Guys guys guys guys guys guys
I I I I I
AM AM AM AM AM
SO SO SO SO SO
STOKED STOKED STOKED STOKED STOKED STOKED
Yep, total nOOB here reporting total and massive success with flying the AXE with the DX6. We got the hover down pat, friends. Yep it's just our second try with this kind of heli. I am already pretty good with my Blade CX2, but this is waayyyy different...
The clubhouse was deserted, and I had a solid 30' x 15' area to work with. When I was 'on', I could hover almost totally motionless.
I hovered up close, over there, up there, down there. I hovered with a sidewise view! I played with the collective, daring to shoot up a few feet to catch the feel, then over-correct and then stabilize to test my ability to avoid a basic bad situation.
I had a dozen totally soft landings - several were just feather-like. Two landings were a bit rough, and I popped off a training gear, then popped it back on again.
I flew out the stock NiMh battery pack and made some final radio tweaks. I then went through the two TP 1320's and they are AWESOME!!! Killer power and flight times!!! Wooo hooo!!!
I finished up with some easy piroettes. One put in a bad spot though. I dropped the throttle and pulled some hard right and back cyclic, AND let the nose go right like it likes to... and... just a bumpy landing, no damage, the training gear even stayed on but needed adjusting.
I am now celebrating with a shot of good port.
Flight Analysis
I can't think of anything more to adjust off hand, BUT:
1. I was always giving a lot of right yaw input to keep the tail straight. I tried up to a ton of right trim but was still always leaning right on the left stick.
2. I think that maybe, possibly my head speed is a little high. BUT I had great stability and excellent run time so I am not inclined to change it for now.
3. This heli did not hover totally straight. It could hover motionless, but seemed to have a slight angle of lean to the right. I might be able to blame this on the training gear. Sometime those foam balls would shake pretty good under the rotorwash. Maybe the right side is pulling down a bit for some reason. I doubt its a balance problem...
Anyway, thanks all for all the great tips!!! I can certainly attribute this success to the following factors:
1. Patience and methodical, by-the-numbers approach.
2. LOTS OF TIME on the simulator!!! I love Realflight!
3. Asking for expert help. No question is dumb - only crashing because you did not ask the right questions is dumb!!
4. Testing the vehicle thoroughly (test jig, holding in hand while running) to make sure it was worthy of un-fettered testing.
5. Patiently hopping and sliding and observing the control behavior before attempting the hover.
Go nOOBs!!! It can be done!!