Mitch Marozas is an excellent 3-D pilot. He
often stands his Gaui X7 on its tail before
launching into a high-speed funnel.
This is a 600-size
electric heli with
a full fuselage,
piloted by Andy
Rummer of
Germany. Andy
is performing a
difficult funnel
because the heli is
in a nearly vertical
attitude.
Your burning heli
questions are
answered
by Mark Fadely
MDKJA@aol.com
Welcome back to the helicopter column. This is where you can go to when you are
beginning to question your sanity.
It is common knowledge among
RCers that helicopter pilots are as
unstable as their machines. I am not
saying there are no well-grounded,
practical, high-functioning people in this
side of the hobby. I am simply saying
that I have never met any (ha, ha!).
Helicopter pilots seem to be eager
to try something new. This is probably
why their flying skills often quickly
progress. In fact, there are pilots
competing at top world levels after
only two years of experience.
In this month’s column, I will answer
some questions
I’ve received
from readers.
Q: I can hover
and fly around
but now I want to
learn some 3-D.
What heli should
I get and what
maneuvers should
I work on first?
A: This is a great question and it takes
me back to one of the most exciting
times in my flying. The first big thrill
in flying helicopters is when you lift
off into a controlled hover without
crashing.
The next big thrill—and
maybe the most exciting
point in your progression—
is when you hover inverted
for the first time. When you
flip the heli over and can
make it set there inverted
it’s just … ah, well … pretty
darn exciting to say the
least! Many pilots will never
make it to that point, so
when you do it’s similar to
entering a special new club:
the inverted club!
The cool thing about this
club is that when you’re
there it opens up the new
world of 3-D flight. Flying
3-D means exploring
the aircraft’s entire flight
envelope.
After you master inverted
flight, you have the basic
elements you need for 3-D flight.
I’m a big believer in a regimented
training program that includes tracking
your progress. That is where the flight
log comes in handy. Not every pilot
will take things this seriously, but if you
want to progress as fast as you can, this
makes sense.
Record every flight in your logbook.
Keep track of how long the flight was,
what maneuvers you worked on, and
any maintenance issues. If you crash,
write that down, too, but don’t let your
buddies read the log!
Use a few pages in the front of the
book to list what maneuvers you want
to work on and check them off as they
are mastered by writing the date beside
each one. You should first master all
orientations of hovering upright and
inverted. Pilots will usually skip this
because they are having so much fun
flipping and rolling all over the place.
That will be a mistake in the long run.
As you progress, you will see
someone do a maneuver and think,
“Wow, that was cool. I’m gonna do
that.” Then you find out that you
never learned inverted hovering while
126 Model Aviation OC TOBER 2013 www.ModelAviation.com
