If you have recently invested in an RC helicopter and you have had some issues getting it to fly, you may not know where to turn next. It may just be that you are looking for a decent flying club in your area and you aren’t sure if there is one nearby.

Fear not. The internet is a treasure trove of valuable information these days; it is just about knowing where to look. Most RC helicopter enthusiasts are good folk and are only too happy to share knowledge and experiences with beginners and those looking for advice with specific problems.

For most queries, you can get in touch with the RC helicopter supplier who sold you your model. If they are not in a position to advise you directly, they’ll surely point you in the right direction.

Speak to someone who builds and flies these RC helicopters on a regular basis. Chances are they’ll have heard it before. They will remember what it is like to start out and the common issues they faced themselves.

There are plenty of places you can turn to for help and you need never suffer on your own when flying your RC helicopter.

If you have recently taken up the hobby of flying RC electric helicopters then you’ll certainly have faced your fair share of frustrating and exasperating moments. If you have missed out on the beginner models but have decided to start off with a 6 channel helicopter then you will probably have faced a challenge in mastering the controls.

This is only to be expected. It takes time, effort and patience to fully get to grips with a 6 channel flying machine and this is especially true when flying outdoors in windy conditions.

For the more ambitious enthusiasts, this is the most rewarding part of it all; to stick with it when the going gets tough and finally master the aircraft.

One option, which is not a cop out (but can seem that way), is to invest in a set of training gear to help you get used to flying your RC helicopter. This attaches onto the skids of the helicopter and basically prevents it from tipping over quite so easily, which it can do.

Hopefully this article will have reinvigorated you and you can persevere with flying your RC helicopter. If you have any questions, speak to your trustworthy RC hobbyists who will be able to answer any queries you may have.

When you watch an expert flying his RC helicopter around a field it can look easy, but what you don’t see is the hours of practice spent making mistakes and learning from these mistakes. One of the main things which cause beginners to the world of radio control helicopters to give up is a lack of patience.

There are so many different models of helicopter to choose from it is hard to get a balance between getting a helicopter that will prove a little challenging to fly outdoors and one that just ends up with a person getting more and more frustrated.

If you do your research into an RC helicopter model which is right for you, and learn to be patient and get to grips with it, especially when flying it outdoors, then it can be ultimately a rewarding experience.

If you stick with it and learn to master the helicopter indoors for a while, you will get the hang of controlling its flight and be more confident when going outdoors. If you give it a chance, stick with it and take your time, you’ll get it eventually. This can be one of the most satisfying experiences you can have.

This is the final look at the troubleshooting problems you may experience with RC helicopters. There are a lot of other things that may be affecting the performance, especially with the more complex models, but these are generally the most common. As well as the sensitivity of the gyro and its attachment, there are other things that can make the tail jerk and go into spasms every now and then.

Once you have checked that the electronics of the gyro are not being influenced by outside issues, make sure you check the belt drive (if you have one) to make sure the belt’s teeth aren’t catching on the inside of the boom. If the belt is too loose, this can happen quite easily.

You should also be sure to check the engine and see if it is the cause of any loss of power to the tail. The engine can often be the cause of tail jerks, especially if there is any spluttering. Also, make sure you aren’t running low on fuel.

Take a look at the drive shaft and make sure it is secure and hasn’t slipped or backed out. Finally, do a check on your belt, tail gears and pinion to make sure they have not been damaged.

As the tail is the most sensitive part of the RC helicopter, any radio hits can be more easily noticed. We looked at radio interference in the last article, so check back to make sure this isn’t the cause of the tail jerks. If all else fails, you may need to speak to an expert at your RC helicopter stockist, and I’m sure they’d only be too happy to help.

As we have established, there are many things that can go with radio control helicopters, but most of these can be fixed without too much problem. As well as the radio-related issues we have discussed, there are also things you can check if you experience random tail jerks.

There are a number of concerns such as tail jerks, wags or spasms which can happen from time to time and can be attributed to the gyro. The gyro needs to be just right, i.e. not too sensitive, nor too lax either. This might be more obvious during fast flight when the tail is more sensitive anyway. You need to watch your rpm’s when attempting any aerobatics, especially if you suspect there may be a problem. You may just need to decrease your gain slightly.

Another common problem occurs when the gyro is not mounted properly. The gyro may not be secure and you should use the base to mount it on a horizontal surface. Only use the gyro tape which is designed for use with your gyro. This may seem obvious, but may be the cause of your tail jerks.

The final gyro problem we will consider is high frequency vibrations which can easily interfere with the inner workings of the gyro and affect its performance.

As promised, we will now be detailing the common causes of radio interference and lockout which can affect RC electric helicopters. Hopefully, some of these points may resonate with you and you can now locate and try to fix the problem, then you can get back flying again.

These are some of the radio problems you may encounter:

• If your radio antenna has touched something metal, this can cause interference. Also, make sure that your metal to metal screws are loctited, as well as the main shaft.
• If there is a rattling or vibration problem then this may be caused by a loose metal to metal connection somewhere. There may even be a loose connection inside your receiver.
• Check the bearings to see if they have been damaged in some way. Make sure the bearings in the tail gear are sufficiently greased.
• You may be getting some interference from somebody’s TV channel which is on a harmonic frequency. Or, you may be flying too close to another person who is on the same channel as you.
• The antenna may be in too close a proximity to other electronics.
• The receiver may not be securely insulated from the engine vibrations of your craft.

Finally, if all the electrical connections are fully secure, it may just be that you have low battery power on your receiver or transmitter. Make sure you are in a place where the antenna has the strongest signal possible and away from other electronic devices. If there is still a problem, it may not be radio-related.

In the past couple of articles we have looked at the things you need to check if your RC helicopter doesn’t seem to be flying as it should. You may be a beginner and not know what you are looking for, or a more experienced flying enthusiast who just needs a few pointers to locate the problem.

Whatever issues you are having with your RC helicopter, there is surely a way to get it flying again in no time – once you have figured out what the issue is. Now, over this and the next article, we will look at some of the radio problems which may affect an RC helicopter.

It may not be comforting to know but there can be many causes of radio interference and lockout which can affect your RC helicopter. If you are using just FM, then radio hits will be shown through a series of jerks and spasms during flight. If you are using PCM, your controls may just stop responding to your instructions and just revert to your pre-programmed positions.

As I mentioned previously, there are a number of things which could be affecting the radio transmitter and preventing you from enjoying your hobby. We will be looking at what these causes might be, next.

Another subject that needs touching on briefly for all you beginners is rotation. RC helicopters are usually divided into two different types with regard to their rotors. There are either single rotor models or twin rotor models (otherwise known as coaxial).

For beginners the best option is to go for the coaxial version. They are easy to gets to grips with and can be quite addictive. The reason these models are easier to control is because they have no tail rudder (or rotor). This means you only need 3 channels so there is less control to worry about. The twin rotors work together controlling the torque. This is great stuff, having 6 channels to control if you are a beginner is RC helicopter suicide.

What are the three channels I need to control?
Having three channels means you need to look after three things. These are up or down movement, left and right movement, and forwards or backwards movement. With no tail rudder to worry about you can just have great fun and relax (until you upgrade to the 6 channel version).

What happens if the motor fails on your RC helicopter mid-flight? Why doesn’t the copter come crashing down in a blaze of glory? It’s all to do with autorotation.

There are many difficult skills you will have to learn when you start a new hobby with RC helicopters, but none are more important than how to control your copter if you run into problems when using it. Autorotation is really difficult to learn, especially if you are a novice, but it is essential that you know what it is because at some point in your RC helicopter flying career you are likely to need it.

Basically autorotation is when your copters blades spin without the motor engaged. The continuing momentum of the blades joined with the motion of the air passing over the blades keeps copter in the air – just. This will mean your copter descends slowly before landing. During this phase the copter is really difficult to control, so it is worth practicing this skill before you are actually faced with a real emergency situation.

Flying remote control helicopters starts as it does with the full-size models – with the hover. Hovering is a skill all pilots must possess, whether they fly sports or scale model electric helicopters. It is an essential element of all RC competitions, 3D or otherwise.

The basic hover has been covered elsewhere. The trick is to learn how to handle your tx box so you can balance the collective, throttle and tail rotor (yaw) to get your helicopter hovering absolutely stationary above a set point on the ground, without swinging wildly out of control (a little swinging is to be expected outdoors).

Once you can hover electric helicopters (stationary, tail-in nose to the north), try the horizontal hovering T. This means moving the heli slowly sideways and back at constant altitude, pausing to hover at each stage. In the centre, fly the helicopter forward and back, then repeat the sideways movement to the other side and back, completing a capital “T” shape. Repeat the procedure using the other points of the compass.

This takes superb control of the cyclic, yaw and collective. The best RC helicopters for this kind of work are mid-sized pod-and-boom models with heading hold gyro, meaning if you have a lower grade model it will be harder. On a breezy day, you’ll soon see why electric helicopters equipped with heading hold are a good thing.

Once you’ve mastered sideways and forward/back movement, you can try the same thing inverted. Evidently, only collective pitch electric helicopters will be capable of this. You can try other shapes of the alphabet – E or W for example. Also, try tipping the T on its side, so the long bar is vertical. Any of these may be included in a basic Sportsman A schedule, with added variations.

People get the best out of their RC electric helicopters by constantly pushing their boundaries. Once you’ve mastered hovering flight, you can have a lot of fun. The latest craze is “Heli Fishing” – using a line and live bait.