I am a pretty good sports pilot but would like to advance to some of the 3-d manuvers. Is there some kind of aid or instruction on how to hover. I have FSOne and have tried that many times. I can't seem to keep it in the air more that 5-7 sec. Seems like I don't have the visual that I would have at the field.

Me to - but mine is my age I think - slow reflexes. I've tried to use the RealFlight simulator training section but like you say, its different than being at the field.

I am a noob, but I am learning to do that now too. I have found the closer the model is to me the better I hover. Three crashes high is too high to see the small changes in the aircrafts profile that compound if not corrected right away. Its a little scary at first bein so low but it does help! Me anyway.

To have success in hovering the first requirement it the correct aircraft, power, and set up. The control surfaces need to have lots of throw, usually a bit towards tail heavy CG location and quick reflexes. Best to try downwind to enter hover. Lots of practise, with aircraft. Foamy seems to be easiest but since I never fly them don't say for sure.

It's nice to see the plane close to you for hovering, etc., but much more stressful and likely to end in a hint of sadness. I am not good at hovering, but I learned using a few planes in this order - Parkflyers GeeBee, PZ Typhoon, and then onto a profile Katana and an E-Flite Eratix. Practising with the simulator didn't seem to help as much as doing it over and over at a height adequate for me to make horrendous mistakes.

You might start by flying close slowly and turning the plane away from you and pulling up towards a stall. Too much throttle and you will go vertical/too high, too little and you will stop and fall off on any direction, so err on the side of just a bit too much throttle. You eventually have to work all four controls at once, so try to minimize the need for all of them initially by pulling up straight and then use the rudder (a lot!) to prevent falling off to the side - you will of course fall off forwards or backwards. After a while you can add use of the elevators to prevent this, and then the throttle to actually achieve something closer and closer to just hanging there. Lastly add in ailerons to allow or inhibit torque roll and you are in business.

Practise a zillion times and you can let the plane get near you (and the ground). Remember, your flight times will be VERY short, and lots of heat will be generated.

Hope this helps - that's how I got to the point I'm at - i.e. not very good at it yet...Chris

The correct aircraft and power is very important. Hovering takes an enormous amount of power.

The trick is to lock it in, each plane is different. If you can afford it real flight has a hover trainer. Real Flight is the best!! Helps! You need lots of aileron throw to keep it from torque rolling, some planes need loads of rudder and elevator to keep it there some don't. Practice it at a height that you are comfortable at and that you can recover from. Use very high rates (45 degrees) and loads of expo. Use the ailerons to hold the plane from rotating, you won't be all over the ailerons, but you will be all over the throttle, rudder and elevator. Sometimes it helps to pulse the throttle. With my Aito (foamy) I find that sometimes I'll twitch the rudder and elevator and throttle to make it move around and then re-correct immediately. I find that helps me, sorta like yer shaking a monkey around. lol I find when I do this I get more proficient with all of the controls during a hover. Hovering is not easy and takes lots of time. Practice, practice, burn fuel or electrons...

It truly is easier lower to the ground. If you really want to learn to hover get a foamy and fly indoors a lot. You will be amazed at how much better you are with the rudder after a season of it. With indoor flying you lead with the rudder and follow with the ailerons. I found with just one season of indoor my outdoor hovering went from a 10-second hover to minutes!

The first thing I did when trying to learn to hover was to fly a perfectly vertical up line. Using rudder, elevator, and ailerons I concentrated on the small adjustments for absolute vertical. Usually right rudder was needed a small amount to hold it straight. Then, I began to reduce power and slow the vertical ascent. The slower it climbed, the larger deflections of the control surfaces were needed as there was less air flowing over them. You must keep the empenage under the nose with quick corrections of rudder and elevator. The farther off they are, the larger the correction, so get them before they get too far out with small correction.

Its like balancing a baseball bat on your finger. Once you get it, you got it.

Let me preface my comments by stating that I'm still learning 3D maneuvers. I can hover my 3D planes, but only for about 10 - 15 seconds. My best 3D planes are the Eflite Eratix and the Eflite Mini Showtime.

Here is what I've learned so far:

Before you go into 3D maneuvers you have to make sure of the following:
Your plane must be a proven 3D plane Make sure you look at videos of these planes to satisfy this requirement
Your plane must be properly trimmed Lots of literature on this subject on RCUniverse and other Internet sources
Your plane must be properly balanced That is CG most be such that the plane is tail heavy. I keep adjusting the CG until my planes can descend slowly, flying level (horizontally no nose dives), with throttle off also, requiring very little (almost none) down elevator when flying inverted

It will be very difficult for anyone to hover a plane without meeting the above requirements.

Here are the maneuvers you need to properly execute before you should try hovering a plane:
Elevator Go up high and make your plane descend horizontally with full up elevator and slight throttle adjustment with no wing rocking.
Harrier Go into a harrier after performing an elevator by increase throttle, making the plane fly forward with its nose up with no wing rocking.
You should be able to do a harrier up and down the field without loosing control of the plane.

Once you master the Harrier, you can then advance the throttle so that the plane goes vertically. Do so in such a way that the plane continues to climb slowly in vertical position without loosing control. Continue to practice this maneuver and each time reduce the throttle a little so the plane continues climbing, but more slowly. Finally, reduce the throttle until the plane stops climbing.

From then on, it takes lots of practice to anticipate your plane's moves so you can counteract with the proper control inputs and short bursts of power to keep that nose up and vertically.

The main thing about 3D maneuvers is that you will be learning something new each time. No more boring flights with just loops and rolls.

Good Luck!

In addition to jmir's suggestions, which are very good, you need to practice, practice, practice, practice. Hovering or prop hanging as some call it isn't easy. A few years ago I made the comment to my nephew that I would never be able to do it, I am too old. My reflexes are too slow. He said nonsense, keep trying, so I did. Guess what, I now have a 50cc Extra that I can touch the tail to the ground on without even thinking about it. You have to practice enough so that the inputs become a reflex rather than a thought. You literally anticipate what the plane is going to do next and react as it does it rather than a second too late. Don't get discouraged, it will come to you. All of a sudden, one day, you're gonna say, hey this is easy.

One Item I didn't see that will help allot. Once you establish the plane in the hover the worst thing you can do is to back off the throttle when you get out of shape, add power let the plane fall off into level flight and try again and again and again ect ect. Rule of thumb is 2 to 1 power to weight. so if you have a 5lbs airplane for good 3D an engine with at least 10lbs of thrust is needed correct proping of the engine is important also larger Dia. and lower pitched props produce more thrust at lower rpm than smaller Dia high pitch props will. P. S. prctice practice pratice!!!! Than there is the hand launch into the hover ARRR ARR ARR
jerrysu29 Call Sign Wild Man

Its all about practic. Work on harriering first , then work on it getting higher and higher angle of attack. Before uyou know it you will be hovering. It takes practic and just a FYI some plane do it much much easier than other. I have a little 42inch slick that is a hover monster. tail toches are easy to do . its even easier to hover it than the 55inch 3D plane I have. The only difference from harriering to hovering is when hovering you need more aileron input to stop it from torque rolling.