Is Flying a Helicopter Hard?

Is flying a helicopter hard? Well, to answer that, you really have to compare it to flying a car. When you first drive your car out of the garage, you didn’t think it was going to be that hard. The same thing happens when you are flying a helicopter, the first time you take it out of its box and start flying.

Most RC helicopters these days come with pre-assembled kits. However the quality of those kits is not up to par with what is out there. They either don’t work or they do not hold the weight required for a stable flight. On top of that, the average speed of most RC helicopters is not enough to make it fun. In many cases, these choppers end up in the backyard being used as target practice.

Now if you were to compare flying a helicopter to driving a car, you would see that there are some similarities. For one, the handling of the average vehicle is much more comfortable than that of an RC helicopter. Even a small RC helicopter has a vertical lift of only about twelve inches! While this might look like a huge difference at first, the reality is that it’s not. While the average RC car can climb to thirty or more feet in altitude, a small helicopter can cruise at just six or seven feet per second.

A lot of the time, inexperienced RC pilots will buy an airplane kit and fly it “as is.” This is where things start to break down. Usually these RC airplanes have weight that is excessive and that makes them unstable. Typically, inexperienced pilots will let the airplane carry its weight since they don’t know if it will tip over when it is flown. Well what happens when you use an airplane kit with a high lift that is unstable?

If you were to fly a helicopter similar to the one on the market from Robinson with the same weight, then the stability would be OK. You could increase the wingspan so that the horizontal angle is greater and the prop wouldn’t tip. The problem is that when you increase the size of the wingspan, the horizontal angle becomes almost equal to the height which causes the helicopter to lift. Then you might have some problems. The problem becomes worse if the person doesn’t know how to control the airplane. Most people who are inexperienced don’t have much of a handle on the airplane and the result is the “bumpy” tail shape that is characteristic of RC helicopters.

Of all types of RC airplanes, helicopters have the greatest fatal accident rate. Of all helicopters, it is the electric powered helicopter that has the highest fatal accident rate. While the rate for gas-powered helicopters is comparable, the difference is that it is safe to fly an electric RC helicopter. Most accidents with gas-powered helicopters happen because the pilot doesn’t have enough experience or due to faulty equipment.

Another problem that can happen with RC helicopters is when the pilot doesn’t follow the guidelines and the helicopter won’t fly the way it is supposed to. The result is usually disastrous as the helicopter will not meet its intended destination. This is also why RC pilots take their time before they start to fly. The faster they fly, the less likely there is to be a midair collision.

Although most helicopters are relatively small, they travel at speeds of about sixty miles per hour. In order to keep the average speed low, you should always be well prepared and aware of your speed and other variables. This means you need to have your fair share of safety tips and maneuvers in hand before you fly. I hope these statistics have given you some insight into what you need to know when it comes to the question “is flying a helicopter hard.”