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FMA DIRECT CD-PILOT
by Rick Bell
I was anxious to test the FMA Co-Pilot in a helicopter, so I used my JR Ergo
Sport 60. The unit's manual recommends that a hole be drilled into the chassis
for the calibration button, but instead, I mounted the button on the front of the
servo tray and secured the control box on the top of the gyro. I attached the
sensor unit to the top of the tail boom and oriented its pickups at a 45-degree
angle to the heli's centerline. I then routed the ribbon cable forward to the con-
trol box and secured it so that it wouldn't become entangled with the pushrods,
bellcranks and other airframe parts. The installation took only a few minutes.
Following the instructions, I plugged the unit into the receiver and then con-
nected the roll and elevator servos to the unit. There are four dipswitches on the
control box, and these must be set in the correct sequence for the unit to give
the correct control inputs.
Calibrating the unit took some effort; I couldn't get it
to function properly the first time I tried to calibrate it.
When I tilted the heli to the right, the Co-Pilot gave a right
roll command, and that was the wrong direction. And
when I switched the unit on or off with the auxiliary chan-
nel, the trim settings changed considerably.
1: mounting the sensor
on a helicopter Is
a little different from
mounting ft on an airplane;
the sensor
must be rotated 45
degrees, and it must
be set horizontally. I
used double-stick
tape and a zip-tie to
secure the sensor to
the tall boom, Instead
of the recommended
hook-and-loop-fastener. 2:1 mounted the control unit onto the top of the gyro and attached the calibration button
to the front of the servo tray. These proved to be good locations for both Items. 3: neatness counts! All wires
are neatly tucked out of the way so they don't interfere with any part of the airframe, and I used zlp-tles to secure
the ribbon cable to the chassis. Installing the Co-Pilot In a helicopter takes only a few minutes.
condition was much calmer, and the sun
was out. I recalibrated the unit and
launched the model as before. On the first
day, the IR rating was three; on the second
day, it was five. Again, the model flew
beautifully with very little input from me.
What a cool experience!
I am completely happy with the Co-
Pilot's performance. If you fly your model
in normal (mildly windy) conditions, it
will easily fly all by itself. Used in conjunction
with an instructor, this unit will
78 MODEL AIRPLANE NEWS
greatly shorten the learning curve for any
beginning pilot. For $119.95, the Co-Pilot
is a great learning aid for the student
pilot. As he becomes more accustomed to
the model's stability, the unit's sensitivity
can be gradually decreased until the student
can fly completely unassisted. For
experienced pilots, the unit can be used to
enhance the stability of faster models,
especially in gusty conditions. It helps
smooth out final approaches, and that
improves landings. Install the FMA Co-
It was easy to fix the trim changes; during calibration, I tilted the heli to com-
pensate for the changes. The control input problem was also easily solved by
adjusting the positions of the dipswitches. Once I figured out
the sequence, the Co-pilot worked correctly and made the
appropriate inputs.
TEST FLIGHT
After I calibrated the unit, I set the sensitivity at about 50
percent and started the helicopter. I switched off the Co-
Pilot and trimmed the heli for a hands-off hover. For safety,
I climbed to about 25 feet and then hit the switch to turn on
the Co-Pilot. The heli continued to hover and didn't move at
all. To confirm that the unit was working, I gave a right roll
command and released the stick; the heli promptly returned
to a stable hover. With more confidence, I then gave a for-
ward cyclic command, but much more aggressively. The
result was the same-the heli immediately returned to a
level hover. Very neat indeed!
The heli was also very stable in forward flight. I could feel
the Co-Pilot attempt to counter my
control inputs; this was unnerving at
first, but I soon became accustomed
to it. The neat part about forward
flight was that when I let go of the
sticks, the heli quickly stopped and
returned to a hover.
The FMA Co-Pilot is a great tool
to help beginners learn how to hover
and get into forward flight with little
risk to the heli. The possibilities are
almost endless. Learning tail-in or
nose-in hovering, performing aero-
batics or stabilizing a helicopter
camera platform are all easy when
the helicopter returns to a stable
upright hover simply by letting go of
the sticks! Give the Co-Pilot a try;
you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Pilot in your next model and give autopilot
flight a try. You'll love it! ±
JR; distributed by Horizon Hobby Inc.
FMA Direct, 9607 Dr. Perry Rd., Unit 109,
Ijumsville, MD 21754; (800) 343-2934;
fax (301) 831-8987; www.fnuidirect.com.
Hangar 9; distributed by Horizon Hobby Inc.
Horizon Hobby Inc., 4105 Ficldstone Rd.,
Champaign, II. 61822; (800) 338-4639;
www.horiy.onhobby.coin.
Multiplex USA, 560 Library St., San Fernando, CA
91340; (800) 375-1312; fax (818) 838-3127;
www.inultiplexrc.com.