UNDERSTANDING THE RC HELICOPTER GYRO! The RC helicopter gyro has made flying RC helicopters much easier, but with so many different options and features; the gyro, for many is a misunderstood little black box Why are gyros so important and why do you need one for your RC helicopter? As we already discussed in the yaw control section of RC helicopter theory , the reactive torque produced by RC helicopters is always changing. Any increase or decrease in engine speed or pitch of the main rotor blades results in a corresponding change in torque – sometimes a violent change. These changes are happening constantly and are always trying to spin (or torque) the helicopter around. Wind and wind gusts are likewise playing havoc with your yaw control and if not adjusted for, will whip the tail of your helicopter around. How do they work? The RC helicopter gyro is a small device that detects any yaw (left or right swinging) movement of the helicopter and automatically sends a command to the tail rotor servo to correct and stop/limit the yaw movement. The movement of the motor was picked up by a magnetic sensor and converted into an electrical command to the tail rotor servo to limit the amount of yaw movement. This type of gyro is now called a mechanical gyro and has gone the way of the dinosaur. That small motor spinning the heavy weights used up a considerable amount of battery power not to mention the added weight of these heavy brass discs. Most of the good RC helicopter gyros available today use a non-mechanical piezo crystal yaw detector. These new gyros use up much less battery power and weigh at least half of what the old style mechanical ones did. With no moving parts, the reliability and lifespan is a huge improvement over the older mechanical gyros. The gyro itself simply plugs into your rudder/tail rotor channel of your receiver and your tail rotor servo then plugs into the gyro. In short, the gyro is in full control of your tail rotor and interprets tail rotor commands from the receiver. Only when the pilot sends a tail rotor command to the helicopter, the gyro will allow the helicopter to turn, how fast it turns depends on the amount of transmitter stick movement – at least for a heading hold gyro
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 05:25:01 +0000