UNDERSTANDING THE RC TURBINE HELICOPTER.Before I start talking about RC turbine Helicopters I first want to acknowledge the kind help and support I have received from Sara at Wren Turbines LTD. , Ted at RCrotortech helicopter company and especially Chris at Bergen RC Helicopters .
It wasn’t hard deciding who I wanted to get help from, and I am grateful for Sara's, Ted's, and Chris's help & support. Many of the photos in my turbine section of this web site have kindly been supplied by Wren, RCrotortech, and Bergen RC. Like many of you I have been dreaming of building and flying a RC turbine helicopter for several years now. Ever since I saw one fly several years ago, it has been in the back of my mind. Actually the flying had nothing to do with it; it was the wonderful sound and smell. Seeing the heat waves exiting the exhaust nozzles is pretty special and with those three ingredients stimulating your senses, it really hits home that this is as close to the real thing as most of us RC'ers will get. Here is a beautiful scale MD 520N turbine RC helicopter in action. Moving to a small mountain town in BC. Canada, that has a Bell helicopter service center in shouting distance from our home practically has certainly not helped diminish my turbine helicopter fetish and as it turns out, has made it so convenient to access jet fuel and turbine oil. I should actually take the time to thank the folks at Robson HeliMagic & Yellowhead Helicopters LTD (especially Dale) for my fuel and oil needs. The Basics RC turbine helicopters are actually not very different from our gas or nitro RC helis with the exception of size (perhaps) and cost (most definitely). They are not enormous, pretty much the same size as larger gas helicopters with rotor diameters in the 2000-2500mm (80-100 inch) range. Most will weigh in the 20-30 pound range. 
As far as controls, mechanics, and how they are built, RC turbine helis are pretty much exactly the same as gas or nitro RC helicopters. Many of the larger helicopter kits on the market that have been designed to run gas engines can be fit with turbine engines with minimal modifications.Wren for example, offers conversion kits to fit their turbine helicopter engines into several popular large gas and nitro RC helicopter mechanics. The main differences between turbine powered and gas or nitro lie around the systems required to keep a turbine engine running such as the turbine engine's FADEC , electric fuel pump and valves, larger fuel tank/s, UAT (universal air trap), auto start motor, and perhaps a dry sump oil system for gear box lubrication. All these extra systems use quite a bit of electrical power and require a dedicated battery pack over and above the normal receiver battery that we are all use to. Speaking of receivers, the radio equipment, servos, gyro are the same you would use on any large nitro or gas radio controlled helicopter. One of the biggest differences I found between turbine powered RC helicopters over gas or nitro internal combustion engines is just how smooth and vibration free a turbine engine runs. They are very much like an electric motor in that respect and have that same "feel" while flying. No reciprocating mass of a piston going up and down and no exhaust pulse, only silky smooth power - and lots of it! :) Now that you know a bit more about turbine RC helicopters, let’s spin our way into specifics.
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