FPV Helicopter Flight Info
It's a good idea to first practiced FPV Heli Piloting using a good simulator like Great Planes G3/G4 that have the cockpit view option. I Use a T-REX 600 for most of my FPV flights but before I started with it I practiced with my T-REX 450. Even though I believe it would probably be easier to use the larger T-REX 600, it would be more expensive to repair then my 450 and I already own a lot of spare parts for it. The 450 size heli also posses less of a threat to ones self or others while learning. If your new to FPV and/or RC helicopters it is not recommended to start with a heli and a plane would be a better choice to get a handle on FPV piloting. Helicopters are more difficult to fly and have been described as an RC balancing act and a plane will be a lot more relaxing as you enter into video piloting. A lot of attention has to be put into a heli because of all the moving parts and adding wireless video to them the same attention to detail must be followed to allow for a safe FPV heli flight. There are some good autopilots on the market like the Helicommand that make flying a heli much easier then before but I feel it's good to be able to fly without assistance and then later add more gadgets after you become good at FPV flight .
When flying a RC helicopter with FPV piloting Safety Must Be First. RC helis are difficult to fly and even a experienced pilot will feel like there a beginner when flying in FPV. It's recommend to start with forward flight and it should be done in a unpopulated area (middle of nowhere) with a spotter at a safe distance. As you start your forward flight look for an object in the distance and fly towards it keeping your eyes on the target. What this does is keep you from getting "Tunnel Vision" . When you focus on a distant target your brain will automatically tell your fingers how to correct the heli without much thought to reach the goal. Just like driving a car into and out of a turn...if your looking ahead your cornering will be smooth but if your looking at the corner you'll most likely be less smooth and more jerky. The biggest mistake I kept repeating when first getting the hang of a FPV heli is flying the heli to fast in forward flight which is very easy to do and the result can make it harder to recover. Keep your speed and turns slow and at a large radius in the beginning. Avoid snapping the tail around. Programming some D/R (dual rate 75%) keeps maneuvers a little more tamer and under control. Nothing is worse then trying to maintain flight watching a blurred screen from a FPV heli doing abrupt fast moves.
For me, I never spent a lot of time learning nose in hovering in regular view and never felt I really mastered it but in FPV you'll be flying from the cockpit so knowing the movements of tail in flight is the basics needed for FPV. I also fly the heli a lot better in FPV then normal ground view nowadays. Even still I will spend time flying in normal RC view to stay up on all the different angles a pilot can fly by .
All this chair needs is a monitor and it would be nice for FPV (www.heli-chair.com)
It's a good idea to use a durable helicopter with aluminum metal parts and a good brushless motor along with spare parts like main shafts, tail booms, belts, CF 325mm blades, rotor blades and the list goes on. My first FPV flights with a heli reminded me of when I was learning how to fly a few years back and some flights ended in crashes, so be ready. You could add a "Helicommand" to help keep things under control and I would recommend one if money is not a issue. A Helicommand or a system like it will allow you to let go of the sticks which will return the heli to level flight.
Now that I have a lot of FPV flights with the my T-REX I'm having more fun with it and rarely fly anything else. I still land the heli in regular view (hood-up) and recommend landing this way, as trying FPV landings cost me a lot of main blades and tail rotor strikes but it is do-able with practice.
I Mounted my camera in a fix position, I like to tilt it down about 2-3 degrees and use a wide angle lens (2.8mm) so if the heli starts to drift in backwards I might be able to see it due to more sky in the lens view. Also with a heli you will find yourself looking at objects on the ground more then if your flying a plane to help keep orientation. A Pan and Tilt mounted camera is great on a plane but on a FPV heli tilt might be the only camera movement needed as you can easily turn the heli to pan left or right as you fly. Tilt though is a nice extra in my opinion for looking down as you pass over a target where if you tilt the helis pitch you will drop altitude and pick-up speed. Tilt can also help you if you need to lose speed as your pitching the heli backward to slow down, just tilt the camera down giving you more horizon then sky when doing this. It can also benefit you when hovering and landing in FPV.
10 Tips for a successful R/C Helicopter FPV flight
1. Always perform a range test and have a spotter. Be in a wide open place with nobody around (middle of nowhere).
2. It's recommended to do a normal view flight for a couple of minutes before FPV flights. This will allow you to make any corrections to the heli like trimming it before you fly FPV. It's much harder to tell that something is wrong or out of trim in FPV mode.
3. Get some altitude...on my first flights I stayed close to the ground with training gear but it's better to take it up to a higher altitude (100'-300') so there's more time to react and it's much easier to fly FPV when you have a coushion.
4. First thing is to gain altitude with the heli slightly moving forward then move on to turns. This is where your experience as a RC Heli-pilot comes in as you must know what control inputs you need to make a turn with a R/C heli and how to bring it back. (Nothing like turning a plane) along with flying ahead of it rather then behind it (better to plan your moves instead of re-acting to the helis moves).
5. Not recommended to watch the monitor/goggles and the heli at the same time during forward flight as you are sure to lose orientation and crash. Stick to the monitor/goggles except for when hovering to land. When landing fly the heli past you and when you hear it and feel comfortable switch views.
6. Land in Normal View until you get the hang of FPV piloting. The hardest part about landing in FPV is not striking the tail rotor and knowing what speed and altitude your decending by video reference. Use taller, stronger landing gear if your camera hangs on the belly to help protect it.
7. Set up the FPV heli like a scale one. Use heavy weighted fly-bar, paddles and program some expo-rates.
8. Keep the heli moving FORWARD as much as possible. If it starts falling backwards spin the tail into the direction it's falling or drifting. This is the easiest way to recover.
9. Don't load up a 450 size heli with a bunch of weight. 450's don't like more then 5-8oz added so try to keep them light weight if possible...they have better flight prefomance this way. If you need or want OSD, GPS, Co-Pilot, Data loggers then go with a larger 500-600 size which will barely notice the added gear.
10. PRACTICE on a RC simulator in the cockpit view. Can't be said enough!
The most recommend heli for FPV piloting is the 500 class because of it's size and ability to carry added gear like OSD's , GPS, data logger, etc.....
There is also a magic spot of 1800 RPM head speed on 500/600 class helis. Here's Why:
If your video camera is running at 30 frame per second then: 1800RPM / 60sec = 30 cycles per second.
Any vibration at these 1800 RPM translates into 30 vibration per sec or 30 frames per sec!
What this means is that if you put you governor as close as possible to
1800 RPM then any vibration on your heli will be in sync with video
camera frame changes and will be not as visible on final video clip.
akouzmit (HF)
FPVpilot.com's Heli Products Click here ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Blade CX converted to Brushless is a good platform for practicing FPV