# Helicopter (experimental)

:::warning Support for helicopters is [experimental](..#experimental-vehicles).

* Does not have a maintainer.
* Not regularly tested by the core development team.
* Limited support for different types of helicopters. For example, PX4 does not support helicopters with coaxial or dual rotor types, and features such as RPM governor and autorotation.

Maintainer volunteers, [contribution](../contribute) of new features, new frame configurations, or other improvements would all be very welcome! :::

## Helicopter Types

PX4 supports helicopters with a single main rotor with a swash-plate controlled by up to 4 swash-plate servos, and:

* a mechanically uncoupled tail rotor driven by an ESC, or
* a mechanically coupled tail controlled by a servo on the tail motor.

The allowed flight operations and [flight modes](../../getting_started/flight_modes#multicopter-helicopter) are the same as for multicopter. Note however that (at the time of writing) 3D flying with negative thrust is not supported in autonomous/guided modes.

## Assembly

Assembly of the core autopilot components are similar for all frames. This is covered in [Basic Assembly](../assembly).

Helicopter-specific assembly consists mostly of connecting and powering the motors and swash plate servos.

:::note Note that the flight controller cannot power motors and servos (only GPS module, RC receiver, and low power telemetry modules can be powered from Pixhawk flight controllers). Generally a power distribution board (PDB) is used to power motors, and a separate (or integrated) battery elimination circuit (BEC) is used to power each of the servos. :::

## Configuration

Helicopter configuration and setup is covered in:

* [Helicopter configuration](frames_helicopter/config_heli): Vehicle frame selection, actuator configuration and testing, and tuning.
* [Standard Configuration](../config): The common configuration and calibration steps for most frames. This includes configuration/calibration of core components such as compass and gyroscope, setting flight mode mappings on a remote control, and safety settings.

## Frame Builds

None available.
