- Ground Effect: This happens when a helicopter flies very close to the ground. As a helicopter pushes the air down (thus keeping itself in the air), the air bounces off the ground and back at the helicopter - thus pushing it higher off the ground. This obstacle is the first and last i will experience every flight as i take off and land.
- Wind: Changes in air movement are hazardous as a helicopter has to compensate, and will often over-compensate, in order to keep a stable flight.
- Interfering Frequencies: foreign frequencies that are close to or on the same level as mine will be very dangerous as i will lose control of the helicopter and have no way to stop it as long as its on. Frequencies like those generated in the nearby David-Letterman Building will be a constant threat that will increase the closer i am to the building.
- Air Time: my Air Hogs Fly Crane has a range of around 7-10 minutes of battery. It takes around 25 minutes to recharge it fully. This will make practicing very time consuming.
- 2-Channel Heli: When referring to RC helicopters, Channels are the directional controls. The larger and more complex helicopters are usually 4 channel helicopters - which means they are able to hover in the air or move any of the 4 main directions solely (forward, backward, left, and right). My Fly Crane is a 2 Channel heli. This means my heli is moving forward constantly and i only have control of which way it will turn (left or right). This is a major challenge as i will have to keep constantly turning my heli to avoid hitting anything. I do not have the ability to hover. This also makes the crane a challenge of its own as i will have to perform "swoop in" maneuvers in order to pick up cargo.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Obstacles
in my studies of the aerodynamics of helicopters (full-size and RC models) i have comprised a list of most of the obstacles i will face as i learn to fly my RC Heli:
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I tried to fly a helicopter once and it was pretty much a disaster. I was able to get it off the ground no problem, it was the walls and breakables in the house that really made things difficult. Never fly a helicopter inside haha.
ReplyDeleteIf you can manage to do this within 30 days I would be pretty impressed. I know some people do this professionally so if you like this a lot you should really look into it! Good luck!