RC Helicopter Flying Tips

The Controls

• The helicopter controller has two control sticks. In most RC helicopters, the left stick controls two functions: yaw and throttle. Moving the stick left and right will cause the helicopter to turn left and right. This left and right movement is called yaw. Moving the control stick up and down will control the throttle, causing the helicopter's blades to speed up or slow down.

  The right stick is in charge of what are called the cyclic controls, which consist of pitch and roll movements. Pushing the right stick up will cause the helicopter to tilt forward, which will make it fly forward, and pushing the stick down will make the helicopter fly backward. This up and down tilting motion is the helicopter's pitch. Moving the right stick to the left or right will cause the helicopter to tilt to the left or the right, which is called roll.

The Basics

• Although you use two control sticks to fly an RC helicopter, you should start off by focusing on mastering one stick, then move on to the second one when you are comfortable.

  A good first step is to make the helicopter hover by slowly increasing the throttle, which is done by pushing the left control stick up. Land the helicopter by slowly decreasing the throttle until the landing gear has touched down.

  Once you feel comfortable hovering the helicopter, try changing its yaw, again with the left stick. Once the helicopter is in the air, gently push the left stick to the left or right, which will slowly turn the helicopter. Remember, you'll have to keep the stick at the same vertical position to keep the helicopter steady. Moving the stick horizontally while not moving it at all vertically can take some getting used to.
  Once you're comfortable hovering, turning and landing your helicopter, move on to the right control stick. The right stick can be a bit trickier to master, as tilting the helicopter too much in any direction can lead to a crash.

  With the helicopter in the air, gently tilt the right stick up to move the helicopter forward, and then tilt it down until the helicopter is level again and hovering in place. Move the stick left or right to make the helicopter tilt to the side, which will cause it to fly in that direction. Remember that a little can go a long way with the right stick.

Tricks

• Once you've mastered the basics and want to move on to something a little more difficult, you can start learning some trickier moves. There are hundreds of RC helicopter maneuvers, but an old favorite is the figure 8.

  By changing the helicopter's roll to fly left and right, and by pitching the helicopter forward and backward in a slow, rolling motion to trace the helicopter around the curves of the 8, you can move the helicopter in a tight figure 8 while keeping it facing forward the entire time. Learning this trick is good practice for moving your helicopter in any direction, regardless of which way it is facing.