Flying Guide; Air Conditioning; The Ground Effect; The Ceiling Effect - Swann Micro Lightning remote control model helicopter Operating Instructions Manual

Operating Instructions

Flying Guide

Wind: Basically, these are (approximately) 1/40th scale helicopters. Full sized helicopters can't fly in high
winds – and neither can the models. If a full sized helicopter has difficulty overcoming 50mph winds,
then the model will have the same difficulty with 1~2 mph winds (i.e. 1/40th as much). There's nothing
that can be done about this, it's just physics.
Air conditioning: Hot air rises and cool air falls – this creates movement in the air, leading to an
effect called "wind shear". Basically, this is when there's a column of hot air going up next to cold air
going down. Many full-scale aircraft accidents have been caused by wind shear. Air conditioners create
heaps of wind shear. If the helicopter flies through wind shear, it will seem to suddenly fly up or down
(depending on the direction of the wind shear).
The Ground Effect: When the helicopter is near the ground, the air it pushes down with its rotor has
nowhere to go – the ground is in the way. Some of this air bounces back, this pushes the helicopter
up. When the helicopter is near the ground, it will get slightly more lift than it normally would. This is
something to keep in mind when landing.
The Ceiling Effect: Conversely to the ground effect, when you fly too close to a ceiling, a small pocket
of low pressure is created above the helicopter, and it will be sucked upwards. This could be bad – if
you hit the ceiling, the helicopter will stall, fall and possibly be damaged.
Multiple Helicopters: If you're using more than one helicopter in a space at once, be very careful
when setting the controller band and pairing them to the helicopters. You may find that the more than
one helicopter will be controlled by a single controller, and this can lead to crashes, accidents, injuries
or other very undesirable outcomes.
Places to Fly: Because high winds can be a problem, we recommend flying indoors. However, you
really do need a bit of space to get the most out of the helicopter. Some places which are good for
flight include large garages (whilst the car's not parked there), indoor sports areas, aircraft hangars,
secret underground submarine pens and so on (though why you'd fly a toy helicopter in your secret
underground submarine pen is beyond us). Or a large lounge room with delicate items stashed
somewhere out of the way - whatever you've got.
Low Battery: To get the longest possible life from the built-in battery, never completely discharge it.
As soon as the helicopter shows any sign of running low on power (such as responding slowly or being
unable to maintain altitude easily) turn it off and charge it as soon as practicable. For more information
about battery care, see page 6.
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