Help, can't hover.
 

I am very, very new to Rc Helis and I am having problems with my Walkera 54 RTF counter-rotating beginner type heli. I can take off, but then in the air it drifts around and I tried to adjust the trims to counter act the drifting but it then drifts the other way, I just can't get it to hover straight. Are rc helis like this counter acting double blades supposed to move a round and require stick movement to hover, or are they supposed to hover without any stick input (hands off).
Any help appreciated.

RE: Help, can't hover.
 

no heli will hover hands off, they might for a few seconds but all helis require constant input

RE: Help, can't hover.
 

You can probably get pretty close with a coax. The Lama V4 demo video at Hobby Lobby's site is pretty convincing. However, those guys know how to tune and tweak to get one dialed in just right. With some experience, you could probably achieve this.

However, in the real world, it's as Nuttcaze says; plan on constant input for holding a hover. In fact, I think that "hands off" hovering is probably a bad thing as it could spoil you into thinking you can fly a heli.

If you get a single-rotor heli, you'll definitely be making constant adjustments to hold a stable hover.

Now that said, if you lift off and it takes quite a bit to hold the tail steady (it wants to spin clockwise or counter-clockwise), then you might need to make some adjustments to the gyro. I'm not familiar with Walkera at all though, so I can't help on making the adjustments. You should be able to find some help fairly easily in the Walkera forum, or elsewhere online. Unfortunately they have had some quality control issues, specifically in their electronics.

Jason

RE: Help, can't hover.
 

all true but....

last night, in zero wind, i had my shark 450 hovering hands off for 5 seconds at a time. its set up.

RE: Help, can't hover.
 

Have a look at this mate.http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ovh3rr-zcIQ
All hovers will need constant inputs from you.I find it takes a lot of toggling action on the throttle aswell as all other movements.
It also helps if you know your set up right,even coax helis can need some tinkering with.
Not quite sure if that link worked[X(]
Search hovermania on youtube and youll find it,or paulospilot:D

RE: Help, can't hover.
 

Now i know what im doin:D
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Ovh3rr-zcIQ

RE: Help, can't hover.
 

good job! looking good! thats some good hovering there. see? it wasnt too hard, eh? just have to get over the the first hurdle....:-)

RE: Help, can't hover.
 

Hi everyone, love all the help here, and i'm newer than new to all this. has anyone ever downgraded a honeybee CP2 to an FP (like changed to those plastic blades) my CP2 is Sooooo twitchy and runs sooooooo hard left when getting light on the skids I can't get it off the garage floor before running out of room and hitting the walls. Anyone have some input for me. i've watched count less youtubes where people just get up to hover in like 2 square feet, no huge left drag. I've set blade pitch as per help threads, made sure the swash plate is level, and checked same on paddles ??????I'm stumped

RE: Help, can't hover.
 

it'd be cheaper to buy a HBFP, only cause the 4in1 is like $50, combined with the few other parts needed, you'd be awfully close to just buying a HBFP outright

RE: Help, can't hover.
 

Thanks nuttcaze. I don't want to buy the tx and other redundancies all over, plus there aren't that many FP's cheap out there at this moment. Unless I can find the bare bones version. Mainly I'd like to get this CP to fly right in regular mode, anyone have any ideas why it pulls soo heavy left??

RE: Help, can't hover.
 

all I can think of is your swashplate isn't level, but I'm still new to the CP helis myself

RE: Help, can't hover.
 

Stick with it, a well set up CP is far more stable than a Fp.

Flying it in small spaces can also make them unstable as they are affected by their own downdraft, but I have flown small helis like yours and they all seem to have a tendency to drift left on take off if you give it a little right stick on take off to counter the left effect it may help.

Its a case of keep persisting until your brain starts communicating fast enough with your fingers.:D

RE: Help, can't hover.
 

If you look at most helicopters while hovering, most sit at an angle. I owned a picolo a while ago. There
was mention in the instructions about this. They noted that if you could put a couple of pieces of balsa
dowel under one skid to counter act this while it was on the ground. The heli seams to pick up one
skid off the ground before the other causing it to want move in that direction. I do not recall what which
skid or which direction but it is normal when learning. You can usually tell which one it is by seeing which
lifts off first.

The more room you have to learn to hover the less effect the rotor wash will have on the heli. They will
be some form of rotor wash while it is in ground effect but if you can lessen it by maintaining a large space
to fly in.

RE: Help, can't hover.
 

Honestly... I think the best way to describe trying to hover a heli is like balancing a spinning basketball on the tip of your finger.
-It will stay, GENERALLY centered, but you constantly have to make small movements with your finger to keep it balanced.
-The faster the ball spins, the more stable the b-ball is.... same with headspeed on a heli.
-A bit of wind or breeze will have an effect on it's balance.

One main difference..... if the basketball falls to the ground, it doesn't cost $5-$500 to fix and hours of readjustment for it to work again.

RE: Help, can't hover.
 

I went through the same frustrating experience you are. The only way to get rid of the quick jump to the left is to be quicker at spinning it up into the air. Once it's in the air, then you have to fight like heck to try to make it hover. I guess it's like learning to ride a bike. Once it happens, you don't struggle with it anymore. Getting there, though, is pure hell!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's nothing but replacing broken parts - a bunch of money and almost no fly time.