Worlds tallest man pilots new AS355

[mickjoebill]

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No your eyes aren't playing tricks.


Mickjoebill

[kevin_mayes]

OK, so when does a model stop being a model then...? How big can you go I mean two turbines and 14 HP?
Kevin.

[outofwhack]

Its refreshing to see a model flown in such a scale manner.
I detest all the 3D gyrations of those other helicopter modellers.

Makes me seriously think of going back to models - might be a much quicker way of getting into turbines! (and no regulations - hmmm I wonder just how big they could be built ;)

OOW

[Fun Police]

nicely done!
why no springs on the heels of the skids? wouldn't a model still be subject to ground resonance?
fp

[Tarman]

I once heard a model "pilot" telling anyone who would care to listen, that the models were more difficult to fly than the real thing.
Anyone care to comment ?

I'm also curious to know how much the model in the Video would cost to buy ?

Tarman

[ShyTorque]

FP,

It's not likely to suffer the same problem because the different scale and different u/c stiffness would take care of that due to changes in the relationship of moments of inertia and damping levels.

[birrddog]

I once heard a model "pilot" telling anyone who would care to listen, that the models were more difficult to fly than the real thing.
Anyone care to comment ?


Looking into buying an RC helicopter was the moment of insanity that got me into flying the real thing (tm).

After a trip to Hamley's, looking at what was involved to fly RC, I thought surely it must be easier to learn to fly the real thing.

I booked my first lesson, and the rest as they say, is history.

I did buy the remote and a computer simulator (less expensive to crash, and the same visual experience), and had a go at that.

Aside from the control's being more finicky on the RC side, for me the biggest hurdle was visual reference directing control inputs, particularly in the hover.

[Phoinix]

I'm flying RC's for about 3 years now and I can tell, it is a lot harder to learn to fly one of these than a real heli. With a real heli you only have to learn it once from one point of view (leaveing longlining a side:} ) Flying a model requires you to learn all the logic from every position (i.e. when the helicopter is hovering at you nose in the logic of controling is reverse - left stick becomes right and so on).
It's easyer for a model pilot learning the real one than vice versa.


The model on this video is about 15.000$ US as it's twin turbine. I'm building a EC135 myself in 1:6th scale, electric and I'll be exceeding 5500€ for sure, counting in the transmitter and charger about 6500€.


http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l236/BlenderPilot/EC-135/CIMG4359.jpg

[nrh]

Three big things with flying models:

1. No "seat of the pants" feel - all the cues have to be visual. The model needs to be watched intensively all the time to see what it is doing, and more importantly what it might do...

2. Orientation - the controls work in a normal sense when the tail is towards you, when the model is "nose in" everything is reversed of course. Some flyers avoid this situation as much as possible, flying through the scary nose in section of a turn and always landing and taking off with the tail towards them. The holy grail is "nose in hover" with landings and take offs nose in. Then comes all that 3D stuff which requires a twisted (and young) mind to conquer.

2. Automatic torque compensation - Most models use very sophisticated piezo electronic gyros to keep the heli straight with changes in power/collective. The pilot has no need to consider torque reaction.

Having done both, I reckon it is six of one and half a dozen of the other vs. difficulty. An instructor I know does say that people who have flown models do have a definite advantage when "up-scaling" however.

That model in the video is bonkers - I'd expect £2-3K would buy you a basic turbine single model, lord knows what a twin costs and what kind of electronics govern the engines.

Modellers always amaze me. There are characters out there that are able to focus years of effort on reproducing Kaman rotorheads, even coaxial Kamovs, and all scratch built + flyable to boot. There's a guy called Peter Wales, who is a kind of guru of scale helis. When he made a Lama he ditched a straight servo and push rod for tail rotor pitch contol and made his own scale wire and pulley system, just like the full size.

Cheers

nrh