I received the following e-mail from Jim Ryan about autorotations and the required pitch angles to make them work. Hi Paul, Hope winter is treating you well – what am I saying? Of COURSE winter is treating you well! Durned Floridians. I’ve set a task to myself to really master autos this year, and which will in [...]

One of the latest flight control enhancements to our hobby is the incorporation of GPS positioning data into flybarless flight control system software. As we all know from using GPS in our cars, it can pinpoint our location with great accuracy and give us directions to almost any spot on the planet. However, one GPS [...]

First flight test your helicopter with its standard tail rotor configuration, and note the gyro sensitivity setting as well as the tail rotor response on specific maneuvers. Now replace the stock tail rotor mounting bolt with a longer one so weights can be added to each side of the tail rotor blade. I have found [...]

How It All Works – This now results in two opposing forces acting on the tail rotor system. The aerodynamic force wants to streamline the blades to zero pitch while the centrifugal force wants to rotate the blades to their maximum pitch. These tail rotor weights produce a centrifugal restoring moment (CRM) because they act [...]

Last week, we looked at some basic principles of full-scale tail rotor design. This week, let’s investigate more into the four weights that are used in a full-scale helicopter rotor to reduce control power. But first, let’s review some engineering principals we already know. If you were to tie a small rock to the end [...]

Now that the weather is turning colder many of you will be putting up your helicopters for the winter.  Although this is a time for general maintenance and cleaning I also recommend you spray down your complete helicopter with WD-40. The WD stands for water displacement and the 40 is the number of compounds they [...]

Tail rotor design in full scale helicopters is an on-going science to reduce weight, noise, and power requirements while increasing efficiency and stability. Although these same design parameters are also important to our model helicopters, their effects are a lot less noticeable and can be overcome without seriously degrading flight performance. As an example, if [...]

Audacity Models is an American company located in Florida, and their new red, white, and blue fiberglass canopy was inspired by our flag.  Adding to the bold Pantera P6 look are the waves in the stripes, which blend motion with patriotic emotion. Crafted of hand laid lightweight fiberglass, each is hand laid up in a mold, and once [...]