Heli control question

[Greywolf74]

So I understand what pitch is and what increasing/decreasing does to a heli. What I dont understand is what the aileron and elevator are or what they do. Can someone throw me a bone here?

 

[SchrodeMode]

Elevator controls the forward and backward tilt of the heli, aileron controls the side to side.

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[Rolex]

Correct, and yaw is the side to side of the rear, done with the rudder or rear rotor.

 

[Greywolf74]

Ok so the elevator makes the kit go forward or back and the pitch is how fast it moves in said direction? maybe i didnt fully understand pitch after all. This is starting to make more sense to me.

 

[HPIguy]

Ok so the elevator makes the kit go forward or back and the pitch is how fast it moves in said direction? maybe i didnt fully understand pitch after all. This is starting to make more sense to me.

No, how much travel you have set on the endpoints (along with things like dual rates and expo) for AIL and ELE in the menu on your TX dictate how fast it will move in that direction based on the amount of input you feed in from the TX. Pitch is how much lift the blades are generating in simple terms. If the heli is right side up, then + pitch will make it climb, and - pitch will make it descend. If you are just starting out, a good safe pitch range would be -3 to +9 degrees of pitch, as you need some negative pitch to pull the heli back down if there is any wind whatsoever. You also want 0 pitch at mid stick when doing your setup.

If you are just starting out, I can't stress enough how important it is that you fully understand what the settings on your radio do, as well the mechanical setup on the bird itself. This will get you started

http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=41692

 

[Rolex]

When you see an airplane aileron go down on the right and up on the left (when standing behind it) the plane will bank to the left. A helicopter does basically the same thing but it does it every time the rotor goes around. The collective will increase when it's on the right, go neutral in the front and decrease on the left.

 

[HPIguy]

When you see an airplane aileron go down on the right and up on the left (when standing behind it) the plane will bank to the left. A helicopter does basically the same thing but it does it every time the rotor goes around. The collective will increase when it's on the right, go neutral in the front and decrease on the left.

I'm no guru, but I've been doing helis for a while now, and I'm not following you. Your collective (as in the entire swash moving up and down for pitch, which is mixed with throttle to form the collective) should not change simply because the rotor is turning. Or are you referring to transitional lift? Or something else entirely? I did ride the short bus over here, so bear with me.

 

[Rolex]

Okay, let's look at the heli from behind. Picture it as similar to a plane but the rotor is a wing. On the plane, the right aileron will go down to raise that side and the left aileron will go up to lower the other side. The plane will then bank to the left while moving forward.
Now, the rotor blade on the right goes down and the left one goes up to do the same thing if the heli is in forward flight. If the rotors don't change their position as they rotate, you'll just be flopping from side to side in the same place.
Again, the blade collective on the right increases (pitches the blade down) and the blade on the left decreases. If the rotor doesn't rotate it will act as airplane ailerons, but, since it's rotation places the blade in all positions within a 360 degree movement, the collective must CONSTANTLY change with the rotation to keep the ship moving to the left. So, you want to go left and the rotor on your right pitches down. That tips the ship to the left. As the blade moves into the forward position it goes to neutral pitch and then into negative on the left side. Same as a plane. Right down, left up, move left. As it goes to the rear, again negative going to down on the right side.

In forward flight a heli operates with Cyclic pitch. Understand that the heli is moving forward and the rotor is rotating. One blade is going forward and the other blade is going backward. What cyclic pitch means in forward direction is that the forward moving blade (Into the wind) doesn't need to produce as much lift as the rearward moving blade, thus, the blade moving toward the rear uses more collective than the forward moving blade in order to produce the same amount of lift and keep the heli moving in a straight and level flight.
The only time both (or all 4) blades are at the same pitch is when sitting on the ground idling or lifting straight up.

 

[HPIguy]

Okay, now that makes sense, the condensed version I just couldn't figure out what your were getting at.

 

[Rolex]

When the entire swash plate moves up you are increasing the collective pitch to both rotor blades. That will create the lift. You'll get forward motion by applying forward stick, causing the blades ONLY to gain additional collective in the rear in order to push the heli forward.

 

[REVO-5309]

watch all of these, you will learn everything you need to know, this guy is awesome

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdEWzqsfeHM"]Helicopter Physics Series Intro - #1 Smarter Every Day 45 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaB4k1SgfUg"]Helicopter Physics Series - #2 Chopper Control - Smarter Every Day 46 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2mITQ53kr8"]Helicopter Physics Series - #3 Upside Down Flying With High Speed Video - Smarter Every Day 47 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTjGTxSevHE"]Helicopter Physics Series - #4 They're Gyroscopes - Smarter Every Day 48 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7u8m0Qpn38"]Helicopter Physics Series - #5 Autorotation = NO PARACHUTE! - Smarter Every Day 50 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YtyOQzarAU"]Helicopter Physics Series #6 - LASER HELICOPTER BLADES - Smarter Every Day 49 - YouTube[/ame]
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pbdwueqGp4"]The Helicopter Speed LImit - Helicopter Physics Series - #7 - Smarter Every Day 51 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Greywolf74]

Thanks for the vids...I'll watch em next week at work when I'm bored

---------- Post added at 9:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 8:57 AM ----------

I'm thinking about buying another one of those 45A HV Castle ESCs for my Honey Bee King2, I already have a 35A Hobbywing ESC for it. I bought one for my belt CP already to replace the Hobbywing 45A ESC I have for that. Is it worth upgrading the ESCs on the cheaper Helis?

 

[REVO-5309]

Lol, if ur half interested in physics this guy will get you hooked. All his videos are really good

 

[Greywolf74]

I finally sat down and watched the videos...for someone that is very much a hands on type of learner Id have to say I'm not sure I followed everything 100% completely but I definitely learned a lot and I'm sure that once I do start getting hands on with my heli and/or simulator more of what i saw in these videos will become much more clear. One of the best set of beginner vids a newb could hope for.

 

[Rolex]

Damn newbs...

 

[Greywolf74]

yeah really!

 

[hamz9561]

Okay, so what does the little propeller at the back of this helicopter do?

 

[Greywolf74]

It provides the pitch in the flux capacitor which is what causes the heli to fly upside down...geez...didnt you learn anything from the videos?!

 

[Mn Monster]

rotor heads, always spinning in the clouds ! lol !

 

[SchrodeMode]

Okay, so what does the little propeller at the back of this helicopter do?

It's used to cool the piss of crab.

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