Getting started                        Set-up

OK, so you've got your new helicopter, all the associated electronics and accessories, what now?

First up, if you brought the machine brand new, you've gotta build it! Building a machine need not be a chore, infact, it can be very rewarding! Just make sure you follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer and if in doubt, ask questions.

Right, so your machine is all built and everything's installed and your pride and joy is sitting there all charged up and ready to fly! What next? You're itching to get to the field aren't you? You wanna crank it up and get some action! Well hold up there Rambo, you got some more homework just yet... First you gotta set up the pitch and throttle curves in your radio, for more on that see our section on Pitch and Throttle Curves.

Cool, so now your machine is about ready to fly. Give it yet another check over following the list below:

• All screws are tight
  Check and double check all screws are nice and secure.
• All linkages are secure
  Linkages make your helicopter act. They transmit movement from the servos to the control surfaces of the helicopter. Are your fuel lines safe and secure?
• Servos
  Make sure the servos are reversed if necessary. Check to make sure that the direction of the servos movement yields the correct response from the control surfaces (i.e. pitch, cyclic, throttle, rudder etc).
• Gyro set up
  Make sure that the gyro has been either reversed, or not reversed, as the case may be, so that it yields the correct response from the rudder of your helicopter.
• Pitch Curve
  Is your pitch curve all set up?
• Throttle Curve
  Is your throttle curve set up as well?
• Are your electrics secure?
  Is the wiring between electronics secure and protected from chaffing? Is the switch correctly wired up? Is the battery protected from knocks and is secure and free from movement? What about the receiver, is that nicely protected and free from movement?
• Are your batteries charged up?
  Trying to fly with depleted batteries will result in a run away helicopter that will at the very least damage itself, if not something or someone.

The above is a simple checklist which you can build upon. Don't let your first time out be ruined by something that could have been prevented!

OK, so now you've checked out your helicopter etc. Preferably you've had an experienced flyer (or our instructor) check it out as well to make sure you've not missed anything. But now, you're pretty much ready to head to the field for your first flights.

OK, now your machine is all sorted and ready to rock, are you? Let's get down to the business of learning how to fly!