5
Trim Controls:
In addition to being able to adjust the trim on the helicopters left/right rotation,
you can also adjust the angle front to back.
Rotational Trim
If the helicopter seems to turn one way faster than the other, then you’ll need to adjust the rotational
trim. If the helicopter turns left faster than right, then increase the rotational trim right. If it’s turning
right faster than left, then set the trim farther left.
Note that the helicopter will not be totally stationary, even when trimmed correctly - see the section
below titled “Gyroscope”.
Forward/Back Trim
You can use the forward reverse trim control to fine-tune the helicopters movement when hovering.
There are two schools of thought regarding the best way to do this:
1. Stability
A calm, methodical flyer would come to the conclusion that, whenever no direction is set on the right
stick, the helicopter should stay pretty much in place. To achieve this, simply adjust the trim until the
helicopter is either stationary or moving at a very slow rate.
2. Speed
If you want to make the helicopter fly as fast as possible, then you can set the trim control further
forward than it “should” be. This will mean two things.
Firstly, the helicopter will have a significantly faster top speed. However, if you do want to hover in
place, you’ll need to carefully use the right stick to counteract the forward momentum.
Secondly, the helicopter will be much more difficult to keep under control, particularly if the control
signal is lost or interfered with in any way. We strongly advise against using this technique when flying
the helicopter in a confined space or around children, animals or fragile items.
Gyroscope
The
Air Force
does not have a gyroscope, which means that there is no “dead zone” on the controls
for the helicopter’s rotation.
The upside of this is that it places you in direct control of the helicopter – it doesn’t pull any punches,
nor will it fly itself. The downside (or another upside, depending how you look at it) is that you’ll need
to be a great pilot to get the best performance out of the helicopter.
When flying the helicopter, you’ll find yourself “riding” the right stick, manually correcting for the slight
rotation that the trim control cannot eliminate. (If you have the forward/reverse trim set for increased
forward momentum as described above, then you’ll need to correct for that, too.)
Rotational Trim
Forward/Back Trim
