ErichF
07-22-2007, 09:44 PM
I posted this on the RC Helimag forum, and I know some folks here may like this, so here it is:
Well, with the conclusion of the 2007 US Heli Nats, the contest season has pretty much drawn to a close this year. This year was the first for a new set of maneuvers in all three AMA classes of RC heli competition. Having seen, and judged, a number of pilots flying these new schedules this year, I have decided to put together a synopsis of the class 1 maneuvers here.
First, a little homework, students… Go to the AMA site and look up the AMA Competition Regulations. Here is the link directly to the helicopter rules:
http://www.modelaircraft.org/events/rulebooks/RC%20Helicopter.pdf
This is a PDF file, so it can be printed out in a number of formats to suit your needs. In it, you will find all the information you need to know to prepare for a contest. The rules spell out what type of helicopters you can fly, the restrictions they may have, how a contest operated, and how the hovering pad is laid out. The rules also go into how scoring is done. Pay particular attention to paragraph 28, Terms. This paragraph contains a lot of information that I see new pilots missing during their first contests.
The following paragraph, 29, covers the maneuver descriptions. Let’s go through those for Class 1….
The first maneuver is the Tail-In Vertical Rectangle. Here’s the rule:
29.1.1 Tail-in Vertical Rectangle. Model
is positioned tail toward the pilot. Model takes off
from central helipad and rises vertically to eye
level, pauses, maintaining a constant heading,
altitude, and speed, hovers sideways either
direction to the flag, pauses, rises vertically two (2)
meters, pauses, hovers sideways across the central
helipad to the opposite flag, pauses, descends
vertically two (2) meters, pauses, hovers back to the
central helipad, pauses, and descends vertically to
the central helipad.
See the diagrams attached to this Posting for reference. The first part, the take off, needs to be done from the very center of the helipad to avoid a downgrade right away. If the helicopter is off center, have your caller/helper reposition the helicopter prior to spooling up. If you have already spooled up, you are allowed to reposition by hovering it. Just don’t take all day, as the clock is running. Remember, you have 5 minutes to complete your test/trim hovering before the 8 minute round clock starts. The round clock starts when you call the beginning of your first maneuver.
When you are ready to start you first maneuver, your caller will announce the name of the maneuver to the judges, and upon your signal, will announce “Now!” or “Beginning Now!” Have your helicopter spooled up and ready for immediate takeoff just before announcing the beginning of the maneuver. Once announced, lift the helicopter smoothly to skids at eye level hover. It’s OK to go slightly higher, but a severe downgrade is given for low hovering, for safety’s sake. The liftoff for each maneuver needs to be a constant rate, heading, and minimal pitch/roll. Remember, helicopters with a clockwise rotating main rotor will lift off left skid first, due to the side thrust of the tail rotor. If you don’t compensate for this (and any crosswinds) at the beginning of the lift off, the heli will slide over to the left as soon as it comes off the ground. You should make all your lift offs at the same rate and to the same altitude throughout the schedule of hovering maneuvers.
Once at a stable, eye-level hover, count off to yourself, “one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three.” Each element of the hovering maneuvers is separated by a minimum two second pause. I use three, as in the heat of the flight, you may count too fast. You get a more severe downgrade for cutting pauses short. After your three count, begin to transition the helicopter sideways in either direction (preferably into the wind) over to the cone or flag on one side. Once settled as best you can over the cone, perform your three count again. As a hint, if you over or under-shoot the cone a small amount, don’t chase it back down. Stop the helicopter and keep it where it’s at for the three count. Then, climb straight up in a hover at least 2 meters above eye level. This is where you can fix your cone position, as you climb. Once you are at the 2m point, stop and three count. Now, start transitioning the heli to the opposite cone or flag. Remember to maintain a constant, tail-in heading perpendicular to the box during all these transitions. Once over the other cone, stop and three count. Descend back down to eye level (remember skids eye level) and again stop for a three count. Then, transition back to the center pad and pause for a three count before descending to the pad.
Throughout the entire maneuver, you need to keep your heading constant (much easier these days with Heading Hold Gyros), and your transit speeds all at the same, constant rate. If you over or under-shoot a flag, just stop and do your count. Chasing flags usually ends up costing you more points for horizontal movement. When you land, make it smooth, with no bounce or tail twitch. Focus on getting the skids inside the 1 meter circle, but a perfect score means the mainshaft is right over the center point. Once on the ground, your caller should announce “complete!” and announce the next maneuver to the judges. Do not spool down the helicopter between maneuvers unless you suspect a problem. Remember, once the round clock starts, you can’t physically touch your helicopter until the round is over. If you need to reposition for the next takeoff, do so BEFORE your caller announces the beginning of the next maneuver.
The second hovering maneuver in Class 1 is the Tail-In Inverted Vertical Triangle. This name is confusing to a lot of people, especially if they have never seen the maneuver before. First of all, it’s not entirely tail in. There are 90° pirouettes over the flags on each side. The term “inverted” in the name refers to the figure of the triangle, NOT the attitude of the helicopter. Here’s what the rule says:
29.1.2 Tail-in Inverted Triangle. Model
takes off from the central helipad and rises
vertically to eye level, pauses, climbs sideways two
(2) meters to the either flag, pauses, turns 90
degrees nose toward the central helipad, pauses,
flies over the central helipad to the opposite flag,
pauses, turns 90 degrees nose out, pauses, descends
two (2) meters sideways back to the central helipad,
pauses, descends vertically to land on central
helipad.
Again, refer to the diagrams below for visualizing the maneuver. As with the first maneuver, signal your caller to announce the beginning of the maneuver. Takeoffs into a stable eye-level hover and do your three count. Next, transition the helicopter sideways and upwards to either end flag and 2 meters above eye level. This angle is close to 30° so start with that. If you make the angle too steep, you end up at a much higher altitude than required, and you may have difficulties controlling the helicopter from such a high perspective. In my experience judging class 1, most pilots actually make the angle too shallow, and often stop over the flag too low. So, visualize the sideways path to a point over the cone and follow that path with the helicopter. A trick I use next works well to keep you over the flag during the 90° pirouette. I “lock” the helicopter onto a distant cloud in the background sky and refer to the cloud for positioning, as opposed to the flag now 4 meters below the helicopter. If you look down at the flag, you’re toast. It should only be in your peripheral vision at best. This also applies to the previous maneuver, the vertical rectangle, as well.
Once you have your helicopter stabilized over the flag for a three count, complete a 90° pirouette towards the opposite flag and do another three count. Then transition the helicopter forward to a point above the opposite flag and pause. Perform another 90° piro in the opposite direction (back to tail in) and pause. Lastly, transition sideways and downwards back over the center pad and pause. Complete your landing and make sure your caller announces “complete!”
The last hovering maneuver in Class 1 is the Spike with 90° and 180° pirouettes, and can be quite intimidating for new helicopter pilots. While simple in form, the top 180° piro has caused many new pilots to lose focus. Here’s the rule:
29.1.3 Spike with 90 and 180 Degree
Pirouettes. Model Takes off from central helipad
and rises vertically to eye level, pauses, turns 90
degrees either direction, pauses, climbs two (2)
meters, pauses, turns 180 degrees tail in, pauses,
descends two (2) meters, pauses, turns 90 degree
nose out, pauses, and descends vertically to the
central helipad.
Prepare for the maneuver as before – centered and on heading. Announce beginning and lift off to eye level. After your pause, piro the helicopter 90° in either direction towards one of the flags. Another tip here is to piro the nose downwind, with the tail into the wind. The reason for this is that helicopters would rather climb with a tailwind than to descend with one. Turning the tail into the wind here places the nose into the wind for the descending portion of the maneuver. Now, after your three count, raise the helicopter 2 meters vertically and pause. Then, perform a 180° pirouette, nose-out, so that the heli is pointed at the other flag and pause. Then, descend vertically 2 meters and pause. Pirouette back to tail in and pause. Lastly, descend to and land on the center pad. Remember to signal your caller to announce complete, if he doesn’t already.
That’s it for the hovering portion of Class 1. I’m going to take a break and discuss the forward flight, or “upstairs” maneuvers in a later post. I have, however, created and posted diagrams of all eight maneuvers of Class 1 in this post. Go ahead, print them out, and attach them to your copy of the AMA rules PDF. Feel free to pass them around to your flying buds and see who can manage their helicopter the best. It could turn into a fun exercise for everyone at your next gathering. Until next time, practice often, and HAVE FUN!
Well, with the conclusion of the 2007 US Heli Nats, the contest season has pretty much drawn to a close this year. This year was the first for a new set of maneuvers in all three AMA classes of RC heli competition. Having seen, and judged, a number of pilots flying these new schedules this year, I have decided to put together a synopsis of the class 1 maneuvers here.
First, a little homework, students… Go to the AMA site and look up the AMA Competition Regulations. Here is the link directly to the helicopter rules:
http://www.modelaircraft.org/events/rulebooks/RC%20Helicopter.pdf
This is a PDF file, so it can be printed out in a number of formats to suit your needs. In it, you will find all the information you need to know to prepare for a contest. The rules spell out what type of helicopters you can fly, the restrictions they may have, how a contest operated, and how the hovering pad is laid out. The rules also go into how scoring is done. Pay particular attention to paragraph 28, Terms. This paragraph contains a lot of information that I see new pilots missing during their first contests.
The following paragraph, 29, covers the maneuver descriptions. Let’s go through those for Class 1….
The first maneuver is the Tail-In Vertical Rectangle. Here’s the rule:
29.1.1 Tail-in Vertical Rectangle. Model
is positioned tail toward the pilot. Model takes off
from central helipad and rises vertically to eye
level, pauses, maintaining a constant heading,
altitude, and speed, hovers sideways either
direction to the flag, pauses, rises vertically two (2)
meters, pauses, hovers sideways across the central
helipad to the opposite flag, pauses, descends
vertically two (2) meters, pauses, hovers back to the
central helipad, pauses, and descends vertically to
the central helipad.
See the diagrams attached to this Posting for reference. The first part, the take off, needs to be done from the very center of the helipad to avoid a downgrade right away. If the helicopter is off center, have your caller/helper reposition the helicopter prior to spooling up. If you have already spooled up, you are allowed to reposition by hovering it. Just don’t take all day, as the clock is running. Remember, you have 5 minutes to complete your test/trim hovering before the 8 minute round clock starts. The round clock starts when you call the beginning of your first maneuver.
When you are ready to start you first maneuver, your caller will announce the name of the maneuver to the judges, and upon your signal, will announce “Now!” or “Beginning Now!” Have your helicopter spooled up and ready for immediate takeoff just before announcing the beginning of the maneuver. Once announced, lift the helicopter smoothly to skids at eye level hover. It’s OK to go slightly higher, but a severe downgrade is given for low hovering, for safety’s sake. The liftoff for each maneuver needs to be a constant rate, heading, and minimal pitch/roll. Remember, helicopters with a clockwise rotating main rotor will lift off left skid first, due to the side thrust of the tail rotor. If you don’t compensate for this (and any crosswinds) at the beginning of the lift off, the heli will slide over to the left as soon as it comes off the ground. You should make all your lift offs at the same rate and to the same altitude throughout the schedule of hovering maneuvers.
Once at a stable, eye-level hover, count off to yourself, “one thousand one, one thousand two, one thousand three.” Each element of the hovering maneuvers is separated by a minimum two second pause. I use three, as in the heat of the flight, you may count too fast. You get a more severe downgrade for cutting pauses short. After your three count, begin to transition the helicopter sideways in either direction (preferably into the wind) over to the cone or flag on one side. Once settled as best you can over the cone, perform your three count again. As a hint, if you over or under-shoot the cone a small amount, don’t chase it back down. Stop the helicopter and keep it where it’s at for the three count. Then, climb straight up in a hover at least 2 meters above eye level. This is where you can fix your cone position, as you climb. Once you are at the 2m point, stop and three count. Now, start transitioning the heli to the opposite cone or flag. Remember to maintain a constant, tail-in heading perpendicular to the box during all these transitions. Once over the other cone, stop and three count. Descend back down to eye level (remember skids eye level) and again stop for a three count. Then, transition back to the center pad and pause for a three count before descending to the pad.
Throughout the entire maneuver, you need to keep your heading constant (much easier these days with Heading Hold Gyros), and your transit speeds all at the same, constant rate. If you over or under-shoot a flag, just stop and do your count. Chasing flags usually ends up costing you more points for horizontal movement. When you land, make it smooth, with no bounce or tail twitch. Focus on getting the skids inside the 1 meter circle, but a perfect score means the mainshaft is right over the center point. Once on the ground, your caller should announce “complete!” and announce the next maneuver to the judges. Do not spool down the helicopter between maneuvers unless you suspect a problem. Remember, once the round clock starts, you can’t physically touch your helicopter until the round is over. If you need to reposition for the next takeoff, do so BEFORE your caller announces the beginning of the next maneuver.
The second hovering maneuver in Class 1 is the Tail-In Inverted Vertical Triangle. This name is confusing to a lot of people, especially if they have never seen the maneuver before. First of all, it’s not entirely tail in. There are 90° pirouettes over the flags on each side. The term “inverted” in the name refers to the figure of the triangle, NOT the attitude of the helicopter. Here’s what the rule says:
29.1.2 Tail-in Inverted Triangle. Model
takes off from the central helipad and rises
vertically to eye level, pauses, climbs sideways two
(2) meters to the either flag, pauses, turns 90
degrees nose toward the central helipad, pauses,
flies over the central helipad to the opposite flag,
pauses, turns 90 degrees nose out, pauses, descends
two (2) meters sideways back to the central helipad,
pauses, descends vertically to land on central
helipad.
Again, refer to the diagrams below for visualizing the maneuver. As with the first maneuver, signal your caller to announce the beginning of the maneuver. Takeoffs into a stable eye-level hover and do your three count. Next, transition the helicopter sideways and upwards to either end flag and 2 meters above eye level. This angle is close to 30° so start with that. If you make the angle too steep, you end up at a much higher altitude than required, and you may have difficulties controlling the helicopter from such a high perspective. In my experience judging class 1, most pilots actually make the angle too shallow, and often stop over the flag too low. So, visualize the sideways path to a point over the cone and follow that path with the helicopter. A trick I use next works well to keep you over the flag during the 90° pirouette. I “lock” the helicopter onto a distant cloud in the background sky and refer to the cloud for positioning, as opposed to the flag now 4 meters below the helicopter. If you look down at the flag, you’re toast. It should only be in your peripheral vision at best. This also applies to the previous maneuver, the vertical rectangle, as well.
Once you have your helicopter stabilized over the flag for a three count, complete a 90° pirouette towards the opposite flag and do another three count. Then transition the helicopter forward to a point above the opposite flag and pause. Perform another 90° piro in the opposite direction (back to tail in) and pause. Lastly, transition sideways and downwards back over the center pad and pause. Complete your landing and make sure your caller announces “complete!”
The last hovering maneuver in Class 1 is the Spike with 90° and 180° pirouettes, and can be quite intimidating for new helicopter pilots. While simple in form, the top 180° piro has caused many new pilots to lose focus. Here’s the rule:
29.1.3 Spike with 90 and 180 Degree
Pirouettes. Model Takes off from central helipad
and rises vertically to eye level, pauses, turns 90
degrees either direction, pauses, climbs two (2)
meters, pauses, turns 180 degrees tail in, pauses,
descends two (2) meters, pauses, turns 90 degree
nose out, pauses, and descends vertically to the
central helipad.
Prepare for the maneuver as before – centered and on heading. Announce beginning and lift off to eye level. After your pause, piro the helicopter 90° in either direction towards one of the flags. Another tip here is to piro the nose downwind, with the tail into the wind. The reason for this is that helicopters would rather climb with a tailwind than to descend with one. Turning the tail into the wind here places the nose into the wind for the descending portion of the maneuver. Now, after your three count, raise the helicopter 2 meters vertically and pause. Then, perform a 180° pirouette, nose-out, so that the heli is pointed at the other flag and pause. Then, descend vertically 2 meters and pause. Pirouette back to tail in and pause. Lastly, descend to and land on the center pad. Remember to signal your caller to announce complete, if he doesn’t already.
That’s it for the hovering portion of Class 1. I’m going to take a break and discuss the forward flight, or “upstairs” maneuvers in a later post. I have, however, created and posted diagrams of all eight maneuvers of Class 1 in this post. Go ahead, print them out, and attach them to your copy of the AMA rules PDF. Feel free to pass them around to your flying buds and see who can manage their helicopter the best. It could turn into a fun exercise for everyone at your next gathering. Until next time, practice often, and HAVE FUN!