The GY401 gyro by Futaba is perhaps the most popular RC helicopter gyro ever.
It’s simple to use, works with a wide variety of analog and digital servos and has a very attractive price point.
Did I also mention that it does a great job at being a gyro and holding your heli’s tail rock solid?
I’ve used [...]

Popularity: 25% [?]

Cost: > $0 - $100+
Time: n/a
Tools Required: Soldering iron, solder, stand, wire cutters / strippers, cleaning sponge, flux, qtip or cotton swabs, tip tinner. Optional – heatsink, fine grain sandpaper, alcohol
Parts Needed: Something to solder
Difficulty Level: Moderate

(Things needed)

Whether you fly an electric, nitro, gas or turbine RC helicopters, at one time or another you’ll come [...]

Popularity: 25% [?]

Cost: > $5
Time: ~ 5 mins.
Tools Required: CA (superglue), hex driver, loctite, scale (optional)
Parts Needed: Nuts or wheel collets
Difficulty Level: Super easy

(Things needed)
Many RC helicopters, especially the smaller micro, mini and 450 sized ones can be a little sensitive and hard to control, especially in windy conditions.
Enter flybar weights.

Adding flybar weights to your RC heli [...]

Popularity: 24% [?]

Cost: $5 - $40
Time: ~15 mins.
Tools Required: Small screwdriver or hex driver (to remove servo screws), flathead screwdriver, tape, white grease (optional)
Parts Needed: Replacement servo gears
Difficulty Level: Easy - Moderate

(Tools needed)
Whether you fly RC helicopters, RC planes, gliders or race RC cars, there’s a good chance at some point you’ve had a servo that’s gotten [...]

Popularity: 23% [?]

The main goal of hovering an RC helicopter is to keep it in one spot with as little moving or drifting as possible. Ultimately, you’d like it to remain absolutely motionless, but in a non perfect world, that’s nearly impossible as there are too many factors that will cause drift or motion.
For the beginner pilot [...]

Popularity: 37% [?]

Why would you want to calculate the head speed of your RC helicopter when you can simply measure it using a tachometer?
Believe it or not, there are a couple of reasons, the most obvious being that you might not own a tachometer.
But the more common reason you’d want to be able to calculate the head [...]

Popularity: 25% [?]

Cost: $10 - $50
Time: 1 – 2 hours
Tools Required: Scissors / wire cutters, lighter, pliers, hobby knife, heat source (blowtorch, soldering iron, heat gun, hair dryer etc.)
Parts / Supplies Needed: Nylon wire wrap, heat shrink tubing
Difficulty Level: Easy

(Before)

(After)
When I get a little free time, besides spending it with family and friends, I like to work [...]

Popularity: 24% [?]

Cost: $5 - $25
Time: ~10 mins.
Tools Required: Sharp knife, soldering iron, pliers, wire strippers, wire cutters, crimping tool (optional)
Parts Needed: Servo pins, servo casings, servo wire (optional)
Difficulty Level: Easy

(Tools needed)
Why would you want to know how crimp servo plugs?
Believe it or not, there are a few reasons. First, some people like to tidy up [...]

Popularity: 27% [?]

Cost: $20 - $200
Time: 2 – 10 hrs
Tools Required: Airbrush & compressor (optional), safety goggles
Supplies Needed: Primer, paint, paint thinner, masking tape, dish soap, 400 grit sand paper, clear coat, rags, automotive spot putty (fiberglass canopies). Optional - detail tape, decals, stickers, steel wool
Difficulty Level: Easy - Difficult

(stuff you need)
So you want to paint your [...]

Popularity: 37% [?]

While the Futaba GY611 gyro is fairly easy to setup, the manual that comes with it isn’t the easiest to understand and doesn’t how to set the gyro up for your average pilot. If you need a copy of the Futaba GY611 manual, you can download it from here.
If you’ve been struggling with the setup [...]

Popularity: 35% [?]

Cost: < $5
Time: ~10 mins
Tools Required: Glue gun, level, Dremel / rotary tool (optional)
Parts Needed: Washer, bubble bits
Difficulty Level: Easy
Yes, I know you can buy a swashplate leveler at most hobby stores, or from any number of online sites, but why buy one when you can easily build your own in 10 minutes for less [...]

Popularity: 46% [?]

Whenever you purchase a RC helicopter whether it’s used, ready to fly, almost ready to fly or a kit, you’ll want to make sure that the blades are tracking perfectly.
If your blades aren’t tracking on the same plane, they won’t have the same pitch and provide the same amount of lift which can cause [...]

Popularity: 47% [?]

With almost every new or used RC helicopter, whether it’s an RTF (Ready To Fly), ARTF (Almost Ready To Fly) or a kit you build from scratch, the main rotor blades should be balanced before your first flight.
Some RTF and ARTF models claim the blades have already been macthed and balanced at the factory and [...]

Popularity: 80% [?]

Having experienced a few RC helicopter crashes of my own, I thought I’d share some videos of crashes other people were lucky enough to catch on tape
I don’t know whether it’s a morbid curiosity, that people like basking in the misery of others, or the anatomy surrounding a crash, but many people are [...]

Popularity: 54% [?]