Hi.
I'm just starting out with helicopters.
Started practicing on a sim (Phoenix RC)..
I'm still at the tail-in hovering phase but when I get to basic basic maneuvers (turns, circuits, figure 8s, etc..) I'd like to know if I'm doing them "properly".
Can anyone point me at some sort of documentation on the proper way of do basic heli flying? Preferably, something that is more than just a movie that shows good form but something that would tell me what to pay attention to..
Unfortunately, I don't have much opportunity to see skilled pilots doing basic flying at the moment.
When a start flying the real thing I'd probably get an instructor for some flying lessons but right now I want to make the most of my simulator training..

thanks...

oh, and if its free and online that'll be a whole lot easier ..

hmm, doesn't your sim have something like that? G4 has a section where they have a virtual instructor showing the stick movements to do certain moves.

Thanks for your suggestion.
My sim has one "tutorial" (sim movie) showing 2 circuits and another showing some figure eights but no instructions detailing what's important and what not. Looking at the on-screen transmitter helps a bit but basically, it's just like seeing one guy 'do it right' once..
maybe I should have thought of that before getting that sim..

Any other sources?

Thanks.

Without any documentation, I suggest you fly your sim heli in a manner as close to the real thing as possible. I mean, you have seen real helicopters fly, right? So emulate them on the sim. No sudden drop or gaining of altitude, no abrupt turns, etc.

One tip:
When starting to do forward flight, try to maintain constant altitude as an exericse. You can do this by decreasing throttle/pitch a little bit. Experiment on the sim. Without varying your throttle/pitch, your heli will gain altitude in forward flight.

Thanks.
I guess that for basic flying real helicopters are good examples although I was wondering.. Most helicopters fly like they either don't have heading-hold auto-pilots (i.e. gyros) or they do but correct their orientation to point at where they're flying (at least when in forward-flight). Should I be doing the same? If so, is heading-hold mode something I should consider turning off somehow when in normal flight? It's these things that I would like to have accompany me when I try to reverse-engineer what to pay attention to.