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Jet-Powered Remote–Controlled Helicopters

There is no doubt that the growth in technology is working wonders, sometimes back controlling a helicopter from a distance was something unimaginable, but today these devices are widely seen around us, and this makes me believe that technology can make magic happen.

Not one, not two, there are various helicopters these days, talking about the turbine RC helicopter, the uniqueness is that it is an RC helicopter which is power driven by jet engines. It is quite amazing to see this toy and hear its jet engine come to life and gain speed as the rotors start to spin. These toys are uncommon due to high operating cost of the jet engine.

How do these Remote Controlled Helicopter Jet Engines Function?

The RC Helicopters are not very complicated in functioning, but it is only their factors regarding temperatures tolerances and machining that formulate their cost rates. The working of the RC Helicopter is similar to that of the full sized jet engines-air where air enters the jet from an intake which will later be compressed and mixed with fuel so that when ignited, it produces a thrust to spin the turbine which is connected to a compressor through a shaft. In this process, air will compress in the engine as it improves the thrust from burning the mixture of fuel and air. In the end, hot air comes out from behind jet engine with great speed resulting in thrust.

How does this get on the Track?

The rate of speed at which the jet engine compressor must be spinning should be high enough to generate sufficient pressure at the beginning of the engine in order to force the airflow to the back. For this, the engine should spin before starting, where a leaf blower is used to blow hot air into the engine from the front. Otherwise, the engine should be spun up using a high-speed electric starter. Some RC helicopters come with built in electric starters.

The other challenge is with the combustion. In order to ignite, the fuel should be in the gaseous form. Kerosene is the most recommended jet fuel but at room temperature, it is in liquid state. As a solution, propane is used which is in gaseous state at room temperature. Propane cans very easily combust once it enters the engine.

We need to have precise control over the jet engine once it starts and the quantity of the fuel that is entering in to the engine. A device known as the

Engine Control Unit (ECU) monitors this and it has many superior features, fail safes that are built in for safety.

ECU is an intelligent device, which controls most of the engine functionalities. They include:

¨      Measuring the turbine speed in RPM(Rotations Per Minute)

¨      The battery voltage of the fuel pump

¨      The Exhaust Gas Temperature(EGT)

¨      The Total  Engine Run Time

¨      The Throttle Command from the Transmitter