Mumba, India has finally come into the RC boats world.  They have recently starting building their own radio controlled boats.  The geeky students and professional boat builders are finding RC boats an exciting hobby. 

It all started with a mechanical engineer who raced his RC Boat on the only water in the area of Odisha’s Rayagada district.  The land is mostly covered by forest and the population is tribal so having someone racing his radio controlled boat on the only water way in the district has been fascinating for the locals.

Satya Brata Maharana setup his garage as a workshop, spent some time online, and built a radio controlled boat. It’s now his favorite hobby and so far he’s built 14 to-scale RC boats.  You can see him racing them on youtube. www.youtube.com/user/adityagraphics By the way, his Youtube channel is the most viewed in Asia.

Satya Brata Maharana passion for RC boats has lead to others as well.  Akash GN, a nineteen year old, share the same passion which he says has turned into an obsession. Akash GN, an engineering student started making one a year now he makes 4 or 5 boats a year.

 Vinod Satwani, owner of Jack’s Hobby Store in Secunderabad, delivers electrical parts, batteries, and motors for RC boats to the students.  They also build planes, RC helicopters and RC boats as part of their academic projects.

This is quite a change for India population. Building their own planes, boats, and helicopters has not been one of the hobbies Indian’s favor. But with all the engineering students using the Internet to find parts and information on building RC boats someone had to finally open a hobby shop for them.  They still have difficulty finding fuel, spare parts and motors in India but that doesn’t deter them.  Of course, there is also the lack a water ways for racing their boats.

They can find a place to fly their RC helicopters and planes easier than racing their boats.  Most that have joined the RC hobby race are those seeking to relieve stress while enjoying the thrill of speed racing.  Everyone from doctors to house wives is spending some very serious money and time creating their own RC boats.  Some even use their swimming pools to test their boats.

RC boats are gaining in momentum worldwide, even in places where parts are hard to find such as Mumba, India.  We wish them all the luck in building their RC boats.

You can easily build your own by visiting (name of your affiliate hobby shop) and start becoming part of the RC world with your own radio controlled boat, plane or helicopter.

So far we’ve talking about learning to fly your RC helicopter and you should have had your maiden flight by now.  Hopefully you still have your helicopter in one piece. Now we continue on with flying your helicopter in a square and a figure 8.  The last two maneuvers for learning how to fly a RC helicopter and setting your skills as a RC helicopter pilot.

This Is Your Final Flight Lesson for Your RC Helicopter

Learning how to do a square flight is not as hard as it sounds. But doing them will give you the full skills you need to keep your RC helicopter in the air and not on the ground.  If you can do this one then the figure 8 will be a breeze.  So let’s begin.

So far you’ve learned how to hover, set your orientation, and directional flight. You’re on your way to the final flights that will improve your skills in flying your helicopter.  The first one is to practice flying in a square.  That’s right, a square.  This works on improving your hovering, turning (tail in and tail out) and directional flying.  Start in one spot and choose your point of turns and then fly!  Practice until you’ve perfected it and can fly in a square without any problems. 

The one problem you might have is when you make a turn and the nose of the helicopter is in a different direction than you’re used to.  Remember the lesson on nose-in flying.  This will perfect that flying technique.  It will also improve your directional flying.  Once you’ve got this down you can go on to try the figure 8.  You can practice this on your flight simulator before using your real helicopter.

 RC Helicopter Flying Figure 8 – The Last Battle

If you have the square down then you’re ready for the figure 8.  It’s the last maneuver for improving your skills as a RC helicopter pilot.  By this time you should be able to fly your helicopter with ease. This is a little challenging but you can do it if you’ve been practicing flying your helicopter.

Fly your RC helicopter in a figure 8 pattern until you can do it with ease.  Try to concentrate on the perfect shape of an 8.  This uses all your abilities you’ve learn so far about flying a helicopter.  Aim for control at first and don’t worry about the pattern of the 8 but as you gain more confidence, make the figure 8 as perfect as you can. 

Once you’ve mastered the figure 8 with your RC helicopter then you’ll be able to fly your helicopter anywhere you want and under any conditions.  Remember the old Idiom, practice makes perfect.  The more you practice flying, the better pilot you’ll be and the less crashes you’ll have.  Best of luck with your flying.

Next, we’ll cover what to do when you do crash your RC helicopter.

Leave a comment and let us know how you’re coming along with flying your new RC helicopter.

Lesson 4: Nose-In Hover

Now that you’ve taken your RC helicopter for its maiden flight, you’re ready to learn more types of flights with your helio.  If you can do the tail-in as you did with the last exercise then you can easily do the nose-in hover.

It not that much different than the tail-in but there are a few things that you need to know.  With the helicopter’s nose turned away from you it’s more like your control box but with the nose of the helicopter pointed towards you the controls on your radio control box are backwards.  Where forwards it now backwards and vice versa.  So it’s something you have to get use to before you try any trick flying.  Practicing many times before you take off will keep you from crashing your best RC helicopter.

The best way to learn nose-in with your RC helicopter

To learn the nose-in hover you point the helicopter towards you with the nose instead of the tail. You should already feel comfortable flying your helicopter with the tail toward you, if you don’t then keep practicing before you try this style of flying.

Don’t try this at high altitude, stay on the ground first then go higher up. Start by hovering a foot off the ground with the nose facing you.  Lift up then down several times to get the hang of this exercise.  When you’re really comfortable and in control, the try to lift up to 5 or 6 feet.  Keep practicing until you can easily do this nose-in hover.  If you feel you’re losing control, start back at the one foot level and keep working at it until you’re perfect.  

Remember the controls will be reversed so up is now down and down is now up. Once you’ve mastered the nose-in hover you’ll be able to fly your RC helicopter anywhere and any way.  It’s the controls being reversed that are the problem.  But as long as you remember they will be reversed then you’ll be okay.  Keep practicing until you’ve are confident with the controls being reversed and you’ll be just fine.

Why you need to practice the nose-in hover with your RC helicopter

The reason you learn to control your RC helicopter with the controls reversed is because it allows for greater control of the helicopter in any situation. Plus, it gives you the orientation awareness you need when your helicopter is 40 feet above you.  If you lose control at that height then you’ll definitely crash because you’ll be working the radio control box backwards and fly right into the ground.

You can also practice this nose-in hover on your flight simulator before you try it with your real RC helicopter. 

Here’s hoping you learn this step quickly without any mishap.  Good luck!

Leave a comment and let us know how you did with this nose-in hover.  Was it harder to control your helicopter?  Did you have any problems working the control box backwards?  Let us know how you did…