ndoren

I'm a CX owner and considering a CP Pro. Is the heading hold gyro a benefit to beginners? Will it work in both heading hold and rate mode using the stock radio, and stock CPP setup? If so, which mode is best for a beginner (to collective pitch)? Thanks in advance.

HeliTB

Heading Hold Gyro will work perfectly with the CP Pro without any modification, but with the Blade CP you will have to hack the 4 in 1 or buy a 3 in 1 for the HH Gyro to work.

It will work in both HH and Rate with the stock CP Pro radio, not sure about the Blade CP radio.

ndoren

Right, I'm looking specifically at the "Pro" because I can potentially integrate the HH gyro with no need to replace/modify electronics. Is it helpful to the beginner to have the HH gyro? Or only beneficial to the more advanced/3D flyer?

HeliTB

Well in my eyes it makes any helicopter easier to fly. But some will say it's better to learn how to fly the tail before moving to HH gyro, because then you will really appreciate the HH Gyro.

chopperdudes

yes, i'd say learn the tail, i've gone through loops and rolls and stationary rolls b4 upgrading to a hh gyro. with that being said, i doubt you can switch between hh and rate mode with stock tx, and still a pain if not impossible with a programable tx. the stock tx have a dail, and you basically set the highest gain possible in hh mode without tail wag, i dunno why you'd want rate mode since the stock one is rate gyro aready. it'll be a pain if not impossible.

AeroDave

I would say stick with the stock gyro for now. It works very well for what it is. I've gotten some suprisingly good backwards flight out of it with turns and its held. I think you'll be fine. As to learning to fly the tail, you'll have to do that in heading hold mode as well, once you get to forward flight. even more so, actually. When you turn in heading hold mode the tail keeps going straight, unless you add rudder input. Whereas in rate mode it will somewhat weathervane around. Don't worry, either way you'll learn PLENTY about using the rudder. I may never switch to HH on this little bird. It really does fine for the indoor flying I'm using it for. Besides, spring is coming and its almost nitro time!

skylighter

Yes, you can run it in either mode using the stock radio. You can switch between both modes by using the dial on the transmitter as well as set the gain.

Yes, it makes it slightly easier to learn, but it is not a massive difference. I would suggest that you save your money and learn to fly it stock.

Here are some more useful and free tools to learning how to fly on a CP Pro.

1. Make sure that the pitch is set correctly on the blades and paddles. You can read in your manual or follow directions on bladecprepair.com. This makes a big difference.
2. Move the servo arms in two holes on each of the 3 servos.
3. Use a simulator.

Danny

24/7

Great advise Danny I will try this once I get my Pro, There is so many missconseptions as to right and wrong on first time flights, I believe pitch will be a important first step adjustment for a newbie cp pro flyer..

Cheers
24/7

AeroDave

I was flying in a gym today. I was flying backwards curcuits as fast as you'd want to go and the stock gyro held fine. I mean, I had to fly it around, but if you know how to fly backwards you know that's always the case. I did some pretty fast piro circles too, and it was a good as it needed to be. I'll bet, though, if you tried to do a stationary flip it would bog a bit (stock motor) and then you'd lose the tail.

chopperdudes

yep, definitely.

ndoren

How do you learn to do a stationary flip? Seems like on the first attempt, you'd total the heli. First, what upgrades would be needed, and second, how do you go about it without total destruction occuring?

AeroDave

get a sim

I'd recommend an hh gyro and the brushless upgrade, although I bet you could do a lousy one with the stock motor. Pull back on the right stick and as the nose comes vertical ease the left stick to center for zero pitch. Oh yeah, you need to be in idle up. as it rotates to inverted feed in a little negative pitch, by pulling the left stick down a bit past center, or toward what would be low throttle in normal mode. As it come vertical again, nose down, same deal. Ease out the stick to zero pitch and then as it heads toward upright, ease in some positive pitch. The main mistake most folks make doing stationary flips is using too much collective, jamming the stick from positive to negative. What this causes is too much load on the motor, bogging the head. It takes suprisingly little pitch to do a flip. Its all in the timing. Like I said, get a sim.

chopperdudes

have you tried a loop yet? i'd suggest doing that first, give yourself ALOT of altitdude, and gently ease bak the elevator, and startin pulling collective bak ONCE YOUR VERTICLE, this will get you higher, you won't need much negative, probably -5 for a lousy loop, once over the top, start pulling the ele all the way bak, and add positive pitch once your past 3/4 the way, give full collective on exit, you'll need to be in idle up. after you've got a loop done, then you can try out stationary things. i fnd a stationary roll much easier and the tail won't swing out on you as much as doing a flip, if your good at collective management, the head would only bog alittle, and the tail won't swing out as much, since the mass is closer to the axis then if you flip it. i find that i can do a stationary roll lower than a flip, and of course, after you get the hang of it, you can start to 'separate' the roll so that you stay inverted longer, this will help you learn inverted and also let the headspeed get back up so that the roll over to upright won't loose altitdude.

there's a mod that i really suggest to speed up the cyclic (about 50% more responsive AND roll/flip rate) however, not many had given thought to it, however, i've used it and i yeild great result, saved my heli once because i forgot to flip into idle up before going inverted.
here's the mod http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_53...tm.htm#5322970

after that, i'd suggest getting a programmable tx, which you'll nee later on if your planning to get a bigger/better heli anyways, with a programmable tx, you can do alot, including revo mixing which will tame the stock tail down to hold really well, then, i'd suggest the hh gyro and the dd tail, do these together, as i've not had good result with hh gyro and stock tail. AND after that, thn get a bl motor, i'd like to get it myself, but have not yet, this shows that the bird is still beyond my capabilities.

ndoren

Dave and chopper, thanks. The flip makes sense, as far as how to use the collective. Idle up mode is obviously mandatory, and the small negative pitch also makes sense given that gravity works with the heli from verticle to inverted. I do have the FSOne sim... but I can't even hover the darned CP in the sim, let alone try flips or loop. I just don't want to get into bad habits with the sim, knowing there's no penalty for crashing. Thanks guys. Neall

ndoren

Ok I'm obviously a newbie and not afraid to ask. Is the direct drive tail significantly better than the stock? Also, how does this compare to the dual-motor tail options? Which would be preferred?

lanny2003

Direct is the best I think. I went with duel only cause the local hobby store stocks them.

ndoren

What's the average life of a tail motor? It seems they don't last long, from what I've read here. Are there "better quality" motors with longer life, or do CP owners just keep a supply of tail motors and switch them out regularly as begin to fail?

chopperdudes

yep, dd tail's the best.

AeroDave

I love my DD. I really can't believe how well it holds in maneuvers. IT seems like a more robust motor too. I got the GWS one. Somebody said it could handle more power so it will last longer. Is that true?