RE: Gyros for 3D flying?
Report on Test Session #2, gyros on elev and rudder.
After a little glue, the flight test dummy was ready for more "research". I adjusted the limits on the gyros, which increases the max throw of the control surfaces, and fiddled with the gyro gain a little.
In "Rate" mode using more gain than yesterday, actually flew pretty nice and I'm fairly sure it helped me hover more like a large plane. No bad habits, so that means gain is not too high.
In "Heading Hold" during slow flight and hover, here's what I learned. Theoretically, Heading Hold (HH) will keep the tail where-ever you put it, similar to helicopters. So before you can expect it to hover hands off, first you have to position the plane in exactly perfectly vertical. And when I made small corrections with control sticks when in HH, the control throws moved more than I needed; maybe too much gain. Gyro seems to do away with my expo when in HH. I managed to nail perfect vertical only once, and the plane just sat there like magic, all I had to do was control throttle and aileron. Sweet, but I didn't leave it like that too long, cause I think I was holding my breath and was about to black out. lol Then I switched back to Rate mode and guided her in for a safe landing.
Warning to beginners: do not try horizontal flight with the gyro in Heading Hold. You'll try to make a nice banked carving turn and gyro will fight you. Guess how I know that.