RC Helicopter Blade Tracking
RC helicopter blade tracking has been a mystery to many new RC helicopter owners, but I'm going to demystify the whole concept for you right now so that you'll have a complete understanding of blade tracking by the time you finish reading this article.
First, we need to answer this important question: What is blade tracking?
Essentially, blade tracking is when one rotor blade rotates in a circular motion and the following blade follows exactly behind it. Both rotor blades spin on the same plane without one blade being higher or lower than the blade it's following. Another way to look at it is that both blades travel through the same airspace created by their spinning. If the rear blade is following the front blade on a higher or lower plane, then it can cause a lot of unwanted vibrations for the RC helicopter.
How To Track Your Blades
If you're flying your RC helicopter for the first time, you need to see if the blades are tracking properly and you may need some help from an experienced RC helicopter pilot. You can check the blade tracking by simply hovering the helicopter in place at eye level and looking at the blades as it hovers. If you see a lot of shaking and vibrating, your RC helicopter is more than likely not tracking properly. If you're not sure if it's tracking properly, do this:
Get two different colors of tape and apply a small strip of one color to one blade. Put a red strip on one blade and a blue strip on the other blade. By using a different color on each blade, it makes it a lot easier to see which blade might be out of track.
Now that you've applied the colored tape, have an experienced RC helicopter pilot hover the helicopter in place so that you can see the blades as they spin. As you watch the blades spin, you'll know if they're in track if you only see a single circle or both blades spinning on one line. If you see two circles or two lines, (red above blue or vice versa) then you'll know that one of the blades are off and needs to be aligned.
To properly track your rotor blades, you need to land the hovering RC helicopter first. After the blades have stopped spinning, you can adjust the blade that is out of alignment. You'll need to have your RC helicopter manual handy so that you can look up the proper blade tracking information in it. Be sure that you adjust the correct linkages in what the manual says and not what someone says. This is the best way to be sure that you've done it correctly.
Once you've tightened or loosened the correct linkage or linkages, you need to have someone fly the helicopter again so that you can look at the blades. You'll repeat this process as often as needed until your blades are tracked properly and they spin on the same plane. Once you've completed proper blade tracking, your RC helicopter will handle a lot smoother than it did before and be much easier to fly.
