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Flybarless vs flybar helicopters
By Paul Walsh Last reviewed
Pick up a helicopter from the 2000s and you'll see a bar sticking out either side of the rotor head, often with paddles or weights on the ends. Pick up a modern one and it's gone. That bar, the flybar, was once essential; now electronics do its job far better.
What a flybar did
A spinning flybar behaves like a gyroscope: it resists being tilted. Linked into the rotor head, it damped the main rotor's response, so the helicopter felt steady and predictable. Pilot inputs went partly through the flybar, which made the controls smoother but slower.
The downsides were extra parts (more to set up and to break in a crash), extra drag, and a slightly "soft" feel.
How flybarless works
A flybarless (FBL) helicopter has a simpler rotor head with no flybar. Instead, a flybarless unit with three-axis gyros senses every movement of the helicopter and drives the swashplate servos directly, many times a second. It provides the stability the flybar used to, but faster and more precisely.
How the swashplate and gyros fit together is explained in how an RC helicopter works, and the units themselves in gyros and flybarless units.
Side by side
| Flybarred | Flybarless | |
|---|---|---|
| Rotor head | More parts | Simpler |
| Stability | Mechanical | Electronic, adjustable |
| Wind handling | Good | Better |
| Precision | Softer | Crisp and precise |
| Efficiency | More drag | Less drag, longer flights |
| Setup | Mechanical (lengths, ratios) | Unit menus or app, plus mechanical basics |
| Beginner modes | No | Self-levelling, rescue on many units |
| Crash damage | Flybar, paddles, mixing arms too | Fewer parts to break |
What it means for you
Buying new
Almost every new helicopter is flybarless, and that's what you want. Even micros now carry a full stabilisation system.
Buying second-hand
A flybarred helicopter isn't a bad buy if it's in good order and cheap, but it's older technology and parts may be scarce. See buying a used RC helicopter.
Reviving an older helicopter
If you have a flybarred T-REX 450 or similar, you can:
- Fly it as it is, set up carefully.
- Convert it with a flybarless head and a flybarless unit. Worth it on good-quality models with available parts. The Align page covers T-REX conversions.
Setting up each type
On a flybarred helicopter, setup is mostly mechanical: equal link lengths, a level swashplate, the right mixing ratios and a balanced flybar.
On a flybarless helicopter, the mechanical basics still matter (level swashplate, servo arms at 90 degrees, zero pitch), then the unit's setup routine handles the rest. See swashplate levelling.
All the learning guides are on the RC helicopters hub.
Frequently asked questions
Is flybarless better than flybar?
For almost everyone, yes: more stable in wind, more precise, more efficient and simpler mechanically. Flybarred helicopters still fly well if set up properly.
Can I convert a flybarred helicopter to flybarless?
Usually, with a flybarless head and a flybarless unit. On popular models like the T-REX 450, conversion heads were widely made. On cheap helicopters, it rarely makes financial sense.
Are flybarless helicopters harder to set up?
Mechanically simpler, but the setup moves into the flybarless unit's menus or app. Following the unit's setup steps carefully is essential.
Related guides
RC helicopters
How an RC helicopter works
Main rotor, tail rotor, swashplate, collective pitch and the gyro: how the parts work together to keep an RC helicopter in the air, in plain English.
RC helicopters
Swashplate levelling
Level the swashplate, set servo arms and zero pitch correctly on a collective pitch helicopter, with or without a levelling tool.
RC helicopters
Buying a used RC helicopter
How to check a second-hand RC helicopter before you pay: what to inspect, which faults are cheap or costly, and the older models still worth having.