MiniCopter: Adventure Flight for the Nintendo Wii is a new video game where you control various RC Helicopters. The game is controlled by the Wii remote or a classic controller - your choice. MiniCopter: Adventure Flight has 42 different missions and 7 landscapes making this game a blast for any RC helicopter fan. Your RC helicopters can be modified with various body kits and performance parts to improve performance. A two player mode lets you and a friend race your rc helis in an effort to collect the most rings.

Here are some screen shots from the MiniCopter: Adventure Flight for the Nintendo Wii.

See 117 more screen shots

Read more about MiniCopter: Adventure Flight, an RC helicopter video game, at the IGN Web site.

After building your rc helicopter, you will need to make several adjustments before flying. This is a critical step, small errors here could lead to a crashed rc helicopter later on. Be sure to carefully follow the instructions that came with your model while making these changes. We will explain one or two things that probably differ from your instructions, but follow these general tips, and you will have an rc helicopter suited to learning to hover.

We talked about the set-up of the throttle in the article titled “Choosing a Radio For Your RC Helicopter“. You will need to ensure that every control moves freely. Do this by disconnecting the linkage from the servo, and move it back and forth. If it moves with little resistance, and moves the control surface as much as it needed, then it’s fine. Match the throttle servo arm to the throttle by adjusting the throw of the servo, or the length of the servo arm. Make sure that the throttle is neither completely closed on idle, or over driven when open. Make these adjustments with the throttle servo disconnected, so as not to overdrive it accidentally. The throttle arm should be 90 degrees to the body of the servo when at idle, to improve the effectiveness of the trim. When the throttle stick and the trim at at idle positions, the carburetor should be closed. This will turn off the engine, and it is important that you be able to do so in an emergency. When the throttle trim is increased fully, it should move 1/8 of an inch. This movement should allow the idle of the rc helicopter to be adjusted, and the engine to turn off.

The tail rotor will need to be adjusted so that the blades have a small positive angle of attack when the rudder servo is neutral.

The gyroscope will need to be adjusted so that it controls one quarter of an inch of the rudder movement.

Collective pitch can be adjusted until the movement is from 0 to 5 degrees. This aids in making the rc helicopter more controllable when learning how to hover. Having negative pitch available can allow the rc helicopter to descend very rapidly, and large positive pitch can make it climb higher than is desired while learning how to hover.

The collective pitch can be set using the pitch gauge using the following method:

1. Turn the radio system on.
2. Level the swashplate using the elevator trim tab on the transmitter.
3. Attach the pitch gauge to a rotor blade, making sure to keep the tail boom, flybar, and swashplate level.
4. Using the transmitter, move the collective pitch to it’s upper and lower maximums, and note the pitch on each.
5. The pitch range is the difference between the upper and lower pitch limits, we want a window of 5 degrees.
6. The window can be adjusted by changing where the push rod attaches to the servo. Moving it in will cause the window to decrease, and moving the push rod farther away will decrease the window.
7. The maximum pitch needs to be 5 degrees, do this by altering the length of the rod from the head to the swashplate
8. Repeat steps 3 to 7 for the other rotor blade.

By following these simple procedures, you can prepare the rc helicopter for it’s first flight, and reduce the chances of a crash.

In Part 1 of this tutorial, we looked at the different terms that you would encounter when shopping for rc helicopters. In Part 2 we will look at different points to consider when buying your first rc helicopter.

Should You Buy A New or Used RC Helicopter:

• Most new rc helicopters are sold in kit form, with the consumer assembling the product. This can be a problem for the novice, as kits can have several hundred parts.
• If buying used, ask to see the rc helicopter flown. It normally does not matter if the rc helicopter was ever crashed, as long as the broken parts have been replaced.
• If you are unsure about the condition of the rc helicopter, you can always ask another pilot to look at it with you.

Operating Costs of RC Helicopters:

• Visit your local hobby store and look at the various parts you will need. The cost of replacement parts is important.
• Find out what kind of fuel or batteries your rc helicopter uses. Costs vary depending upon the amount of nitro in the fuel or the number and capacity of lipo cells.
• If you plan to become a member of your local rc club, consider the membership costs.

Where to buy RC Helicopters:

Consider these points when choosing where to buy your rc helicopter.

Online:

• There are many online hobby stores. These stores usually have lower prices than conventional hobby stores due to the increased number of sales.
• Obtaining your rc helicopter at an online establishment usually means you can get your heli sooner, even if it is out of stock. A conventional hobby store can take weeks to restock a part you might need.
• When purchasing your helicopter on the web, it can be harder to find exactly what you need. Instead of being able to ask a store representative to help you find what you need in person, look for the availability of ‘live help’ or ‘live chat’ features .
• If you do purchase your helicopter online, make sure that the organization is respectable, and that they will stand behind their product.

Hobby store:

• At a hobby store, you can actually see and touch the items you are buying. This helps when comparing brands and to get a feel for the scale/size of the rc helicopters.
• Also, the dealer will most likely have several used models available. When the time comes to get a new rc helicopter, these can be a good deal.

Selecting an rc helicopter can be a daunting task, especially for the beginner. The first step is to know your options. To begin, we will examine the different types and configurations of rc helicopters available.

RC helicopter rotor blades can be fixed pitch, or collective pitch. An rc helicopter relies on the lift generated by it’s rotors. These rotors are comparable to the airfoil on the wing of an airplane. When the blades are locked at one angle, we refer to the rc heli as fixed pitch. This means that the blades always cut into the air at the same angle. This design has several advantages. The design is simpler, more durable, and easier and therefore cheaper to manufacture. The overall cost of a fixed pitch rc helicopter will be less than the cost of a comparable collective pitch model. The major disadvantage of the fixed pitch design is that the vertical component of flight becomes less controllable. Because the angle at which the blades cut through the air is constant, the only way to vary the amount of lift produced is to increase the rate at which the blades spin. This is accomplished by increasing the engine speed. The problem with this system is that because of inertia, the speed of the engine cannot be changed or controlled as rapidly as the servo you would use to control vertical thrust in a collective pitch rc helicopter.

In a collective pitch rc helicopter, the angle of the blades is changed to control the amount of upward thrust. Unlike a fixed pitch helicopter, when the command is given for the helicopter to climb or descend, the pitch of the rotor blades changes and the engine speed remains constant. The servo controlling the pitch of the blades (and the climb rate of the rc helicopter) only has to alter the position of the the rotors, which can be done rapidly with relatively little resistance. This is capable of a more rapid response than the engine having to accelerate the entire drive train and rotors up to a new speed. Clearly, the collective pitch design provides better control but at a higher price.

Cyclic pitch is the term applied to an rc helicopter which maneuvers by changing the pitch of each individual blade at different points along the path of rotation, causing them to generate more thrust on one side of the rc helicopter than the other. This will tilt the rc helicopter and result in horizontal motion.

An important option is known as auto rotation. In a fixed wing aircraft, if the engine were to stop, the plane becomes a glider with the wings still producing lift. The same can happen in an rc helicopter that is equipped with auto rotation. In an rc helicopter without auto rotation, the engine is connected to the rotors with out the ability to disengage - meaning that if the engine were to stop, the blades would do the same. This would result in the pilot losing control and the helicopter crashing. With auto rotation, the blades will spin freely during an engine failure. They will still generate some lift, allowing the pilot to maintain control and land. This is normally accomplished by a one way clutch or bearing. Auto rotation is a good feature to have because it may save your rc helicopter if the engine were to fail.

When manufactures refer to the size of a helicopter they are most likely talking about the displacement of the engine, rather than the size of the helicopter itself. Engine displacement commonly ranges from .30 to .90 cubic inches. Each size has it’s advantages and disadvantages, and these will be examined in depth in part two of this guide. For now though, the rule of thumb is that a larger engine is more powerful and will burn more fuel.

Pod and boom is a term applied to the type of helicopter where the body is composed of a ‘pod’ where the radio, engine, gears and other components are kept. The ‘boom’ is the part of the helicopter that holds the tail rotor. This is a common type of rc helicopter, accounting for the majority of the models available. This is different from the scale model style, where the entire model is designed to look just like the real thing. These generally have large fuselages which make them easier to see. They are also more aerodynamic. But for the beginner, pod and boom design is recommended, because of availability and durability.

Now that you are familiar with the different types of rc helicopters available, you are ready to make an informed choice on the type of model to buy. We will show you different points to consider when buying your first rc helicopter in the second part of this guide.

Flying your rc helicopter for the first time can be risky, especially if you have not had prior experience. Using a simulator is a good way to see what the hobby is all about and to practice without risking a crash.

There are many simulators available, both commercial products and free software. Any of them can provide a realistic way to try flying an rc helicopter. There are several benefits of using a flight simulator, the most important being you cannot damage a model while learning how to fly. Simulators can provide a good way to improve your flying skills. Many simulators support using your actual rc helicopter transmitter to control the simulated model, further enhancing the realism, while others require the use of a controller specifically designed to connect to your computer and simulate an rc transmitter. RC helicopter simulators will allow you to fly a variety of models, under different conditions. Most simulators will allow you to adjust various flight parameters. This means that you can simulate your own rc helicopter, and even simulate equipment failures. Unlike real flying, the simulator is not dependent on weather or time of day. Some simulators have training systems that will let you control different axis of motion, while the simulator controls the rest. This makes learning easy for the beginner.

Some available simulators include:

• The Dave Brown Products Ratio Control Flight Simulator 2001
• The Great Planes RealFlight R/C Flight Simulator G-3
• The Flying Model Simulator (FMS) - free!

There are many more simulators to be found online. Much of this software is upgradeable, and expansions can be either ordered, or found online. Flight simulators are a great way to learn to fly, without risking your expensive model.

What do you do if you want to learn to fly an RC helicopter, but you don’t want to take the chance of crashing it on your first try? If your RC transmitter has a standard trainer port or buddy port connector, you can use it as a controller for a computer based flight simulator. All that is required is a USB FMS interface cable with the correct end to plug into your transmitter, and the simulator software to run on your PC. Using your actual transmitter you use when flying your real rc helicopter on the flight simulator software allows you to familiarize yourself with the controls in a safe environment.

Screenshot of an RC helicopter model in the FMS Software

Free FMS Flight Simulator Software For Your PC

The most well known free software that can be used with these cables is called the Flying Model Simulator, or FMS. You can download this from the FMS Homepage. The FMS flight simulator is extremely good, it allows you to load many different models of aircraft and landscape that can be found on the internet. Even without an RC TX, you can install this program and fly aircraft with you keyboard. This software is compatible with Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP. It will not work with Vista or Mac operating systems.

Connecting Your Transmitter to Your Computer

GWS sells a great FMS transmitter to USB interface cable in three types: Futaba, Hitec, GWS and JR. These GWS interface cables take the signal from the trainer/buddy port on standard RC transmitters and convert it into data that your computer interprets as coming from a USB joystick or game controller.

Getting Help with the FMS Software

The FMS Forum is a great community resource for learning and troubleshooting the FMS Flight Simulator Software.