Nitro vs. Electrc RC Helicopters
Messiter devotes a chapter to nitro or gas-powered engines and another to electric. The nitro RC helicopter chapter covers engine and fuel, starting the engine, break-in procedure and the importance of tracking. Tracking is the way the blades lift when in motion. When the tracking of the blades is bad you will look at the leading edge of the blades and they will have a fuzzy double edge look to them. That means that one blade is lifting higher than the other. To correct this problem you can take a piece of tape or a felt tip marker and and mark one of the blades and try to get the other blade to match the lift of the other blade by adjusting the rotor pitch ball link in or out. If the tracking is bad it will cause a definite unwanted vibration and be harder to control the RC helicopter.
The following chapter addresses how electric RC helicopters differ from their nitro or gas-powered brothers. Some of the pros or advantages of the electric include the use of LiPo batteries over volatile nitro fuel and less noise. If you get the urge to fly in the evening or middle of the night the quieter electric helicopter is a definite advantage. Additionally, the smoke from a nitro engine can be an irritant to you or those around you -- another plus for electrics. If you see smoke coming from your electric RC helicopter there is going to be a major problem. Although laying on the ground at the park in a fetal position and crying and sobbing like an infant won't solve anything when this happens you might want to investigate and see what went wrong and why there was smoke.
However, there's an advantage of nitro over electric that some may find surprising. Messiter explains it thusly:
"Many people may imagine that an electric model helicopter is somehow safer than one powered by a conventional internal cumbustion engine. But in fact the reverse is the case. A very small model helicopter poses fewer risks than a large one of course, regardless of power source. But if you take two similar models, one of which is electric and the other powered by internal combustion; the electric one is is certainly, if unexpectedly, the more dangerous of the two. The reason is that an internal combustion engine only starts when deliberately started. (And even they can be reluctant.) On the other hand an electric motor can start without any warning for all sorts of reasons, and immediately go to full power too. This can happen because of a mistake by the operator, or can simply be the result of a fault in the speed control system. Either way, the consequences can be catastrophic."
If that don't say
disadvantage I don't know what will. Messiter also goes on to say an electric RC helicopter is safest when it is unplugged from the battery.
Go Fly That RC Helicopter
The next two chapters get you closer to actually flying the helicopter by covering the basic controls and the steps to take to get ready to fly -- such as pre-flight checks. Finally the book gets into things like hovering and flying around. This is where you really have to just get out there and "do it" rather than only read about it.
The final chapter talks about the different styles of flying RC helicopters such as 3D and doing some aerial photography. The back of the book has a great glossary list that explains terms sprinkled throughout the book that might have left you scratching your head.
This book is by far the easiest to understand that I've read recently. It truly speaks to the beginner of any age. And because it is only 45 pages long, you won't feel as if you don't have time to mess with reading and rush right into buying and flying your RC. You'll enjoy the process a lot more if you take the time to get the basics down first.
R/C Model Helicopters - A Guide for Beginners
by Malcolm Messiter
ISBN 978-1-900371-83-4
Traplet Publications
Disclosure: Review copy of book was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
