How to: fly a helicopter

Written, filmed and produced by Loz Blain for www.gizmag.com. Thanks to Sheldon, Paul, Kyala and Vaughn of Melbourne Helicopters (www.melbourneheli.com) and Reg of the Helicopter Service Australia. Music: 'Little bit country' by Cory Jach.

[@163reasonswhyrealestateage4]

You will be pleased to know that I used your video as an educational lesson for my 6th grade grandson. After completing a science project recently on "Bernoulli's Principle", my grandson instantly understood how the main rotor produces lift as shown at minute 1:09. You video has inspired him to maybe someday become an aeronautical engineer. Thanks for posting this video and helping us understand how a helicopter flies.

[@ishalltellya5322]

ive been flying them for nearly 3 years and its the best feeling ever, no traffic jams, no traffic wardens or traffic signals just the open sky and there not that much more than a suv to run. just no where to land in a parking lot.

[@MarkRansom4365]

A real "FUN" way to introduce helicopters and the joy of flying them. Great Job.

[@johnnyfavorite1194]

Much thanks for the upload. My prison escape plan is nearly complete.

[@hugoescalona26]

+Johnny Favorite so you must be the guy who helped the guys escaped from jail in canada huh?

[@johnnyfavorite1194]

Nolove26 SHHHhhhhhhhh!

[@cyb8490]

@Maling STHICK O he stole it

[@VW19900]

Yes! Now I am a qualified pilot. Thanks

[@marshalcraft]

yeah not as fast as in the matrix movie but hey at least we can fly helicopters now and it didnt take 100 hours of practice.

[@VW19900]

marshalcraft Exactly, we saved thousands of pounds in lessons.

[@sniperclown6384]

You never know. May save your life.

[@kamalsinghaswal2145]

Volkswagen1990

[@VW19900]

+kamal aswal .

[@minus5m]

Very nicely made - now I finally understand how they (basically) work. Thank you!!

[@jorgepinto-velez603]

I found this video very interesting and it helped me a lot I am proud of you for making this video my future career is a wildlife biologist to protect animals around the world and I am going to pilot a helicopter thank u so much for making this video it helped me a lot

[@MqKosmos]

How far along are you?

[@AndreChampoux]

Well made and easy to follow I'd say top 10 instruction video I have ever seen... on any subject.

[@MqKosmos]

I have to disagree. Information in this video is wrong. Easy to follow? Yes. Well made? No.

[@johnzima9505]

At 65 and retired Helicopter and Videos like this cause goose bums! Good think I got the pleasure to learn to fly Cessna 150 and 172. Love them choppers!

[@PassportBrosBusinessClass]

This looks EXHAUSTING.

[@Eltoca21]

I'm hoping to start learning within the next month and could not be more excited!

[@XshellbearX]

Got my first flying lesson in two days! Soooo excited!

[@mandrake2273]

That was really cool! I have always wanted to learn how to fly a helicpoter!

[@roguemale57]

Many Thanks.Always dreamed of flying a helicopter.You have just wet my whistle.

[@AirDrive57]

Nice, went deep in the technology behind, had few new thing to learn from it, Thank you.

[@busnlink]

still watching this in 2017!! nice

[@alvindueck8227]

nice, thanks for sharing this. I'm working on my class one drives right now, and I'd really like to fly a helicopter eventually too.

[@DigitalAscensionSI]

i have to admit that is very helpful!

[@hotdogandahayride9823]

No way man, that hairy arm at 2:50 was clearly a real helicopter rotor blade.

[@mistudio9788]

HotdogAnd aHayride lol

[@rickyc664]

It's funny they thought we might think it was an actual helicopter blade.

[@joeytortice1965]

I love this!

[@launeto]

Best explanation I ever seen

[@leyva1998]

Great production. keep it up!

[@humayun891]

thanks you . You explained all things briefly

[@DFX2KX]

I can imagine. Getting a ride in a Helicopter is on my bucket list.

[@AjaxChew]

THIS IS SOOO COOL!

[@190Mewtow]

Half of what makes this video so awesome is the accents

[@Adriandz271]

MemeMasterJackal _ uhhh... the accents!

[@nirajchaudary5922]

simple, straight to the basic ideas and really easy to understand how a helicopter fly

[@MqKosmos]

Too bad its wrong

[@cloudsurfer91]

last year i had one flying lesson in a R44, it was a birthday present. i am a fsx-pilot and i found it really easy to fly... hopefully i become a real airline-pilot one day

[@jonmonaghan7752]

Great video! Thanks Sheldon

[@zamansworld6854]

wow it was great. Something learning new is awesome !!!!!!!

[@JumpinPakFlash]

Whoever invented the modern helicopter is a genius :)

[@joshr7781]

Thank you so much for the instruction! I actually just got accepted into the Coast Guard as a search and rescue pilot.

[@user-eh7hy3sm2q]

Jx shua

[@Carraroebouncingcastles]

WOW GREAT VIDEO VERY EDUCATIONAL 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@somezsaltz4526]

Helicopters are awesome

[@DenwarTheoriginal]

AWESOME!!!

[@cassianomhini6958]

amazing

[@mrjohnson2289]

I started flying fixed wing aircraft when I was 11, with an instructor of course. At 16 you can solo, and I did that before driving a car by myself. I had to sit on pillows so I could see over the dashboard, but as long as you can reach the pedals you can start as early as you want!

[@kokophilly]

after this video, i'm going to try and fly a helicopter. because i now know how. thanks gizmag~

[@MrStripyHead]

nice looking ride!

[@waterblaze]

"His coolness is off the fonzy scale ladies and gents, because sheldons a freakin helicopter pilot" LOL

[@insouled]

this is awesome....thanks for uploading :)

[@David_P132]

Very good, clear basic intro.

[@darklyperfect]

wow the helicopter is beautiful. I want one

[@mkzhero]

such a great video, why would someone dislike this?

[@rayme4raw]

I love Bell Helicopters.

[@tomt8691]

Great explanation.Now I can fly a helicopter!

[@Nomoreidsleft]

Great video, funny and informational. Love that Australian accent. "Deesk of Leeft"

[@longsolid9]

2:50 Thanks for the caption! I would have never noticed!

[@abaubaidah]

awesome

[@JacobDavidCCunningham]

"instinctive helicopters are awesome" hahaha love that line

[@paintball321]

At about 2:08 they say you need right pedal when lifting off. In America, with the M/R spinning counter clockwise you need left pedal to counter the M/R torque.

[@AndrewMcCarthyWood]

Great video!

[@JamesLawsonSmith]

I would love to learn to fly a helicopter, I have flown a Cessna 172 single prop plane before and that was fun.

[@OscarSanchez-qx1cr]

great video thanks for the quick lesson

[@XibeastmasteriX]

Thanks for teaching me how to fly! -Amanda Todd

[@josephsaliba79]

Just Pure Aerophysics.

[@AussieMusicRocks]

Wow, I'm glad I watched that clip. My new helicopter arrives tomorrow and now I know all I need to know about flying it.

[@sahkabir3651]

AussieMu sicRocks

[@livinabox925]

been meaning to book some lessons for god knows how many years.... fascination or what. been flying model planes and helis (just recently) so might have a head start.

[@georgetsikis12345]

very good video

[@EricJaakkola]

This should be titled "How a helicopter is flown" - I can promise you, you cannot fly a helicopter after watching this video. :)

[@SlimLighty]

Well said.

[@vermin1970]

I flew a helicopter after watching this :-)

[@TheMichaelmarin84]

Noah Themins maybe on call of duty or bf3

[@vermin1970]

Lol those 2 games will never be on my PC.

[@RikerWilson]

Just saying, it takes months to learn to fly a heli... You certainly won't get that with a 5 min video...

[@Ponansm]

Instructive video

[@GameRekonNetwork]

you are right about that !!

[@artistgmg]

@rdalben The non-turbine is just like a car engine. It uses pistons moving up and down to turn a crank which turns the rotors. In a turbine there are no pistons. It is basically a multi-stage air compressor which sucks in cold air like a fan, compresses it with spinning turbines, mixes it with fuel and continually ignites it to create even more pressure/power. The spinning turbines drive the rotors.

[@booya155]

@powermaks 2-6 grand is normal for a fixed wing license, rotary wing typically costs a lot more. I actually just looked up another school by me in a much larger area and they're charging about 14 grand.

[@Bull_10RR]

make a video diary of it, i'd watch every single one. when im old enough (1/2) years imma do it too :D

[@sockschappercat]

The most difficult parts are taking off and landing. You may have to adjust the balance of the chopper while in the air, but it hovers along quite well by itself.

[@whitedovegrl66]

Yeah Love this...

[@research007007]

Nicely done "gizmag."

[@robertgift]

Well done!

[@krrishrajdansena2588]

very nice

[@carlosmagalhaes7109]

Still easier than flying a helicopter on GTA 😂

[@bryandurham3590]

R-44's have a counter-clockwise rotating system. You need left pedal when pulling collective, not right.

[@shombrerow]

I have flown this one!! r-44!!! Pretty amazing

[@brianglendenning1632]

I flew an identical R44 out of Williamtown NSW, TIF gift from my family. A lapsed fixed wing pilot, and having flown C152, C172 and a Turbo Lance out of the same airport, it was very interesting how an at best average fixed wing pilot would fly a helicopter, and for the most part it was easy to adjust where I had an excellent instructor there to pick up when I inevitably messed something up. Hover was very challenging - could manage two controls at once but all three was in control for brief periods, but informed that is normal. The odd thing was coming in to land while washing off forward speed to nothing at the aim point, but it kind of comes naturally with an instructor in your ear. Enormous fun, and if I won Powerball would absolutely chase rotary endorsements on my licence and get a turbine beast

[@Hacker00791]

Thank you

[@sdjokr1]

Those shoes are crazy LOOL

[@hitssquad]

The swash plate only controls the *tilt* of the blades, so it shouldn't be affected at all by the gyro forces.

[@samiminh]

more of these please!

[@utomilanthephilosuffer4840]

oooops after watching this i decided to hijack one and fly it, while mid air i remember i did not watch how to land it. bro your video is not complete what should i do now?

[@Sereniitty]

for the cyclic control. the generate amount of extra lift is made 90 degrees befor the actual point that u wanna lift. cause any force on a spinning disc will be expressed by this disc 90 degrees later. so when you make the aileron move the rotor tilt is made at the front and the back of the heli and when you use the elevator move the rotor tilt is made at the left and at the right. thats whierd but that is how it work. even my Rc helicopter works this way. physics !!!

[@dollydiaz6546]

I never build an elicopter but I'm going to try I got the lake part of it for the body part I have to make a frame for it I'm just doing it out of cardboard I guess I could go down to the Auburn on Main Street to where they sell model airplanes at and buy a motor for it to see if it works but that's really cool what you have on the computer and it shows that I've never done these kind of things in my life but it's kind of interesting thank you

[@John_Michael2000]

I learned something new about how the collective manipulates the angle of the blades. My original thought on how the chopper lifts off from the ground was entirely different

[@Gunnon1]

@poindexterdick Yes. The swash turns into the direction where you want to tilt the heli. The links makes the blades to take the effect 90 degrees before the desired direction.

[@juveaicrag7725]

Es increíble... me encantaría tener uno.

[@joshuanehi7338]

i like this video

[@mikldude]

its interesting,and makes sense how the controls create the forces to control the copter, but does anyone else look at the mechanisms and think holy shit how delicate looking are those mechanisms, ie swash plate, rotor controls etc etc, how easy would it be for any one of those mechanisms to fail and for it to all go wrong in the air?

[@bikebum]

@StaffSergeantPepper It depends on if you want to maintain your airspeed. In the end though, you end up using both hands and both feet because any movement on one control surface results in a need for (usually) minor adjustments in the other 2 control surfaces. Generally the only time you have a hand free is the collective hand during straight and level flight unless you have an autopilot.

[@thiyagarajanr7967]

More usefull than any other video

[@nzmarco]

4:44 and ready to buy my first chopper. Hopefully I find a big enough landing spot at the petrol station to fill up.

[@ZnojaviJefticYT]

owsome!

[@hoda-mrmr]

great fly ,

[@derjoghurtmitderecke]

Cool, now I can fly a chopper. Thx.

[@Glasses5x]

FUN!

[@lehruahir7763]

NICE

[@DasBeatz]

Ok, I think I am ready to fly now.

[@profsat5]

I have a brother that flew a Huey in Vietnam.He and some of the men still alive have purchased a Huey and gutted it.They are working on instruments and rewiring everything until the engine gets back.Its getting a complete overhaul.Somewhere around the Smoky Mountain's is where they want to set up a field.I love to fly with my brother.He has taught me how to fly but PTSD is still on the forefront of his mind.He left his heart and soul in Vietnam and all the gov't give him in return was ribbons.

[@gavincurtis]

You'll be hearing from my lawyer on this one. I watched the video twice.. TWICE! Then I crashed my 3rd new helicopter. This is becoming an expensive hobby.

[@gavincurtis]

They felt pity. So far number 5 has 10 successful flight hours and not a scratch.

[@gavincurtis]

***** Before the great war, I was paid to crash choppers. Not easy crashes either... these were hard. Today, I still crash. It's a living. Gravity is my nemesis.

[@mikesuch9021]

The Dollar Guy Anyone that flies both will tell you that remote control airplanes and helicopters are much harder to fly then the real thing.

[@reubenpocock8092]

Haha...That's funny

[@theonlyMoancore]

@Prranjal Shrivaastav lol ok boomer

[@pauloz386]

OK I watched the video, now where's my friggin chopper licence!

[@nigelrobinson3450]

I'm blind & flew one of these in Australia, then over to Russia & across to Asia where I made chop suey with the rotors when landing - yum

[@anandamkarthikeyagudimetla2427]

Nice video

[@clowesaviation5443]

Is it strange to say this video was a part of my childhood?