RC Coaxial Helicopter - The Difference Between Toys And The Rest

When you start out learning to fly radio controlled model helicopters you are immediately confronted by a multitude of choices. One of the first things you will notice is that you get two basic types of radio controlled helicopters to choose from namely those with a single rotor and those with a double set of main rotors, the coaxial RC helicopter.

Within each of those groups you will also find quite a few variations, which may make little sense at first glance.

I will concentrate here on the coaxial RC helicopter and highlight the differences within this group, and mention some of the benefits of learning your RC helicopter controls on this type of radio controlled model helicopter.

When I started looking around you could find a RC helicopter in most toy shops. One of the popular types you will find in toy shops is the configuration with a horizontal tail rotor driven by a tiny electric engine sitting right under the tail rotor.

Although this type of RC helicopter - some of the smaller ones are actually infra-red controlled - can be flown successfully, it has fairly limited maneuverability. The forward and backward movements are controlled by the horizontal tail rotor: rotating in one direction will lift the tail up and push the heli forward. Rotating in the other direction will push the tail down and drag the heli backwards.

Turning this heli happens by pointing the nose in the direction you want to go, and this is controlled by the difference in rotating speeds of the two main rotors. The heli will turn in the rotational direction of the slower rotor.

The drawback with this horizontal tail rotor arrangement? This heli can't bank in a turn as would be necessary in a faster turn. I also found control difficulties as the tail wants to "overtake" the main rotor in forward flight. It was much easier to fly backwards as the tail rotor would essentially pull the rest of the machine along.

I tried my level best, but I couldn't coax any serious controlled flight out of my toy coaxial helicopter, and I essentially wrote it off within days of putting in serious effort to control it properly. The toy shop also didn't carry spares!

So, what comes next?

I decided to give the toy shop a rest and popped into the local hobby shop. There the guys showed me a different kind of coaxial RC helicopter, a much more serious machine with a "real life" swash plate. Without going into a lot of detail, the swash plate makes it possible for the heli to bank in any direction by tilting the whole rotor (the bottom one of the two counter-rotating main rotors) on command from the radio transmitter.

Because of that swash plate this coaxial heli doesn't use a tail rotor to propel it in a direction.

I bought this hobby grade heli - a 'Nine Eagles Swordfish' - and found it amazingly maneuverable, and in a short time I managed to learn the basics of RC helicopter controls, all the while having a lot of fun both indoors and outside!