irenaslavo

This is my first time on helicopter forums, I'm a Canadian girl living in USA, although I use to race R/C boats, I'm very new in the helicopter, I got brand new Kyosho Nexus 30 (4 stroke engine) with good price, I spent respectable time and effort to build it , also I got G3 and I trained as much as I can, but I'm very afraid to fly it since I would like to avoid crash as much as I can …. I got informed that I can install auto pilot device which will help me as beginner to land helicopter in one piece… Please is anyone know where I can find it and what is the best brand and if it really works or not

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

People have had debatable levels of success with them. FMA makes one, I'm sure if you did a search you could find some more info. I can tell you that your money would be better spent on a good simulator and a case of fuel.

As for the Nexus, be careful with it, they are decent little helis for the money but parts support is drying up. If you need parts try http://www.caliber30.com

Where are you in the US?

Cyberfyn

The Co-pilot is a good little tool. But you won't really be learning to fly the helicopter with one. Get load of time on the sim, get someone to set the heli and transmitter up properly & test fly it, join a club if you can. Also don't ecpect to just start flying on the first attempt. The first 20-30 hours is just getting the hover right!

Here's a link to the FMA Copilot page.

[link=http://www.fmadirect.com/Detail.htm?item=1768&section=29]Co-Pilot.[/link]

snappa

I have a caliber 30and my first 3 crashes knocked the **** out of my confidience and I had alot of hassle getting that back....my crashes were all from dumb thumbs and loss of orientation for a few seconds...............cost me about $NZ500 in parts!!!!! THEN I GOT SMART and installed a co-pilot and havent looked back my last crashes were caused by a motor failure so they were also my first autorotation yes my butt was twanging as I came down but it came down in one peice.......the only damage was a broken skid first one and a stretched damper rubber the second one..without the co-pilot it would have been alot worse,,,sometimes I fly with it sometimes without but usually set at 70% I have since then also had the orientation loss again and would have crashed but the co-pilot saved the day when some folks tell you dont waste your money its because they have been through the "school of hard knocks" and think you should too why do we fly?? for fun so if something like the co-pilot makes it more fun and you can afford it then why not?

snappa

and cyberfin, you are correct and you do need to learn to hover first but with the co-pilot it does not fly the chopper for you just gives you a little hand....if I push my stick foward I will fly foward,, if i push it left it will fly left,, if I close my throttle I will crash, if the wind blows hard to my left I will hit the tree....unless I correct it lol however if I fly off into the distance and turn around forgetting which way is up I can let the co-pilot help for the few seconds I need to get myself sorted,,,whats wrong with that????? so in short you WILL still be learning to fly the chopper

Cyberfyn

I agree. In part..... A co-pilot is a good training aid. But, don't use it as a crutch to fly on. I learnt the old school method (back when there was no such thing as heading lock!) and can fly the socks off my Caliber. If you intend to take the Co-pilot off at some stage in the future, then great.

Saying that, I remember what everyone said about the new fangled HH gyro's CHEATING!

Ian F.

AutoMike

LOL...I first learned to fly without a gyro years ago. That was back in the late 80's, they had them but I blew all I had on the heli and other gear so I had to do without some things. I think the co-pilot debate is a funny one, everyone as there own opinon but not using one as a beginer has it's merits. Some newbies are at there limit just trying to get the throttle/pitch curve thing figured out. Heck, sometimes they arent sure if they should fly the tail or the nose. Adding the co-pilot into the mix and all that it takes to set one up properly can be the straw that broke the camels back. When learning to fly, the KISS method is the best to follow. There is no shortcut in this world to learning to fly anything. Practice and a lot of it , and taking your knocks every so often, that how one learns. The co-pilot is a great tool to add to your heli down the road when you want to. I use one on a heli thats used a camera ship. helps steady the heli at alltitude where ones eyes cant see a 3in drift back and forth but drives ths cam operator nuts. But in the end there is no magic black box that will allways save your bacon if your unable to fly for yourself.

snappa

as i stated "the school of hard knocks" lol have you tried a co-pilot?? I guess not by what you are saying so its better to crash than learn at your own pace,,,as you progress you can reduce the "help" co-pilot gives you and even switch it off.....only to switch it on when you get in the shi t

AutoMike

[email protected]'m not disagreeing with you or agreeing with you. I mearly presented my observation. And of course I've used co-pilots, two types so far. They are a wonderful tool but they cant stop you from getting your left mixed up with the heli's left. To just simply state that they will lessen the amount you will crash is incorrect. In some cases they will help but I believe that in Most case they will not help prevent a crash. Like you have said, your last crashes were due to engine failure, guess we need a device that will auto-tune an engine for a person too. A person cant really learn to fly if THEY arent the one flying? The co-pilot is a neat thing but I believe people can be smart enough to learn to fly with out the added expense and complexity of one. Patients and friendly advise can go a long way. Mike

irenaslavo

TO: barracudahockey ,Cyberfyn, snappa, Cyberfyn, Mr.Pipercub


Thanks to all of you , I would like clarify that I'm not worry about crash as crash followed by paying $$$, I would like to avoid go for fly and return back home after 2 minutes also because I got informed that spare parts is not available regularly, I need auto pilot to support me in the flight and minimized my crashes

First I tried to take the right way, using simulator and after try hovering , I got G3 for training but after I install it I didn't find Kyosho heli at all and I'm training now on Impala .30 without knowing if it is like kyosho or not also I'm not expert to adjust and change the heli parameter from the software to match with Kyosho …… please I need help if anyone can give me parameter and value which I should change it or added.

On the other hand I got informed that FMA producing auto pilots but when I saw their web site I found too many models and I got mix … now I don't know which model I should select and if FMA is the only company or there is another companies , Please I need advise

snappa

hi irena first of all the BEST place for caliber parts are http://www.rcheliworks.net/ I have brought a large number of parts off them and have found them to be half the price of New Zealand dealers!!! as for the co-pilot this is the one you need FS8 Co Pilot and the page is http://www.fmadirect.com/products.htm?cat=29&nid=7 you are better choosing the FS8CPI package at the bottom of the page with the software and vertical sensor it is expensive but no more expensive than a couple of crashes and lets not forget co-pilot also "locks" on to your transmiter by taking a snapshot of its signal and rejecting every other one ie if someone turns on to your frequency it wont shoot you down,, also the co-pilot failsafe is WAY better than any other system,,however......you DO need to be able to hover a little first and to be honest it doesnt really matter (in my opinion) what model you use on the simulator as its all about getting the nerve pathways established between your brain and your fingers!!! simulators will get you to a point where hovering is almost second nature!! If you do decide to buy a co-pilot and set it up feel free to contact me for advice as I have been through all the setup of the copilot I think you can do it via this website cheers Tony

Cyberfyn

All helicopters fly pretty much the same as each other (all controls do the same thing) so any practice on a sim will help. It's just about training your fingers to do the right things. I think you will find that in reality no sim can truly prepare you for flying the actual helicopter.... It's the fear factor that is missing when you fly a simulated helicopter

The model of Co-pilot you need is the CCPM version (part number FS8CP)

Ian F.

snappa

hey cyberfin .......must be late over there??? time here in NZ is 10.13 pm......or are you at work you norty boy!!! what would your boss say??

Cyberfyn

LOL I think you're 12 hours in front of us, so It's morning here.

I'm self employed & work from home, so I'm the boss! (looking around to see if the girlfriend is listening)

Have a good one. Ian.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

She has a nexus not a cali.

There is a 46 size heli in g3 that flys fairly similar to the Nexus, I'll post the name when I get home, can't think of it at the moment.

irenaslavo

Thanks for all of you , yes as barracudahockey mentioned I have Nexus not Caliper but I don't know the difference and please Snappa do you know if the shop you mentioned keep parts for Nexus because I would like to order some parts to keep it in case I made crash also I will order FS8CPI as Snappa mentioned but would you please explain for me what is the co-pilot failsafe and vertical sensor mean ( sorry I'm beginner) and if posting some picture after installing the Co pilot will help you gentleman to assist me for insuring I fixed right I will really appreciate that.

Snappa you mentioned that you adjust your co pilot at 70% , please advise if the co pilot can be adjusted for it works only ON and OFF and if it adjustable , it adjustable from transmitter or from Co pilot , I have JR transmitter X338S

Thanks to all of you

Cyberfyn

Probably the Sun Dog ?

Ian F.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

Not the sun dog. This is making me crazy, I was just messing around flying it the other night.

irenaslavo

Snappa , I checked http://www.rcheliworks.net but they mentioned that there is no spare parts available for Nexus , do you know another supplier

Cyberfyn

Here, I'll put you out of your misery!

http://www.realflight.com/aircraftca...ml#helicopters

Cyberfyn

Here in the UK I use Midland helicopters. They have a good stock of Nexus parts and do a good international postal service.

http://www.modelhelicopters.co.uk/ac...usConcept.html

Ian F.

irenaslavo

I forget to mentioed that the Nexus I have is NEXUS LEGATO

snappa

fail safe means if your transmitter "breaks" ie batterys flat, internal fault or even just accidentally switched off the co-pilot sees the loss of signal and sets the servos to a position set by you this means for a plane part throttle, slightly banking turn and co-pilot on for a heli its part throttle, sticks neutral and co-pilot on ,,,,this means its not going to crash or kill someone (hopefully) vertical sensor,, the co-pilot has to sensors, one with 4 horizontal sensors looking at the horizon in a 360 deg circle, the other one is a vertical sensor with one window looking up and one looking down,, this makes calibration much easier at the field so you dont have to hold the aircraft vertical and also will allow the plane/chopper to recover from an inverted flight (someday ehh?)

snappa

yes its programable from the transmiter or the unit, I find if you set it to 100% you get the same issues as with your gyro of "wag" and it will oscillate in the air,,basically mine is set on the gear chanel and I can adjust the sensitivity from the air or even turn it off or on while flying my transmitter is a x-378

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

DOLPHIN! There's even a 4 stroke version that can't get out of its own way like the legatto. (sorry Irene but whomever sold you that did you no favors)