RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

F ast F orward F light.

Are you transitioniing from a hover to FFF when you get the blade/boom contact? The only time I've had a blade tick the boom was going from a hover to all out, as fast as it'll go FFF. I suspect if you back off on the aggresive stick inputs just a little bit, you'll find it goes away. It's partially an anomoly particular to fixed pitch helis
Wayne

RE: RE: RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

FFF = FAST FORWARD FLIGHT

But yer already know that dont ya!!!!! :D:D

nice to see im the subject of the 100'th post on here jajajajajaja!!!!:eek:

RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

F ast F orward F light.

Are you transitioniing from a hover to FFF when you get the blade/boom contact? The only time I've had a blade tick the boom was going from a hover to all out, as fast as it'll go FFF. I suspect if you back off on the aggresive stick inputs just a little bit, you'll find it goes away. It's partially an anomoly particular to fixed pitch helis
Wayne

RE: RE: RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

I just got my circuit board back from Spectrolutions yesterday. All I can say is "OH MY GOD!" what a difference trying to fly this with working gyros! I still need lots of practice but at least it doesn`t flip upside down everytime I try flying it! I practiced a little last night and joined the "break a nylon screw club." Fortunately it came out easily and I was able to buy some spares at the local hobby shop.
I am totally impressed with the super quick service from Mike at Spectrolutions! I sent the board out Monday afternoon using express mail and I had it back to my house Thursday morning with a set of complimentary rotors! Also found out that he sells the rotor blades for $20 a set. They`re not as "finished" as the ones from Draganflyer but a little light sanding and they`re ready to go. Cant wait to get home from work and practice my hovering skills!
Nike

RE: RE: RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

Good to hear! Now all you need is stick time. Just a suggestion; fly for a battery, then rest you head and your thumbs while it charges. There is nothing that causes "dumb thumbs" faster than trying to do too much without taking a break and letting your brain assimilate everything. You'll find that it won't take long and you'll be in the air, doin whatever you want to
Enjoy!
Wayne

RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

No Wayne ive noticed this happen now on several occasions when im just flying it past my self and its always the front rotor!!!

RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

Dragan and Captain,

Thanks for the explanation of what FFF stands for. I actually got it off the floor today....for about 5 seconds, then it flew into the wall and broke a blade. I beginning to think I need a larger practice area or quicker reflexes. For those on the forum, how long did it take you before you could hover in one place? Sorry if this question has been asked before.....I'm a newbie here..

RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

Blue!!

Personally it took me about 1 hour before i could hold a steady hover!! I used the tether cord for all hovering practise !!

Dont get discouraged though if your having trouble hovering! like the song says "Pick it up and start again"!

Read my post to Nike25 you may find it will help you!! ;)

RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

I practice in front of my bit screen TV in a spot approximately 8 ft. x 10 ft. However, my draganflyer is tied to the ground (weight) by a 4 ft string so it cannot fly off and hit something. I figure if I can hover well enough the string won't restrict me and if I'm so bad the string would save my wall and TV (though not necessary the draganflyer).
I probably have 2-3 hours on the stick and still could not hold still for more than 5 seconds at 2 ft off the ground. I'm a slow learner.

I know, everyone's saying get higher to avoid the ground effect. But then when you are good you should still be able to over come the ground effect, don't you? So I figure I can still get good reflect training even with the ground effect. And when I have achieved control with ground effect, I'm ready to go places.

RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

Alfred,

Forget that stuff about ground effect. I also had to learn inside, and once you can hover it's just as easy to hover a few inches off the ground - and it is much easier to control altitude. More important, your comment about learning how to fly is right on!

Durf

RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

Captain,

I had the same problem and it turned out to be caused by a very slight crack in the motor mount.

Durf

Rookie learning curve.
 

The assembly instructions for the DFIV say not to overtighten the clamps. It's good advice. I was a little heavy with the Allen wrench and had to replace 4 frame arms. On the plus side, I'm getting pretty good at it.

[:-]

Durf

RE: RE: RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

The problem with ground effect is that it is never a stable place to hover, and never will be. In it, your heli behaves like a marble balanced on the upturned bottom of a round bowl; it slips off to the sides, no rhyme or reason, just darts one way, then the other. Out of ground effect, it behaves more like that same marble would on a flat plate; still slides around a bit, but predictably and a lot more controllable.

Continuously flying in ground effect will likely improve your reaction times, but it's not likely to give you any great gains in your flying abilities. In ground effect your heli is only marginally under your control and as such you're not getting the full experience of having it react appropriately to your stick inputs. It's kind of like trying to learn to drive a car by skidding it repeatedly along an icy road; your reactions get better, but you still can't drive the thing in a straight line!

Get it up in the air, give yourself some room to move it around, change orientations and altitude, and get a feel for what your stick inputs do to the heli. You'll learn quicker, and you'll enjoy it more. After all, these things are meant to fly, not skid!:D
Wayne

RE: RE: RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

It doesn't seem that way to me. Since I had to be inside when I learned how to fly, I had to keep it low. Now I can hover and keep the chopper within a couple of square feet when it's only a few inches off the ground. The same skills apply when it's higher, but maintaining altitude is an additional consideration.

Cheers,

Durf

RE: RE: RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

P.S. I learned how to drive a car in upstate New York. A good driver with appropriate tires can keep a car in a straight line on an icy road. Of course, nowadays knowing how to control a car is not a prerequisite to getting a driving license.

RE: RE: RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

Hi Wayne,

Thanks for the opinion. I'll take mine out to the park when I get a chance to see if I'm better than I thought I am. However, I have gotten the interface cable for FMS and I did terribly hovering at any height. And since I have also bought the camera kit and would like to take near still picture of objects, I would like to be able to hover as still as possible.

RE: RE: RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

Dragna is absolutely correct.! My Father has had his PPL in Helicopters for about 6 years now and he's always going on about how he has to get up to about 20 feet to hold a steady hover in his Enstrom 280. Ground effect is only good for 1 thing and thats having a cushion like effect on the heli so it can hover at lower throttle settings!!

RE: RE: RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

If he starts flying a Draganflyer, let us know!

RE: RE: RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

He's already hovered mine a couple of times now Durf!!!!

he didnt seem to have any trouble either .. just picked up the tranny and hovered,,. funny that !!![&:]


LoL just realised i put "Durk!" instead of "Durf!"
[X(]:eek:

RE: RE: RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

Hi Puk,

It's a little strange then that he has trouble hovering it at low altitudes ("like a marble balanced on the upturned bottom of a round bowl"?).

Actually DFI recommends initial training at low altitudes, and the video shows Zenon holding a DF in one place about 4" off the ground.

Whatever. Chacun a son gout (or glue, as the case may be).

Durf

RE: RE: RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

:) Durf...

Im actually Talkin about an Enstrom 280FX full size 3 seater heli!!!! ;)

RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

After waiting 2 weeks my df arrived.. What a lot of fun. I broke 2 rotor blades and one screw so far but after a week of 10 and 15 min sessions i can now hover. each day brings a new suprise. nice to read all the posts. Larry:D

RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

Welcome to the club: Did you get the on board video camera???

RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

YES I DID, BUT IT ONLY WORKS ON DITIGAL CAM AND MINE WAS HI 8 SO I CANNOT RECORD INTO MY CAM, ONLY A VHS OR TV SO I SOLD IT TO A FRIEND WHO WILL USE IT ON HIS HANG GLIDER. STILL LOTS OF FUN.. I FIND THAT MY YAW TRIM IS FAR TO THE LEFT , DOES ANYONE ELSE HAVE THIS PROBLEM? I HAVE CHECKED THE ALIGNMENT OF THE MOTORS OFTEN, AS THAT WILL AFFECT THE TRIM, BUT STILL, YAW TRIM TO THE LEFT!! LARRY

RE: Draganfly iv. Anyone flew it?Control?
 

Larry!!

has your trim always been way over to the left since you got your DF up and running??
If so then you should check to make sure that when you put your DF together that you made sure that !ALL! the carbon rods are fully pushed in to the center frame also make sure !ALL! the motor mounts are FULLY pushed onto the rods. Make sure that your circut board is properly seated on the tabs on the risers!!!
Check to make sure that none of your motor mounts has cracked or broke even a slight crack will cause your DF to be unstable in flight.
When you align your motors place the DF on a flat table and look down each rod and make sure the top of the blade is flat and square to your circuit board even the slightest deviation on the motors will cause it to go one way or the other!! meaning you will have to apply lots more trim!!
your DF shouldnt need more than a few clicks of trim on each axis by what you are saying your DF is way out of alignment!!
:eek: