This should be a FAQ or sticky somewhere (unless it is and I missed it!) But someone pls tell me what each channel is used for on a heli. I used to fly 4 ch RC aircraft and I know throttle, ailerons, elevator, and rudder but obviously helis are different and add a few! As I think about my 1st heli options, I'm still scratching my head on 2ch, 3ch....7ch. If I missed it somewhere, a link to a description would be fine too.

Thanks!

Jeff

the same 4 are used to control flight on a heli as well (throttle, aileron, elevator, and rudder). In addition, heli's may also have a channel for throttle hold, and changing pitch curves.

Toy helicopters have three or less channels. Proper RC Helis have a minimum of 4 channels.

In terms of channels. Well you always need throttle so that's 1. on the real cheapos the 2nd channel is rudder. on a 3 channel they add either elevator or aileron. on 4 channel, they have throttle, rudder, aileron and elevator. on a 5/6 channel you have two aileron servos (3 total on cyclic), rudder and throttle, the 6th is used for a remote gyro. The 7th is typically used for a governor on nitro helis. Anthing above that is usually for other add ons like lighting, retracts... etc.

Although you already have two answers, I hope to make this one even easier. I'm not sure I even understood the previous answers.

Basically you need 5 channels to control a proper helicopter...

1. throttle
2. elevator (fore-aft cyclic)
3. aileron (left-right cyclic)
4. rudder (tail rotor)
and
5. blade pitch or collective (climb and descend)

From there, the more gadgets you add to the heli, the more channels you will need to control the gadgets...
6. Heading hold gyro with remote gain
7. Governor
8. ect.

Then you have to look at the "features" of the radios. 6 and 7 channel radios have only 3 to 5 points on the throttle and pitch curves. radios with more channels will have 7 or more points on the throttle and pitch curves. The higher end radios will also have additional mixing options, the ability to program switches and set-up the radio the way you want it.

Rafael

I thought my answer was clear enough for someone with radio experience. The other thing I would like to point out is that there is no such thing as a collective or pitch channel.

There is 1 channel for elevator and two channels for aileron servos (so 3 channels on the radio for the 3 cyclic servos), they work together with programming to control the blade pitch. A lot of companies call the second aileron channel the "pitch" channel but pitch is not a channel because it needs all three servos to change the blade pitch. In reality, with a computer radio it doesn't even matter which of the two channels you plug the two aileron servos into as you can change the direction the aileron works via the radio. For spektrum the channels are "ail" and "aux 1".

As a note, older non ccpm helis did have a pitch channel as 1 servo controlled the pitch by itself. This is not the case with 99% of the newer helis which use computer programming to have all 3 cyclic servos work together to control the pitch. The Trex 450X would be an example of a heli with an actual pitch channel.

Druss:

Although I agree with your statement on CCPM helicopters, you have to look at the person and type of question being asked. His question was really basic, so the answer should be really basic.

We are talking radios and the basic heli functions here: it does not matter where or how the servos move the swashplate or how they are connected to the receiver. We are talking basic helicopter functions...

You DO have a pitch (collective) function on the radio. No discussion about that. Right? You still need to have the basic 5 functions to control a helicopter. We are not highlighting the difference between the CCPM and mechanicaly mixed helicopters. All helicopters have the SAME basic 5 functions....
YOU DO NEED A MINIMUM OF 5 CHANNELS TO CONTROL A HELICOPTER. Do we agree there?

Jeff B99: If you need additional information about the differences of the types of helicopters, CCPM or mechanically mixed, please let us know on this thread or start another.

I hope I could clarify some points.

Rafael

Dude, you need to take it easy. I'm pointing out the fact that the channels for the radio are not the same as the functions and if he has experience flying planes then I think he can handle a bit of complication, don't treat him like a total noob.

The 5 you listed can be considered functions but they are not the channels. There is no such thing as a pitch servo/channel as the pitch is done by mixing on the radio.

So yes, there are 5 functions and yes you need 5 channels.... happy?

BUT, don't confuse the guy saying that pitch is a channel because it's NOT! If he flew planes then I'm sure he can understand that there are 2 aileron servos.

In terms of channels, there are (using spektrum as an example):

1. Throttle
2. Aileron
3. Elevator
4. Rudder
5. Gear
6. Aux

Maybe I'm making it too easy, but you are skipping important information that is essential for a person asking these types of questions.

On the 6 functions that you mentioned there, you don't need the gear channel to fly a helicopter. Delete that one. We are left with 5 functions... GOOD!

Additionally, check where your "second aileron servo" is connected.

All the radio manuals that I have seen refer to 3 servos with 3 function on the swashplate. Elevator, aileron and pitch. Yes, all 3 work together to make pitch changes, but they are still referred by their function. Aileron and elevator get connected to channel numbers 1, 2 or 3 on the receiver depending on the radio brand. The pitch servo is connected to channel 6 on the receiver. On My "old" non-CCPM Raptor 50, and Raptor 90, the Pitch servo is also connected to channel 6 on the receiver.

Unless we are talking about fixed pitch machines here, ALL helicopters still have a pitch function controlled by the radio and at least one servo.

This will be my last entry until the thread starter comes back with additional questions. Other arguments will be entertained on Private Message or e-mail. I don't want to hijack this thread, which seem to have happened already.

Rafael

Jeff,

What type of helicopter are you inquiring about? Also, are you asking which servo, plugs into what channel on the receiver?

Dave
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I wasn't really asking about a particular heli in my original post (altho I am considering a Helipro BH 450 as my first). But as I mouse around various online stores just trying to get familiar with what's out there, many of them organize their helis for sale by CH. "Click here for all of our 4CH helis", etc. It has been confusing to me to figure out how 3CH are different from 4CH which are different from 5CH, etc.

I think the previous posts will help.

==Jeff

You are in fact greener than Druss assumed you to be. Here are some hints to help you in your hunt...

2 ch heli: One channel controls the throttle (rotor head speed to climb and descend) and another channel controls the rudder for turning left and right. Typical of the Picco Z and others.

3 ch heli: as before, you have rotor speed and rudder, but this time you might have control over a "thrust" vector or possibly another feature. There is really no good application for a 3 channel heli you actually need the 4th channel to have some sort of control. I've seen a heli like this advertised under the Air-Hogs brand but ca't recall the name.

4 ch heli: Here you have rotor speed (throttle) and rudder like before, but now you have the ability to tilt the heli left, right, forward, and back with cyclic control. So in fact you have 2 channels on cyclic; fore-aft cyclic (elevator) and left-right cyclic (aileron) and the previous 2 channels throttle and rudder. Typical of the twin rotor helis, and some single rotor helis.

5 ch heli: here you have the previous 4 channels (throttle, rudder, aileron and elevator) but add the realm of blade collective pitch. Before, you had up and down control with rotor speed (throttle) but everybody that has flown a fixed pitch helicopter can tell you a story or two about the yo-yo effect of fixed pitch helicopters. Here comes collective pitch (or just "pitch" ) where you have control of the angle of the rotor blades. This gives you additional control of the rotor head to prevent the yo-yo effect and even give you the ability of flying inverted when the time comes. Typical of the Trex, Raptor, and bigger sized helis. Main giveaway is the ability to fly inverted. Or "3D" a term loosely used these days.

Rafael

Thanks and that all makes perfect sense now. I am experiencing the yo-yo effect with my new EFlite MCX that I bought the other day. Fun toy, but now I understand why collective pitch is so important! 5CH/3D will be the way that I go.

==Jeff

What about a non CCPM heli like a Raptor? That one has a separate pitch channel.

The MCX will in no way prepare you for learning to fly a CP machine. Get yourself a sim.

"The Mcx will not prepare you to fly a cp" . Can you explain this? I bought a sim but havent used it because I have to get a 512 mb video card. I tried one at the LHS. It seemed SO different from my experiences with mcx and cx2.
Also does anyone know where to get cheap viceo cards? The cheapest I saw was $100.
Thanks

The MCX is a coax, which is very stable, and will only teach you basic orientation and throttle control. With the MCX, you can take thumbs off sticks and the thing will pretty much stay where you put it. To fly a CP, you will need to be much quicker anticipating the movement of the heli as they are much less stable, plus you have the added bonus of getting and keeping a good setup, which includes but isn't limited to throttle curves, pitch angles, and blade tracking. A PERFECTLY setup CP heli will give you only 2 to 3 seconds of thumbs off time without needing input to keep it in place.