6
Control
Infrared Bands
What is trim (rotation / rudder)?
You may fi nd that the helicopter rotates left or right while hovering, even when you are not
using the right stick on the controller. This rotation is because the two sets of rotor blades
sometimes get out of sync requiring adjustment to the trim.
The trim control is located underneath the fl ight control stick on the controller and fi ne-tunes
the speed of the rotor blades to keep the helicopter fl ying straight.
Trim should be checked each time you fl y the helicopter to make sure the chopper fl ies straight.
While hovering, if the helicopter is rotating
anti-clockwise, gently shift the trim control
to the right until the helicopter stops
drifting to the left.
If the helicopter is rotating clockwise,
gently shift the trim control to the left until
the helicopter stops drifting to the right.
What does that switch marked A/B on the controller do?
It selects your
IR Band
. It’s a little like tuning - a helicopter paired to Band A will not be aff ected
by a controller set to Band B, and vice-versa.
Some helicopters are marked as having bands A, B & C (or possibly even more!). Be careful
with these - sometimes a controller may be marked as a diff erent band, but still interfere with
this helicopter (and vice-versa). There’s no universal standard for infrared control, so be careful
when using multiple helicopters, even if they’re (apparently) set to diff erent control bands.
Shift the TRIM control
to the right...
Shift the TRIM control
to the left...
...if the helicopter is
drifting clockwise
...if the helicopter is
drifting anti-clockwise
If you’re using two
Crimson Eyes
at once, ensure that one controller is set
to IR BAND A and the other set to IR BAND B.
Pair the helicopters very carefully.
For best results, pair each helicopter in separate rooms.
Ensure that they aren’t within line of sight of one another.
7
Flight Tips
CAUTION
: Do not touch the running rotors. Do not
fl y above or near someone’s head. Adult supervision is
required at all times.
!
Wind
: Basically, these are (approximately) 1/40th scale helicopters. Full sized helicopters
can’t fl y in high winds – and neither can the models. If a full sized helicopter has diffi
culty
overcoming 50mph winds, then the model will have the same diffi
culty with 1~2 mph
winds (i.e. 1/40th as much). There’s nothing that can be done about this, it’s just physics.
Air conditioning
: Hot air rises and cool air falls – this creates movement in the air, leading
to an eff ect called “wind shear”. Basically, this is when there’s a column of hot air going
up next to cold air going down. Many full-scale aircraft accidents have been caused by
wind shear. Air conditioners create heaps of wind shear. If the helicopter fl ies through
wind shear, it will seem to suddenly fl y up or down (depending on the direction of the
wind shear).
The Ground Eff ect
: When the helicopter is near the ground, the air it pushes down with
its rotor has nowhere to go – the ground is in the way. Some of this air bounces back, this
pushes the helicopter up. When the helicopter is near the ground, it will get slightly more
lift than it normally would. This is something to keep in mind when landing.
The Ceiling Eff ect
: Conversely to the ground eff ect, when you fl y too close to a ceiling,
a small pocket of low pressure is created above the helicopter, and it will be sucked
upwards. This could be bad – if you hit the ceiling, the helicopter will stall, fall and possibly
be damaged.
Multiple Helicopters:
If you’re using more than one helicopter in a space at once, be very
careful when setting the controller band and pairing them to the helicopters. You may
fi nd that more than one helicopter will be controlled by a single controller, and this can
lead to crashes, accidents, injuries or other very undesirable outcomes.
Places to Fly
: Because high winds can be a problem, we recommend fl ying indoors.
However, you really do need a bit of space to get the most out of the helicopter. Some
places which are good for fl ight include large garages (whilst the car’s not parked there),
indoor sports areas, aircraft hangars, secret underground submarine pens and so on
(though why you’d fl y a toy helicopter in your secret underground submarine pen is
beyond us). Or a large lounge room with delicate items stashed somewhere out of the
way - whatever you’ve got.
Low Battery
: To get the longest possible life from the built-in battery, never completely
discharge it. As soon as the helicopter shows any sign of running low on power (such as
responding slowly or being unable to maintain altitude easily) turn it off and charge it as
soon as practicable. For more information about battery care, see
“Helicopter Battery
Warnings” on page 11
.
