I know you seem to be against it, but the sim helped me a lot (enough said - take that for what it's worth)

flybar weights will help you out, pick up some 1/16" wheel collars, also the Blade CP flybar paddles help.

I'm not sure what's going on with your liftoff, someone else will help you shortly, but in the meantime, check that your servos are moving equally (unplug the motors first!!) and then check to make sure that your swashplate is level...

what I did, when I decided to quit piling it into the ground and learn to fly, I put it in my living room, and pretty much just scooted around on the floor for about 2 weeks getting used to the controls and what they'd do. I gave it a good amount of throttle, not enough to lift off, but enough to make it feel "light" as they call it. But, this gave me an idea of what it was going to do when airborne..

hope that helps man.. hang in there!


oh yeah, quit the "gung-ho" attitude, calm down and take it slowly dude... (I know this sucks, all I want to do is FLY!)