Heli-Chair helicopter flight training device

[Heli-Chair]

Just want to introduce my helicopter flight training device to the
group. It is something that I created to teach myself how to fly a
helicopter (which I sucessfully accomplished!) and now I have made a
business out of it. Basically you sit in a chair with cyclic, torque
pedals and a collective (with throttle). You are flying a remote
controlled helicopter utilizing these controls. The main advantage is
that every detail of rotorcraft flight is duplicated. It is not a
computer simulation but instead a real helicopter. Collective can be
programmed to correlate power or the the collective and throttle can
operate independently.

It has been a very fun project. I've learned so much about flying with
it. Being able to hover with the Heli-Chair gave me a great feeling of
accomplishment. It is a great conversation starter when out flying in
public. Pilots are always drawn to it, they love to watch the motion
of the controls as I fly.

http://www.heli-chair.com

Kas

[plasticguy]

"Heli-Chair" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Just want to introduce my helicopter flight training device to the
> group. It is something that I created to teach myself how to fly a
> helicopter (which I sucessfully accomplished!) and now I have made a
> business out of it. > http://www.heli-chair.com
>
> Kas
>

Nice RC Toy. It says volumes that you show the RC Chopper in the ONLY
attitude
that works correctly from the chair. If you hover "nose in" instead of
"nose out"
we both know that roll and pitch imputs appear to be reversed. Nose
forward
cyclic will bring the model towards you, not away. But we both know this.
As far as the capabilities of the models, many here won't believe how
manuverable they are.
This week I finally got inverted touchdown auto's to a 6 inch target disc
nailed.

Scott.

[Heli-Chair]

scott,

you are right, but not 100%. it isn't the ONLY attitude that works
with the chair, it's just that the nose-in attitude is impossible
without lots of practice!

i spent many many hours making my arms and legs work backwards on the
heli-chair (for nose-in hover). i am a longtime rc pilot and i'm very
good at nose-in and stuff with the transmitter. however, training my
feet, arms and legs for this new experience was very difficult. for
this reason, learning the torque pedals and heading control is one of
the most important first steps.

learning to hover doesn't require anything but the straight ahead
orientation. it was well after my first time at the controls of a full
size helicopter that i went back and started learning nose-in
orientation with the heli-chair. it's sort of an added challenge...

kas

plasticguy (removethis) wrote:
> Nice RC Toy. It says volumes that you show the RC Chopper in the
ONLY
> attitude that works correctly from the chair. If you hover "nose in"
instead of
> "nose out"

[Steve R.]

"plasticguy" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Heli-Chair" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
>> Just want to introduce my helicopter flight training device to the
>> group. It is something that I created to teach myself how to fly a
>> helicopter (which I sucessfully accomplished!) and now I have made a
>> business out of it. > http://www.heli-chair.com
>>
>> Kas
>>
>
> Nice RC Toy. It says volumes that you show the RC Chopper in the ONLY
> attitude
> that works correctly from the chair. If you hover "nose in" instead of
> "nose out"
> we both know that roll and pitch imputs appear to be reversed. Nose
> forward
> cyclic will bring the model towards you, not away. But we both know this.
> As far as the capabilities of the models, many here won't believe how
> manuverable they are.
> This week I finally got inverted touchdown auto's to a 6 inch target disc
> nailed.
>
> Scott.

Basically true although, for the benefit of our 1:1 scales brothers and
sisters, he's not really doing an inverted touchdown from an autorotation.
Somewhere along the way, he's rolling or flipping back to a rightsideup
attitude "before" touchdown! ;-) Just thought I'd clarify that little
detail. There's bound to be someone out there that would take you a little
too literally.

As for the chair, it's a neat idea and it's one I wouldn't mind trying
although I'm not about to spend 2 G's on one. :-o I'm also a little leary
of flying the model from a seated position. As pointed out in their web
site, it's more than a little different from flying from the transmitter and
if the pilot screws up (or there's a radio problem (it's rare but does
happen from time to time)), he/she could find themselves with a model
heading right for them and it'll be a LOT harder to get out of the way when
sitting in that chair than it would be if you're already on your feet.

FWIW!

Fly Safe,
Steve R.

[plasticguy]

"Steve R." > wrote in message
...
> "plasticguy" > wrote in message
> ...
>> This week I finally got inverted touchdown auto's to a 6 inch target disc
>> nailed.
>>
>> Scott.
>
> Basically true although, for the benefit of our 1:1 scales brothers and
> sisters, he's not really doing an inverted touchdown from an autorotation.
> Somewhere along the way, he's rolling or flipping back to a rightsideup
> attitude "before" touchdown! ;-) Just thought I'd clarify that little
> detail. There's bound to be someone out there that would take you a
> little too literally.
>
> As for the chair, it's a neat idea and it's one I wouldn't mind trying
> although I'm not about to spend 2 G's on one. :-o I'm also a little
> leary of flying the model from a seated position. As pointed out in their
> web site, it's more than a little different from flying from the
> transmitter and if the pilot screws up (or there's a radio problem (it's
> rare but does happen from time to time)), he/she could find themselves
> with a model heading right for them and it'll be a LOT harder to get out
> of the way when sitting in that chair than it would be if you're already
> on your feet.
>
> FWIW!
>
> Fly Safe,
> Steve R.
>

Hi Steve.
What I actually did was to put a 2 inch steel pin in the top of the rotor
mast.
I roll inverted, go to idle, track to the target tisc and bounce the chopper
off the target
dumping a bunch of neg collective into it as I spool the power back up. If
I do it right,
it sits on the target inverted for a few LONG seconds and lifts off
inverted. Then I roll
back to upright after I get translated to forward flight. Weighted blades
make it LOTS
easier. It would be sooo cool if full size helo's were as aerobatic as a
model........

Scott.

[Steve R.]

"plasticguy" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Hi Steve.
> What I actually did was to put a 2 inch steel pin in the top of the rotor
> mast.
> I roll inverted, go to idle, track to the target tisc and bounce the
> chopper off the target
> dumping a bunch of neg collective into it as I spool the power back up.
> If I do it right,
> it sits on the target inverted for a few LONG seconds and lifts off
> inverted. Then I roll
> back to upright after I get translated to forward flight. Weighted blades
> make it LOTS
> easier. It would be sooo cool if full size helo's were as aerobatic as a
> model........
>
> Scott.
>

Ok??? You're a better man that me, Scott. You got a video of this? I'm
not saying I disbelieve you. I've seen some pretty wild stunts in the past
few years but nothing like what you just described. Sounds like it would be
"real" interesting to watch! ;-)

Fly Safe,
Steve R.

[plasticguy]

"> Ok??? You're a better man that me, Scott. You got a video of this? I'm
> not saying I disbelieve you. I've seen some pretty wild stunts in the
> past few years but nothing like what you just described. Sounds like it
> would be "real" interesting to watch! ;-)
>
> Fly Safe,
> Steve R.

`Hi Steve,
Once you got over the fear of paying for parts, it wasn't that tough.
The sad thing about it is having a 14 year old punk kid show you how easy it
is.

It is humiliating to have them show you what they can do, I saw this kid do
a rolling
circle for a warm up.

Scott.

[Jim]

It helps to have one of the RC helicopter distributors be a sponser too.
When a single light crash cost over $600 you tend to be a bit conservative.
I don't fly RC any more, the real thing is cheaper and easier.

"plasticguy" > wrote in message
...
>
> "> Ok??? You're a better man that me, Scott. You got a video of this?
I'm
> > not saying I disbelieve you. I've seen some pretty wild stunts in the
> > past few years but nothing like what you just described. Sounds like it
> > would be "real" interesting to watch! ;-)
> >
> > Fly Safe,
> > Steve R.
>
> `Hi Steve,
> Once you got over the fear of paying for parts, it wasn't that tough.
> The sad thing about it is having a 14 year old punk kid show you how easy
it
> is.
>
> It is humiliating to have them show you what they can do, I saw this kid
do
> a rolling
> circle for a warm up.
>
> Scott.
>
>
>
>

[Stuart & Kathryn Fields]

My crash cost me $10,000 in the real thing..+ a broken ankle. The ego loss
was bigger than it would have been with an RC.

--
Stuart Fields
Experimental Helo magazine
P. O. Box 1585
Inyokern, CA 93527
(760) 377-4478
(760) 408-9747 general and layout cell
(760) 608-1299 technical and advertising cell

www.vkss.com
www.experimentalhelo.com


"Jim" > wrote in message
...
> It helps to have one of the RC helicopter distributors be a sponser too.
> When a single light crash cost over $600 you tend to be a bit
conservative.
> I don't fly RC any more, the real thing is cheaper and easier.
>
> "plasticguy" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "> Ok??? You're a better man that me, Scott. You got a video of this?
> I'm
> > > not saying I disbelieve you. I've seen some pretty wild stunts in the
> > > past few years but nothing like what you just described. Sounds like
it
> > > would be "real" interesting to watch! ;-)
> > >
> > > Fly Safe,
> > > Steve R.
> >
> > `Hi Steve,
> > Once you got over the fear of paying for parts, it wasn't that tough.
> > The sad thing about it is having a 14 year old punk kid show you how
easy
> it
> > is.
> >
> > It is humiliating to have them show you what they can do, I saw this kid
> do
> > a rolling
> > circle for a warm up.
> >
> > Scott.
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>

[B4RT]

"Jim" > wrote in message
...
> It helps to have one of the RC helicopter distributors be a sponser too.
> When a single light crash cost over $600 you tend to be a bit
> conservative.
> I don't fly RC any more, the real thing is cheaper and easier.

Don't know where you get that cheaper stuff., it probably costs $800 just to
start the one I fly.

Bart

[Steve R.]

"B4RT" > wrote in message
...
> "Jim" > wrote in message
> ...
>> It helps to have one of the RC helicopter distributors be a sponser too.
>> When a single light crash cost over $600 you tend to be a bit
>> conservative.
>> I don't fly RC any more, the real thing is cheaper and easier.
>
> Don't know where you get that cheaper stuff., it probably costs $800 just
> to start the one I fly.
>
> Bart
>

Agreed! I've looked into the full size birds, would LOVE to get a
rotorcraft add-on to my fixed wing Private pilots license but just can't
afford it. :-( Or at least I'm not willing to forgo other activities and
interests in order to afford it. I could do it if all I wanted to do was
sit around the house and eat PB&J sandwiches for the duration. ;-)

I guess it depends on what he's calling a "light" crash. I'm flying top
line models and what I call a light crash will cost me "maybe" $200. A $600
crash would be a pretty big deal.

Fly Safe,
Steve R.

[Steve R.]

"plasticguy" > wrote in message
...
>
> `Hi Steve,
> Once you got over the fear of paying for parts, it wasn't that tough.
> The sad thing about it is having a 14 year old punk kid show you how easy
> it is.
>
> It is humiliating to have them show you what they can do, I saw this kid
> do a rolling
> circle for a warm up.
>
> Scott.
>

I know what you mean! :-D

Fly Safe,
Steve R.

[Simon Robbins]

"Heli-Chair" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> you are right, but not 100%. it isn't the ONLY attitude that works
> with the chair, it's just that the nose-in attitude is impossible
> without lots of practice!

I hovered nose-in on about my fourth or fifth tank. Not a pretty hover mind
you, but a controlled one. But then I'd invested many hours in a PC r/c
heli sim that I'm convinced saved me thousands in newbie mistakes. I found
it's just a conceptual thing, and I quickly learnt to disassociate myself
with the model, and be able to think from the model's perspective.

Nice idea for the chair, something I've wanted to do for PC flight sims for
a long time. But I have one reservation: when flying my r/c helis I never,
ever sit down. It would be the worst feeling in the world knowing you have
to move quickly to get out the way if something breaks, like a servo horn or
a push rod.

Si