Protech ZOOM 425 ccpm Specifications download pdf (Page 140)

Chapter 18. Tail-In Hovering

The first helicopter orientation to learn is "tail-in" hovering. This is called tail-in because the tail

of the helicopter will be the closest to you.

18.1. Preparation

• The most common helicopter "minor crash" is a boom strike. This occurs the helicopter

lands too hard and the main rotor blade strikes the tail boom. It is advisable to have at least

one extra tail boom on hand to avoiding waiting for parts.

• You should have some practice time on a flight simulator. This will really reduce the num-

ber of crashes and save you A LOT of money.

• You should have a training gear on your heli. The training gear prevents the heli from tip-

ping over and damaging itself, and additionally makes the heli more stable by slowing the

cyclic response.

For a 1000-2000 gram heli, the best and cheapest training gear can be made from a small

hula-hoop and some 1/4 inch dowels. Do not use a dowel thicker than 1/4 inch, because

the 1/4 inch dowels will break in a hard landing and absorb some of the impact.

i. Put the dowel across the diameter of the hula-hoop, and cut the dowel so it's about 1

inch longer than the diameter.

ii. Cut another dowel the same length.

iii. Use two tie-wraps to lash the two dowels together in an X pattern.

iv. Use tie wraps to attach the X to the hula-hoop.

v. Use tie-wraps or rubber bands to attach the X to the landing gear of your helicopter.

vi. Make sure the hula-hoop is on the bottom, so it will slide along the floor on the hula-

hoop.

The CG may shift when you attach the training gear, so be sure to readjust the battery pack

to move the forward/aft CG back to the main rotor shaft.

18.2. Tail-in hovering - Phase 1

• The objective for Phase 1 is to slide the helicopter around on the ground to start building

the hovering reflexes. We do not want to lift off yet. I recommend doing this for at least a

few battery packs.

You will be learning the "tail-in" orientation, which is the tail of the helicopter pointed to-

wards you and the nose away from you.

Be sure to focus on the nose of the helicopter, and not the tail. If you focus on the tail, this

is very bad. You may want to stand slightly left or slightly right of the helicopter so you can

see the nose.

• For a non-micro helicopter, find an empty flat space that is fairly level and is fairly clean (no

rocks or debris for the training gear to hit). You will need at least a 20 ft by 20 ft area for

this, although bigger is better.

127

1 2 ... 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 ... 239 240

No comments

Protech ZOOM 425 ccpm Specifications Page 140