Learning to Fly a Helicopter...Remote Control That Is..

Finally some time to sit and type up a blog entry. Trying to recover from our little adventure where we travelled to South Carolina for one of the biggest radio controlled air events in the country. Every year people come from all over the US as well as all over the world to fly and watch others fly their giant scale airplanes from sizes ranging 25% to 60% , helicopters, float planes, etc. The event is known as Joe Nall and it is one of the largest and most fantastic gatherings of its kind you could imagine. Thousands of acres are opened up from the Confederate Air Farce Flying Club to let other hobbyists enjoy both a week long flying event with other like minded individuals including mid-day demonstration shows of some of the best pilots in the world as well as some full scale pilots doing a private aerobatic show for the attendees too.
The full scale pilots included aerobatic champion Matt Chapman flying his CAP 580, and Bryan Jensen with his Pitts Model 12R "The Beast" and it really is something to see on such an intimate scale. Witnessing some of the amazing skills of some of those RC pilots was another fantastic sight to see especially watching the skills of the helicopter aficionados. I really love to watch those things fly.

Not long ago, my husband brought home an E-flite Blade MCX helicopter from the hobby shop and my first impression was, “Oh no, what have you bought now?” My initial reaction was that he bought yet another toy for the RC hobby box. That was until, I watched him fly it in our kitchen. Unlike him, I had ZERO helicopter flying experience other than watching him fly one and gasping in awe at some of the maneuvers that he can do.

It did not take me long to realize that not only was this new toy the coolest thing ever, but now I had to have one too. This great little invention was sturdy enough to be slammed into the counter top or the refrigerator and then just be placed back into position to keep on flying. This was right up my alley. The next day, a visit to the local hobby shop, and I too had one of my own. With his quick bit of instruction on what controls did what and the simple one line of great advice: “If you feel like you are losing control, just throttle back to OFF”, I was on my way. It was fantastic. I, a complete novice, was able to hover and fly this helicopter somewhat stably like a real pilot. Now granted, I must be honest. I smashed this thing into the cabinets and the floor once or twice. Okay maybe three or mumble mumble times. But, it kept on keeping on no matter what and so did I. Somehow, I seemed to actually pick this up without ever having been on a simulator. Am I a latent genius or is this thing just super beginner friendly? From some of my past antics, unfortunately, I would have to suggest the latter. But, as I started to fly it more, I started to get more confident. My husband mentioned that once I mastered this one, there was another one just like it, but bigger. A real helicopter for me to try. It even had the same counter rotating blades so I could transfer what I learned from this one right over. My wheels started to turn. If I could snag a bigger one, then one day, I too will be able to hang around with the “cool” kids and their real helicopters at the Joe Nall too. I put the idea aside. After all, we can’t have both of us into yet another hobby right? Or can we?

On our recent visit to Joe Nall, this year, they offered a dedicated helicopter line as something new so the helis could fly unobstructed and do their tricks. There were many oohs and ahhs for those pilot’s flights from everyone who watched including myself. But, I felt left out. I wanted to fly with them too. I had brought my little MCX, but it really wasn’t big enough to fly outside. But, lo and behold, we just happened to be walking down vendor row and there it was in all its glory. The big brother to my MCX. The brand new E-flite Blade CX3 sporting a full scale canopy with police logos, real servos, and much larger motors. And they were having a sale. The next thing I knew, I heard someone who sounded exactly like me say: “Excuse me, how much is that heli there and yes, I’ll take one please.” Not 5 minutes later, I was clutching my new toy in its suitcase box proudly as we went to watch the noon time demos. “No, I am NOT carrying this for my husband, this one is MINE, but thanks for asking”. Sheesh. I don’t just want to watch at the field sidelines anymore, and I have to start somewhere . This seems like as good a place as any to start.

After watching pilot Justin Chi fly his helicopter, I was really inspired. If you don’t know who Justin is, he is a phenomenal little pilot with some mad heli skills. I learned that he’s been flying for only three years. Oh yeah, and he is only SIX years old. That’s right SIX. I have puzzles that technically he isn’t even supposed to be attempting to complete yet, but as far as flying goes, he is unbelievable. I figured if he can do it, so could I. Well at least someday. I might be a resident of a senior center by then, but regardless, that little boy is now my new idol. I walked back to the campsite and was so excited. I couldn’t wait to try this thing out.

We went back to the trailer and charged up the battery. It took at least 30 minutes for a full charge which was not much longer than the MCX charge time but, it still seemed like hours before it was done. Hubby and I quickly realized that there was a small problem. I was not a registered pilot for the Joe Nall event, so technically I could not fly. About that time, a couple of giant scale pilots started tail dipping in the pond. Essentially, they do these crazy maneuvers which allows them to hover their planes from the propeller and dare each other to dip their rudders in the water without crashing in the process. It takes quite a bit of skill to do this, but they always make it look easy. Obviously, these are not things a full scale plane could ever do, so please don’t ask your pilot to do so on your next flight on Delta. Chances are if you are in the plane when this happens you might want to grab the oxygen mask.

Ok, so anyway, I could not fly my new purchase officially, but luck was in my favor as there was a nice big gap between our campsite and the next. More than enough room to give this thing a test run. But, then I got cocky and decided why not just jump right in big time? Just go ahead and fly with those guys who were dipping in the pond. Don’t be shy. So I joined them.
Okay, not really. But, I found out if you strategically place your heli in the foreground with these guys in the back, it looks like you are right there with them. Bet you couldn't even tell right? Ahh, the joys of clever photography. I didn’t get to actually do a whole lot of flying there other than that. I got nervous and was afraid that I would get caught flying without a registration tag. Yeah, I am a rule follower, so sue me. So back in the box it went.

Later that night, when we were heading back to the hotel, I decided to bring my new heli with me to fly inside the room. It dawned on me that our room was quite spacious and roomy and well, I guess it turns out I am not such a staunch “rule” follower after all. :-) It was not long before I realized, that A) the room suddenly got quite small when this new helicopter checked itself in and B) it was NOT as easy to fly as the MCX.

At first, I had a really hard time managing the throttle. The power was far stronger and full throttle on this one sends it straight up to the ceiling very quickly. All the controls were far more sensitive too. On the little MCX, I had more time to react with even major stick movements because of the delay. Not so with this one. Even a tiny stick movement sends this one charging in that direction. This was going to take some getting used to handling the responsiveness of these controls and a lot more practice that is for sure. After smashing it into the desk and then the bed more than a few times, I quickly realized this bird outgrew the room way too quickly. I could either call the front desk and upgrade our room or put it back in the box until we got home to try it there. Fortunately, for our bank account, they were all sold out on room upgrades, so back in the box it went yet again.

We got home, unpacked and recharged the battery one more time. The wind had died down a bit as the sun started to set. Hubby tried to persuade me to take it outside, but I didn’t feel ready yet and was afraid of potentially breaking my new toy on the hard concrete. So I headed for the kitchen. This time I wasn’t there to cook though. This time, I was going to practice with the new CX heli since I had success there with the first little MCX. After a few tries, I finally got it figured it out. Hubby pointed out that one problem was that I was watching the tail and kept making my rudder corrections in the wrong direction, and instead I had to concentrate on where the nose was pointing to get it to straighten up and fly right so to speak. This was something that didn’t really affect my flying on the little heli because there were other things that could compensate including delayed response controls. I also had to grasp the concept that if I felt a loss of control with this bigger one, I could not just throttle back all the way when landing it. Because it is bigger, I had to be much more graceful in my landings and throttle back slowly because slamming this one into the ground from full power at 5 feet is not nearly as forgiving as the tiny one was. Once I got those things down, I was able to hold it much steadier. I kept a relatively stable hover for quite a few minutes and all my corrections were actually working to keep it exactly where I wanted. You know simple things like, out of the kitchen sink and not smashing it into the refrigerator.


It will take a lot more practice to master this heli, but now I have gotten the bug and want to move on to aerobatic flying so I can join the “big boys” next year. I am going to invest in a set of training gear as well so I don’t smash this one to bits when I soon venture to fly it outside. I am really psyched about the idea of mastering my first real heli and I hope to achieve that goal soon. I watched another experienced RC helicopter pilot fly at Joe Nall named Marcus Kim and his skills were mighty impressive too. He was flying this awesome Avant Aurora bird and you should see what a great pilot that helicopter was able to make HIM. I’ve got my eye on that one for next year . ;-) If that thing can make him fly like that, I can only imagine what it can do for me.


And I am sure it won't be long before I can put these skills to good use in real life. So heaven forbid I am doing some air travel in the future where the pilot keels over, and they make that announcement about "Can anyone fly this thing!!????"...I can step up and say: "I CAN!!!" :-)