thestratcat

My Feedback: (12)

I think I may have something off here, but am not sure what... let's say I do forward flight, come to the end, put it in a hover, change directions, then I lose altitude.. it does this if I stop and change directions or if I try to do a smooth circle. I have to put a chunk of throttle into it to keep me from hitting the ground...

any idea what I have going wrong? it'll drop 20 feet...

HeliSmith

Not enough description. I assume by your signup date you are no noob so list us your settings, is it bogging, when did it start doing this after a crash, etc..

thestratcat

My Feedback: (12)

right on, let's see...

Trex 450XL, aluminum head and tail, 401 gyro, hitec servo's, futaba 6exh transmitter

Looks like my pitch settings are
1 - 50
2 - 55
3 - 70
4 - 85
5 - 100

throttle:
1 - 0
2 - 40
3 - 70
4 - 85
5 - 100

I'm not worried about the idle up settings as of yet, they still scare me [>:]

the heli doesn't sound like it is really bogging to me, and I think this has done it since I built it, by the way, I used the online vid's to do the setup and am fairly certain it's close... it acts like it just loses lift..

(I think most of my posts are truck oriented, I was a truck guy and now am both... actually, heli's have taught me finesse)

Druss

what motor and esc are you using? Have you checked the actual pitch of the blades at 0, mid and full throttle? Do you have any mixes in the transmitter?

Helis will tend to fall or climb during piros but not usually during long banked turns.

shizack

What he said. Make sure you actually measure your pitch so that you're getting 0º at center stick in idle up with the motor disconnected; 0 25 50 75 100 pitch curve.

This is just a suggestion...
You could probably use a little more headspeed at center stick. You've got plenty of pitch, likely too much at center. You should hover at 65% stick or more; never much lower. 70 - 72% hover stick is about right.

I usually go for 50% pitch at center stick so I have a little negative available if I get caught up high in the wind. My p. curve is 35 42.5 50 75 100. Th curve is 0 41.5 83 92 100.

This might be a bit aggressive if you're just getting used to it, but I'd suggest trying the p. curve I use, with a th. curve around 0 37.5 75 87.5 100. it kind of simulates idle up, but you can still throttle down in a "situation".

I always fly in idle up. By using a normal mode that simulates idle up, you can get used to it before jumping in.

thestratcat

My Feedback: (12)

I'm real sure I set the pitch to be 0 at mid stick, that's the only way I would've come up with those numbers that I can think of.

I'll try adding a bit more to the throttle curve, you're hovering comment has my attention, I think I'm in the air a touch before 50% stick...


I believe my idle up settings are out to lunch right now, besides, I want to get these curves correct first, then I'll have what I need for idle up.

thanks for teh help guys!

shizack

Re-check your pitch settings. In the presence of gravity, it's impossible to hover below 0º pitch. If you hover below mid-stick, and you have 0º at mid-stick...[sm=confused.gif]

thestratcat

My Feedback: (12)

shizack, I tried your settings man, thanks! for the most part I liked them, but felt it was a bit too responsive, I backed the throttle settings down a bit and it flies better and I believe I stopped losing altitude in turns. I still need to put my pitch guage to it, maybe I can get that done tonight.

Skarn

That's actually normal. I bet you loose more altitude when turning in one direction vice the other? Do piro's in place...if you piro one direction you'll drop altitude.....you will gain it when you piro to the other direction...unfortunately, I'm having a brain cramp right now and forget which is which.

Skarn

thestratcat

My Feedback: (12)

I haven't had the guts to try a piro

shizack

If you can get the heli to hover hands-free for one full second, you can piro with no worries. Get it set in one spot, give hard rudder one way, and stop. Get the tail back towards you ASAP and you'll see how easy it is. Don't touch cyclic unless you need to.

heliaction

Im not sure what you flying level is like, but something very simple popped into my mind when i read this. Please excuse me if you already know, but if you fly into wind you require allot less power than tail into wind. So if you fly into wind and then turn with the wind you will have to give a fair bit more power to compensate.

thestratcat

My Feedback: (12)

thanks again guys... it's just I'm being a wuss about doing things... I've been playing more and more (about 2 hrs a day) and am getting more comfortable with it, I'm thinking this will be my weekend to try silly ****... I'm going with my buddy who is much better than me, so I'm sure I'll be inspired to try my first loops and rolls..


shizack, how high up did you do your first piro's at? I may give them a shot this evening... sounds simple enough....

shizack

First piros...That's been a while.

I started doing piros about the same time I tried FF. I think I still had the trainers on. That was with the Honey Bee FP about a year ago. It was maybe 10 ft up. Just one complete revolution. When I saw how easy they were, I never gave them a second thought. I'll spin the 'Rex around 5 or 6 times before stopping now. Just make sure the heli is well balanced and doesn't tend to drift much when you let go of the sticks. I still haven't tried a flip, roll, or loop yet. I'm really just getting comfortable with full circles and piro'ing FFF.

As far as piros, I still find counter-clockwise easier than clockwise. Just a mental thing.

thestratcat

My Feedback: (12)

ummm, kinda said screw it last night and tried.... I completed my first piro, which led to my second and fun!! right on!!

matador_24

that 'loose of altitude' you are talking about is NORMAL........ more speed you have, more altitude you will tend to loose during a turn, you have to give some collective (throttle) in order to keep at the same level. That is turning to one side (I do not remember what side) and then turning to the other, you will gain altitude and you will have to reduce your collective (throttle) in order to stay at the same altitude.......

You just will get used to the new level of flying, do not think you can fly around without moving the throttle, you have to move it all time in order to stay at the same altitude, that is part of the game, specially when it is windy...