Cockpit
The cockpit is where the magic happens. Well the magic being where the pilot earns his or her pay. If you notice, there are a lot of things going on inside the cockpit. Here you have the cyclic control stick, the collective lever and tail rotor control pedals. The pilot has to be able to co-ordinate the movements of both arms and legs while utilizing his or her eyes not only to see where he or she is going, but also to observe the instrument panel in order to determine that the control inputs don't overtax the aircraft. If it seems like a lot of work, it is. Flying a helicopter is not easy, however for those who have taken the time and spent the money to learn, it can be a very rewarding experience. Helicopters do not have to fly forward like airplanes do. They can hover or can quite simply fly in regards to whatever input is made to the flight controls along the vertical, lateral and yaw axis of movements.
The cyclic control stick takes the input from the pilot and through a system of bell cranks, levers and control rods, takes that motion and transforms it into a directional command to the primary servos. The servos then move additional control rods and bell cranks to transform the directional command to an angle on the swash plate. The swash plate then controls the angle of the blades throughout the circumference of the rotor disk through the means of rotating and non rotating arms. The non rotating arms being the cyclic stick input and the rotating arms the output for the main rotor pitch control rods.
The collective lever is what controls the up and down motion of the helicopter. It is also where the throttle is located. The collective control system works much like the cyclic, with the difference in that it controls only the ability of the helicopter to move along it's vertical axis, up and down.
The tail rotor control pedals, or yaw control pedals take pilot input from his or her feet in order to determine the pitch of the tail rotor blades. The pitch of the blades works much in the same fashion as the main rotor blades, expect the lift created is directed along the yaw axis which moves the tail of the helicopter left or right depending on the amount of control that is desired. The tail rotor not only counteracts the torque created by the main rotor, it also has to be powerful enough to move against it in order to turn the helicopter in the same direction of the main rotor blade rotational direction.