Specifications

Chapter 14. R/C Heli Rules and Tips
14.1. The proper way to carry a heli
The proper way to carry a heli is by the blade grip. The blade grip carries the weight of the heli
during flight and is designed to hold the weight of the heli.
You should hold the blade grip as if you were holding a flashlight. Your thumb should be on top
of the blade grip, and the fingers curled under.
You should avoid touching the blades, especially if they are woodies. The trailing edge of
wooden blades are made from soft balsa and will crumble very easily.
Also, be sure to keep your fingers away from the control linkages to avoid bending the control
rods and changing the tracking of the blades.
14.2. Avoid pointing the transmitter antenna at the helicopter
The signal received by the helicopter's receiver is weakest when the transmitter antenna is
pointing directly at it. This can cause glitches.
14.3. The blades are traveling at high velocity!
Warning
THE MAIN ROTOR BLADES ARE TRAVELING AT HIGH VELOCITY AND CAN
KILL OR MAIM YOU. BE VERY CAREFUL.
When I first stared flying helicopters, I read every single web page I could find on the Internet
regarding helicopters. One web page mentioned a story where a guy was flying his helicopter
in a park, and a little dog started chasing his helicopter around. The heli pilot asked the dog
owner to retrieve his dog, but the dog owner thought it was cute and wouldn't do it. When the
heli landed, the dog ran to the helicopter and lunged at it. The main rotor blades were still spin-
ning at full speed and neatly chopped off the top of the dog's skull.
Also, there are stories about R/C helicopter rotor blades chopping off people's fingers. Don't
believe it? Let's do the math.
An ECO 8 has a rotor diameter of 41.7 inches. This means the rotor tips travel 41.7 * 3.14 or
130.9 inches in one revolution.
The rotor is spinning at about 1600 rpm. This means the rotor tips travel 130.9 * 1600 or
209,440 inches in a minute.
In one hour the rotor tips will travel 60 * 209,440 or 12,566,400 inches.
12,566,400 inches/hr = 1,047,200 feet/hr = 198.3 mph!!!
So, when an ECO 8 rotor blade is spinning at 1600 rpm, the blade tips are traveling at 198
mph. That's why helicopter rotor blades can slice off fingers and the top of skulls.
Warning
RESPECT THE SPINNING ROTOR BLADES.
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