to go – the ground is in the way. Some of this air bounces back, this pushes the helicopter
up. When the helicopter is near the ground, it will get slightly more lift than it normally would. This is
something to keep in mind when landing.
The Ceiling Effect: Conversely to the ground effect, when you fly too close to a ceiling, a small pocket of
low pressure is created above the helicopter, and it will be sucked upwards. This could be bad – if you
hit the ceiling, the helicopter will stall, fall and possibly be damaged.
Places to Fly: Because high winds can be a problem, we recommend flying indoors. However, you
really do need a bit of space to get the most out of the helicopter. Some places which are good for
flight include large garages (whilst the car’s not parked there), indoor sports areas, aircraft hangars,
secret underground submarine pens and so on (though why you’d fly a toy helicopter in your secret
underground submarine pen is beyond us). Or a large lounge room with delicate items stashed
somewhere out of the way - whatever you’ve got.
Low Battery: To get the longest possible life from the built-in battery, never completely discharge it.
As soon as the helicopter shows any sign of running low on power (such as responding slowly or being
unable to maintain altitude easily) turn it off and charge it as soon as practicable. For more information
about battery care, see page 6.
Back & Forwards, Up & Down: This helicopter features counter-rotating coaxial rotors (a fancy way of
saying two rotors which spin in opposite directions). If you’re any kind of expert on helicopters, you’ll
know that this is not the same way that full-scale helicopters are usually made – they’ve got a uni-
directional main rotors with a vertical tail rotor. We think that this coaxial design works best for these
scale models because:
• It’s more stable than a single rotor. Because the rotors move in opposite directions, the helicopter
has less of a tendency to spin the other way.
• It is way easier to set up. There are only two trim settings to get right, as opposed to the three trim
settings that are required for the more conventional helicopter design.
• More rotors mean more lift, which means an easier to fly and more manoeuvrable helicopter.
However, because the tail rotor is horizontal rather than vertical, the helicopter has a tendency to
ascend whilst moving forwards, and descend whilst reversing. This isn’t really a problem if you ease
off on the throttle whilst moving forward and increase the throttle whilst moving backwards. You’ll get
a feel for it pretty quick.
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Flying Guide
