Feed: Kempley Helicopters - AggScore: 45.8

Helicopter Beginners Guide

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At one point or another we have all been there, clueless about the right way to do something, or unsure about a small detail. So we aim to make the learning process as painless as possible for you. Covering the basics of RC helicopters controls and flight characteristics. Tutorials and lessons on how to master the controls of your new rotatory masterpiece and guides on safety.

Helicopter Scale Turbine Engines

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Currently the most popular power source for scale models is a IC engine. However electric variations are increasing in popularity due to improvements in battery technology. The same as for sports models. If you have the time, money and patience, then for the true scale feeling, a turbine engine is a must. However, these can be very expensive, and the prospect of destroying one in a crash can be heartbreaking. That said, if it is a true large scale model, then the flight characteristics will be more calm compared to 3D flight, so there is a reduction in the chance of a crash.

RC Helicopter Auto-Pilots and Aerial Photography

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These useful devices are not only designed for Aerial Photography, but also for learning to fly, or other position critical applications. They range from simple optical/thermal devices to keep the helicopter level, up to GPS controlled, altitude stabilized units. Whilst some will keep the helicopter level as stated previously, these cannot control the altitude or drift of the helicopter. Advanced devices incorporating GPS, pressure sensors and accelerometers, can keep a stable position to within a few tens of cm's.

Helicopter Radio Setup

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Computer helicopter radios do a lot of the hard work for us now in flying a radio controlled helicopter. But they need to be setup carefully and accurately. You will normally require a 6 channel radio for a RC helicopter.

Aerial Photography: Maxi Joker 3

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If your Aerial Photography venture is of a commercial nature, then you will need to look towards a specialist helicopter to carry your camera equipment. Usually electric or turbine, to reduce the vibrations transferred to the camera, these are normally much larger than sports models

LiPo Safety

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Lithium Polymer or LiPo battery packs are ket to electric RC helicopters. They also provide the power to electronics on a Nitro model. They generally charge faster and store more energy than a comparable Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) battery pack. However, LiPo batteries do require special handling. Misuse -- including improper charging, handling, and storage -- can cause LiPo batteries to burn or explode.

RC Helicopter Electrostatic Discharges and Grounding

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The T-Rex 500, and many other similar helicopters use a tail pulley belt drive to power the rear rotors of the helicopter. This can act as a mini Van De-Graff generator though, with static building up in the tail boom. The problem of static discharge comes about due to the fact that the tail boom is not electrically grounded to the frame. It clamps in place with a plastic tail boom support. So the static can build up to high levels on one part of the RC helicopter, with no way of dissipating. When it gets to a certain level it will arc to the nearest conductive surface, interfering dangerously with the radio control electronics on the aircraft and other low voltage RC systems. This can and does cause "glitches" in the control system of the helicopter, either shutting down the receiver momentarily, or sending random control commands to the servos, (throttle, rudder, cyclic etc) resulting in a crash.

RC Helicopter Software: Online Calculator (Motor Pinion, Flight Time, Headspeed, Rotor Speed etc)

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These tools are best used as a guide, rather than authoritative values. There are many other factors that cannot be modelled in a simple on-line calculator. I will endeavor to get a more detailed calculator up soon on the site, but this should keep you going in the mean time. Some of the tools include: Headspeed, rotor speed, motor pinion and flight time calculators. You will need to activate Javascript in your browser to use these applications. If you are using Internet Explorer, it will normally appear as a bar at the top of the browser asking you if you would like to run the content. Contact me at ryan@kempley-helicopters.com if you notice any bugs, or have any suggestions or questions.

RC Helicopter Software: Downloads Section Added (Manuals etc)

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Added a download section to the site. Covering manuals so far, more will be added as time goes by. Also extra sections will be added, such as CSM software, free flight sims, and various other remote control helicopter software and downloads. So for now, if you need a heli manual, check out the download section.

RC Helicopter CCPM Mechanical Setup

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A good mechanical setup on the rotor head of a remote control helicopter, can be the difference between a model that almost flies itself, or one that is destined to hit the ground at high speed. OK, so they might be two extremes, but time invested now will be paid back ten fold.

Remote Control Helicopter Blade Tracking and Balancing

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Sometimes you will get lucky, and have perfectly balanced blades out of the packet. the same goes for tracking, you may not need to track your blades at all. Either way you should defiantly follow this procedure to make sure they are operating correctly.

Turbine Helicopter Build Service

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The long awaited Kempley Helicopters build service has arrived. To kick things off, we are going to the extremes and offering our customers turbine helicopter packages. These helicopters look and sound like the real thing. They even fly in a similar fashion to there full scale counterparts due to there size and weight.

Helicopter Pitch and Throttle Curves

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Pitch and Throttle curves. People get to easily confused by this subject. It is mostly because they look for other peoples settings to use as there own, and don't truly understand the mechanics behind them. So when they don't work, they are unsure of what to adjust to rectify the problem, for instance if you are suffering from a low headspeed and "wagging" RC helicopter. This subject is in fact very easy, and it just requires a little careful planning to get the perfect pitch and throttle curves for your RC helicopter. I will also briefly look at idle up pitch and throttle curves for the budding 3D pilot.

Helicopter Games

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A collection of helicopter games. Easy and fun, they will keep you entertained for hours. Mostly flash based.

RC Helicopter Tail and Gyro Setup

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A good tutorial is definitely a must when setting up your first tail. Especially considering how many different radio/gyro combinations there are in the current market place. One thing is for sure, you will definitely spend less time on setup if you spend a few more pounds on a good gyro.