OT: The Dreaded Test...

The one I have is about 4 inches long and made of styrofoam. If you have it so that it will basically hover and you can spin it right and left about equally you can then get going forward (a little). You need to bend (twist) the rear boom so the rear blades point down (ever so slightly). When you make it spin (yaw) to the right (on mine) the downward force of the rear blades will drop the nose ever so slightly and you will move forward. It will also move forward going left, just not as well. Keep in mind that you need to set up the helicopter for forward flight or hover. I don't think you can switch from one to the other completely. Mine will sort of go into a hover from forward flight if you just give it enough left to stop going in a circle. It takes some trial and error but I find it to be fun. Each flight starts out sort of out of control, but then the last 3/4 of the flight is fairly in control as long as no breeze (artificial or other-wise) gets in the way. I have a chain that hangs down from a ceiling fan in my family room. I can sit in my recliner and "fly" around the chain and back to me. I do figure eight's using the chain as one center point and the space in front of me as the other center point. I can land it ok but it always has some forward component of flight that you have to take into account. I usually hand launch as the heli begins much more in control. If you take off from the ground the heli spins like stink and will "ALWAYS" run into the closest object. So, if you want to take off from the ground just have plenty of room around the heli. It is quite fun and a lot less nerve wracking than the "real" thing. It is fun in-doors and my dog does not know exactly what to think.

Robert

Fubar of The HillPeople wrote:

On Sun, 24 Dec 2006 01:28:39 -0800, "Fubar of The HillPeople" wrote in :

If you're talking about the same one we are (weighs less than 1 oz., infrared TX, charges from the batteries in the TX, etc.), then there are two secrets to making it go forward:

-- Grasp the tail assembly firmly, without breaking or bending the rotor itself.

-- Twist the entire assembly clockwise. You're bending a long, thin wire and trying to give it a lasting twist.

-- When the tail assembly is cocked about 30 degrees below horizontal, the rotor will produce a slight downward vector of thrust in addition to counteracting yaw from the main blades. This will lift the tail a little bit and cause the heli to fly forward more often than not.

My heli came with six stickers that could be added underneath the nose to adjust the CG. We didn't start playing with those before giving the heli to a kid, so I'm not entirely certain what effect the change in CG would have.

I'm having some success with a Lite Machines electric (a few years old now). I have a second-hand Raptor, too, but haven't gotten a heli guy to check it out for me yet. I don't want to try that one by myself.

Marty

On Sun, 24 Dec 2006 10:18:01 -0500, Robert Barkus wrote in :

I just used my powers of ESP to peek into your dog's mind (people forget that they need tinfoil hats, too).

He thinks you're mad. ;o)

Marty