EnjoyHobbies NewsTHURSDAY 25 JUNE, 2009 |
 Fixed Pitch Vs Collective Pitch RC Helicopter RC Helicopters are becoming so popular that it attracts many new enthusiasts everyday. Upon getting their hands on this new enjoyable hobby, many beginners become puzzled when they know that RC helicopters come labeled either as "fixed pitched" or "collective pitch". For this reason, many new pilots have come to wonder what exactly the difference between the two is. To understand how these two pitch setups differ, the first step is to come to know what "pitch" means. The "pitch" of a helicopter is the angle of the main rotor blade. Generally, the measurement of this "pitch" angle is done relative to the horizontal plane. Helicopters generate lift by rotating their rotor through the air. With a fixed pitch helicopter, when the rotor spins faster, more lift is generated and the helicopter ascends. On the other hand, slower rotor rotation generates less lift and the helicopter descends. For collective pitch helicopters, the pitch of the blade becomes another factor in the lift generating equation. In this setup, the lift can also be altered by the angle (pitch) in which the main rotor blade is positioned. To put it another way; while to rotor is rotating at a constant speed, the lift generated can be altered by changing the pitch alone.
Now that we know the technical difference between the two pitch setups, the next question is: how does it affect my flight? Quite simply, a collective pitch helicopter is more responsive, agile, and smoother to fly. Nevertheless, there is a tradeoff. They are much harder to learn, require a more complicated transmitter, and cost much more than fixed pitched helicopters. They also have more moving parts, which means they break more easily and requires more maintenance. So which one should you choose to fly? Fixed pitch or collective pitch? It all comes down to your own choice and how serious you are with this hobby. A fixed pitch helicopter has fewer moving parts, making it more ideal for beginner as it requires less maintenance. Many also claim that a fixed pitch helicopter is easier to fly (but this claim is often challenged by avid pilots). Also, most of the helicopters that are fixed pitch comes in an RTF (Ready to Fly) set, and usually includes a radio transmitter (which won't work on collective pitch models though). However, if you plan to stay in this hobby for a long time and fly in more demanding ways, then perhaps making a bigger investment and getting a collective pitch helicopter will be worth while. How to get started flying RC helicopters RC helicopters have become a very common RC toy lately and come in a variety of prices and types. Many problems that beginners face are what type of helicopter to choose, power source for it and whether they want an indoor or outdoor one. With many more options on top of those you can imagine how difficult it is for beginners to take off, literally. First let's talk about the different power sources that a RC model helicopter can have, and which one will best suit you.If you are a beginner RC helicopter pilot, then the best power source for you is electric. Electrically powered chopper engines are still very fast, but yet still quiet, and can maneuver just as good a full sized fuel powered one! Another main attraction to electric helicopters is the fact that you don't have to deal with messy fuels or with tuning the engine at all. Plus fuel cost money and electricity is much cheaper. If you are a beginner then I definitely recommend that you get an electric powered RC helicopter and then progress your way up to a glow powered one. Glow engines have been used in RC airplanes for some time now, and have made there way over to helicopters. Glow engines have a simple ignition system that uses a glow plug rather than a spark plug. The glow plug is heated by a battery operated glow starter, and meanwhile the modeler uses a starter to turn the engine over. When fuel enters the combustion chamber, it is ignited by the heated glow plug and the engine starts up. If you want to seriously get into the RC helicopter hobby, then a glow engine chopper is perfect for realism, building, maintaining and flying! You will be able to personalize your chopper exactly the way you want it, like hover time and rotor speed. Once you get a feel for your helicopter, and have everything adjusted perfectly, your helicopter will fly just the way you want it and not the way some factory decided it should. The next challenge beginner helicopter pilot's face is learning how to fly their chopper. This is a big problem since a helicopter is the hardest aerial vehicle to fly and having a miniature version of one doesn't make things easier. If you have no helicopter flying experience and you try to fly it, most likely it will crash into the ground. To save yourself frustration you need to learn how to properly put it together and fly it. I recommend that you read the instruction manual, front to back, before you attempt to put it together and when you actually do, make sure you tighten every bolt and include every screw. One missing screw or loose bolt can throw the whole helicopter off and send it crashing to the ground because it is unbalanced. Learning how to fly a RC helicopter is a challenge within itself, and could never be fully taught over the internet or through some book. The best way to learn is to get real flying experience with an instructor at first, and then on your own later. You can find an instructor at a local RC airplane and helicopter club. RC airplane clubs are most common and exist in just about every state and country, and since most of them will have experience with planes they most likely will also know how to fly RC model helicopters too. News for Wednesday 29 April, 2009
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