Now that that's out of the way, let's talk
about flight simulators—specifically as they relate to RC helicopter
flight.
First, no—flight simulators are not absolutely necessary to enter
the hobby. For 20 some odd years prior, the model helicopter hobby has
gotten along just fine without the use of computers. However, the investment
of both time and money into the hobby was no doubt much MUCH higher. Today,
with the use of a quality simulator a complete RC novice can learn to
hover, learn basic forward flight, gain valuable aircraft orientation
training (you know...how when the helicopter is facing you left becomes
right, and right becomes left—not something the brain can just pick
up on a whim)…all without ever leaving the computer. In all honesty
I can confidently say that a person who has completed this basic training
on a computer simulator can competently fly a properly set up RC helicopter
and hover out a complete tank of fuel or battery pack on the first try.
I can also say with 100% confidence that a person with zero simulation
training will not be able to keep the aircraft from crashing within the
first 30 seconds of real flight.
I mentioned earlier that the 'free' simulators will actually provide
a disservice. I stand by this accusation. The reason is it can lull one
into a false sense of ability. Sure, they may have some value; they do
provide a good drill in orientation training. They do accurately depict
the actual control inputs needed to left when the nose is facing you.
The problem are many other subtle but important command inputs that must
be given simultaneously —commands that I honestly can't even describe
to you here—comands that sub-standard 'game' simulators do not depict.
These skills are something that must be learned much like riding a bicycle.
'Balance' cannot be explained, it must be experienced. And, keeping a
helicopter 'balanced' on its rotor disc (aka a hover) is an essential
basic of helicopter flight. And, it simply cannot be taught with a sub-standard
simulation.
So, how do you tell a good simulator from a 'cheap one'? You'll know
because your pocket will sting a little after you make the purchase. Expect
to spend about $200. You may find a used copy for a little less on eBay,
or on one of the popular helicopter forums. But, a quality simulator will
seem expensive at first. Do not be drawn into the tempation to 'cheap
out' here. This is not a video game. It is a tool that will save you many
times over its cost as you train your brain and thumbs how to fly these
models. It is an investment into your sanity, your time, and ultimately
the amount of enjoyment (or lack of frustration) you will have in the
hobby.
I'm writing this article in the first person because I wanted to provide
some personal experience. Like most people, I too thought I was above
the curve in learning to fly these models. Why? Well, for one before I
ever began my foray into RC helicopters I was a 20-year veteran of RC
plane flight. How much harder can flying a helicopter be, right??? Let
me just say this: Absolutely nothing from all my years of airplane modeling
transferred over to learning to hover and keep a model helicopter airborne.
After I crashed my first model helicopter (after about 10 seconds of fun),
I rebuilt —a 6 hour ordeal in and of itself. Then, I crashed again—and
rebuilt again. Then, I crashed again (I'm a slow learner). At this point
I'm in the cost of the initial model + about $450. Then, I gritted my
teeth and ordered the $200 Realflight G2 software.
Over the next weeks I logged no less than 80 hours of flight on the simulator
and learned to hover the simulator with the tail facing me (all the controls
are normal—left is left; right is right, etc); I learned to hover
with the nose facing left; the nose facing right; and the very difficult
nose in. From here I will offer what I believe to be the optimal learning
progression to work your way to aerobatic and/or 3D flight.Your training
intervals may be longer or shorter than mine. But, I'd wager the percentages
of time spent per stage over total time spent training will be close.
Only at this point, can I recommend you can begin to fly your real model
helicopter. Take it slow. Personally, I like to stay about 2-3 steps in
skill behind my simulation training. With the current level of training
I've outlined, you are prepared to hover your helicopter. As you proceed
through the following training, just make sure you buffer your real model
flying with the necessary real practice and real altitude to become comfortable
with 'real' flight as it differs from simulation.
Back to the simulator: In the next 100-200 hours I learned to keep the
model where *I* put it not just in the air wherever it felt like drifing
to (did I mention learning to fly is an investment of time?); I also began
learning to master the very valuable 'T' maneuver. This is where you imagine
a large ~20-foot upside down letter 'T' layed out in front of you on the
ground.With the helicopter's tail facing you, begin to fly the helicopter
at a low and consistent altitude out away from you, like the vertical
stroke of the letter 'T'. Bring the aircraft to a stable hover, and without
turning the helicopter, bring it back down the vertical stroke to where
you started. Bring the craft to a hover. Now fly the helicopter out to
your right (or left) as if putting half of the horizontal stroke of the
'T', again maintaining a low and consistent altitude, and bring it back
to a hover. Return the aircraft to the starting position in front of you
and repeat the other half of the horizontal stroke in the other direction.
Bring the model to a hover, then return to the starting point. That's
the 'T'. When you've mastered tail in, progress to nose left, and nose
right 'T's. Then, move on to nose in Ts.
Honestly, hovering and basic forward flight gets a bit boring after a
while; especially if you're really concentrating on the 'T' drills. So,
at this point in my own personal training, I moved on to Fast Forward
Flight (FFF) at this point. Orientation training is now sufficient to
fly a circuit. Bring the helicopter into a hover, push the cyclic forward
and increase collective and she takes off. Bank left or right, add a little
back elevator to counter the loss of lift due to the banking, and add
coordinating rudder (left cyclic bank uses left rudder) to guide the tail
through the maneuver. I spent another 100-150 hours getting my left and
right circuits and left and right figure-8s looking nice. Strive to keep
them at the same altitude and symmetrical.
Let me stop down here for a minute and say that every time I added one
of these basic skills to my practice I felt like I was mentally deficient.
I really felt like something must be wrong with me. This is all EXCEEDINGLY
difficult. All the more reason to be doing this on a simulator. Trust
me, with enough practice it all gels and you really don't think about
what you're doing…the practice trains your thumbs to think for you.
It really is just like riding a bicycle.
Any upright maneuver you add from here you can count on taking another
5-10 hours to get looking right. Stall turns, 540 stalls, loops, rolls.
After mastering upright flight, it's time to go inverted. On the sim,
it's easy. When you dump it, hit reset. Personally, I found it easier
to flip over in a roll. Others prefer to do a forward or backward flip.
The difference is with a roll, left and right cyclic remain the same,
while elevator controls are reversed (along with collective); with a forward
or backward flip elevator controls are the same as upright while left
and right cyclic are reversed (along with collective). It's really your
choice. Whatever your preference, you get to start the whole process over
from scratch again. I cannot stress strongly enough the need to master
the 'T' maneuver inverted in all orientations again: tail in, nose in,
nose left and nose right. Then progress on to the FFF circuits, figure-8s,
stall turns, etc.
Once you have mastered the 'T's and FFF in both upright and inverted
orientations (in all about 500 hours for me) you get to essentially start over again,
learning *BACKWARD* flight in both upright and inverted orientations. Again, master
the 'T' maneuvers, left and right circuits, and figure 8s. Plan on
investing about the same amount of time to this point again. But, once you master
all four orientations (forward upright, forward inverted, backward upright, and backward
inverted) you will have the RC helicopter world at your fingertips. With practice,
no maneuver will be out of your
grasp, and you will have the experience, reflexes and built in reactions
to bail yourself out of nearly any situation—even loss of visual
orientation as you move on to practice maneuvers containing constant pirouettes, rolls, flips, etc..
Good luck, and happy flying.
-Bob |
