There are three ways that you can learn the nose in hover. Everyone learns differently, and any one of these methods might be good for you. Most people prefer the ground up learning method, just like when you were learning to hover during day 4. We will start with this and then cover the other two methods – the walk around and the flying approach.

Ground Up Nose In Hover Exercises

As I just mentioned, this is exactly the same as learning how to hover during day 4, but this time you already know how to control the throttle/collective and tail rotor so it will not take nearly as long.

Start with your RC helicopter pointed into the wind and then stand directly in front of it about 8-10 feet away. Now slowly increase the throttle/collective to get the heli light on its skids and start getting a feel for the reversed cyclic commands. As you get a handle on the reversal, get the heli a few inches in the air and continue practicing.

Once you are able to hold a solid hover with the helicopter, try practicing the same forward/backwards/sideways and diagonal exercises you did during day 4 keeping the nose pointed into the wind at all times (facing you). Once those feel good, try the long skinny figure 8 lesson from day 6 , but at the end of each figure 8 reach, turn the nose of the helicopter toward you instead of away from you.

Once that is mastered, start flying the large fast circuit figure 8 lesson from day 9 – again turning the nose toward you instead of away. Make sure you have sufficient altitude to recover from a mistake. If you do get into trouble most situations can be corrected by increasing your throttle/collective and “climb” out of harms way. This way the helicopter will not hit the ground and you will have time to regain orientation and get the bird back under control.

One more tip I should mention, and this goes for what ever method you use to learn the nose in hover – make sure there is plenty of room all the way around you. It is best to practice the nose in hover out in the middle of the field in case you do get disorientated and the heli ends up flying behind you.

You should also try to go out on an overcast day in case your RC helicopter passes in front of you and the sun. You will be temporarily blinded for a few seconds by the bright sunlight. If this happens, in those few seconds you loose sight of your helicopter, chances are it will crash or you will be very disorientated when you finally reacquire its position.

Walk Around Nose In Hover Exercises

Many people are successful with this method of learning the nose in hover because it is a gradual way to change the orientation and gives your brain time to adjust. Unlike the ground up method, you start with your normal hovering position (helicopter’s nose pointed into the wind and you behind your heli).

Now, as you hold your RC helicopter in a nice stationary hover 2-3 feet off the ground, start walking to the side of the helicopter and face the helicopter from the side. Right or left side doesn’t matter, which ever feels more comfortable. The trick now is to slowly turn your body so it is facing the front of the helicopter.

The advantage to this method is if you start feeling disorientated, you can immediately turn your body back to a more comfortable orientation. The disadvantage of course is your helicopter is a few feet in the air and if you can’t regain control fast enough – ouch $$$.

The only other concern with this method is the possibility of tripping over something while walking around to the front of the heli, so make sure to check for any tripping hazards before you begin.

Once you feel comfortable facing the helicopter, perform the same nose in exercises as described in the ground up nose in hover section above.

The Flying Approach Nose In Hover Exercises

This really isn’t a hover at all, but a way to get comfortable with the reversed cyclic controls when the helicopter is already flying and turning toward you. As you fly more and more with the helicopter turning and flying towards you, your brain slowly learns the control reversal. Eventually you will be comfortable enough to slow the helicopter down as it approaches and hold it in a nice controlled nose in hover.

The two advantages of this method are the helicopter is already in forward flight making it more stable than if it was in a hover. The other advantage is you are flying the helicopter high in the air 30-50 feet, so if you make a mistake, there is sufficient time to regain control.

The disadvantages are pretty obvious. You have to commit to turning the heli towards your position and if you get disorientated and can’t regain control, no matter how high you are, the ground will win. It also takes a long time to learn the nose in hover this way because most of your time is spent flying around and only when the helicopter is flying towards you are you getting nose in practice.

I have to mention this flying approach method because it is how I learned. I think if you already fly RC airplanes like I did, this method is actually very natural feeling because a RC helicopter in fast forward flight does behave somewhat similar to an RC airplane. It took me a long time to actually feel comfortable enough to slow the helicopter down and hold a solid nose in hover, but eventually I got it. Certainly not the best way to learn the nose in hover, but it works.

Of course if you have a good RC flight simulator , your nose in hover learning curve will be much faster. The advice here is to pick one of the methods you feel comfortable with and use that same method with the RC simulator. The walk around method won’t work with a simulator because your position (the pilot) is fixed.

With the nose in hover under your belt, you have opened the door to more advanced flying and aerobatics. You now have the confidence and skill to fly your RC helicopter no matter what direction it is pointed.

Congratulations are once again in order – give yourself a well deserved pat on the back! Your reward for today... Take the training gear off your RC helicopter - you are now a RC heli pilot.