My CX wont hover
 

When I fly my cx it wont stay at a altitude. It keeps going up and down and up and down. And it keeps drifting any ideas on how to make it work?

RE: My CX wont hover
 

Mine is the same way. I think it's partly due to the ratchet on the throttle. I have messed around with using the trim to correct this, but this changes as the battery dies. I usually just adjust the throttle between 2 positions to keep it level. There's probably a way to get rid of the ratchet which would allow it to be placed in a position between "hit the ceiling" and "sink to the floor", but I haven't had the time to mess with it.

RE: My CX wont hover
 

You can open up the back of the TX and use a screw driver to unscrew the whole rachet arm. It's very simple and you can always screw it back on if you want...I don't know why you'd want that though.:D

RE: My CX wont hover
 

There were a couple of threads on this very subject a while back. The rachet on the throttle is a pain. The solution that worked the best for me was to open the TX back and put a piece of silicon fuel tubing over the metal arm that contacts the plastic rachet. I tried taking the metal metal arm out but didn't like the totally loose throttle. Also tried other kinds of tubing but the silicon has the right slipperiness, heat shrink sticks.

When I asked the ace pilot at the LHS about it he said that you really have to fly the throttle full time. A smooth throttle makes it a lot easier.

RE: My CX wont hover
 

I'm having a very similar problem... I too have the altitude problem where it's going up... I adjust and it levels off then it starts to loose altitude... it does't seem to hover well while maintaining altitude... the other problem i have is that say that i am in a hover and i push the copter into forward movement... I start loosing altitude again... the only way around that is if i do amazingly minute movements on the joystick for forward movement...

Oh yeah... I also have a servo that twitches or goes crazy sometimes... Only seems to be the one that controls my movement to the left... I'm new to this so let me explain it this way... if you are looking at the remote its the joystick on the right... and the servo the flips out is when i push that joystick to the left... It literally twitches for a second or two... It also twitches sometimes when its on the ground with the throttle down... say just before i take off or after i land... which i'm sure it probably means that it twitches in flight and that might also be affecting the fact that i have to readjust the remote nearly everytime i'm in flight so it'll stay straight...

I love this little copter and it's already provided me with hours of fun... But seeing all the videos out there of what people are doing with the CXs as far as just running around... I'm not talking about acrobatics or anything like that... Just ease of flight... It just doesn't seem possible with the way mine is acting... Could i have broken something that might be affecting it... I've replaced everything visible that was bent, broken, or chipped just to make sure...

Kind Regards,
Hakan

RE: My CX wont hover
 

I already did the throttle so its smooth.

RE: My CX wont hover
 

Sorry I must have missed something... Did you smooth out the throttle by using the tubing mentioned above?? or if you did something else would you mind pointing me in the right direction so i can fix it on mine as well

Thanks bud

RE: My CX wont hover
 

The other issue this copter has is the battery is only 800mAh. By the time you get it hovering, you've lost enough juice to need more throttle. I'm thinking about buying a different battery for it, but it would only be used in this model and that doesn't justify the cost. Everything else I fly uses a 3 cell lipo, the 2 cell that this things needs wouldn't work with my other planes/copters.

RE: My CX wont hover
 

deli conker,

Your right about the CX battery only being a 2s lipo. The thing about getting one with more mAh's is the size of the battery.
If you notice the stock battery for the Cx is a pretty tight fit to begin with, a battery with more mAh's is usually a little bigger and won't fit. Option B, get a spare battery. You can only expect 10 minutes max from this little bird, it's the nature of this design.

Choppersrule

RE: My CX wont hover
 

This site has three different methods for making the throttle smooth. [link=http://www.dacaur.com/bladecxhelp.html]Awsome cx site[/link]

RE: My CX wont hover
 

My issue isn't overall flight time. It's degrading performance over time. In this case, the time it takes for performance to degrade is wayyyyy too short. But yeah, I see what you're saying. I was considering something custom, but I just can't justify the cost as I will evenentually be upgrading to the CP. There's no point in me sinking money into something that I will abandon at some point for something more permanent.

On a side note, I made the mod to the Tx to get rid of the ratchet. It's a little metal arm that puts pressure on the back of the throttle. Wow, what a difference. It took a while to get used to. You have to be real careful when making rudder adjustments as it is all too easy to move the throttle at the same time. All in all I think it will be easier to fly, but it takes some getting used to...

RE: My CX wont hover
 

Not to sound flippant, but this sounds like fairly normal Micro heli behaviour.

Due to their lower mass Micro helis tend to be all over the place and the pilot has to anticipate this and compensate.

To hover the CX you have to be constantly working the controls with slight anticipatory movements.

Getting to the point that you do this without thinking is the hard part.

Once you do, you make all of the fine adjustments so well and quickly that you are barely aware that you are making them...

... as you would in riding a bike.

My CX does exactly as you state, but I have no problems holding it in a VERY steady hover.

RE: My CX wont hover
 

Well said... These X-rotation helis are very stable, but they sure don't fly themselves. I am often amazed at the number of posts from new owners who don't understand why they can't set the sticks and sit the TX down and walk away :) It is a helicoptor. You have to FLY it. If you didn't have to fly it, it would be boring :)

My advice to anyone who has a BCX, Lama2, XRB, etc. and who is constantly tinkering, trying to get it to fly perfectly is to stop. You will NEVER get rid of some of the issues these little helis have. For example: Having to trim the rudder to the right as the pack dies is NORMAL and inevitable with this design. I also have a BCP, and it suffers from the same problem, though to a much smaller degree.

Get it all adjusted as best you can so it flies as well as it can, then use the sticks to fly it around and hold a hover, etc. Before long, it becomes easy, and you make the minute movements of both sticks without even realizing it. Sometimes, I will be hovering my BCP in calm wind, and I will think, "wow, this thing is hovering itself, I'm not doing anying!", but if I take my hands off the TX, it immediately will start to run away in some random direction. I've been practicing hovering with the CP a lot lately, and it is starting to really 'click' for me.

No matter what, don't give up. Parts for these things are cheap, and after you take it apart and re-assemble it a few dozen times, you will be able to do it blind folded.

The ironic part is that just about the time you get to where you can strip it down and put it back together faster than a Marine with his rifle, you will be learing to fly much better, and therefore not crashing much anymore. Therefore, you rarely have to take it apart any longer :)

RE: My CX wont hover
 

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for the info... I just thought that stable flight without much input was to be expected as the video and manual that come with the BCX suggest that if you run into trouble all you need to do is let go of the stick and it'll go into a stable hover... I don't have to many problems flying it... I was just trying to figure out if there is something wrong with mine or if it is the norm... And apparently it is the norm :)

Thank again for all the helpful info everyone..

Kind Regards,
Hakan

RE: My CX wont hover
 

Yeah the video and sales literature mis-state this.

It's like a trainer airplane, to use an analogy.... because of the high dihedral in a trainer airplane the plane has a self righting tendancy, if you let go or neutralize the sticks.

This doesn't mean that you actually WANT to lot go (unless you have something like AVCS/co-pilot which is another matter...) but rather that the craft has a nice tendancy as you neutralize the controls.

The BCX needs those constant inputs, but you do not have to be as skilled as say, with the CP heli.

It is a very easy heli to fly compared to most other Micro Electrics, but it will not fly itself.