RCU Forums - How to learn to Hover....

Simple way really.

A simulator an older one taught me so much about 3D and refreshed my hovering skills after taking a break. It brought me back up to speed quickly and I guarantee you it saved me 10 times more than its cost by preventing crashes.

The older Dave Brown did help me a ton, but now you have the Real flight very nice. The CSM one I believe shows accurate display & numeric settings & adjustable for realism. These have so much to offer, I have even used the free FMS using RC Cad a software design tool were I can design a plane & foil and use it in a model in FMS. If you can't afford one of the good Sims now, try the FMS and build your own interface. I see some here on the forums everyday F/S. Not as good but it will help you with orientation, such as hovering & nose in stick orientations & such.

I do not claim to be that good, but I do get by rather well with a low number of mishaps (crashes) and I owe a lot to Sims.

Different people have different flying techniques, some hold the gimbals similar to like one would grasp a pencil. Others will hold their thumbs on top of the gimbals (sticks on radio). I first started flying with my thumbs on top, but felt I have better control by grasping the stick with my thumb and finger. You may find one way more comfortable than the other.

When hovering keep your helicopter nose in the direction of the wind when its blowing. Some wind is ok, but if its really excessive you might be better off waiting for the wind to calm down some. In a light breeze you get the weather-vane effect. Trying to learn to hover in a cross wind or down wind can be dangerous and can lead to a premature crash because you need to concentrate on flying the heli and the effects of wind just add another element you have to deal with.

Your should be facing the helicopter looking at the tail not the side and never get the heli nose-in when first hovering. Keep the heli fairly low because if you are a foot or less you have a better chance of getting your bird down safely if you have to quickly cut the throttle. Plus if you have training gear on the gear will absorb some of the impact when the heli sits down.
Also try to fly in a flat area, if you set down in an uneven area this will just complicate your heli's orientation. Also try to keep the field free of trash and foreign objects like plastic bags-paper & etc.

Mark off an certain area to try to stay within, possibly a large circle is fine. If your heli gets out of the area you designate, land it and bring it back to the area you want to stay in.

Never try to get too many flights in, if you fly 2-3 times one after another is ok. But if too many in one day, you might be pushing to much if you fly, lets say 5-6 flights. Flying excessively will be too much for you to absorb everything you need to learn so quickly. So be patient and take your time. :) Because if your tired, you will make mistakes. Always keep a check on the voltage of your battery. I never fly if my batteries not within the safe range of voltage you will be asking for a mishap if you do.

But I do feel, rather than just sliding around I first let my heli get light on the skids (after rigorously checking to make 100% sure my gyro set-up was correct & working in right direction & other mechanics are in perfect order), then instead of just dragging my skids I feel its better to get the heli airborne its actually easier & more predictable than just skimming the ground.

Keep the heli low, and use a trainer with whiffle balls or I used a hula-hoop yep I'm 42 I'm old LoL. I used, just standard dowels criss crossed the hoop and used tie straps for this. It will keep the heli from tipping over as bad as not using the hoop. It takes a bit more power to do so but well worth the effort. Also when learning I used the standard muffler not the tuned pipe until I was hovering very steady. The pipe can & will create more power and the heli will be touchier than with the standard muffler.

Use the correct paddles, as I DO NOT recommend a new person to use 3D capable paddles learning to hover. I use the lower settings on dual rates as you want it as predictable as possible. I like to turn the HH off and fly in normal mode, I feel you need to learn to actually fly the tail, and its not the best way to learn by letting your electronics accomplish this for you. I learned to fly at first without a gyro no fun at all, then the Kraft was all we had. :stupid: It was tough, but we both accomplished a steady hover (Me & Bud of mine) years ago (long ago).
Sorry so long winded, I could write a book but not here.. :eek:
TC-HF-Be Careful :p & have fun most of all.

Something you might want to look into as well:
Especially on new built heli's, to get a good precise hover you need to size your ball links. Ball link's if left to tight will make smooth hovering very hard to accomplish. When very tight, instead of moving freely the BL's bind, and when they do move it's more like a popping jerky movement. While hovering silky smooth controls are needed were you can make corrections in a hover.

Resizing:
Tools are available for sizing ball links, but you can take smooth grits of sandpaper to resize them. Using a stand-off chuck the stand off in your drill. Then while holding the sandpaper put the link in the center with the SP and lightly put even pressure while holding. The drill will spin the ball link in the sandpaper and slowly cut (resize) it as you go. Check for proper fit as you do so. A BL sanded too much will cause a link to actually pop off and result in a crash possibly. Use your own judgment here to get a snug but free movement. Do so at your own risk .