Fixed 101

[Felix the cat]

As opposed to coax, fixed pitch have only one main blade (like most helis). But this main blade does not vary the pitch / angle of attack / inclination position. Hence they need hefty throttle RPM to keep'em aloft. They can be with a flybar at 45° (docile) or at 90° (a bit more aggressive). Or can be flybarless, which have no flybar, requires different gyro and a rather good pilot to get it off the ground. Since you can not vary the pitch to stick it to the ground on spool up, they do suffer from tip-over-on-spool up.

Some say skip fixed pitch as it only teaches bad habits of throttle chopping for descent, I belong to that school of thought.

[JFandL]

I can 2nd that!!! The fixed pitch helicopter does nothing good for learning to fly RC helicopter!

John

[fhhuber]

FP generally come with a relatively high pitch and that means it lifts before the gyroscopic stability seen with the CP heli's higher rpm which helps to keep it from tipping as it gets light on the skids.

I tweaked the blades on a Honeybee FP (long ago) so it spooled up faster before lifting and it was much easier to fly.

That tweak is a bit beyond the skill level of the average RC heli beginner...

[JFandL]

ROFL, I started flying RC helicopter with the real old Mini boy, I know most here would need to look it up. Fixed pitch no Gyro's back then as well.

John

[F106DeltaDart]

I still think fixed pitch is a valuable step to have before collective pitch. It is much easier to set up, and much more difficult to break. They are also fairly inexpensive if something does break, and they can deal with wind. A fixed pitch teaches you how to fly and maneuver much better than a coax, and provides a pilot with confidence before flying a collective pitch machine. I flew the little Blade 120SR for a good 2 years before I moved up to collective helis, and I still find it to be an excellent tool for training fellow pilots to fly helis.

[fhhuber]

GMP Cricket... those were the days.

You could make almost all of the parts yourself (sometimes more accurately than the factory parts) if you broke something. The belt from clutch to the main shaft was the same as used in an old vacuum cleaner.

[JFandL]

I still think fixed pitch is a valuable step to have before collective pitch. It is much easier to set up, and much more difficult to break. They are also fairly expensive if something does break, and they can deal with wind. A fixed pitch teaches you how to fly and maneuver much better than a coax, and provides a pilot with confidence before flying a collective pitch machine. I flew the little Blade 120SR for a good 2 years before I moved up to collective helis, and I still find it to be an excellent tool for training fellow pilots to fly helis.

I would say any helicopter will help train someone, Fixed vs Collective are like night and day. you start on fixed, you relearn everything again with collective. Compare it to high wing aircraft, Clark Y, Vs low wing Simi symmetrical, to full center line datum symmetrical. This is my point. Some pilots will love fixed blade while others will not be so happy. Understand where I'm coming from here. You can adjust the collective airframe to the pilots skill 100% you can't do that with fixed as well.

But there is nothing wrong with learning anyway that works for you IMHO.

I always point a new helicopter pilot ( someone just getting into helicopters) to a collective pitch airframe that you can get parts and is easy on the money for the parts. I.E. something small easy on price, and parts. it's also got to fly well. Setup right, it will be easier than that fixed pitch helicopter to hover and fly left and right while giving the new pilot a feel of the collective as he( She) learns. This is just MHO.

Thanks,

John

[F106DeltaDart]

As long as you have an experienced person to help set it up, starting with collective pitch is fine. But, if you are new and starting on your own, all of the time and equipment that goes into a proper setup can be quite intimidating. On top of that, setup has to be redone after a crash, and you need an expensive 6 channel radio. A fixed pitch heli is pretty much pull out the box and fly. If a part breaks in a crash, just replace it and keep flying. I understand that a CP machine is FAR more flexible, but for me at least the fixed pitch heli helped me gain confidence before I invested the time and money into a trex 450. After that I was completely addicted..

[JFandL]

As long as you have an experienced person to help set it up, starting with collective pitch is fine. But, if you are new and starting on your own, all of the time and equipment that goes into a proper setup can be quite intimidating. On top of that, setup has to be redone after a crash, and you need an expensive 6 channel radio. A fixed pitch heli is pretty much pull out the box and fly. If a part breaks in a crash, just replace it and keep flying. I understand that a CP machine is FAR more flexible, but for me at least the fixed pitch heli helped me gain confidence before I invested the time and money into a trex 450. After that I was completely addicted..

Looking at it that way stands true, no help and new would be tuff to setup a CP airframe. Let's hope new pilots can find someone to help out.




John