6
Instruction Manual
http://www.jperkinsdistribution.co.uk
http://www.jperkinsdistribution.co.uk
7
Instruction Manual
http://www.jperkinsdistribution.co.uk
turbulence generated by the main rotor blades.
These disturbing influences mainly manifest
themselves as a drift to the left before and during
take-off and a tendency to yaw left or right just prior
to take-off.
Observe whether or not the helicopter is tending to
tilt forwards or backwards.
If it tilts forward, you will need to apply rear elevator
trim to correct. And vice versa if the Twister tends
to tilt backwards towards you.
Observe the helicopter about the roll axis and adjust
the trims in the same way–if it tends to roll or hop to
the left, apply a little right roll trim and vice versa.
Adjust the trims until the Twister shows no
detectable forward, backwards or sideways drift
tendencies.
Useful tip
........................... When applying throttle,
you must apply it gently and in small amounts.
At this stage the Twister MUST STAY ON THE
GROUND!
Too much throttle will cause the helicopter to leave
the ground and you may have difficulty in bringing it
under control quickly enough to avoid tipping it over.
WARNING!
Too much throttle applied too quickly will cause
your helicopter to leap rapidly and uncontrollably
into the air!
Never apply too much throttle too quickly.
STEP 3–GOING FOR A WALK
The helicopter should now be trimmed and you
should be in a position to start learning to 'take your
Twister for a walk'. These first flights should be
made with the Twister in contact with the ground at
all times.
Apply just enough power to make the helicopter
light on the skids and add a few clicks of forward
trim to tilt the rotor disc forwards.
Apply enough power so that the machine starts
to move slowly forwards. Watch for any change
of direction of the model and use the controls to
correct. If you cannot correct immediately, reduce
the throttle and try again. The aim is to travel
steadily and progressively across the floor.
Walk forwards following the helicopter across the
floor and using the controls to maintain slow and
accurate progress.
The 'walking technique' is the method required
to safely develop the automatic ability to apply
the right control input when needed. You must
practice this until you believe you are starting to
automatically input the control commands required
to keep the helicopter moving gently forwards along
the ground.
When you feel confident in your ability to operate
the controls correctly, proceed to the next step...
STEP 4–TAKING THE FIRST 'HOP'
If you are ready for the first 'hop' into the air you
will have spent some time mastering the skills
required to observe the attitude of your Twister.
You should be making the necessary control inputs
automatically and you should able to make smooth
progress across the surface of your floor.
If you cannot, please keep practicing Step 3!
The first 'hop' is a natural next step from walking
your Twister. Whilst walking you apply a small
amount of extra throttle to briefly raise the
helicopter off the floor and into the air for a second.
Then you should reduce throttle almost immediately
to settle back onto the floor.
You will notice that as the helicopter breaks free
from the floor its nature changes and it may attempt
to accelerate in an unforeseen direction. Be
prepared for this natural consequence of leaving
the friction of the floor for the 'friction-free' realm of
'real flying'!
Most people feel they have just limited control when
they leave the safety of the floor for the first time.
However, with practice, you will find that you are
able to make more and more of the correct control
commands required to keep your Twister upright
and that the hops become longer and higher.
It is important during these stages to keep moving
forward by applying a small amount of forward trim
to tilt the rotor disc forwards.
Always make sure you watch the nose of your
helicopter–not the tail. The gyro will attempt to
keep the tail straight for you but you will have to use
the tail control to swing the nose of the helicopter
straight as you make progress across the floor.
Keep practising and you will find that your flights
will become longer.
Also please note that, depending on the size of
your room, some control instability may be felt as a
result of the air circulated around the room by your
helicopters down draft. If you find this off-putting,
we suggest that you land and let the air settle.
Please be aware that a model helicopter in the
hover–regardless of design–will never stay still!
A helicopter will always require some level of input
to stop drift or a tendency to turn or climb. This is
not a sign of something faulty with the helicopter,
but is in the nature of a hovering helicopter.
As you become more familiar with your helicopter,
you will find that your developing hand/eye co-
ordination skills will enable you to correct any drift,
roll or yaw almost as soon as it starts, and this will
make your flying smoother and less jerky.
By this stage in your training you should be able to
manage hops at a height of between 10 and 30cm
with duration of 5-10 seconds per hop. Flights will
become longer and easier as your co-ordination
and understanding of flight dynamics develop.
