First, the rc helicopter reviews for the conventional single main rotor and tail rotor rc electric helicopter rates this type as being ideal for the average hobbyist. It offers the simplest, probably 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. This arrangement also has the added advantage of being conventional enough such that the fuselages of plastic static models can be modified and fitted over their basic frames, producing an unbelievably realistic flying model.
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.