Flying your helicopter is not quite as simple as it looks. We have all seen the pilots when were newbie’s and thought that looks simple. Then you try it on your own remote control helicopter and find out to your frustration, that it is not simple after all. Follow these guidelines and we hope you will be up in the air and in control in no time.
Simulator First
Following these guidelines when using a simulator will improve your performance in real life. I cannot stress the use fullness of a simulator enough. You may think they’re expensive, at 160 to 230 dollars, but I guarantee you they’ll save you that much in parts as well as time learning how to fly. The simulator is not a game. Each time you crash it could end up costing you hundreds of dollars. Yes, it is going to happen and it’s fun some times to see what you can make it do, however, do not get into the habit of watching the helicopter fly into the ground. Fight it to the end and try to recover as hard as you would if a thousand dollars were riding on it. You are trying to form GOOD habits here, not bad ones. The following are what you will be working on when you use the simulator:
Don’t let the helicopter hit you!
Don’t let that helicopter get too far away.
Ok, so you can land your helicopter in the simulator now, but can you make it land where you want it to precisely? Work on this.
Ok, so you can make it land where ever you want to, can you make it land pointing any direction you want it to? Work on this too.
Try flying with all the trims slightly off center
Adjust the trims at random and get used to it, then do it all over again.
Move all the sticks like crazy all over the place until the helicopter is in a precarious position… then level it out as fast as you can
Turn the wind up to 10 mph and repeat all the above
Turn the turbulence up to 10 mph and repeat all the above
Practice flying from left to right back and forth, then practice flying in and out without hitting or flying over yourself
The auto rotations in CSM are way way way too easy. Don’t rely on the practice to help you in a real event. To help you get close to the difficulty of a real autorotation, go into whichever configuration screen has “blade drag ratio” and double it. I think it’s at .22 by default, set it to at least .44
Experiment, if you haven’t already, with loops and rolls
You’re ready to try the real thing? No more simulator practice in Level 5!
The following is what you should be able to do on the simulator at this level:
1 – Hover in any spot and move to another spot and hover (Right to left and left to right)
2 – Land the helicopter precisely anywhere and pointing in any direction.
3 – Fly in 10 mph winds with turbulence of 10 mph.
4 – Fly right to left, left to right, away from you, and towards you.
5 – Never fly over you.