pbellamy,

I taught myself how to hover using an Axe. Check out the Helimax CD if you have one and read the training procedure in the manual, which is available online.

Hovering is a difficult skill. But, I think most pilots would agree that adding weights to the flybar is counter-productive.

You need the quick response of the stock head to recover from over-controlling.

A properly set-up and trimmed Axe is quite stable, requiring only very small corrections to hover. Adding weights to the flybar
forces you to make larger corrections when you should be learning to make small ones.

It may take you several hundred flights to learn to hover "tail in", i.e. with the nose of the heli pointing away from you. And it
may take several hundred more flights to learn to hover "nose in", since the cyclic controls have to be operated in opposite directions from
tail in hovering.

All of this is much more difficult if the heli is not set up correctly. One thing to check is the see-saw. It should move freely back and forth. Loosen the two screws holding the
see saw until it does move freely.

A good way to start learning to hover is to learn to control the tail. Add power until the heli is light on the skids. With no rudder input the nose will probably turn to your left, i.e. counter-
clockwise. So add right rudder until the tail is straight toward you. While learning this, you do not need to even touch the collective. Just add enough power so the heli starts to take off, correct the tail motion and reduce power and reposition the heli. Keep doing this until you can confidently "fly the tail". While doing this you can learn how to trim the rudder so that very little rudder input is needed on take off.

Once you can fly the tail, you can start learning the collective. Keep adding power until the heli barely lifts off, and while keeping the tail straight, use the collective to keep the heli from moving around. For these kinds of flights, you want to stay very close to the ground, not more that an foot or so of altitude. And of course, you want the training gear attached. Basically, you will take off, lose control, chop the throttle, reposition the heli and try again, over and over until you learn the necessary motor skills.

Good luck.