north

I am new to this, purchased my first heli, couldn't wait to start it, no radio yet, placed the heli on a table bolted it down had attached the Fly bay but no blades, started it up.....full throttle, shredded my right arm and left hand, heli tipped over still attached to the small table, watched it dig up all the new annuals my wife planted the previous day, I followed it as it continued to wipe out every plant throw bits of flowers and mulch all over the place to scared to go near it and not knowing how to stop it, finally the cord from the starter wrapped itself around the rotor head and strangled it, no way I could fix the garden before the wife came out to see what was the commotion.

$120 later, Back to square one, this thing is dangerous, so I purchased a flight sim (G2) and am not going near the heli till I learn something.

I am in Australia and most of the flyers here seem to use mode 1, while every where else seems to be mode 2, before I spend to much time on it I would like to know which mode is preferable, most of the videos and books for newbies are U.S. and Mode 2, looking at it mode 2 seems to make more sense, but again people here mostly use mode 1. I can't seem to decide, can anyone help with this.

3DHELINUT

My Feedback: (3)

I would stick with what most flyers in your area are using, if you need help with the heli and you are using a different mode radio you will find it hard getting help from your local flyers.


Remember the golden rule K.I.S.S.


Alan..

bluefronted

Greetings from South Africa Mate !

Here in South Africa the majority of r/c pilots fly mode one ,also I,ve noticed that most of Asia and AustralAsia areas fly mode 1. the G2 with USB link , can be changed to mode one within 10 minutes.
Mode one is great , but as mentioned above fly what most of the guys in your area fly , as you can learn from them.

Never start a heli with no blades , you need the torque from the blades , so as not to damage the engine , esp if it is new,

Get a Radio , put one the blades , and get some training gear , and practice on the ground first , in conjunction with the Sim ,
The sim and the real thing are definitely two different things !

Vortexgen

hi north
im an aussie and i use mode 2 as it makes more sense to me. my flying partner flys mode 1 as he has been flying models on and off for 30 years, and he started with planes.

some thoughts, i may be wrong....

before RC helis, when planes were more popular, most people flew mode 1.
the RC helis came out and heli only guys wanted a cyclic on one side, and maybe introduced mode 2.
most guys i know that fly planes and helis, use mode 1
most guys i know who fly helis only use mode 2

be aware that if training, or want a pro to fly your machine, it is possible with the training cord and two transmitters operating in thier respective modes. i.e. my partner has flown my heli using a training cord (my TX master, his trainer) while he used mode 1, and i used mode 2.

some peoply say that mode 1 can offer greater control stability as you have split the cyclic. but some world champs fly mode 1 others mode 2. its all practice..

let me know if you need any help with your model....
plenty of sim time will save you $$$$$

north

Thanks a lot for your help, but is there any practical reason or advantage of one over the other. As I mentioned I havn't purchased the radio yet and most here people tell me fly mode 1 with a few flying mode 2, I still can't decide.

Lynx

Just pick one and don't over study it. There is no inherent bonus either way, depending on the person you talk to because some people find mode 1 much easier than mode 2, depends entirly on the brain using it. I've only used mode 2, but I know enough that there's nothing I can't do on a mode 2 that can be done on mode 1 so there's no reason to switch if it works for me.

Vortexgen

hi north,
the practical reasons of mode 1 over mode 2 are...
1. more people in the area fly mode 1 so they feel more comfortable flying the same style as the rest of the locals.
2. if you have flown aircraft mode 1, fly the choppers the same.
3. mode 1 (arguably) offers easier control over the cyclic function as you control cyclic with both hands. (split the cyclic, pitch on one hand, roll on the other). apparently this can make hovering easier and give more precise stability (makes some sense, but not all world champs are mode 1)
4. most practical reason, it makes sense to YOU and YOU are comfortable flying this way.

the practical reasons of mode 2 over mode 1 are...
1. more people in the area fly mode 2 so they feel more comfortable flying the same style as the rest of the locals
2. you are a helicopter pilot, involved in helicopters, or relate to having the cyclic function operating on one hand (as opposed to two) as if piloting the RC heli. (this is the reason i chose mode 2, having never flown RC aircraft, having the cyclic in one hand as if i was the pilot just made more sense to me. the guys i fly with all fly mode 1. this has never had an adverse affect on my learning, the radio setup procedure is the same, they just will have to use the trainer cord to trim/setup your machine)
3. most practical reason, it makes sense to YOU and YOU are comfortable flying this way.

in short, its simply whatever you relate to, prefer, comprehend better, or feel more coordinated with.

try them both on the sim... youll soon feel good about one or the other.

Vortexgen

more info..
nearly all radio TX can be setup in either mode one or two. a 10 minute physical (spring) change, and simply selecting either mode in the TX mode select menu is normally all it takes.

when people say most guys in the area fly mode 1, try narrowing it down to just the heli pilots.
i think RC heli only pilots generally fly mode 2. most mode 1 heli pilots i know started on planes, although now would never admit to it!

north

Thanks, I have never flown planes, I think I am leaning toward mode 2, I will change on the sim and try both.

B/T

HI fellow aussie i fly model heli,and have even been involved in training people on the buddy box. I find people who learn mode 2 will learn faster, I think it come more natural because you move the cyclic stick to the corner and two servo's move. Mode 1 is one movement is needed for each servo, and if your learning to hover a chopper it takes time to learn just one movement .

regards steve
WA

ps stick to your first thought.

north

Thanks everyone, I have been practising on the G2 in mode one, finally got my wife to have a go at the sim, I have spent hours, she was better than me after the first 20 minutes, this is frustrating. maybe if you have a total lack of interest in Helis you do better.

Lynx

Don't concentrate so hard =) If it doesn't come to you naturally over time you're thinking about it too hard.

north

Sorry I have been using mode 2 not 1, it seems more instinctive,
Thanks for all your help.

mbba2002

My Feedback: (10)

to pratice flying for real get a whitman helli training stand this will help you get the real feel of flying, because you will need to set the heli up right to fly.

north

Thanks, anyone know where I can get one of these in Australia, or If the manufacturer has a web page

mbba2002

My Feedback: (10)

her's the adress ,www.echangeling.com. US $199.95+ ship. Or try e-bay to find a usedone near you. Or Uk orders ,www.activedistribution.com. You could have saved $120. I' ve saved that and more. Plus you get to fly more and trim the heli out fast.

iachia

If you haven't made a choice already may I suggest you mode 3?
Nobody talcked about it but I think it should be the best solution for you.
In mode three you have the entire ciclic on one stick, the left one, and engine and tail on the other.
By using this kind of mode you'll have the advantage of having the one stick plate but also it will be very easy to swithc to mode 1 if you need help from someone as you just swithc the aileron with the tail on the reciver and tx and that's it. No need of mechanical changes. Only 30 second to swithc from 3 to 1.

Shovelnose

Hey North, I have one of the Whiteman flying stands over here in Perth that I don't use, I bought it back from the U.S (to teach the wife to fly, but she wasn't interested!) a few years back when I was overthere with work. I'm willing to let mine go if of course your interested. Basically from what I'm led to believe, you have to import them as nobody brings them into Australia (but I have been know to be wrong)
If you're keen, drop me an email, and we can talk turkey
[email protected]

Johno
Perth, Western Australia

Hotwings

The real reason there is mode 1 and 2 is as follows, in the beginning we used reed radios. this is complicated to explain, there was a bank of reeds attached to a receiver and the controls were pulsed by your thumbs. on the right of this big bos were throttle and ail. and on the left were elev and rudder. you could only use one control on each side at a time. this is mode one. when the analog radios came out you could use more than one control on a side and so the mode two came out where elev and ail were onthe same side and easier to use (maybe) ubt the reason so many old flyers use mode one is ;because they didn't have a choice when they learned to fly. i still have my aristocraft citizzenship 8 channel reed system. this really only had 4 channels but left and right were 2 channels etc. hope this may cast some light on the subject and i could go on and on Galloping Ghost, Bonner Escapements. etc. bye bye

Shovelnose

Hey North, Just wondering did you get my email with respect to the Whiteman Stand??. I thought it might have thrown you as it was sent from my personal email address. If you have any Q's, don't hesitate to drop me a line.

Johno.........

north

Thanks Johno, got your email ok, knew who you were, havn't had a chance to reply, thanks for the trouble you went to, but perhaps you are right.

Thanks all, its interesting knowing why these modes originated.

I'm still waiting for news on the JR PCM 9X, Cyberheli are still quoting end March availability, was going to Hong Kong and Southern China on business and thought I would pop in and have a look at one while I was there, but this SARS Virus has put me off the trip.

I asked in another post about the R900 receiver that is mentioned in the Cyberheli ad, does anyone know anything about this receiver?

tewitt1949

I had to switch my radio from mode 2 to mode 1, so I tried it on my own from " how to" postings on the internet. Well the radio went brain dead. I couldn't do anything with it.

So I mentioned it at the field and this guy in our club over heard and said if I want he will take it and reset it back to factory settings. He said when he worked at the hobby shop it was his expertise/job to reprogram all radios from mode 1 to mode 2 and vise versa. A couple days later he returned it and works like a new now.

I see a couple postings were people need theirs changed and at airtronics its kind of a problem getting it done. This guy said to pass his email along and he will help you out changing your radio. His email address is [email protected]. His name is John.

He will take care of you.

rotordoc1

I would suggest that you use the mode that is most prevalent in your area as then it will always be easier to get someone to help you.

tewitt1949

Rotodoc1.....Iearned mode 1 back in the 80's, so I am very comfortable with it. I bought a used radio mode 2 that I wanted to change to mode 1. Thats where the trouble started. I have read several posts where someone made their radio brain dead trying to change it to another mode. Also that airtronics is going through a change and its hard to get them fix a radio. Thats why I posted about this guy that knows how to change modes that I met that might be able to help someone if needed.