Throttle/Collective etc.

[Jaymom]

Can someone direct me to a list of "heli words" so that I can better understand what people are talking about? For example, is the throttle on the transmitter also called the collective?

Thanks,

Jaymom

[halley]

Full-scale helicopters also have these two controls: cyclic and collective.

The collective is the pilot's control over both throttle (amount of energy to request of the motor), and pitch (angle of each rotor blade twist-wise). On a radio controlled helicopter, it's one stick that controls both together according to a computer inside the radio. On a full-scale, it's a big lever with a twist knob on it, so the pilot can manage each one independently with just one hand by pulling the lever or twisting the knob.

The cyclic is the pilot's control over both aileron (banking side to side) and elevator (tipping nose down or up) functions. Both of these are basically the same as pitch explained above, but they adjust the twist angle of each blade individually when they are at certain positions around the spin of the main rotor shaft. On radio and full-scale helicopters, the cyclic is handled with a single joystick control.

[Jaymom]

Now that I can understand. Appreciate it Halley. Waiting for my Stinger to get back to me is driving me foolish. lol I want to try and use a set of Heli-Max floats for training gear and cant find them here in Ocala. Two hobby shops and neither cater to heli's although they can order what you want. Think I'll just go ahead and order them on the internet.

Thanks,
Jaymom

[flyinfool]

Just make your own training gear.
Get two 1/2 inch diameter hardwood dowels from the hardware store.
While at the hardware store get some cheap clear plastic tubing to fit snugly over the end of the dowels, one foot will be plenty.
Then go to a toy store and get four 4 inch diam whiffle balls.

Drill a 1/2 inch hole all of the way thru each ball as close to centered as you can get.
Cut the tubing into 8 pieces of about 1 inch long.
Mark the center of each dowel.
Slide a piece of the tubing onto the dowel about 5 inches, slide a ball on next and then slide another piece of tubing on to hold the ball in place. I used a drop of CA on each tube just to make sure that it stays put. You DO want the balls to be able to spin freely on the dowels. Do this three more times on the other dowel ends.
Use a tie wrap to join the two dowels to form a X at the center mark on the dowels.
Attach the dowels to the landing gear of the heli with some #62 or #64 rubber bands.
Locate the center of the X approximately under the main shaft or slightly forward.
Training is easier and the training gear attachment is better if you put the landing struts on backwards, so that they sweep toward the rear of the heli, this gets the CG of the heli closer to the center of the skids.

This method is cheap and works well.

[Jaymom]

I walked into the local hobby shop two days ago and the owner sold me his old old trainer gear for $10. Looks like it has never been used. Big red balls on it.

Jaymom

[kiwibob72]

Originally Posted by Jaymom

I walked into the local hobby shop two days ago and the owner sold me his old old trainer gear for $10. Looks like it has never been used. Big red balls on it.

Jaymom

Good find.
I'm lucky some training gear came included when I brought my starter motor 2nd hand online, as despite the fact I can fly my 450 electric without raining feet .... it was pointed out to me at a local club that they would be a good idea when I first fly my nitro heli being as it will help IF i don't have the trims centered, as while you can check blade tracking while the heli is fixed to a table, you can't check that the cyclic tracking is spot on until you fly it, and the training feet give some margin of safety 'just in case' ....