Well to begin with, as a beginner, and that is a presumption, I do presume you are using the training gear as that will help give you a little stability and confidence. And as beginner there is always the tendency to keep the heli low to the ground until we get comfortable with the controls and have developed our eye / hand coordination and finger / brain memory control and confidence. However, the only thing about being close to the ground is the dreaded ground effect from the rotor wash. That air can totally disrupt what we are desparately trying to accomplish. There is also that nasty head-off chicken flopping heli dance to put up with. But as a beginner we really don't have too much choice because as the heli lifts off, gets a little too high and starts doing something unusual that we are not prepared to handle, we panic, pull the throttle back and the heli naturally drives into the tarmac and usually end up breaking one or two parts.

So, what does that all mean? Not sure but for right now I would stick somewhat close to the ground and put up with the heli ground effect (rotor wash) and keep plugging away.

If you have a simulator it can greatly alleviate the cash expenditures from becoming a premature heli mechanic.

Carl