The History of Remote Control Helicopters
The first ever successful flight of a remote control helicopter took place in West Germany in 1968 and was built by Dr. Dieter Schlute. This model was the first fully functional, controllable remote control helicopter and was pioneering in its field, offering the grounding for development throughout the years.
Taking the initiative from the first full scale operational helicopter by lgor Sikorsky in 1941, the RC helicopter truly succeeded after much trial and error in rotary types when in 1978, some ten years after the first remote control helicopter was proven to work, a semi-scale model of the Wallace Autogiro went mainstream leading to variations of the remote control helicopter kit to be sold in model shops worldwide.
There have been several basic designs for remote control helicopters over the years including those with collective pitch (meaning blades which rotate on their longitudinal axis to vary or reverse lift) which are typically more difficult to fly but are aerodynamically more manoeuvrable.
One of the major development barriers has been providing the RC helicopters with enough power to lift the weight of the construction off the ground. Given the development in technologies we have today this has been well overcome and typical power sources for remote control helicopters now include Nitro (nitromethane-methanol internal combustion), gas turbines, electric batteries, petrol and gasoline.
As the helicopters have developed throughout the years, one of the stand out features of each and every model has been that they are getting smaller and smaller. Today there are a large range of micro RC helicopters which work both indoors and outside which are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, a big step forward from the bulky structures we started out playing with.
RC Helicopters are now stocked by major high street and online stores, Gone are the days where they belonged to only the hardcore hobbyists and they are more accessible to the general consumer than ever.
As the helicopters entered the mainstream of the boys toys / gadgets industry it was apparent they needed to be more durable as novices took to the controls. The helicopters of today are made from die cast mould plastics which can withstand being flown into a wall or the ceiling at some speeds.
The main development within the last few years has been the introduction of gyroscope technology to the RC helicopters. This technology has made the remote control helicopters much easier to control, eliminating the consistent circling flying motion that is found within many of the cheaper models on the market. Turns and manoeuvres are more precise and generally easier to control meaning anyone can look like a pro within minutes of picking up their new toy and any time you ease off the control stick the Gyro returns the helicopter to an utterly stable, upright position.
The future of remote control helicopters will bring even more developments as all the manufacturers look to improve flight times, stability, manoeuvrability, charge times and who knows what else their creativity will conjure up.
