OK, I have the 1/4 scale Extra that I will only try to hover way up where it does me no good. I built a SPA3D that was good for low down stuff and now I have a Morris Sledge that will be really good when I'm not afraid to loose it. Mostly I am practicing on G2 with a modified CAP232 and I usually get 2 or 3 rotations before I dork it.

So what have others out there done to learn to hover down low? Is it mostly sim practice? Lot's of ARF's? What are some helpful tips to speed up my learning curve?

have a look at my Cougar review, thats how i did it....
start in a wind, hover, then slowly slowly get the nose higher and higher and work the rudder more until your hanging.
problem is how a SPA3D and Cougar hang, it totaly different to how a low wing 3D or scale jobby hangs.
heres a susgestion, build a SPA3D with the extra's outline, inculding wing to tail relation and hopefully it'll make the rudder and feel more similar to your bigun than a funfly.
most of all burn gas and DON'T TOUCH THE GROUND!

Your doing it the right way. Just keep after it . Stick time is the key even if it's on a sim.

Forget the plane you're using in G2. As someone recommended in another thread, and that I'll now attest to...go to the G2 swap page and download the "Extra 330S Freestyle (SD)". Use that one, it's much more realistic and controllable. I'm not the world's foremost expert mind you, but it seems that most planes in G2 lose it too fast...then it seems like you can't correct any hovering mistakes. This plane is different. It might require Addons 4 though. I was using a modified CAP I downloaded and it wasn't bad, but still very frustrating...give that Extra a try and see what you think (it's already large in size too...also making it easier to see what's happening).

Your on the right path. Sim time really helps a lot. I'd agree that you need to design or download a better plane. The stock planes in G2 don't hover relistically. I ended up making my own G2 plane. I basically learned to hover on the sim one winter. When the groud thawed, I was plesantly suprised that the real thing wasn't that much different.

The high/low thing is a catch 22. Up high, your're safe, but you can't see what the heck your doing. Down low, you can see what you are doing, but one mistake and your're in the ground. When up high, always practice bailing from hovers by powering up and out. Don't want to learn any bad habits when you move hovers down low.

Keep working on hovering everything. Just takes time and lots of fuel! Stay on the sim until you can do it without thinking.

Keep doing what you are doing now. I learned on the G2 cap 232. All it takes is practice. Try watching the canopy of the plane not the tail. When the plane is verticle it will look like it is falling on its back slightly but it isnt. Keep at it.

If you modify the planes right they will torque roll all day long. I fly a modified CAP, Ulti, and Extra on there that I can torque roll the whole tank of gas out of it before it falls back to earth. Of course I have been doing this hovering stuff for a long time now If you know how to set it up right you can TR the mustang all day long too

Just buy a helicopter

David

Helicopter [:'(]

Thanks for the advice and encouragment everyone (except you David). I am using a modified CAP from the swap page that will let me recover from falling out (within reason) and I'll try the Extra as well.

I guess I just need to stay on the sim more and transfer what I learn to the field. I just wanted to make sure I am on the right track and appearantly I am.

Anything with enough power will hover, go to the recordings section of www.realflight.com and look for my movie. Hovering and TRing a completely stock B-17 with just bigger engines. Errr, if you have the right addons version that is. Otherwise you'll just see a PT40 :P Sim helps, thats how I broke my altitude barrier to get low enough to accidentally bump the ground [:-] You'll know your getting there when you can talk to somebody while you TR on the deck with the sim Not even thinking about the plane, your fingers are automatically correcting for what your eyes see... all while you think about that hottie you saw at the gas station on your way home from work...

AllThumbs,
I downloaded the 300s freestyle and it is definatley better than the modified CAP I was using. Quicker and more stable and it'll sort of flatspin. Thanks for the tip. BTW I am originally from Cleveland, just South of Eastlake.

I am using aerofly pro sim and the model cap brietling ,can hold the hover pretty well .Any guys with both that can compare?ie g2vs afp.

I agree with abraxxas about the sim. Once you get good at it you should be able to talk to people while doing it or talk on the phone while doing it. I dont pay too much attention on the sim while in hover. Its those dang rolling loops that take effort.

BasinBum, you can thank some others for the tip, I'm just passing it along (it might have even been Abraxxas above you, I'm too lazy to check). Search or look for that other G2 hovering thread. It was started not too long ago. There were some other good tips given...like practicing knife edge with the bottom of the plane towards you...from all directions.

I'm learning to hover as well. Since you're from this area you know what the weather's becoming here (you should hear the Lake howling today!). I finished a Funtana and had three trips out to the field with it (11 flights). For now it's time for some heavy-duty sim time. I'm going to equate hovering with first learning to fly with your thumbs. Once you break the plateau you never have to think about it, but before hand, once you turned toward yourself it was white knuckle time. Hovering seems the same way, especially now that the instincts are becoming "slightly" automatic. Those guys above are right. I'll eventually have my thumbs on autopilot from the sim and I know that will translate pretty well to the real thing. Practice, practice, practice...no substitute.

Good luck
(hey, there's a couple of snowflakes in the air here today, any in California? )

Actually yesterday we had hail and it covered the ground and looked like snow but, today was high 60's sunny and 5-10mph wind. Typical for this time of year.

There is a lot to the setup or modifications to the G2 planes. Go to http://www.aero3d.net and download one of the big ULTIMATES. (http://www.aero3d.net/Ultimate/ultimate.shtml might work... some are just schemes, others are plane setups/mods) One of these planes (I forget which one) will hover and TR easily. Well... they have a lot of control authority! But the sim is great for developing the proper reflexes... It is great for things like rolling circles... with a roll direction change each 90 degrees... or starting out knife edge, rolling in, out, in, out!!!! and then rolling figure 8's!!! LOL... rG2 really is a great tool... and just remember... all these guys who can do the WHIZ-BANG aerbatics with a model... THEY HAVE NO LIFE!!!!! LOL.. I know.. THATS ME!! LOL

regards!!

learned to hover at the end of my second flying season with a u can do .46 and a rossi .45.took a weeks vacation from work,was blessed with a weeks worth of good weather,and practice,practice,practice. the rossi took all the throttle management out of the equation.took full power with a 12.25x3.75 apc.entering from a downwind pop-up was easier than working it down from a higher altitude.os .70 added some power but also increased the tendancy to torque-roll.lots of time on the sim,more than i care to admit.PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.or so i heard.my 2 cents

do you have to do anything to the cg to get it to hover? i have a dazzler and i love it it will do alot but not hover.

shouse,
From my experience a rearward CG will help but it is not the most critical thing to be able to hover. What I have found is more important are extreme throws on the tail surfaces, fast servos and a 2:1 power ratio.

Since the thread has been revived I'll give an update on my progress.....After finding the proper set-up on G2 I have been practicing regularly and have progressed to my satisfaction. The first month was frustrating and then I reached a new plateau very suddenly. That's the way it has gone for me, no progress and then all of a sudden I can do something better. I am now good for about 5 or 10 rotations and am starting to try and use ailerons to stop or reverse the roll.

I got a foamy electric and I can do everything on it that I can do on the sim, maybe even better. Yesterday I really was getting into a groove inches from the ground and for the first time found myself not thinking about what I was doing, I now know that is the ultimate goal, to not think.

My profile Edge is supposed to be excellent for hovering but I have yet to figure out the correct set-up and I think I need to change the pull-pull geometry to get better throws for 3D. I don't have the huevos yet to bring my 1/4 scale gasser down low enough to really be able to hover it well but given the progress I have made it will happen eventually.

I downloaded the extra300s freestyle (SD) and it will hover all day is really fun to play with and i made a recording with the plane they are all hovering and they all have diffrent color schemes. There is also a edge 540 (SD). That i downloaded.

Oh yeah if u build a pizza box flyer it will really make u a better pilot and it will teach u to hover. And wont brake if u crash it.

it will help with orientation, but for general control it doesn't do much. (at least the PBF I flew WANTED to hover, and you had to try and keep it out of it...)

my suggestion is not to learn how to hover, leave that for the second objective. first practice getting yourself out of EVERY possible bad position when you lose the hover. you need to know exactly how to respond without thought.

pratice & fuel