Learning How to Fly Helicopters

The Joy of 3-Dimensional Flight

The first time I ever got to fly in a helicopter was on a family trip to Mt. Rushmore when I was a kid. The Korean War veteran pilot strapped my sister and me into his old Bell 47, and away we went. As soon as I saw that we were skimming over the treetops, I was hooked.

Fast-forward about 15 years, and a few more job-related flights later, and I got to take the controls of a helicopter for the first time. I work in law enforcement, so I was flying with an experienced pilot who was the best I had ever flown with. After our mission was completed, he asked if I would like to have a try at the controls. He explained to me that the helicopter is controlled by three main controls; the cyclic, collective, and pedals.

The cyclic is the "stick" that sits between the pilot's legs. It controls the swashplate, which in turn controls the direction of the "rotor disk" above the helicopter. Push left, and the helicopter moves left, push forward, and the helicopter moves forward, pull back and you move backward, etc. The collective controls the pitch of the blades - when you pull up on it, the pitch increases, and the aircraft goes up, push down, and the aircraft sinks. Any change in the collective, however, causes a change in torque, which causes the aircraft to rotate left or right, which leads us to a discussion of the pedals.

The pedals control the pitch of the tail rotor blades. Pushing the left pedal increases their pitch, and the right pedal decreases it. Any change of the collective also requires a change in the engine RPM, but most modern helicopters have an engine governor, which makes the RPM changes for you. Pilots still have to be able to fly without the governor on, though, so that they will still be able to land safely if it fails in flight. If all of this seems like a lot to remember while hovering a helicopter for the first time, you are right - it is!