Ray's Authoritative DVD Series:
Shop and Field Companion
Ray's book, originally entitled "Ray's Complete Helicopter Manual,"
was initially released in 1986. He was writing the "Hover" column for R/C Modeler
magazine, and took a compilation of articles he'd written since 1981 and formed
the book. RCM published it as part of their "Anthology" series.
The book went through numerous revisions through the years. There was a second
edition of Ray's Complete Helicopter Manual, then a third. In 2001, Ray did
an extensive re-write and re-named the book "Ray's Authoritative Helicopter
Manual."
In the fall of 2005, Ray's produced his first DVD, Volumes 1-3. One month later,
R/C Modeler went out of business. Ray knew the DVD would do a pretty good job
of filling in while the book wasn't available. He enjoyed the DVDs so much that
he made V4-5, then V6. He planned to have a new edition of the book in the Spring
of 2007, but V7-9 of the DVD Series became the priority. With V7-9 completed,
his attention turned to the book, which finally came out on May 15, 2008. At
264 pages, the new book has over 20 more pages of additional content, along
with an extensive index. In addition to the time-proven material carried forward
from the previous book, the new edition features information on eCCPM, electric
helicopters, and the new 2.4 GHz radios.
CHAPTER DESCRIPTIONS
SECTION ONE: HELICOPTER THEORY
Chapter 1: A Basic Overview on the Operation of the Helicopter
Chapter 2: Rotor Head and Swashplate Design and Operation
Chapter 3: mCCPM and eCCPM Theory
Chapter 4: Tail Rotor and Gyro Theory
Chapter 5: Features and Theory of the Helicopter Radio
Chapter 6: Servo Torque vs. Speed and Endpoint Theory
Chapter 7: Control Linkage Geometry Theory
SECTION TWO: A HAMMER WON’T DO IT
Chapter 8: Tools for Building the Helicopter
Chapter 9: Field Equipment
SECTION THREE: BUILDING THE HELICOPTER
Chapter 10: Glow Engine Preparation and Break-In
Chapter 11: Engine, Clutch and Drive Train
Chapter 12: Cooling Fans and Shrouds
Chapter 13: Main Rotor Heads and Tail Rotors
Chapter 14: Canopy - Fitting and Finishing
Chapter 15: Li-Po Batteries and Fuel Tanks
Chapter 16: Checking Ball Links and Linkages for Proper Fit
Chapter 17: Radio Installation
Chapter 18: Main Rotor Blade Building
Chapter 19: Main and Tail Rotor Blade Balancing
SECTION FOUR: SETTING UP THE HELICOPTER
Chapter 20: Cyclic Pitch Setup
Chapter 21: Collective Pitch Setup
Chapter 22: Throttle Setup for Glow and Electric
Chapter 23: Tail Rotor and Gyro Setup
Chapter 24: Weight and Balance
SECTION FIVE: FLYING THE HELICOPTER
Chapter 25: Avoiding Crashes
Chapter 26: Area Selection and Training Gear
Chapter 27: Types of Assistance
Chapter 28: Blade Tracking, Initial Pitch and Mixture Adjustments
Chapter 29: Initial Trimming and Basic Hovering Guidelines
Chapter 30: From Hover to Forward Flight
Chapter 31: Autorotations
Chapter 32: Advanced Carburetor Theory
Chapter 33: Pitch and Throttle Curves for Aerobatics
Chapter 34: Learning Basic Aerobatics
Chapter 35: I Crashed!
Chapter 36: Troubleshooting
Chapter 37: Flybarless Helicopters
