Learning to fly a Helicopter

 “Ready for that first 3D maneuver”

All flights begin and end in a hover –

This article presumes that you have your helicopter trimmed and checked out and that you have performed enough hovering in all attitudes to become proficient at lifting off and you feel that you have coordinated control in all positions and you feel really comfortable entering and stopping forward flight.

 Have you spent some time on your flight simulator and perhaps tried some loops and rolls?  How did you feel?  Are you ready to do it on your own helicopter?

 Loops are a good starting point

• Maintain a comfortable altitude, high enough to avoid problems when exiting a loop.  At a moderate forward speed and altitude I suggest doing you first loop(s) from left to right or right to left (your most comfortable) direction and far enough out in front of you to help prevent any disorientation.  The ideal loop is going to go like this – as you enter the loop by increasing pressure on the back elevator creating a smooth upward arc, you want to start removing collective towards a neutral position as the aircraft approaches vertical.  As you come over the top inverted you will need to induce some negative collective pitch to help hold the arc in a nice symmetrical circle.  Again as you approach vertical nose towards the ground neutral collective and then add positive as you exit the roll.  Chances are good that your first few rolls will be more like flips, in an anxious desire to get the aircraft back into a comfortable flight attitude – however; like the other practiced maneuvers, you will soon relax and extend your time in different attitudes until you can stop momentarily at the top and maintain some inverted hovering and flight.

Axial rolls

• Doing nice axial and symmetrical rolls depend on a well trimmed and phased helicopter as well as practice on collective management.  Let’s start the same way as the loops, as left to right or vice versa is a good comfortable learning flight path.  As you decide to roll either left or right the process is the same.  Start the roll and as the aircraft becomes 90 degrees left or right, take the collective to neutral, as you begin to come around inverted, add negative pitch (around 2 – 3 degrees) “takes practice”.  Continue the roll and take the collective back to neutral and then again to positive as you regain normal attitude.  Remember to fly the helicopter with the collective going from positive to neutral to negative and back to keep the roll nice and smooth and try not to move the elevator from its mid position.  Before long you will be able to enter at a fairly slow forward speed and do several nice axial rolls.

 Take your time as you learn and practice these and other past maneuvers.  By now you will be feeling where the helicopter is by the position you put it in and not losing orientation when you see it in some unusual attitudes.

Be patient – have fun – ask for help :-) 

Next article will talk about saving your model by learning autorotations. 

Ron Keith