I used to fly way back before gyros. I just got a Align T-rex 700E. I flew it for the first time today. I hate the way the gyro won't let the heli "weathervane" the tail follow in the turns.
Is there a way to have the gyro work only in a hover, and not when in forward flight? It's a "head hold" gyro. The one that came with the combo heli package. If I turn off the headhold, and leave it as a basic gyro, will that do it? Thanks.

You can run it in rate mode but you're better off just learning to use a little rudder in your turns.

Put the gyro mode on a switch but thats a lot of switch flipping IMO.

Most people just fly in HH mode these days

What is HH mode?

Heading Hold

Thanks for answering my DUMB question. I should have known that! I'm new to all of this heli electronics. My first heli had a 4 channel radio and it wasn't made for anything but planes.
I'm really thinking of taking the gyro out, and flying like I used to. I see my Futaba Heli radio has a throttle/ tail rotor "mix" mode. Maybe I'll just use that.

You are a brave man! I tried to hover without a gyro back in 1989 and learned my lesson really quick.

The "skeleton" carbon fiber tail fin of the newer helicopters will not help you much with weathervaning the helicopter like you may be used to. That is the exact purpose of them, to allow air to flow thru to make aerobatics easier on the tail control system. The biggest drawback? You can only use them as tail rotor protection against ground contact. They are worthless in "directing" the tail.

In any case, if you decide to fly that TRex 700 without a gyro, make sure you get somebody to film the attempt and post the video on here. I can't recall the last time I saw somebody flying without a gyro.

Rafael

To help explain the gyro, and the two modes they use (Heading Hold and Yaw rate) you may find this article of use.

http://www.leisuretech.ca/index.php/...nd_tips/gyros/

You can select what mode you want to operate in, with most any modern gyro. If you want the tail to follow the heli as you turn in forward flight then using the yaw rate mode will be the mode to select on your gyro. That is usually very easy by just a flick of a switch on most gyros. After reading the above linked article you may have a better understanding of it all I am sure.

Thank you. I will start working on this yaw setup right away. The gyro I have is the Align GP780. It can be set up for either HH or YAW.