Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
Nitro vs Electric RC Helicopters -
Just ask anyone out there who has had the opportunity to fly an RC helicopter how much fun can be had and you will get a quick answer in return. Many people choose to fly RC Helis as a pastime just to find that doing so can quickly grow into a lifetime hobby. The one thing to keep in mind when you first decide to try flying your own helicopter is whether you want to buy a Nitro RC helicopter or an electric powered one. There are benefits and drawbacks to both but by knowing these in the beginning you will be better prepared to make the decision on which one to buy.
Click Here for complete article
Just ask anyone out there who has had the opportunity to fly an RC helicopter how much fun can be had and you will get a quick answer in return. Many people choose to fly RC Helis as a pastime just to find that doing so can quickly grow into a lifetime hobby. The one thing to keep in mind when you first decide to try flying your own helicopter is whether you want to buy a Nitro RC helicopter or an electric powered one. There are benefits and drawbacks to both but by knowing these in the beginning you will be better prepared to make the decision on which one to buy.
Click Here for complete article
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
New AH-1Z Cobra Deployed with Marines
The AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopter has been deployed with the 11th Marine Corps Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) stations at Camp Pendleton, California. The MEU consists of 3 U.S. Navy assault ships and one Landing Helicopter Dock assault carrier that are capable of being available for military or humanitarian operations. The MEU’s aircraft inventory consists of twelve (12) CH-46E Sea Knight and four (4) CH-53E Sea Stallion transport helicopters, three (3) UH-1Y utility helicopters, six (6) vertical landing jet fighters and four (4) AH-1Z Super Cobra attack helicopters.
The new Cobra Helicopter is more lethal than it’s predecessor, the AH-1W “Whiskey”. The AH-1Z helicopter carries twice the weaponry, longer flight times, can fly further, faster and quieter than previous versions of the Cobra helicopter. The newest upgrades on the AH-1Z are airframes rated for 10,000 flight hours, a new four-bladed rotor systems with semi-automatic blade fold capability, new composite rotor blades, upgraded main transmissions, four-bladed tail rotor systems, strengthened landing gear, and larger wing pylons with additional weapons stations.
Skip Robinson at VerticalMag.com wrote an excellent description of the new cockpit/avionics suite and weaponry, “The AH-1Z Zulu’s new-generation, fully integrated glass cockpit/avionics suite is designed to reduce workload and improve crew situational awareness and safety. A new nose-mounted turreted weapons control and targeting system — the electro-optical/infrared Target Sight System (TSS) from Lockheed Martin — has integrated state-of-the-art sensors, providing Cobra pilots with enhanced capabilities to acquire, track and designate targets. The system provides superb imagery through a stabilized sensor suite including a third-generation forward-looking infrared camera, color video display and a laser target designator and rangefinder. With TSS, Cobra pilots can now identify a threat from substantially longer standoff ranges, allowing them to accurately engage enemy forces with much improved combat survivability.
The new larger wings and pylons give a mission commander a wide range of weapons or fuel loads. Weapons carried include a selection of unguided rockets, Hellfire guided missiles and even wingtip-mounted Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. External fuel tanks can carried to increase the helicopters endurance during long-range missions."
It has taken over a decade of development to get the AH-1Z Cobra ready for deployment. The Super Cobra will be the MEU’s main rotory-wing attack aircraft. As one Zulu helicopter pilot said, “The Zulu is foremost tasked with direct air support of Marine infantry ground troops in any operation, including amphibious assaults — that is our bread and butter and our main purpose of being.”
With its operational career ahead of it and a long history behind it, the Marines believe the AH-1Z helicopter will give the 11th MEU the highly capable and hard-hitting combat power they deserve. By all indications, the 11th MEU is well protected.
The new Cobra Helicopter is more lethal than it’s predecessor, the AH-1W “Whiskey”. The AH-1Z helicopter carries twice the weaponry, longer flight times, can fly further, faster and quieter than previous versions of the Cobra helicopter. The newest upgrades on the AH-1Z are airframes rated for 10,000 flight hours, a new four-bladed rotor systems with semi-automatic blade fold capability, new composite rotor blades, upgraded main transmissions, four-bladed tail rotor systems, strengthened landing gear, and larger wing pylons with additional weapons stations.
Skip Robinson at VerticalMag.com wrote an excellent description of the new cockpit/avionics suite and weaponry, “The AH-1Z Zulu’s new-generation, fully integrated glass cockpit/avionics suite is designed to reduce workload and improve crew situational awareness and safety. A new nose-mounted turreted weapons control and targeting system — the electro-optical/infrared Target Sight System (TSS) from Lockheed Martin — has integrated state-of-the-art sensors, providing Cobra pilots with enhanced capabilities to acquire, track and designate targets. The system provides superb imagery through a stabilized sensor suite including a third-generation forward-looking infrared camera, color video display and a laser target designator and rangefinder. With TSS, Cobra pilots can now identify a threat from substantially longer standoff ranges, allowing them to accurately engage enemy forces with much improved combat survivability.
The new larger wings and pylons give a mission commander a wide range of weapons or fuel loads. Weapons carried include a selection of unguided rockets, Hellfire guided missiles and even wingtip-mounted Sidewinder air-to-air missiles. External fuel tanks can carried to increase the helicopters endurance during long-range missions."
It has taken over a decade of development to get the AH-1Z Cobra ready for deployment. The Super Cobra will be the MEU’s main rotory-wing attack aircraft. As one Zulu helicopter pilot said, “The Zulu is foremost tasked with direct air support of Marine infantry ground troops in any operation, including amphibious assaults — that is our bread and butter and our main purpose of being.”
With its operational career ahead of it and a long history behind it, the Marines believe the AH-1Z helicopter will give the 11th MEU the highly capable and hard-hitting combat power they deserve. By all indications, the 11th MEU is well protected.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
RC Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane RC Heli Video
Here are two great RC Heli Videos of an electric Scale Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane RC Helicopter. The RC Heli was built by Omnsign Helicopter Models. The videos are great. The first video has some slow motion black and white that is just awesome.
The Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane is an American twin-engine heavy-lift helicopter. It is the civil version of the United States Army's CH-54 Tarhe. The S-64 Aircrane is the current production version, manufactured by the Erickson Air-Crane company.
The Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane is an American twin-engine heavy-lift helicopter. It is the civil version of the United States Army's CH-54 Tarhe. The S-64 Aircrane is the current production version, manufactured by the Erickson Air-Crane company.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
How to get started in RC Helicopters Part 1
Flying RC Helicopters is one of the most difficult of all radio control hobbies. Hopefully this article will help you avoid some of the pitfalls of learning to fly RC helicopters and save some frustration (and money) along the way.
The key to becoming a successful RC helicopter pilot is dedication. If you take the time to learn the basics, you will become a proficient pilot and find a very rewarding hobby.
The first thing you want to purchase is a good flight simulator. This may seem strange, but if you have decided to get into the RC Helicopter hobby, realizing that there is a steep learning curve, spending a couple hundred dollars on a flight simulator is a great investment that will save you lots of money during the beginning phases of flying RC helicopters.
You will want to purchase a flight simulator that has true to life copies of the helicopters you will be flying out in the field. There are a number of great flight simulators on the market today. The most popular are the Real Flight G5.5 simulator by Great Planes, the Phoenix R/C Pro Simulator V3.0 form Horizon Hobby, and the AerofFly V5.5 from Ikarus.
After spending some time on the simulator, it will be time to purchase a helicopter. Things can get very confusing quickly. There are a lot of inexpensive “knock-off” imports available and many have great low prices, but most of these helicopters are not engineered as well as the name brand helicopters and replacement parts are usually hard to find. A great recommendation is to visit your local hobby shops to find out what brands they carry and if they keep a good supply of replacement parts in stock.
The next part of the RC helicopter purchasing process is understanding the different kinds of helicopters that are available. The reason this is important is that by having a good understanding of the helicopter types before you make a purchase, you will be able to determine how far you flying skills can advance with a particular model.
Coaxial Helicopters – Coaxial helicopters are true beginner RC helicopters. Coaxial helis have a dual rotor head system designed for stability and are not real agile helicopters. Each rotor has two blades and these are placed with one rotor on top of the other rotating in opposite directions. The coaxial system eliminates the need for tail blades because each rotor spins in the opposite direction. The helicopter is controlled by the speed of the rotors which are controlled by the remote control transmitter
Fixed Pitch Helicopters – A fixed pitch RC helicopter is one that typically has a two-bladed rotor system. The speed of the rotor head controls the height of the helicopter. The fixed pitch helicopter’s direction is controlled by the tail rotor
Collective Pitch – A collective pitch RC helicopter typically has two rotor blades and the rotor head runs at a constant speed. As the pilot pushes on the throttle (collective) stick up and down, the pitch (angle) of the blades changes. Collective pitch helicopters are complicated machines that have tail rotor control, gyros, flybarless or flybar options and are the most difficult RC Helis to fly.
The biggest difference flying a collective pitch helicopter is that the RC helicopter can be flown upside down because enough negative pitch can be applied to the rotors. This is how the ‘Pros’ can do 3D aerobatics with a RC helicopter.
Starting out, it is recommended to get a Coaxial RC Helicopter. These are good choices because they react a little slower to commands, can be flown indoors and will (with some models) hover is you let go of the sticks
The key to becoming a successful RC helicopter pilot is dedication. If you take the time to learn the basics, you will become a proficient pilot and find a very rewarding hobby.
The first thing you want to purchase is a good flight simulator. This may seem strange, but if you have decided to get into the RC Helicopter hobby, realizing that there is a steep learning curve, spending a couple hundred dollars on a flight simulator is a great investment that will save you lots of money during the beginning phases of flying RC helicopters.
You will want to purchase a flight simulator that has true to life copies of the helicopters you will be flying out in the field. There are a number of great flight simulators on the market today. The most popular are the Real Flight G5.5 simulator by Great Planes, the Phoenix R/C Pro Simulator V3.0 form Horizon Hobby, and the AerofFly V5.5 from Ikarus.
After spending some time on the simulator, it will be time to purchase a helicopter. Things can get very confusing quickly. There are a lot of inexpensive “knock-off” imports available and many have great low prices, but most of these helicopters are not engineered as well as the name brand helicopters and replacement parts are usually hard to find. A great recommendation is to visit your local hobby shops to find out what brands they carry and if they keep a good supply of replacement parts in stock.
The next part of the RC helicopter purchasing process is understanding the different kinds of helicopters that are available. The reason this is important is that by having a good understanding of the helicopter types before you make a purchase, you will be able to determine how far you flying skills can advance with a particular model.
Coaxial Helicopters – Coaxial helicopters are true beginner RC helicopters. Coaxial helis have a dual rotor head system designed for stability and are not real agile helicopters. Each rotor has two blades and these are placed with one rotor on top of the other rotating in opposite directions. The coaxial system eliminates the need for tail blades because each rotor spins in the opposite direction. The helicopter is controlled by the speed of the rotors which are controlled by the remote control transmitter
Fixed Pitch Helicopters – A fixed pitch RC helicopter is one that typically has a two-bladed rotor system. The speed of the rotor head controls the height of the helicopter. The fixed pitch helicopter’s direction is controlled by the tail rotor
Collective Pitch – A collective pitch RC helicopter typically has two rotor blades and the rotor head runs at a constant speed. As the pilot pushes on the throttle (collective) stick up and down, the pitch (angle) of the blades changes. Collective pitch helicopters are complicated machines that have tail rotor control, gyros, flybarless or flybar options and are the most difficult RC Helis to fly.
The biggest difference flying a collective pitch helicopter is that the RC helicopter can be flown upside down because enough negative pitch can be applied to the rotors. This is how the ‘Pros’ can do 3D aerobatics with a RC helicopter.
Starting out, it is recommended to get a Coaxial RC Helicopter. These are good choices because they react a little slower to commands, can be flown indoors and will (with some models) hover is you let go of the sticks
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)