EHBG/Electric Helicopter Beginner's Guide v17 *** UPDATE 10/17/2006 ***

[TMorita]

Version 17 of the Electric Helicopter Beginner's Guide (EHBG) is now on the website.


100
Please read this if you are new to helicopters or new to electric helicopters.
It covers choosing an electric helicopter, various construction tips, choosing a motor, ESC, construction tips, helicopter and transmitter setup, your first flights, etc.

100



After nearly a year of work, Mark Pearson and I are proud to present the new EHBG v17! New for this version:

New Frequently Asked Questions section for common questions
New Technical Appendix section for more technical info
New Motor Table section sorted by motor weight
Revised Helicopter & Transmitter Setup section with better explanations of setup
Revised troubleshooting section with more problem symptoms
Revised simulator section with new simulators listed
Almost 50 pages of new information - too many changes to list individually!

To download the EHBG or use the web version of the EHBG, go to http://www.swashplate.co.uk

Happy flying!


Toshi

[askman]

thanks toshi. wonderful stuff as usual. need to get this stickied.

[gluneedit]

Thank you very much.

[gapruff]

thanx for your help im going to try to down load this now

[zaguruinzasky]

woow really well done guys and easy to understand, even for not english people like me... thanx for that !

Is the suggested helis list updated with recent products?

[GreNME]

Toshi,

I am currently compiling a log of my activities with RC helis, since I am new to the remote-controlled experience and have a lot more to learn about the hobby than just the mechanics of how the helicopters work (jargon, best practices, etc.). I'll probably wind up putting everything I write down, once corrected and copy-edited, on my site for information purposes to those who might be interested in entering the RC heli hobby.

All of this is strictly informal, and for the last month I've been compiling resources from many places, but today I stumbled upon this guide. Let me say that I am wowed by the thorough nature of it. I've already noticed a few things that I didn't even think of including, and that is why I've decided to post to you.

If I give credit in a manner that is acceptable and agreeable to you, could I use your guide as part of my list of reference material? It wouldn't be my sole source, but I do admit that your guide contains in one document what many others out there only have in pieces! Because I'll be writing the document in the subjective sense, based on my own experiences and lessons learned, I'm obviously not aiming to creating a competing document to yours. Instead, what I am doing is creating an introduction to the hobby from the eyes of someone who was previously unattached to and mostly disinterested in RC hobbies in general, and how my experiences with RC helis have given me a subject that is quickly becoming an experience I absolutely love. There are plenty of resources out there for people who are already "sold" on the concept of trying an RC hobby (helis in particular), but there isn't much out there to paint the picture of a beginner's experience jumping into a hobby that is complex, a labor of love, and fun (or thrilling, depending on perspective).

I believe that anything worth doing is worth sourcing well and spreading the benefits of all our collective labors. There's very little that I do where I strive for sole credit, and this is definitely not one of those sorts of things. I like to think of it as applying the "open source" community-like approach to contribute to something that is greater than the sum of its parts.

[TMorita]

Toshi,
...
If I give credit in a manner that is acceptable and agreeable to you, could I use your guide as part of my list of reference material? It wouldn't be my sole source, but I do admit that your guide contains in one document what many others out there only have in pieces! Because I'll be writing the document in the subjective sense, based on my own experiences and lessons learned, I'm obviously not aiming to creating a competing document to yours. Instead, what I am doing is creating an introduction to the hobby from the eyes of someone who was previously unattached to and mostly disinterested in RC hobbies in general, and how my experiences with RC helis have given me a subject that is quickly becoming an experience I absolutely love. There are plenty of resources out there for people who are already "sold" on the concept of trying an RC hobby (helis in particular), but there isn't much out there to paint the picture of a beginner's experience jumping into a hobby that is complex, a labor of love, and fun (or thrilling, depending on perspective).

I believe that anything worth doing is worth sourcing well and spreading the benefits of all our collective labors. There's very little that I do where I strive for sole credit, and this is definitely not one of those sorts of things. I like to think of it as applying the "open source" community-like approach to contribute to something that is greater than the sum of its parts.

That's a good idea. The EHBG is mostly intended for people who have some R/C experience - usually most people have flown airplanes. We do try to provide a fairly comprehensive list of terms in the glossary in case people don't have any experience, but we try to avoid boring the people who already know the basics.

Sure, you can use the EHBG as a source reference material, as long as it's properly attributed.

If you want to make the EHBG accessible from your site, please put a link to the EHBG site (http://www.swashplate.co.uk) instead of putting the file on your site, because we update the EHBG periodically, and providing a link ensures that people always have access to the latest version.

Yep, I'm familiar with open source. I've contributed bits to both GCC and Linux. That's why I chose the Creative Commons license.

Toshi

[TMorita]

woow really well done guys and easy to understand, even for not english people like me... thanx for that !

Is the suggested helis list updated with recent products?

Kindof.

There's so many products released every year that it's difficult to keep track of them all. We try to list the more popular models, but some of the less popular models may not be mentioned.

The Corona seems to be having availability problems recently, but the general advice of buying a wide-blade fixed-pitch heli is still good.

Toshi

[YakkityYak55]

The only little helicopter i see fly over my house and are labeled NORTH KOREA

LOL

All regards,

The name above Calvin

[cassiorage]

wow man! really tankx! great job

[joao]

Many thanks for the super manual !
After 5 years with a FP Picollo I´ve started hovering a brushless Eco8 two days ago :)

Regards
João

[TreborNekmes]

Hi! I just spoke with someone at Lite Machines who told me they are no longer making the heli kits. The will sell parts, but no complete kits. Bummer. I was just about to go that route.

[Hassam]

thnx man...

[docflash]

the swashplate site says the pdf version of the EHBG is here, at the RC site, but i'm not finding it.

[TMorita]

the swashplate site says the pdf version of the EHBG is here, at the RC site, but i'm not finding it.

We've mostly switch to using swashplate for distribution of the EHBG.

Here's the direct link to the webpage with the PDFs:

http://www.swashplate.co.uk/html/ehbg.html


Toshi

[BigOpus]

Hi all, :rolleyes:
there is a virtual Helischool with a lot of lessons and tips. It's another way to learn fly. In europe this school is very popular. she's in english now!
www.helischool.de (http://www.helischool.de)

Michael

[Nannygoat]

Cheers Toshi. Just another beginer to the world of EH and lovin it so far but can use all tyhe help I can get!!!

[jk3700]

ok, I tried the link you provided and did not get the english version.

Looked around, still could not find it.

Can you help?

[an85yalie]

ok, I tried the link you provided and did not get the english version.

Looked around, still could not find it.

Can you help?

There's a British Flag logo towards the middle of the screen right below the word "Themen". Click the flag and the screen reloads with english.

Mike.

[cbflyer]

Toshi, I'm sure you don't get tired of hearing what a great job you did with this manual. I used to fly planes, been a few years, and jusr recently started flying micros, which peaked my interest in helis.

I wish I found and read your manual first before I just went out an bought a heli. But I think I'll be ok. I did my homework first :) I bought a used T-Rex 450 SE from the owner of a shop (was his bird, he upgraded to a 500) near where I live. It's in perfect condition and has upgraded servos and HH Gyro. Metal main gear, etc.. Haven't even flown it yet.

Your manual will probably save me from going out and doing something stupid right off the bat :)

Thanks.

[BigOpus]

There's a British Flag logo towards the middle of the screen right below the word "Themen". Click the flag and the screen reloads with english.

Mike.

long time... did you find the english version?

michael

[brian_79]

Hi all, :rolleyes:
there is a virtual Helischool with a lot of lessons and tips. It's another way to learn fly. In europe this school is very popular. she's in english now!
www.helischool.de (http://www.helischool.de)

Michael

good,this webside was did well!

[sneasle]

Does any of this documentation include info on how to properly trim a for stable flight?

[TMorita]

Does any of this documentation include info on how to properly trim a for stable flight?

"Stable" is kind of a relative term, but...

That's mostly proper setup. The relevant sections are:

1) Adjusting center of gravity. Ths is covered in Section 13.1.

2) Swashplate leveling. This is covered in Section 13.2.

3) Eliminating vibrations. This is covered in Chapter 26.


Toshi

[sneasle]

thanks, I will give them a look see.

[still charging]

Thanks Toshi!! =D

That jam packed guide took a bit of study to get all the answers I had swimming around in my rookie head, but I really have filled up on info for the night and can't wait to apply it, lol. Very specific and thorough. Only bad thing is my first heli is a RTF, haha :o

Stay up!

[TMorita]

Thanks Toshi!! =D

That jam packed guide took a bit of study to get all the answers I had swimming around in my rookie head, but I really have filled up on info for the night and can't wait to apply it, lol. Very specific and thorough. Only bad thing is my first heli is a RTF, haha :o

Stay up!

It will still be useful for an RTF.

After you crash it and break parts, you will probably need to resetup the heli again.

Toshi