How to Fly Instructions

The Area is currently under construction.

We have called this the 3D Basics section, but don't underestimate how difficult some of the following maneuvers are. Time spent on these, working on good positioning and all orientations (to avoid becoming handed) is time well spent.

	Maneuver	Description	Picture

	Hovering "T"	So you think you can hover ???(Part1) I often get asked 'What is the hardest trick I can do??'. My reply is usually, 'The hardest thing I have learnt to do is HOVER 'properly''. I then explain the importance of being able to Hover in ALL Orientations for 3D flying. So to improve my own hovering skills I followed the advice of Curtis Youngblood from his Q&A book. This involves the Hovering T. Picture shown in the BIRDS EYE VIEW 1 - Start with the model in a stationary hover in-front of you, tail-in. 2 - Then move out to the right (slowly, this is a hovering maneuver remember), while keeping the nose pointing north at all times. After about 5-10m stop the sideways motion and bring the model back into the hover. You will now be looking slightly side-on to the model. 3 - Bring the model back towards the middle by moving the model left and then into a stationary hover. 4 - Now move the model forwards about 5-10m, then bring the model back into the stationary hover. 5 - Bring the model back towards the middle by moving the model backwards and then into a stationary hover. 6 - Now move the model left about 5-10m, then bring the model back into the stationary hover. You will now be looking on the opposite side of the heli from (Part2). 7 - Bring the model back towards the middle by moving the model right and then into a stationary hover. 8 - Land and take a breather. In this example the nose is on a constant heading, north all the time. The idea now is to start with the nose pointing west, then east, then south (nose-in) and perform the hovering T with each of there variants. I also found it useful to make the T into an E as shown by the dotted lines. I found this gave an extra challenge. You could also but some cones/flags on the ground, in a T, so that you have points to stop over, like the FAI boys. What you are looking to achieve is a consistent height and speed throughout the complete maneuver. If your height or speed starts to wander at a particular point of the maneuver, you have just found a weakness in your hovering that you can now work-on. That is the main reason for doing the Hovering T, it will show up your weaknesses as well as improve your hovering. My little motto, 'The secret to flying a heli, is being able to hover it'

	Hovering T - Inverted	So you think you can hover ??? (Part2) Perform the above Hovering T, but this time inverted Once you can perform the Hovering T, Normal and Inverted in the 4 orientations, it is safe to say, you are well on the way to becoming an advanced 3D Flyer.

	Hovering T - Pirouetting	So you think you can hover ??? (Part3) Perform the above Hovering T, but this time pirouetting (left and right rotation), normal and inverted Hang on a second, this isn't very Basic anymore, but you get the idea. The hovering T can really help you develop your orientation of the Heli.

	Hovering T - Metronoming	So you think you can hover ??? (Part4) Perform the above T, but this time Metronoming. The list of orientations is HUGE for this one. Hang on a minute, we've gone even further past the basics now.

I have covered the Hovering aspects of 3D Flying above. The following looks at 'flying' maneuvers, too help develop the basics of 3D Flight. Work on good positioning of the heli. Also try to perform the maneuvers in both directions Left to Right and Right to Left, this will stop you becoming handed.

	Cuban 8	See Pic. 1/2 rolls are used in the centre of the move. For clarity, only the 1/2 roll is shown in the left to right portion of the cuban 8. The most basic example is shown. To add a 3D twist to the move, perform it backwards inverted or with sideways loops.

	Auto - Pushover	Start out in an inverted auto and then pushover to a tail first landing. The key to this trick is getting the right amount of forward speed while inverted. Start out high to get the Fwd speed and timing correct. Then how low will you go ??!!??

	Auto - Tumbling S	See Pic. Another trick to be performed while autoing.

	Chaos 1	There are 2 different definitions of this maneuver that I know of: The first and most common is that the 'Chaos' is sustained piro-flips with a high pirouette rate.	No Diagram at This Time.

	Chaos 2	The second version is MUCH more complex. Again this involves piro-flips. But this time between each individual piro-flip, the axis of the flip is rotated. You follow the same principle that is being applied in the Piro-Globe.	No Diagram at This Time.

	Death Spiral	As the name suggests this can be a quite dramatic maneuver when performed to the limits. Start with plenty of height in a stationary hover then 1/4 roll the model to knife edge then Set collective to 0 deg. As the model falls apply fwd or bwd cyclic. The model will be rotating about the axis which it is falling. To exit, stop the application of fwd/bwd cyclic and 1/4 roll again. Depending on the direction you roll out, will lead to a normal or inverted pullout. The rate of descent can be slowed by applying the Stationary Death Spiral philosophy.

	Death Spiral - Stationary	The stationary death spiral is a development of a Fwd inverted circuit. By decreasing the diameter of the circuit until the model is effectively turning on the spot. To sustain height the model obviously isn't knife-edge, as with the death spiral. However the model is at a very steep angle. Once the stationary death spiral has been mastered the heli can be sent round circuits and climb in this manner, with the use of collective.	No Diagram at This Time.

	Detonator	One of the 3D Masters set maneuvers. See pic. Basically a climbing then falling funnel. But, for this maneuver a skids in and out funnel are required. Start in a Funnel, skids IN, and low (tail down for this example). Then power up vertical, maintaining the funnel. At no point should the diameter of the funnel increase/decrease. At the top put the model Knife edge tail down, but keep rolling the heli. Then transition to a funnel but this time skids OUT. Now bring the heli back down to the starting point, in the funnel. For clarity the upwards and downwards section are shown side-by-side in the picture. But, the idea is to go straight up, then straight down. Like the Plunger on a 'Detonator'.

	Funnel	See Pic. The example shown is tail-down inverted. This seems to be the most popular variant. But there are of course many different variants. The funnel is a development of sideways circuit flying. By reducing the size of the circuit until the tail (in this example) is turning almost on the spot. Increasing the collective pitch while still maintaining height will force you to increase the angle of the model, and vice-versa. The transitioning between the different variants of a funnel, is known as morphing funnels.

	Hurricane	The 'Hurricane' is a high speed knife edge circuit (Basically the same as a Wall of Death). By using high collective values the angle of the model can be made to appear on the knife edge. TIP: By flattening out the circuit @ positions B/D allows more lift to be created, so that @ positions A/C the model can actually be put on the knife edge. As A/B are the positions at which the spectators view the model on the knife edge, it increases the illusion that the model is knife edge all the way round.