I am very new to Heli RC. How to control the helicopter while it is swinging back and forth (pendulum effect)?. I want to make the heli stay hovering in a place.

Thx!

i am still very much a noobie, but i have found that the best way for me to fight pendulum effect is to make a larger amount of tiny corrections and to usually counter those corrections with a similar one in the opposite direction. I seem to find myself fighting pendulums when i make larger slower inputs.

Mabye some vets may differ but that is what i have learned thusfar.

If the heli is well setup, you could be overcompensating. Try smaller inputs. It is typical for a small heli to be very sensitive to control inputs because it is very light. When you move up to 450s or bigger, you will see the difference.

The usual reason for the pendulum effect is that your corrections are a bit too late. So you make larger corrections, and leave that correction in for a bit too long, making it swing the other way.
The good news is that you are almost there. With just a little more stick time, you will make quicker, smaller corrections and it will just come together for you.
Keep practicing. Let us know how you do.
Vince

Could it be that the headspeed is too low? WHat helicopter are we talking about? A fixed pitch or a collective pitch?

Rafael

with my HoneyBee FP, I find that almost everything to do with controlling it is based around throttle input, sometimes when it gets swinging, I'll have to give it more\less throttle as well as cyclic action, you can't use just one stick to stop it, it just keeps going and going, like when going forwards and wanting to stop, you actually let off the throttle first instead of pulling back first, stops the balloning action, but this is on my HBFP

Cowcool, If you're close to the floor or ground try getting up a little higher away from ground effect. The other thing to
try is experimenting with the PLT and PZT knobs one at a time in small increments. As has been said, the sure cure is
practice, practice, practice.

This may not apply to you but sometimes people don't notice what the rotor disk is doing. It's a blur but you can see the angle of tilt. Since the disk is the thing doing the flying it's important to notice the tilt of it. If you're attentive to the tilt and get it level (except for the amount required to counter the tail rotor) then when the heli is stopped then it will stay put. If you don't notice the tilt then you won't know there is an error till the thing starts going somewhere. When making corrections try to stay in touch with the tilt of the disk, and keep the tilt small for small errors. Stay ahead of the game. If you're correcting the position, returning to a certain point, before you get back to that point level the disk before you get to that point and be prepared to tilt a little the opposite way to stop the motion, then level the disk as the heli comes to a stop. Fly the disk.

That makes a lot of sense, I think my biggest problem is finding the best place on the heli to concentrate on. I have been trying different spots to look at when tryng to hover, sometimes I can stay pretty steady, sometimes I can't, and the difference was what part of the heli I was watching, I think I will try concentrating on the disc as you say. One question though, that will only work if the heli is close enough or below eye level, what do you do when it is to far away to see the disc .
Wow! I just went to try your method, awsome results, the best controll I've ever had, could really see what the heli was going to do before it actually moved. I had way more positive stick input and could apply or let off on the stick before the heli actually moved. First time I could hover 2-3 ft off of the ground for a whole battery. Well I did have to set it down twice, not to regain control, but to regain my composure, I think I forgot to breath becuase it was so intense !!! LOL

Bravo on your success!

Try it above eye level. It looks different at different angles of elevation but it still works. You just have to figure out what it looks like when it's actually level, and you can tell that it isn't level because it will move, so if it's moving change the apparent tilt angle. I guess you could say you have to feel around to get it right. When the heli is far away you probably aren't going to be hovering so you don't need to be quite so accurate about it anyway. It may be useful to paint one tip white and the other black so that you will have some contrast against most any background. Keep up the good work.

WOW!!!
I just hovered and acually flew through two battery packs, 3 or 4 ft off the ground, flew forward, stop, hover, flew backwards to original point, stop and hover again for 3 or 4 minutes, landed smoothly. Whew!!! talk about concentration. I was so tense I actually had to take a break every 3 or 4 minutes. To Cool [sm=tongue_smile.gif]

That's delicious. May I suggest, stick with what you're doing till you can do it and breathe at the same time.

It helps to wiggle your toes. [X(]

It's just something to do to break up the intensity. Occasionally, just briefly, look away from the heli.

Stick with what you're doing till it gets to be comfortable, then do the same thing with the heli aimed in different directions.

Try to avoid the temptation to do crazy stuff till you're real comfortable and good at the basics. Mastering the basics will make crazy stuff easier and save on repairs.

Taking a little break from time to time is a good idea.

Yeah, it's always that "one more quick fly" that gets you the broken parts. Take a break and let your motor cool down and your battery charge up, your helli's too!!