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Edit ArticleHow to Fly a HelicopterTwo Parts: Helicopter Controls Basic Maneuvers

Ever dreamed of piloting a helicopter? Flying a helicopter, or rotorcraft, requires a different set ofskills than flying an airplane, although there are some similarities. While an airplane depends onforward motion to move air over the wings and create lift, a helicopter creates lift using rotatingblades. You need both hands and both feet to fly a helicopter. This guide can help you on yourjourney as a helicopter pilot.

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Part 1 of 2: Helicopter Controls

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1 Familiarize yourself with the helicopter components and controls. Read yourindividual aircraft’s operating handbook. Here are some of the basic controls you’ll

need to know to operate the helicopter:

The collective is the lever mounted on the cabin floor to left side of the pilot’s seat.The throttle is the twistable grip at the end of the collective.The cyclic is the “stick” located directly in front of the pilot’s seat.The tail rotor is controlled by the two pedals on the floor also known as anti-torquepedals.

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2 Operate the collective control with your left hand.

Raise the collective to make the helicopter rise, and lower it to make it go down.

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The collective changes the main rotor's blade angle collectively. The main rotor ison top of the helicopter.Adjust the throttle. As you raise the collective, you need to increase engine speed.Decrease speed as you lower the collective. Throttle is directly linked to theposition of the collective lever so that the RPM is always in line with the collectivesetting. You will only need to make adjustments when necessary.

3 Operate the cyclic control with your right hand. The cyclic is similar to a joystick,

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3 but sensitive, so make very small movements.

Push the cyclic forward to move forward, back to move backward, and to eitherside to travel sideways. The cyclic does not change the direction in which the frontof the helicopter points, but it does cause the helicopter to tilt forward and back(pitch) or to the right and left (roll).

4 Operate the tail rotor pedals with your feet. These two pedals (or anti-torquepedals) control the direction in which the helicopter is pointing, more or less having

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the same effect as the yaw pedals in an airplane.

Gently increase pressure on the left pedal to swing the nose left, or increasepressure right to swing the nose right.The yaw pedals increase or decrease the force that the tail rotor produces, therebycontrolling the yaw. Without a tail rotor, the helicopter will naturally spin in theopposite direction of the main rotor.

Part 2 of 2: Basic Maneuvers

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1 Take off. Follow these steps to perform a standard takeoff:

First, open the throttle slowly until you reach proper operating RPM.Pull the collective gradually up. As collective pitch increases, push the left pedal(right pedal for clockwise rotating main rotors). Continue pulling on the collectiveand depressing the left pedal. Adjust the pedal if the aircraft is turning to the left orright.The helicopter will leave the ground and you'll be able to use the cyclic. As youcontinue to pull the collective and depress the pedal, adjust the cyclic to level theaircraft as you take off. Push forward slightly to start moving forward.

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As the helicopter transitions from vertical to forward motion, it will shudder. Pushthe cyclic forward a little more to make sure you keep going forward. Thephenomenon that causes the shudder is called effective translational lift (ETL).As you progress through ETL, reduce the collective lever and apply less pressureto the pedal. Push the cyclic forward to avoid an abrupt nose high attitude andreduction in forward speed.Once you’ve taken off, slightly release forward cyclic pressure. The aircraft will thenbegin to climb and gain airspeed. From this point, the pedals are primarily used totrim the aircraft. Most maneuvers will only require a combination of the cyclic andcollective controls.

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2 Hover by finding a balance between the collective, cyclic and tail rotorcontrols.

Learn to do this with an instructor, who can operate the other controls while youpractice them 1 at a time, and then in combination. You must learn to anticipate thetime lag between when you adjust the controls and the helicopter's reaction.

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3 Climb and descend using speeds according to your pilot operatinghandbook. This will vary depending on terrain. Maintain 15-20 knots during a steep

climb. Carefully increase collective and be sure not to exceed the yellow limit of the torquegauge.

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4 Land, taking care to always have your landing target in sight, normallyslightly to your right (pilots side). This may mean that you have adjust your trim so

you are turned slightly to one side as you approach.

Try to be around 200–500 feet (61.0–152.4 m) above ground or any obstacleswhen you are .5 kilometers from your landing area.Watch your airspeed. At around .2km from the landing area slow the aircraft to 40knots and begin to descend. Check your descent rate. Be careful not to let yourvertical speed go over 300 feet (91.4 m) per minute. Vertical speed can beadjusting by applying the necessary amount of collective.

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As you approach the edge of the landing area, gradually slow to 30, then 20 knots.You may need to bring the nose up to decrease airspeed. Doing so willmomentarily obscure your sight of the landing area.Keep moving forward when you get to the landing area, since it's much harder tocontrol drift and land on the target if you hover first. Once the spot you want to landappears to slide beneath the nose of the aircraft you can then reduce thecollective.Arm the parking brake. Ease the cyclic back to reduce momentum and thenforward to level the altitude. Keep rate of descent as low as possible — adjust thecollective appropriately.Once you have made contact with the ground, check that your parking brake isarmed and then reduce all power.

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Focus your sight to at least 1/2 mile into the distance if your practice area allows it.

Be as light as possible on the controls and remember the adage: "you fly with pressures,

not movements."

Helicopter pilots fly at a different pattern altitude than fixed wings and this is to avoid the

flow of fixed wing traffic.

Helicopter pilots sit on the right side of the aircraft. Because rotor spin creates more lift

on the right side, placing the pilot's weight on the right side helps counteract this. Sitting

on the right side also allows pilots to operate the collective control with the left hand,

leaving the right hand free to deal with the more sensitive cyclic control.

In the first few hours, hovering seems to be impossible but when it all seems hopeless,

you will realize that it will all come naturally.

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When you begin instruction, be wary of "over-controlling," a mistake that many novices

make when they adjust a control and then fail to wait for the helicopter's reaction. If you

adjust again before the helicopter responds, you make twice the adjustment that's

needed and lose control of the helicopter.

Warnings

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Español: volar en helicóptero, Deutsch: Einen Hubschrauber fliegen, Português: Pilotarum Helicóptero, Italiano: Pilotare un Elicottero, Français: piloter un hélicoptère, BahasaIndonesia: Menerbangkan Helikopter

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