RC helicopters have been proven to be one of the toughest, yet most enjoyable, radio-controlled vehicles to own and operate. It takes a lot of time and skill to be able to master what some consider the art of flying an RC helicopter. If you're new to the whole radio-controlled helicopter craze that's growing by leaps and bounds on a daily basis, this article will give you a basic understanding of how RC helicopters fly and how they work.



How Do Radio Controlled Helicopters Work?

You may not know this by looking at them, but an RC helicopter is a pretty complicated toy to play with. On top of having many moving parts to operate, a radio-controlled helicopter is made even more complicated by having a radio transmitter and radio receiver thrown into the mix. Actually, the transmitter and receiver are very important for flying an RC helicopter because they send and receive the radio signals that tell the helicopter what to do.

The transmitter is the hand-held device that you use to tell the RC helicopter what you want it to do. The receiver is the device that receives the radio signal inside the RC helicopter and passes it on to the rest of the electronics of the helicopter so that it can perform as its been instructed to do.

It's very important that you have a fully charged transmitter and receiver when you take your RC helicopter out for a flight. If one or the other dies while you're trying to pilot, you're looking at an expensive, so always be sure they're both fully charged when you take them out.

How Do RC Helicopters Fly?

The same principles that allow full-size military helicopters to fly also allows RC helicopters to fly as well. The two main components that allow an RC helicopter to fly are the main rotor and the tail rotor.

The main rotor is the large blade that sits on top of the helicopter. This is the rotor that provides the power associated with lift off and flight. The main rotor usually spins at a constant speed and induces lift by changing the pitch or angle of attack of the blades. The greater the pitch is, the more lift the rotors will provide.

As the main rotor spins, it puts a twisting force on the rest of the helicopter and that's where the tail rotor steps in to help out. Basically, the tail rotor helps to counteract the spinning force of the main rotor and helps keep the helicopter straight. The tail rotor is like a rudder on a ship: it goes the opposite direction so that the helicopter can be steered. The tail rotor is connected to the main rotor through a belt or torque tube and in most cases the tail rotor will spin 3-6 times for each time that the main rotor spins.

It's also important to know that when you're learning to fly an RC helicopter that you learn to fly with the nose of the helicopter and not the tail. Many amateurs get distracted by what the tail is doing and don't realize that the helicopter is going to fly wherever the nose is pointing, even if it's pointing right at a building or a person! So always know what's going on with the nose of the helicopter so that you're in complete control of piloting it.