Ironsmith

A technical question. Does it use more power (less flying time) if you have a lot of trim?
Two whole batteries and no damage. I am beginning to think that it is possible to fly these things.

poiyt

iron, excellent, congrats!

you flying in norm mode, or idleup yet?

bcheers
jeff

Orion1024

I would think so...it would be most efficient to have your heli perfectly balanced and be directing all the thrust exactly downward (that is, for hovering). It does take a lot of practice before the routine crashing becomes less frequent. Even with six months of practice, it's still too easy for me to make a mistake...usually it's either from lack of sleep, not paying attention, or just bad luck. Aside from practice, you really need to be on the ball and mentally alert to fly these things without incident. The best thing I've found for me is to go out well rested and drink lots of coffee beforehand!

Ironsmith

Still in normal mode. Cheating a little. I have my 6EXH throttle/pitch setup so my pitch is zero deg from 0% to 50% throttle and then pitch slowly increases as throttle increases to 80%. It flies almost like a fixed pitch but still has enough lift to scare me flying indoors. I have a 80' by 120' with 12' truss beams. Have to be careful with a fresh battery to not hit the ceiling. I can set it down quite fast with out slamming it into the concrete.
After I get some more air time I will start playing with the settings. The Futaba 6EXH is the best investment I have made in this game.
I really don't know how many of my crashes have been due to the Walkera electronics. Even if they were good, the Walkera electronics don't let you set things up like you can with the Futaba.
I upgraded to the metal head but it had a lot of slop so I went back to the plastic head but kept the metal swash and pitch slider.

TrumpetRhapsody

I'm still working my way up to a successfull hover, but i'm limited by my batteries. My 650mah stocks were basically toasted when i bought it (ebay), so i custom made a pack of 1000mah ones, and i'm breaking them in and getting longer flight times each use. I got up to a brief 3" hover tonight before the batts gave way. Maybe tomorrow i'll get up to half a foot or a foot and still be stable! . I'm using AVCS by the way, and it helps!
Man I can't get over how much the Sims help. After my first crash (mainly b/c of a reversed servo and really bad calibration and trims), I got G3 and OMG how it has helped. I figured out the reversed servo right off, and now i can actually control it light on the skids, and like I said had a brief 3" hover that was limited to battery. I can't wait till xmas to get a lipo charger so i can charge my 1800mah, and maybe get a brand new 2200mah!

FlynBuzz

SB - Overkill where the battery? if so, does that mean my 10C is ok, but a 12C would be better?

enricong

well thanks for all your help.
I got a 36 with a lipo and brushless motor. ended up paying $230
Now I just need find a good simulator. I have FMS but I dont know how realistic that is.
I'm wondering how the simulator handles the mixing functions and knobs.
I also need to find a transmitter I can plug into my computer or get a cable.
I was thinking of just getting a cheap esky transmitter

Orion1024

I've been using a Logitech Dual analog stick game controller with FMS...it works fine for me. You'll probably want to practice with the Hughes heli in FMS, as it flies very similarly to the 36. FMS is good enough to practice with, but it is easier than flying the actual model. You can make things a little tougher by increasing the number of 'bubbles' so the air has more effect.

enricong

would a different simulator be more realistic?
or a different controller?

soneebee

Fms is a good simulator for getting the correct orientation but the physics is kinda incorrect.. it does do good hovering but FF is kinda different in feel.. The greatplane G3 or G3.5 has better physics and flies almost as the real heli.. relex XTR is good in graphics but lack a little on the physics....

Orion1024

There's no other free ones I know of. I did try the Clearview sim ($30), but don't think I could recommend it because it has too many flaws...at least when I tried it. Maybe they've fixed it by now.

http://www.rcflightsim.com/index.html

TrumpetRhapsody

I used [link=http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_3637917/tm.htm]this guide[/link] and it works great after I tweaked it a bit. Don't use the second resistor that he says to put inline with the signal wire, it didn't work when I used that. Also, I'd suggest soldering wires to the transistor then the wires to your cable or parallel head, cuz every time I tried to solder it direct it f***ed up (melted probably) the transistor. I ended up buying three of them to finally get it right, those things are finicky.

enricong

I tried a gamepad but it was very strange flying.
it was very difficult to maintain an altitude and keep the tail steady
it did not seem to have a very good resolution so it was rather jerky.
also, the sticks are spring loaded to center themselves so that made it harder to fly too.
and ofcourse I cant trim my controls either

Orion1024

Was that a dual analog stick gamepad? I know other people have said a gamepad didn't work well for them, but I think it works pretty well (ergonomics, control & resolution)...and I'm pretty fussy about how well something works. Maybe it works OK for me because I have more practice in. As far as the spring is concerned, it can always be removed. This is the gamepad I'm using...the sticks control with your thumbs like with the TX.

Rattlecat

I just use two analog joysticks from the good old bad days with a Y connector into a dual port joystick on my sound card. I have them taped onto a piece of plywood. I can hold it just like a transmitter. I have had them since about 1987 , yes last century.

Sb

Orion1024

Hey, I still have a Wico brand joystick from the early 80's...the exact one that was used in many arcade machines. If there's ever a nuclear war, it'll probably survive! You lucky you got a gameport - I need to make one to plug into the header on my mobo so I can use my old steering wheel controllers.

Rattlecat

I think the Esky Sim package looks good. It has a USB transmitter mockup that will save a lot of wear on your flying transmitter. I bet the drivers are a lot easier to work with, unless it has an Esky transmitter output instead of straight joystick data. About $30 delivered. And no battery needed.

SB

eijo

I use the ESKY USB controller. Together with ppjoy and ppjoyjoy it is easy to configure it to suite most simulators.

Much better feeling than a Joy-pad. I had a joy-pad before I bought the ESKY.

TrumpetRhapsody

I only use PPJoy, what does PPjoyjoy do?

Rattlecat

buzz,
I don't know what you mean by Overkill, where the battery. But I have done some research on batteries and if the higher C rating does not cause a weight or dimensional problem it is better. The higher C rating should run cooler and have more charge/discharge cycles.
Cheer up all, I have been reading about a new lithium type battery with a 5000mah rating, and 4000 + recharges. Maybe a year or two before they hit the market, but are real and proven. They are also safer. PS, yes 4000 + recharges! And a 15 minute recharge !!!!!!!!!!!

SB

Ironsmith

Just a bookmark tip that I have been using to get back to where I quit reading. Post 5690 above has an address of:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_31...tm.htm#5018076
If you just bookmark this page you will have an address of:
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_31...28/key_/tm.htm
You can find the #5018076 part of the address by mousing over the Edit link on a post. When I am done reading, I mouse over the Edit link on the last post read and then right click on my bookmark and edit the properties tab with the new number. It only takes a few seconds and saves a lot of hunting.

enricong

I saw the exact same gamepad in the store today so I bought it.
it works great, I can actually sorta fly the helicopter

Rattlecat

Orion,
Be sure to check out the G006 thread, I have my gyro working very well in AVCS now. That drift is almost gone, just a tiny amount that won't show for about a minute. One correction resets it.

Sb

eijo

For some simulators you need to use ppjoyjoy, you can reconfigure axis with it. For FMS it is enough with ppjoy.

AirborneRC

Dunno much about the simulator side of things. But if it's cheap spares you're after try [link=http://www.airbornerc.com.au]www.airbornerc.com.au[/link]. They've got the full range of Dragonfly 36 spares and a few decent upgrades too.

They've got [link=http://www.airbornerc.com.au/index.php?cPath=4]Dragonfly 36 Main Blades for US$8.10![/link]

Greg