Finally, your long wait is over. You have received your first ever remote-controlled helicopter after days, weeks, or months of waiting. Of course, you’re excited to try your little helicopter for its first flight. After setting up the batteries and getting your own transmitter, you’re ready to make your first flight into RC helicopter piloting. But wait, are you ready for it? You don’t want to mess up your first ever flight, aren’t you?
To make it more lightweight, most of the beginner RC Helicopters are made in light materials. It’s a fragile little toy, even when you’re using the best and the most durable helicopters. Just one mistake can crash the helicopter. Even if you’re lucky to have not crushed the unit completely, you would probably need new parts to replace the broken ones. As a beginner, it’s more probable to make some mistakes during a flight.
Before starting, check out what are the preparations needed for your first ever helicopter flight. Here are the things newbies need to know in setting up their RC copters and making their first-ever flight as mess-free and safely as possible.
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First Thing First: Preparations
Learn The Controls Beforehand
The first thing you need to learn is how to use the transmitter itself. Not all types of transmitters work the same way as others. There are those that have fancy controls for more advanced pilots. You can also find transmitters with throttle kill options, panic mode, and difficulty options. If you’re just starting out, the safest bet is to set your transmitter to the beginner difficulty, which limits your controls and has the most gyro features activated.
Make Sure To Charge Your Battery
Another thing to remember doing before each flight is to check the RC helicopter’s battery level. It will not only give you the best performance, but it will also give you a more pleasant experience. Additionally, if the battery is low, the copter might disconnect with the transmitter during midflight, which is not a good situation.
Survey The Area Before Taking Off
Last but not least, fly in an open area with minimal structures that can obstruct the movement of your helicopter. If possible, find a grassy lot, which helps in reducing the damage if you managed to crash your unit. Remember, don’t fly the helicopter within close range, especially if there are animals or other people around. The rotor blades are powerful enough to give you injuries, especially if you accidentally set your throttle too high. Learning how to use the throttle cut function is recommended. Only fly when the wind is calm, as it can be difficult to control your RC helicopter if its windy.
Steps In Flying Your RC Helicopter
1. The First Flight
First, turn on the transmitter and the RC Helicopter on. Choose the model that you have in your transmitter and test if it works for your copter. After that, make a distance between you and your copter and try to make it hover by turning the throttle upwards slowly. Do this until the copter is hovering a few inches from the ground.
If the helicopter is not stabilized, you can adjust the trim until the helicopter is hovering on a single spot. Only make small movements using the transmitter, as you can accidentally crash your helicopter to the ground. Doing dangerous stunts is amazing, but you can only do those tricks safely as you improve and level up your piloting skills.
2. Getting Familiar
There are times when the wind where destabilize your helicopter. You can stabilize your helicopter by using the trim, which is used to make the helicopter fly correctly. Sharpen your skills in constantly using the trim control to minimize the tendency of your helicopter getting out of control. You can either have a digital trim (called as switches) or analog trim (called as sliders), depending on your transmitter.
As you ascend higher and higher, the air resistance also increases. Because of this, your helicopter might not have the same performance as it did when it was in a lower height. One of the things you need to master is to switching mindset from high flight to low flight. You’ll be using different techniques based on the altitude of your helicopter.
3. Try Basic Movements First
I know it’s really tempting to attempt doing an incredible RC helicopter stunt right off the bat. But hold up, you need to take small steps before you can make them bigger and more impressive ones. Start your first flight by moving in a straight direction first. What’s important is to familiarize yourself with adjustments done during the flight.
Next is to try and make your helicopter move into a basic circle to practice on making curves movement. These are basic moves but are necessary to learn in order to get better at piloting. Once you’re more confident in your handling skills, you can do more daring stunts. Practice makes everything perfect, so keep practicing your basic moves until you get the hang of it.
4. First Landing
Believe it or not, the first landing might be a challenge to a lot of beginners. You can’t just push you’re the throttle down fast, as you might smash your helicopter to pieces. Find a great nice spot and slowly use your throttle to get the unit down. Keep the speed slow until the RC helicopter is completely on the ground.
Conclusion
Piloting an RC Helicopter is a fun hobby that you can enjoy on your own or with other friends. Make sure to study your helicopter and transmitter first before taking off. And remember to practice your moves and improve your sense of flight over time. Don’t drive the helicopter near another person or an animal, as it can cause injuries. Enjoy your first ever flight with your new RC helicopter.
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