ChopperAddict's Hints & Tips

CHOPPERADDICT SPECIALISES IN THE BUILDING, REPAIRING & 
SETTING UP OF R/C HELICOPTERS AND RADIOS
   

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Why do I offer hints and tips on safety as well as the 
other How To's, Info, and Tips & Tricks ?

Very simple, I will happily admit that I have hurt myself several times when working on or flying helicopters, and I really want to try to ensure that other people do not fall into the same stupid mistakes both I and many other pilots have made over the years.

Equally, I would like this section of the site to be a central store of useful tips and tricks to help others find out the easiest way to do things, and how to avoid many of the pitfalls there are in our hobby of RC helicopter flying.

So, here we go - they are in no particular order, so just click on any topic that interest you and you will be taken to the relevant Hints & Tips page...

If anyone has suggestions for other tips on safety, or modifications, or tricks to make things easier, or indeed anything else, please do contribute them.  All suggestions have due credit noted to the contributor on the relevant pages

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CLICK HERE  To contribute a suggestion or tip or trick to this web site.
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Topics

 BEGINNERS - START HERE 

 BEGINNERS How to power up YOUR Transmitter SAFELY & CORRECTLY     (May 2010)
 BEGINNERS How ALL R/C helicopters should be armed (powered up) safely
 BEGINNERS How to LEARN to HOVER easily and safely - with ChopperAddict's Hover-EZE
 BEGINNERS What are the real differences between radios ?   (May 2011)
 BEGINNERS Have you done your FAIL/SAFE SETUP - it is CRUCIAL that you do ? 
   

  Safety  

  Safety How to power up YOUR Transmitter SAFELY & CORRECTLY     (May 2010)
  Safety Preparing a new helicopter for it's first flight safely
  Safety How ALL R/C helicopters should be armed safely

Safety

 Safety when working on your helicopter
  Safety Handling LIPO batteries safely
  Safety  Flying your helicopter safely
  Safety  Checking out your BRAND new helicopter - a cautionary story !
  Safety  A CNC parts (bling) Warning !
  Safety  Fitting/refitting the motor into your helicopter
  Safety  WARNING - Fitting an Esky CNC head to your Belt CP     (November 2009)
  Safety  WARNING - Fitting a switch between the LIPO and your ESC     (December 2009)
  Safety  WARNING - Why do we have 5V and 6V servos & switchable BEC's etc ?      (December 2009)
  Safety Things to watch out for with LIPO batteries     (January 2010)
  Safety Take care with Interceptor 400 Flybar paddles     (February 2010)
  Safety Does your DX6 or 7 have a very sensitive throttle on starting to spool up     (May 2010)
  Safety Beware of tail blade drive shafts that are not strong enough     (June 2010)
  Safety Ensuring that tail blades on the Interceptor 400 are mounted securely     (June 2010)
                

   How To  

  How To How to learn to hover a helicopter for TOTAL NEWBIES
  How To Set the tracking of the main blades correctly
  How To Set up a gyro
  How To Set up the Futaba GY401 gyro correctly
  How To Check your new programmable ESC is setup correctly
  How To Replace the boom on a Belt CP
  How To Ensure the throttle is set correctly with a DX6i
  How To Change the feathering shaft on a Belt CP (with diagrams)
  How To Connect the radio and gyro on a Belt CP  (with diagrams)
  How To Correctly set the BRAKE TO OFF on the stock ESKY 25A ESC (V1 or V2)
  How To Reset the Throttle Trimmer correctly on Esky 0406 Transmitters
  How To Setup the Esky EK2 0704B Heading hold gyro CORRECTLY
  How To Solder things correctly
  How To All you EVER WANTED TO KNOW about the Esky standard 6 channel TX PITCH CURVES
  How To Set up the initial tail servo position on the boom correctly     (November 2009)
  How To Fit a CopterX head to a Belt CP without needing to do the RDTS modification
  How To Set up the CORRECT tail rotor blade position on almost any helicopter     (December 2009)
  How To Bind the E-Sky 2.4Ghz TX  to a different helicopter/RX     (January 2010)
  How To Use Phoenix to progress into sideways and nose in flying
  How To Fit the LIPO restraining strap to a Belt CP correctly
  How To Use larger LIPO's to power your Interceptor 400
  How To       Use 2 LIPO's to power your helicopter
  How To       Wire up Alien Command Advanced on your helicopter
  How To       Take advantage of DUAL RATES with a computerised radio system
  How To       Use Nylon Braid to tidy up the radio wiring on your helicopter
  How To       Fit a CopterX Head & Tail to an Interceptor 400 helicopter   (September 2010)
  How To       Fit the nut on the bottom of the main gear without tears  (October 2010)
  How To       Set the centre points of the sticks on a DX7 properly (December 2011)
   

  Information  

Information About the various types of Radio Systems
Information Warning about 2.4GHz radio systems
Information Warning about using Digital servos with some ESC's
Information Common causes of head vibration
Information Common causes of Tail/Boom vibration
Information Everything you might want (& need) to know about the IDLE UP (stunt) switch
Information Warning about shortening RX aerials with 2.4GHz radio systems
Information How to check that your brand new ESKY Radio is working correctly
Information How to best use the Phoenix Simulator while learning to hover
Information The truth about Motor KV, Amps, Watts, RPM, ESC's & Lipo life
Information Where to run your radio aerial when using a 35MHz radio
Information How tightly should you pinch the main rotor bolts
Information Suggestions for the Basic Throttle & Pitch curves for DX6i etc
Information What to check for when the tail is uncontrollable
Information What lubricants should you use on your helicopter
Information What gyro setting should you use when learning to hover
Information All you ever wanted to know about how gyros work     (November 2009)
Information How to connect the servos to the controls on the Interceptor 400 for learning to fly
Information Myths and Facts about Setting up Gyros correctly - Get the TRUTH right here...
Information What servos connect to what connections in the RX (Radio Receiver)     (January 2010)
Information All the facts about the Alien Command Auto pilot system     (January 2010)
Information How to connect up the Acer Labs 40 ESC correctly      (January 2010)
Information How to fit the tail blades to an Interceptor 400 CORRECTLY      (April 2010)
Information How to check if your motor is in good condition      (June 2010)
Information How to fit the larger RapidCharge Lipos onto an Int 400      (August 2010)
Information How to fix problems when binding the RadioLink H6TP radio  (September 2010)
Information What needs to be upgraded when building a NEW INTERCEPTOR 400  (Mar 2011)
                

  Tips & Tricks - General 
Tips & Tricks Stopping binding of the tail control on a Belt CP
Tips & Tricks How to calm a helicopter down without have a computer radio
Tips & Tricks How to remove screws and bolts that are thread locked in
Tips & Tricks How to make your helicopter "softer" with a DX6i or similar radio
Tips & Tricks How to make your Co-Ax heli fly as smoothly as possible 
Tips & Tricks How to feed the tail drive belt down the boom easily and quickly
Tips & Tricks How to avoid having to connect those pesky DEANS connectors every time
Tips & Tricks How to change the main gear on a Belt CP quickly & easily
Tips & Tricks How to balance rotor blades with no special equipment
Tips & Tricks How to set up a DX6i easily to do the pitch setup without changing your T/P curves 
Tips & Tricks A quick way to set the height of the swash plate initially      (January 2010)
Tips & Tricks An easy way to use larger Lipos in the Interceptor 400      (January 2010)
Tips & Tricks How to switch the Spektrum DX6i mode between mode 1 & mode 2


Build it carefully


Don't crash in water !! 


Watch out for those huge SHARK's below

     

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