Co-Pilot™ user’s guide
– 2 –
FMA Direct
Thank you for purchasing the FMA Direct Co-Pilot™ infrared
flight stabilization system.
Co-Pilot™ “looks” at the horizon with infrared heat sensors (this
same technology is used in thermal imaging cameras). The Earth
is warm (even when covered with snow) below the horizon,
while the sky is cold above the horizon. Co-Pilot™ “sees” this
temperature difference. When Co-Pilot™ senses changes in
aircraft attitude relative to the infrared horizon, it sends
corrective signals to keep the aircraft level.
Flying with Co-Pilot™ is easy. When you center the control
stick, Co-Pilot™ automatically returns the aircraft to level flight.
Co-Pilot™ works over a wide range of weather conditions. A
simple calibration adjusts Co-Pilot™ to the local environment,
and a sensitivity control changes Co-Pilot’s responses to match
pilot skills.
Co-Pilot™ is an excellent teaching aid because it maintains
stable flight while the student develops flying skills (the key is to
center the sticks to regain control). Advanced pilots find Co-
Pilot™ is useful for flying—and landing—under windy
conditions. Co-Pilot™ can help tame an unstable aircraft, and is
ideal for maintaining control during your first flights with a new
model.
If your transmitter has an unused channel, you can control Co-
Pilot™ from the ground. Turn it on when it’s needed, and turn it
off when it isn’t needed. If the channel has proportional control,
you can also remotely adjust Co-Pilot’s sensitivity.
This manual provides complete instructions for setting up and us-
ing Co-Pilot™. The manual contains these sections:
How Co-Pilot™ works
Safety precautions
Co-Pilot™ parts
Other items you may need
Before you start
Options for controlling Co-Pilot™
How to use this manual
Installing Co-Pilot™
Initial setup
Co-Pilot™ troubleshooting
At the field
About the infrared field calibration
Infrared field calibration
Co-Pilot™ pre-flight check
Flying with Co-Pilot™
Co-Pilot™ mini-manual
Introduction
How Co-Pilot™ works
Co-Pilot™ uses patented technology to sense the difference in in-
frared temperature (heat) between the Earth and sky. The sky is
always at a relatively lower infrared temperature, while the infra-
red signature of the Earth is always relatively warmer. Co-
Pilot™ uses two pairs of infrared sen-
sors: one pair points fore and aft, and
the other points left and right. When
one pair of sensors sees a change in an
aircraft’s orientation relative to the
earth’s infrared horizon, Co-Pilot™ is-
sues signals to the control system to
bring the aircraft back into level flight.
When the model is flying above the
Earth (even a few feet), the sensors see all the way to the Earth’s
infrared horizon. The infrared temperature seen for the Earth is
an average of infrared generated from all terrain features. Co-
Pilot™ incorporates a microcomputer to interpret input from the
sensors and modify signals between the aircraft’s receiver and
the servos controlling roll and pitch.
Other optical flight stabilization systems work with visible light,
not infrared. Those systems are strongly affected by changes in
cloud cover and other weather conditions, and don’t operate well
at sunrise, dusk or in the dark. The heat (infrared) radiating from
the Earth measured by Co-Pilot™ provides a more stable and
precise reference than light or other phenomena. This gives Co-
Pilot™ much more precision than visible light stabilization sys-
tems. For example, Co-Pilot™ won’t cause the aircraft to wan-
der when a cloud comes into view.
Since the infrared environment is not affected by variations in
visible light levels, an airplane equipped with Co-Pilot™ could
be flown at night (but we don’t recommend this!). Only substan-
tial changes in weather cause gradual variations in infrared tem-
perature throughout a day. Heavy fog, flying through clouds, or
snow on the ground cause the infrared signature to vary. Also, as
a model flies over the terrain, there is some variation in the aver-
age infrared temperature. For this reason, Co-Pilot™ incorpo-
rates a simple calibration procedure (not available in other flight
stabilizers) that fine-tunes performance for near-perfect stabiliza-
tion under all conditions.
© 2003 FMA, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this publication is prohibited. Co-Pilot is a trademark of FMA, Inc.
User Guide Version 2.21
U.S. Patent 6,181,989. Foreign and other patents pending.
11/10/2002
Note:
Co-Pilot™ is a unique product—it’s quite differ-
ent from other radio control equipment you may have
used. Since new concepts are involved, take your
time and work through the manual carefully.
Introduced in Fall 2003:
FS8 Co-Pilot
™
Eight channel FM PPM failsafe receiver with advanced flight
stabilization technology, including dual aileron servos, quad
flaps, elevons, V-tail, complex transmitter mixes, digital servos
and helicopter CCPM modes. Check the FMA Direct Web site
(
www.fmadirect.com
) for details.