RMG2
Posts: 667
Joined: 8/13/2004
From: Private,
OR, USA
Status: offline
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I'm so excited my fingers are still trembling!!! I just came back from my second excursion to the park with my FP. I finally made it down to the large multi-field soccer/baseball complex I have been wanting to go to. Wide open space for hundreds of yards.
First pack my palms were sweaty and I was shaking like a dog shi*in' prune pits  With my back to the sun and clear sky in front the FP went skyward! Hover out front to check trim on gyro (temp. sensitive). Couple clicks trim and drift is gone. Off we go, with left and right stall turns! Lots of room and no background clutter to lose the heli in like in the back yard! Eating-up sky like in my old fixed wing days! Heli gaining altitude with each pass and hard to tell orientation! I tell myself, "fly it down, don't chop the throttle"! Put the nose down and haul arse for the ground, it works! Keeping it in closer and learning how differently it flys in FFF verses hover! Couple close calls as very high speed nose down passes getting close to the ground! Lost orientation once and zoomed over my head and straight into the sun! Some how the heli swings out of direct line with the sun and I fly it back around in front! Pack finished, and so am I My pits are soaked with sweat and my hands are wet! Walking back to the Suburban for a new batt. and a smile finally comes as I realize, "I can fly this thing" 
Second pack, better control and more confidence! Throwing some piros during FFF passes No close-calls and not quite so nervous, but still tense!
Third pack not nearly so nervous and much more confidence! Better overall control and some long runs of high speed stall turns. Throwing some piros at the top of the stall just before heading back "down the hill" No close-calls and calmed down quite a bit.
The FP flew flawlessly! Gyro worked perfectly and for the first time, I had complete confidence in the tail!
Stuff I learned on my very first day of wide open FFF flying with the FP:
1, Do not let the heli get to far away, it's very easy to do!
2, If you gain to much altitude you must fly the FP back down, you cannot just chop the throttle and settle back down without losing most of your cyclic control!
3, In Fast Forward Flight the heli only requires about 30% throttle stick verses 55% for hover (my setup). Along that line of thought, when you come sweeping down from the heavens at high speed and pull back on the stick to flare, be ready to apply throttle or your going straight to the ground! You are literally going from 30% to maybe 70% throttle briefly to transition from FFF to hover when you make that transition quickly!
4, The FP is WAY easier to fly in the wind when you have enough room to keep your speed up verses slow flight and hover like in the back yard.
5, My stock tail motor with longer Hummingbird rotor seems to keep-up just fine for FFF flight.
6, This FP will fly much faster then I ever imagined it would
I'll probably think of more stuff when I calm down a bit
I am gonna see if my son can help me tomorrow with the camera? If the weather holds, I'll get some video in the morning (cross fingers)!
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All Forums >> RC Helicopters >> Electric RC Helis >> E-Flite Helicopters >> RE: Struggling with Single Rotor basics 
RE: S... - 
Any thought that may help. I wouldn't think you could destroy a little tail motor just from crash damage. It couldn't be dying by itself, it only has 16 flights on it. Sigh.. 
