A few years ago I asked for an RC helicopter as a gift. I powered RC airplanes and RC boats, RC cars and RC trucks flew, but never seen a RC helicopter. Luckily, I had a helicopter beginner. E 'come fully assembled and ready to fly! All I had to do was to recharge the batteries and install them on the device.
The next day the wind was calm, so I went to a large common area to start my first flight. With the batteries I was ready to go! Thetakeoff was a breeze and I soon learned to hover and to fly forward. Landing was a little more problematic. I got the helicopter to within eighteen inches of the ground, when a sudden gust of wind pushed me sideways and off a level plane. I applied a bit more power and got myself righted and tried the landing again. This time, I cut the power and landed a bit heavily. But, I was back on the ground without any damage. My first flight was exciting and successful!
Rc Helicopter
A friend and fellow R/C plane flyer suggested I get a set of training landing gear. Basically it consisted of two carbon fiber rods crossed to form an "X" with foam balls attached to the ends of the rods. The rods have clips that attach to the skids of the helicopter. This effectively increased the landing base considerably.
I tried out the landing gear on my next flight. Wow, what a difference! Even if I was slightly tilted or landing hard, the training gear absorbed the impact quite nicely and kept my R/C helicopter upright! I left the training landing gear on for quite some time until I was confident that I could land successfully without incident.
Since that time I have heard many stories of first time RC helicopter pilots who wished they had installed the landing training gear. I even saw a first time pilot who had the landing gear in his possession who ignored the pleas of his buddies and flew for the first time without them. Making too many over corrections he came down hard on the RC helicopters side. Fortunately there was little to no damage to the helicopter, but a lot of damage to the pilot's ego!
Me, I'm completely sold on training landing gear. Even with experience, I always use the landing gear when I fly a new RC helicopter. So, if you are looking for an R/C helicopter I recommend you make your first flights with training landing gear.
My First RC Helicopter Flight Experience!
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