Hi guys, the tail rotor should not engage until you are at mid power (or close to it) unless you give right stick. Depending on your trim positions on the radio if the bottom left is pretty well centered and the swashplate is pretty level then what you describe is "normal". If you are just starting and your bird is fairly new with no major crashes then everything sounds ok. A suggestion if I may, swap the foam balls for ping pong balls. You will be able to "slide" more freely on the ground during your RADD lessons. You will notice that the tail will generally want to rotate to the right so that you will need to use right stick some more. Don't worry too much about setting the trims for a smooth hover until you are able to get the bird up off of the ground a couple of feet and can control it for a period of time. while it is on the ground or just off the ground there is too much ground effect to set it. Also, as the batteries drain the trim will change. Just learn to "fly the tail" no matter what the trim setting.