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Outdoor Remote Control Helicopter
Of the many RC hobbies out there, RC helicopters are certainly one of the most fun and enjoyable among them. The truth is that anything that flies by remote control is pretty cool, but as opposed to many RC airplanes which need a large smooth area to take off, helicopters can flown from a smaller open area. Helicopters can be a bit more difficult to control than airplanes, but once the skill is mastered it can be a very rewarding hobby.
Good Weather Conditions
Before taking your heli on a flight outdoors, you’ll need to make sure the weather is good for flying. Obviously if it’s raining you’d better stick to indoor activities, unless you’ve carefully sealed the electronics on your chopper. So be sure to keep an eye out for rainy conditions. If it’s a clear day you still want to be careful with smaller indoor helicopters, since they’re not usually very good at handling any wind. Bigger models should be able to tolerate moderate winds, but you should always check how calm the air is. There’s nothing like a sudden gust of wind to send your copter off to the repair shop, or worse still, the garbage dump. So before taking off, make sure the sky is clear and the wind mild, and have a great flight!
Types of RC Helicopters
Remote control helicopters come in all different shapes and sizes, with a broad range of prices. If you're looking to get a feel for the price range of various models, an excellent site to check out is HobbyTron.com. If you're purchasing 3 or more items, you can use coupon code SAVE5D to save 5% on your order. If you're still looking for some more background information, here are some of the basic helicopter types you should be familiar with:
Toy
These are cheap, small and very basic, with limited controls and functionality. They’re easy to use, but not practical for outdoor flying because of their size and weight. On the other hand, they’re great for flying indoors, since they can handle crashes without much damage.
Micro Coaxial
These are relatively stable helicopters, so a beginner can hover and move without too much trouble. Since they are hobby grade, you should be able to replace and upgrade some of the parts at a hobby shop. Some are also suitable for outdoor flying on a calm day.
Quadrocopters
These copters are a relatively new development. They have an unconventional appearance, with 4 propellers in a cross configuration. They are easy to fly, allowing you to hover and fly in all directions. So this is also a good option for beginners who aren’t concerned with the unusual look.
Micro Single Rotor – Fixed Pitch
These small helicopters are also fairly recent. They offer higher performance than the micro coaxials, and are only a bit harder to use. So it’s a great chopper to start with if you’re getting serious about this hobby.
Single Rotor – Collective Pitch
Here’s where things get serious. These helicopters have a serious learning curve and can put a nice hole in your pocket, but you can get some outstanding performance once you learn how to fly. First off, it’s important to realize that flying these birds is very different from flying a micro coaxial. If you make the mistake of trying to use them the same way, you’ll crash in no time.
Getting a micro coaxial to hover is essentially a matter of having it in a stable, settled position. So once it stops moving around, it’ll hover without much difficulty. Whereas getting a single rotor helicopter to hover means you have to be constantly in control and actively keeping it in a stable state.
When it comes to these copters, the bigger they are, the more stable they generally are. Of course, the bigger they are, the more damage they stand to suffer when crashing. So these concerns depend mostly on your budget.
Learning how to fly these helicopters requires a lot of training, practice and patience, but the results can be very rewarding. It’s beyond the scope of this article to fully delve into the proper technique for flying these birds, but if you’re looking to get in-depth training, there is plenty of helpful information available online.