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Helicopter Flight Controls

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There are three major controls in a helicopter that the pilot must use during flight. They are the collective pitch control, the cyclic pitch control, and the antitorque pedals or tail rotor control. In addition to these major controls, the pilot must also use the throttle control, which is usually mounted directly to the collective pitch control in order to fly the helicopter.

In this chapter, the control systems described are not limited to the single main rotor type helicopter but are employed in one form or another in most helicopter configurations. All examples in this chapter refer to a counterclockwise main rotor blade rotation as viewed from above. If flying a helicopter with a clockwise rotation, left and right references must be reversed, particularly in the areas of rotor blade pitch change, antitorque pedal movement, and tail rotor thrust.

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This section is based on the FAA Helicopter Flying Handbook FAA-H-8083-21B 2019.

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