Hi all,

I am very new to the hobby and need a little help. I bought a Blade 400 about three weeks ago. (My first CP Heli) I flew it that night and was able to catch on quick to hovering and was able to trim everything. I had plenty of control, but made the mistake of flying out of my garage into "open air" and of course this provided about 100 feet of lift and it was pitch black out. After I found the Heli, and replacing shafts, blades and installing 3 new JR DS285 Servos I have had my second and third flights this morning. I flew one pack in the garage and was able to hold a stable hover the entire time. The third flight, I went outside and did just fine. I was able to hover, fly slowly forward, bring the heli back, and even tried a successful 360 a couple feet off the ground. I have two questions though:

1. After replacing my servos lastnight, I trimmed everything and they have full motion and work great. (obviously if I could fly two packs this morning) But when I plug the battery in they chatter. There isn't any movement when they are jittering but I don't want to ruin my new servos and don't know whats causeing this noise. Anyone know what it is and how to fix it?

2. I just ordered a simulator. (Realflight G4) I know the sim will help for muscle memory and orientation but can anyone give me advice on where to start with forward flight, turning, etc? Are there steps to make this easier? Any "drills" so to speak, that will make the transition smoother from just hovering to advanced flight? Any help would be great!!

Thanks!!

- Jeff

It's hard to tell if you have a problem without looking at it, but digital servos do chatter a bit from slight (normal) stiffness in the linkages. They continuously try to hold a position and so a little bit of chatter/whining is to be expected. Servo chatter could also be caused by abnormal stiffness in the linkages (binding), a damaged receiver crystal, interference, etc. Expect it on the rudder servo any time the heli is in hand....the gyro is very sensitive to movement.

Realflight includes tutorials. Slow forward flight emphasizes tail control and faster flight demands more cyclic control. Practice, practice, practice, mainly on what you intend to do with the real model. It's important to get very comfortable with all directions of hover. Every new thing you learn well will reinforce all the previously learned skills.

Good luck.

Fantastic information! Thanks so much! Hopefully the servo issue is from having digital servos. Thats not too bad then if thats the case and hopefully it is.

I wasn't aware of a tutorial on Realflight either. Thats great too. Thanks again for the advice and happy flying!

-Jeff

all that is good info somthing else i would through in is work on tail in hovering and nose in hovering befor you worry abought fwd flight both of thoes skills are basic for fwd flight good luck and welcom to the money pit we call heli

The servos shouldn't bind/chatter normally unless there's pressure on the blades/head. If it's binding enough to make the servos chat you should go through the head and see if you can find the sticking parts.