Remote controlled helicopters as research tools: The use of helicopters in everyday transport is here to stay. The problem is that development costs for designing and prototyping new helicopters has always been high. This is especially true of helicopters, which have many more moving parts than conventional aircraft. Remote controlled helicopters are fitted with an outer “body” matching that of the real helicopter, and flown through a regimented series of test maneuvers.  The remote controlled helicopter’s performance, measured closely by onboard instrumentation, gathers valuable data which is used to perfect the design of the coming full-size machine.

Remote controlled helicopters as movie props: In the same way that Hollywood makes extensive use of helicopters for film work, it likes blowing them up in special effects sequences. Remote controlled helicopters make very economical stand-ins where a real helicopter would be far too expensive and too dangerous to blow up.  For these uses, remote controlled helicopters are made to look as realistic as possible in the model shop, and loaded with explosive charges. For realistic blast effects, a certain amount of liquid explosive, such as gasoline, is also carried. The entire lot is then blown up at the director’s command.

Remote controlled helicopters  as unmanned aerial vehicles: Remote controlled helicopters make ideal spies. They can hover in and out of tiny spaces. They can hug the ground as theyfly, making them invisible to radar detection.  Any number of cameras and sensors can be carried, such as low light level television, infra-red line scan, and image intensification/ starlight scopes. They can carry a wide variety of modern weapons, ranging from small cluster munitions which break open to release small, spherical bomblets, to tank- killing missiles which are operated and fired by an operator sitting miles away.     Some remote controlled helicopters can operate from ships, in place of the traditional manned helicopters, carrying specialized gear for hunting and killing submerged enemy submarines. Typical load of these robotic submarine killers are sono-buoys for listening for and detecting the position of submerged objects, and acoustic torpedoes which home in on the sound of a submarine’s screws.

Most cheap mini rc helicopters have two flight control channels, which manage throttle and anti-torque rotor. This means that these types of mini rc helicopters can be made to take off and land, and turn. Unlike a real helicopter, they cannot be made to hover backwards and sideways, as the rotor disc cannot be tilted in any direction. Although there are mini rc helicopters with full control characteristics, but they are in a higher price range.

Two channel types of mini rc helicopters are best trimmed or fitted with nose weights so that they fly forward slowly, with the “pilot” using available control to determine the proper glide slope for a landing on a spot. Another technique is to twist the tail boom (assuming the same is flexible) so that the anti-torque rotor is blowing air slightly downward. This lifts the tail up during flight, casing the helicopter to move forward in speed proportionate to the power applied to the main rotor.  When flying mini rc helicopters with this technique, maintaining a right orbit is recommended, as it normally gives the pilot better control over fine control inputs. Continue making circles over you intended landing spot while gently reducing power so that the helicopter comes to rest in the approximate area you want it to land on.  While not exactly a precise way to land the helicopter, it is probably the best available method considering the craft’s control limitations. In any event, it really impresses people to see such tiny little mini rc helicopters take off and land on an office desk.

Where once a heavy battery pack, radio unit and several large servos were necessary, the entire package could be safely placed in a helicopter weighing in at not more than 50 grams. Today, the basic hardware that makes up the heart of the rc electric helicopter can be placed in outer “shells” which represent fanciful helicopter concepts, actual military and civilian machines, and even insects and birds.

Several types of rc electric helicopter are available, each one offering certain advantages and disadvantages over the other-

First, the conventional single main rotor and tail rotor rc electric helicopter offers the simplest, probably the most responsive flight characteristics. This is not surprising, as this layout is actually the most commonly used in real helicopters. Unfortunately, the lack of a real swash plate underneath the main rotor limits these rc electric helicopter models to moving slowly forward due to a well-placed nose weight.

Next, there are quite a few coaxial rotor rc electric helicopters, which have two main rotors contra-rotating along a common rotor mast, much like the Russian Kamov helicopters which now serve aboard war ships o the Russian Navy. Like their full-size counterparts, no tail rotor and related hardware is necessary, but such rc electric helicopters do have a tendency to become unstable from mismatched gyroscopic forces caused by the two rotors.

There are also a considerable number of twin-tandem rotor rc electric helicopter layouts, patterned directly after the US Marines’ ch-46 sea-knight and the massive US Army ch-47 chinook. These are some of the most realistic looking, but suffer from considerable yaw uncontrollability. Also, making coordinated  and predictable turns with these machines is nothing short of a struggle.  

Then, there are also versions of the first two layouts, which incorporate a small, vertically-mounted rotor on the tail, which lifts the tail up, tilting the main rotor forward and causing the rc electric helicopter to go forward. This arrangement produces what is probably the most maneuverable rc electric helicopter of the lot, but going forward for prolonged periods of time drains the battery very quickly.

Next, rc helicopter reviews for the coaxial rotor helicopter rates them as being very compact, but with certain instability problems. There are quite a few coaxial rotor rc electric helicopters, which have two main rotors contra-rotating along a common rotor mast, much like the Russian Kamov helicopters which now serve aboard war ships of the Russian Navy. Like their full-size counterparts, no tail rotor and related hardware is necessary, but such rc electric helicopters do have a tendency to become unstable from precessive gyroscopic forces caused by the two rotors.

Rc helicopter reviews for twin-tandem rotor helicopters give high praise for realism, but do not speak so glowingly of their flight characteristics. There are also a considerable number of twin-tandem rotor rc electric helicopter layouts, patterned directly after the US Marines’ ch-46 sea-knight and the massive US Army ch-47 chinook. These are some of the most realistic looking, but suffer from considerable yaw uncontrollability. Also, making coordinated  and predictable turns with these machines is nothing short of a struggle.  

Then, there are also versions of the first two layouts, which incorporate a small, vertically-mounted rotor on the tail, which lifts the tail up, tilting the main rotor forward and causing the rc electric helicopter to go forward. This arrangement produces what is probably the most maneuverable rc electric helicopter of the lot, but going forward for prolonged periods of time drains the battery very quickly.  

Perhaps, in the future, we will be able to see rc helicopter reviews for tip-jet powered machines. Tip jets rely on pressurized air being blown from the motor up through the rotor mast, through hollow ducts within each blade, and backward through the tip of each rotor blade. A prime advantage of this system is that it produces very little torque and thus very little reactive force that necessitates the use of a tail rotor. 

As of this time, we do not have rc helicopter reviews for other more esoteric types of rotor arrangements, such as twin intermeshing (as in the Kaman Husky and K-Max), and the heli-stat blimp arrangement, which features four helicopters providing heavy lift power for a non-rigid airship. Perhaps someday, one of the more ambitious modelers out there will try and create one of these.