Remote Control Helicopter Glossary Of Terms

[Dave]

Have you ever wondered what they mean when they say "It bent the feathering shaft". Well you have found the right place. Learn to speak like the experienced pilots do with our handy Glossary Of RC helicopter terms.

Also if you know some that should be on our list, but are not, then please add your own glossary terms here and help out the newbies. We all had to get started some how.
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Ball Link
Connections that allow for adjusting controls using a ball on one end, and a link that "snaps" onto the ball on the other.

Collective (Variable Pitch)
Describes the control which adjusts the pitch of the rotor blades; causing the heli to ascend or descend without the need to change the rotor RPMs. This is usually the up and down movement of the left stick on the Tx. Having the ability to do this means you can use the momentum of the blades when spinning to do an autorotation if the engine dies and gives quicker response time as well.

Cyclic
Describes the controls which adjust the horizontal attitude of the helicopter, as in roll left-right and pitch forward and backward. Both of these movements are controlled by the right stick.

Dual Rates
A feature of some Tx models which allows a person to flip a switch to make the controls more or less sensitive.

ESC
Electronic Speed Controller. An electronic device that takes the power from the battery pack and the signal from the receiver and measures a certain amount of power to the motor

Normal Mode (Submitted by: Gabe)
Throttle response and head speed (rpm's of the blades) is directly linked to the position of the left stick. The pitch of the blades will always be positive once the heli has lifted off the ground. No inverted stunts are performed in this mode.

Idle Up/Stunt Mode (Submitted by: Gabe)
Typically linked to the GEAR switch on most radios, flipping the switch to idle up (or "1") will lock the head speed at a set RPM. This is typically 90-100% of the maximum RPM of the motor. In this mode, when the throttle stick is at the center or neutral position, there is 0 collective pitch and the heli should hover. When the throttle stick is at it's full down position, the blades will have full negative pitch (typically 9-11 degrees). When inverted, the heli will gain altitude with more negative pitch. When right side up, the heli will lose altitude with more negative pitch. When the throttle stick is in the full up position, the opposite will occur. Right side up the heli will gain altitude and vice versa for inverted flight.