Traditional Helicopter - Pre-Flight Testing¶
Before your first flight, please follow these pre-flight checks:
Warning
The drive should be disconnected on electric helicopters when they are being handled. An accidental startup can cause serious injury.
- Ensure the USB connector is disconnected from the Pixhawk
- Connect the battery to power the Pixhawk and servos
Test leaning the helicopter in Stabilize mode¶
- By hand, roll the helicopter to the left. The swash plate should lean to the right.
- Roll the helicopter to the right. The swash plate should lean to the left.
- Pitch the helicopter down (i.e. nose down). The swash plate should lean backwards.
- Pitch the helicopter up (i.e. nose up). The swash plate should lean forwards.
- Rotate the helicopter quickly clockwise - the tail servo should move as if you had pushed the rudder control left (i.e. it’s should try to fight against the rotation)
- Rotate the helicopter quickly counter-clockwise - the tail servo should move as if you had pushed the rudder control right (i.e. it’s should try to fight against the rotation)
- Next rotate the helicopter slowly. You should find that in a certain direction the rudder stays in the middle.
Test the transmitter in Stabilize mode¶
- Using the transmitter, move the roll stick to the left. The swashplate should lean slightly to the left.
- move the roll stick to the right. The swashplate should lean slightly to the right.
- Move the pitch stick forward. The swashplate should lean slightly forward.
- Move the pitch stick back. The swashplate should lean slightly backwards.
- Move the yaw stick to the left or right. The tail should move in the same direction (and about the same amount) as when you are in manual mode.