Electric Single Rotor RC Helicopter

Traditional helicopter flying starts with the electric single rotor RC helicopter:

This type of model requires the Flyer to fully understand how to control all aspects of flight attitude and how to not only apply throttle to the main rotor, or variable pitch to the blades, but also to understand how the tail rotor is used to turn the direction the helicopter is facing and it's relationship to the constant rotational torque created by the main rotor.

If you're interested in flying an electric single rotor RC Helicopter, you should know that there are a lot of different brands to choose from. Some of the more popular brand names include: Ikarus, E-Flite, Walkera, Hirobo, and some newcomers like Precision Heli and Selective RC.

I can't stress enough how important and helpful a flight simulator is to help you get the feel of flying an electric single rotor RC Helicopter. If you jump right into it without any previous flying or training, chances are you will crash...a lot.

In anticipation of potential crashing by beginners, some manufacturers also make training gear and crash kits.

• Training Gear - is a kit of components that when installed onto the landing skid actually prevent damage from occuring. These look like carbon rods with orange ping pong balls mounting in the ends sticking out in four different directions. This way, if the landing is not flat, the crash kit will prevent the rotors from touching the ground.

• Blade CP Crash Kit - isn't really a crash prevention kit but instead a package of replacement parts most likely to break during a crash.

Intermediate Skill Level:

The most popular electric single rotor RC helicopter available today for new RC heli flyers is the Blade CP from E-Flite.

The Blade CP is categorized as a micro electric helicopter since it's main rotor is only 21 inches in diameter. What makes the Blade CP so popular is:

• Versatility - the Blade CP comes with collective pitch and can be upgraded easily to fly 3-D (inverted) with the Aerobatic Enhancement Kit
• it's made by E-Flite with very high quality components
• replacement parts are readily available
• every Blade CP is test flown at the factory to ensure precise performance.

Intermediate Skill Level:

If you want to find the absolute smallest electric single rotor RC helicopter then you've found it with the Precision Micron.

The rotor diameter of the Precision Micron is only 8.25 inches!

Unlike the similarly sized dual rotor toys, the Precision Micron has full helicopter features.

It's got a fixed pitch rotor, 2 micro servos, a 3 in 1 ESC/Mixer/Gyro for smooth transitions, 4 channel micro receiver that works with all major brand transmitters (Futaba, Hitec, JR, and Airtronics), and it runs on a high density ultra lightweight 2 cell 250 mah LiPo battery.

The Precision Micron comes 90% assembled and can be made RTF during the time it takes to charge the battery.

You can buy the Precision Micron either with, or without a transmitter, depending on whether you already own one or not.

I would recommend that you do buy it with the micro servos and micro receiver since these items when included were sourced out already to match the exact specifications of the helicopter.

Intermediate Skill Level:

The first micro electric single rotor RC helicopter to hit the market was the ECO Piccolo V2 ARF from Ikarus (main rotor diameter 19.7 inches).

Since it's introduction, the latest version, ECO Piccolo V2 ARF, has gone through a series of upgrades and still remains a top seller. The ECO Piccolo V2 ARF (almost ready to fly) has also been optimized for LiPo batteries making flying times of over 30 minutes possible.

Since the ECO Piccolo V2 ARF comes ARF, you will need to purchase either the:

• Ikarus Accessory Combo Kit #1 - includes the entire radio system without the transmitter, or,
• Ikarus Accessory Combo Kit #2 - includes the entire radio system with the transmitter

Ikarus also includes a FREE 3-D Flight Simulator software, Easy SIM, with each purchase. This software is a scaled down version of their Aerofly Professional and includes both indoor and outdoor scenery with 3-D graphics and two models: the Piccolo and the Piper J3 Cub Trainer RC airplane.

Intermediate/Expert Skill Level:

One of the top models in class of electric single rotor RC helicopter is the Ikarus ECO 16. It has a rotor diameter of 47 inches and designed to carry 12 to 20 cells (batteries).

The Ikarus ECO 16 is one of the biggest and most powerful in the electric single rotor RC helicopter group. With 20 cells this heli can fly for up to 18 minutes and it has all of the same performance features often found only in nitro RC helicopters.

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