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Helicopter maneuvers
Take off Styles
1) Take off to hover. Take the helicopter off and rise to about a scale 2-4 feet from the ground. ie 1/6 scale rise to 4-8". Done perfectly, the helicopter will rise to a point directly above the point it was sitting on the ground. It will rise smoothly with no obvious movement of the tail. The tendency of the helicopter to hang one skid low due to the tail rotor couple will be countered by the pilot. K Factor 8 2) Normal takeoff. The helicopter would normally be at a high power setting so a steep climbout would not be normal. Drop the nose of the helicopter very slightly to initiate forward motion into translational lift and accelerate keeping parallel to the ground. The height should be maintained at a scale level of less than 10 feet. Translational lift will increase the height of the helicopter until normal flying speed is attained. When at the correct airspeed to avoid a failed autorotation (outside the dead mans curve) the nose of the helicopter can be lifted to the horizontal and the helicopter climbed out. Note the nose of the heli does not get above the horizontal at any time. K factor 8

3) Running Takeoff The helicopter is ground taxied to the takeoff position by sliding it on the ground and then by increasing the collective to get the helicopter light on the skids a small amount of forward cyclic is applied to progress into translational lift. Once the machine is airborne, a normal takeoff as above is performed. K-Factor 10

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4) Maximum performance takeoff The helicopter is brought into a low hover for maximum lift and then maximum power and collective are applied simultaneously with some forward cyclic. The idea is to gain some forward speed to take advantage of translational lift but there may be an obstacle in front of the helicopter which prevents a normal takeoff and so a maximum power climbout is used. K-factor 5

5) High Rise Takeoff The idea is to takeoff from a skyscraper in such a manner that should an engine failure occur, the machine can be auto rotated back to the same point. This means gaining height and distance outside the helicopters Height/Velocity (H/V) curve. The helicopter is lifted off smoothly and steadily backwards away from the landing area until it is judged that a 180 rotation will give the machine sufficient forward speed to return to the original point should an autorotation be necessary. Looking at the drawing above for a maximum performance takeoff, if the machine is pointed the other way and follows the curve it will be correct. At point 5, the machine does a 180 and then proceeds into forward flight K factor 9 6) Slope takeoff When a helicopter lands on a slope it should preferably land on it sideways. To take off, the collective and cyclic are increased to such a point that the rotor disk is horizontal and then the helicopter rises vertically. If the helicopter rises too much to the side towards the hill a severe rollover danger is present. If insufficient cyclic is present, the helicopter may roll down the hill into an obstacle. This maneuver should be done slowly and carefully .K factor 9

Landing Styles
1) Normal approach to landing from the hover The normal approach angle is a descent at about 10 degrees, slowing to about a fast walking pace as the landing pad is neared and come

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to a stationary hover at a scale 5-10 feet above the landing pad. Maintain a perfect position while rotating the aircraft into position on the pad via the tail rotor and then descend in a smooth steady motion, not stopping until both skids are on the ground. K factor 6

2) Normal approach to translational landing The normal approach angle is a descent at about 10 degrees, slowing to about a fast walking pace as the landing pad is neared. The pilot may opt for a translational landing in which the descent continues directly to the ground without a hover. This would be for minimum downwash or dust disturbance. K factor 10 3) Steep Approach This would be for clearing obstacles in the path and is for approach angles upto 90 degrees. The forward speed should be minimized as before and the flare angle will be low. The descent angle will be constant. The helicopter will progress to a scale 10-15 foot hover without overshooting and then to a gentle landing with a purely vertical descent. K factor 8

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4) Rapid deceleration The helicopter is flown in a normal approach angle but the speed is maintained, typically a scale 25-30 feet and 40-50 knots air speed. When the helicopter is close to the landing pad the helicopter is progressively flared to reduce airspeed. At the same time the collective is manipulated to maintain a constant height. Once the speed is all bled off the helicopter should be horizontal, above the landing pad, and at the same height as at the end of the approach. ie, translational lift has been accounted for by correct collective use. The helicopter then rotates about its axis if necessary at a constant height and then descends vertically to the pad. K factor 8

5) Rolling/sliding landing The approach should be made at a lower angle than normal, about 5 degrees and the speed should be just above translational lift speed. As the helicopter touches down, the skids should be horizontal and the helicopter should be allowed to slide. The cyclic should remain fixed and the slide distance controlled by the collective. K factor 8

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6) Slope landing The helicopter should approach the slope sideways on. The skid should touch the slope with both heel and toe contacting simultaneously to avoid pivoting the machine into the slope. Slight cyclic should be held on to keep the machine pressed against the slope to prevent sliding. The collective is gently reduced and the other skid touches down. K factor 8

7) Auto rotation The auto rotation is not a maneuver a pilot would normally perform and therefore is somewhat difficult to define accurately as every one will be different. The auto rotation is started by cutting the engine either to idle or completely, and then lowering the collective to maintain rotor inertia. Full size helicopters do not have negative pitch capabilities and so a rapid descent is not normal. The descent should be controlled maintaining forward flight with a scale descent rate until the point where the flare begins. If this is correct, the helicopter will end in a steady hover, skids horizontal, a small distance above the ground and will settle as the head speed decays. It is permissible to slide the helicopter at the end of the auto as if the flare point had been misjudged. This is acceptable as each auto will depend on the number of passengers and the amount of cargo and fuel at the time and will be very difficult for the pilot to get right under all circumstances. What is not permissible is any maneuvers on the way down. The pilot wants to get the machine on the ground safely and energy sapping maneuvers will not be used.

Airport Techniques
1) Clearing turns. This is normally done in the hover, before progressing into forward flight. The first clearing turn is usually done down wind. This is a slow pedal turn through 90 degrees maintaining hover height and position. A brief hesitation at 90 degrees is to allow the pilot to check for obstructions or other aircraft entering the flight area. If all is clear, the aircraft executes a 180 degree pedal turn into wind again maintaining a constant height and position, a brief hesitation to ensure the takeoff area is clear, followed by a normal takeoff into wind. 2)Normal climbout. The pilot will turn the machine into wind and climbout at a smooth ascent rate to a predetermined altitude. The angle of ascent and the rate of ascent will remain constant even if a turn is involved. K factor 7 3) Normal Traffic pattern . It is occasionally requested that a helicopter join the normal flight pattern for a busy airport and this will mean flying in the same manner as a fixed wing aircraft. The helicopter will fly to the end of the runway climbing into wind and then make a smooth turn away from the runway to fly the downwind leg. Height control is very important in that the

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helicopter must arrive at a scale height of about 300 feet at the end of the runway and maintain this height through all of the turns. The helicopter flies the downwind leg and turns smoothly to make an approach at the end of the runway. Then the helicopter flies down the runway at the same height assuming that he will be called to clear the runway at the end. At this point he may climbout to his desired altitude.K Factor 8 4) Rectangular flight pattern. The aircraft should fly a slow square or rectangular flight pattern allowing for wind in such a way that the sides of the rectangle are parallel. Constant height and straight line flying is paramount. This should be flown at or above eye level to allow the judges to assess the right angle turns and the straightness of the lines. K factor 10

5) S turns. These are used to maintain airspeed but to reduce ground speed. The aircraft should fly downwind to the beginning of the s and then make 2 slow semi circle turns at constant height and radius and then continue on at the original height and airspeed. This should be flown at a height above the pilots head sufficient to allow the judges to assess the consistency of the semi circles. K factor 10

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6) Circle. This requires the pilot to approach at a tangent and complete a slow full 360 circle at constant height and speed This should be flown at or above eye level to allow the judges to assess the consistency of the speed and concentricity of the circle. K Factor 10

Working maneuvers
There are many maneuvers the helicopter can perform. I have tried to keep these to the ones likely to be perfomed in the normal course of flying duties. 1) Chandelle. This is a maneuver used to reverse direction with no loss of airspeed. It involves a pass across the field into a 45 degree climb. Before the helicopter loses all momentum, a gentle turn is made through 180 degrees so the helicopter is returning on a parallel track.It is important to maintain a scale speed when traversing the field. k factor 7 2) Stall turn. This is used to reverse direction as fast as possible in the shortest possible distance. The helicopter makes a pass across the field and then enters a vertical climb at the end. Just as the helicopter loses all momentum a 180 degree rudder only turn is performed and the helicopter returns on a parallel path down the field very close to the original track. It is

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important to maintain a scale speed when traversing the field. k factor 9 3)Observation Hover. A police or television camera helicopter may be required to hove above a certain area for some time to observe happenings below. To simulate this the hover should be at 50 feet or so and should be completely stationary for a minimum of 10-15 seconds. k factor 6

Load carrying maneuvers

Certain competitions may permit the attachment of a load to the helicopter for the freeflight part of the schedule 1) Takeoff. The load should be mounted under the mast center so as to maintain a CG balance. On takeoff the helicopter should rise vertically above the load until the load is under tension. If the helicopter is not directly above the load at the point of lift, the load will swing when it leaves the ground. k factor 8 2) Carrying the load. The load should be eased clear of the ground and the helicopter can be flown in either a defined or random pattern at the pilots choice. During the course of the flight, the load must not be allowed to start to swing and if an oscillation should start, the pilot should be able to stop it in flight. K factor 9 3) In flight loading. If the load is a bambi or similar water carrying bucket and a suitable water source is available, the bucket can be filled in flight. The helicopter should hover over the water at such a height as to allow the water to begin to fill the receptacle and then it is normal to drag the receptacle in the water to fill it, however, some receptacles may simply be allowed to sink and fill under their own weight. K factor 8 3) Releasing the load in flight. The load can be released in flight such as water from a bambi bucket. In this case the helicopter should not suddenly jerk up as the load is removed but judicious control of the collective should keep the helicopter at a constant height. The load can be progressively released as the model travels along a path such as in a fire fighting situation. A suitable target should be marked for the judges to assess the accuracy of the drop. K factor 9 4) Releasing the load at destination. The helicopter should come to a stationary hover without inducing any oscillation in the load, and then gently descend to lower the load to the correct point. For maximum marks this should be marked for the judges. Once the load is on the ground and the load cable tension released, the load can be released at the helicopter. K factor 9

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