Corkscrew’s Thing

The kits of Radio Controlled Helicopters should have a proper label on them saying “GOVERNMENT WARNING: RC Helicopter flying is dangerous to your health. Contains addicting substances.”

It was July 3, 2006 when I finally got my first taste of hovering. I’d been preparing for it for nearly six months on the flight simulator. The first four months don’t count squat. I couldn’t get my simulator heli trimmed out right & wasn’t able to do anything constructive.

Then, two months ago - I somehow managed to trim the SIM out & get some hovering practice. A bit confident that my tail-in hover was good enough to try on the real thing, I quickly gathered all the equipment necessary to get my Hirobo Shuttle Plus airworthy. One trip to Lil’s Hobby Center, and I had everything that I needed.

I built the Shuttle myself, and after completion… I wasn’t too confident that everything was done right. Not trusting too much on books & internet material (my baby being quite a largish investment), I decided to seek professional advice regarding this & approached Alvin Alcantara - one of the country’s finest. After one hour’s tweaking & reassembling parts, Alvin had my heli ready for its’ maiden voyage.

We went out of his home, to the cul de sac outside his driveway. Mark Alcantara advised me that he would hold the left stick of my transmitter, and that I would hold the right stick. The “collective” as RC heli jargon goes, was my sole responsibility.

Mark & Alvin leaned over my Shuttle, and made all the necessary preparations. I could not help but admire the precision and certainty that the brothers Alcantara showed. This was something obviously routine for them, and there was nothing that they didn’t know how to do. Taking down the engine to realign it took them under five minutes to complete, a process which took me at least an hour.

Suffice to say that they got my heli running, did a quick test flight… then, when they were satisfied that everything was in order… they looked at me with a grin on each of their faces. They knew what was coming.

Me? I didn’t have a clue.

Mark brought the heli to the center of the cul de sac, then asked me to hold the collective stick. It was when my hand reached for the transmitter that I realized that I was nervous. I couldn’t hide it, and I couldn’t ignore it. Intellectually, I wasn’t afraid. But for some reason I could not explain, my body did not agree with me. My fingers were visibly trembling. What’s worse, my knees were shaking too.

Alvin gave me a warning, advising me that the heli would turn in either direction during the take-off & I had to put it under control. Mark gave me a nod, signalling it was time to start. He pushed on the left stick, and the heli rose three feet off the ground. Immediately the heli veered towards its right. And I struggled to take control of the heli. She kept on veering towards every conceivable angle. What’s worse, she took control over me rather than the reverse.

As the minutes went by my knees continued to knock together. My fingers were all sweaty & trembling. Then my left eyelid started to twitch from the stress. Those first fourteen minutes seemed to last an eternity. Many times, I wanted to request Mark to bring the heli down & just stop so I could take a breath. But I didn’t, and we finished that first flight - thankfully, without crashing.

Mark advised that the fuel level was low, and brought the heli down. When she was safe… I heaved a herculean sigh of relief. The first flight was finally over. I was a very happy man. Even though I did not say anything, the brothers Alcantara could see it on my demeanor, as if they could read it on my face.

I asked for a brief respite, and was graciously offered a chair. I took it gladly & sat upon it. I didn’t crash. I didn’t crash. Repeatedly, I told myself.

After some time, Mark & Alvin encouraged me to go for my second flight. I agreed I’d had enough rest. It was time to take the transmitter again.

I refueled the Shuttle, and Alvin started the engine. She was roaring again. I noted that something was different. I couldn’t tell what. But something had changed. It was only after the second flight that I realized what it was.

Mark brought the heli up again, same arrangement with me on the collective & him on the cyclic.

To my surprise, my hand wasn’t trembling anymore. I noted that neither were my knees shaking. All fear had flown away from me. I likewise noted, that my control over the heli was much better - it started to respond in the manner which I wanted it to. She still drifted, but there was obviously better control. Another fourteen minutes of hovering, this time - I was disappointed that the fuel was running out. I wanted more. More flying time.

Again, Mark landed the heli. I was offered a seat, and I gladly received it again. I was beginning to think of the monoblock chair as a “reward” of sorts. A quick drink, and I wanted to have another go at it. But the brothers Mark & Alvin were out of sight. They went back into their home. A few minutes later, they emerged. Alvin had a transmitter box in hand. Mark carried a trainer cord. I was shocked. They were thinking of making me take control of both Collective & Cyclic on my third flight.

I looked at Alvin & inquired if this was what he had in mind. He nodded, advising me that he was satisfied that my hovering was relatively steady. I do stress the word relative here. Mark had demonstrated what a “steady hover” looks like on a previous flight, and I wasn’t even close.

Both brothers again leaned over the heli, one transmitter each. They were adjusting the controls on the new transmitter - a Futaba 9CHAP (gotta get me one of those). After a few minutes, they had that task expertly done.

I was thinking to myself again. Oh no. I’m going to get all shaky again. Why am I on trainer cord so soon?

The Shuttle’s OS .37 engine was roaring again. Mark handed me the 9CHAP transmitter. Still shocked, I took it. He asked me if I was ready to go. I hesitated for a while. I thought to myself, what the heck!?! These guys are international champions! They know what they’re doing. If they think I can do this, then they’re probably right.

And… they were.

I took both sticks at hand, Alvin stood next to me. Mark had the main transmitter. Alvin started coaching me of what things I needed to do, and what things to expect. After a debriefing, he signalled Mark to give me control. A slow push to bring the Cyclic to half throttle sent the Shuttle hovering three feet. She began veering again in several directions. I was very surprised at how the entire heli seemed to have a life of its own. What’s worse, she started bobbing up & down too.

For all the advise that I’d been given to spend as much time on a simulator as I could prior to taking my first hovering session… I felt that the sim did not adequately prepare me for the cyclic controls. Perhaps it was just too windy a day. Nonetheless, I had fun. It was as if the Hirobo Shuttle were daring me… like a fine lass, urging me to take control of her. Barring a single tense moment involving a basketball ring, the flight came out better than what I had hoped for.

I flew another two sets with the same set-up, me with both sticks & Mark as back-up. Each minute that I spent hovering I seemed to be getting more control over the heli. As if, slowly - I was getting a better feel of her. Little did I know that I had become - a heli addict.

After my fifth flight, I wanted to do more. But, I was advised that I needed to rest. I obviously looked tired - all from the stress of that first flight. I was a bit sad, but I agreed. It was clear to me beyond a doubt, Mark & Alvin knew what they were doing.

I started packing up. And as I was taking off the Shuttle’s training gear… Alvin said something that had me shocked all over again. He said “Next time, we fly without the training gear.”

Yaaaauugh!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 24th, 2006 at 2:12 pm and is filed under CHOPPERS. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will appear immediately, but I reserve the right to delete innapropriate comments.