Is it too late to run? (Long ramble)
 

OK... I'm doing the wheel & deal thing with a new friend... and he drops the bombshell:
Concept 30, rtf, with radio w/new os 32. Too good a deal to pass up. Uh-huh... sure.

I try to remain aloof, and remember that I fly airplanes, not helis....
but the darn thing just keeps calling my name. I couldn't stop talking or thinking
about it, even though I told myself and my wife, "no way."
So of course I got the doggone thing.
Well, I leave it be for a couple days... thinking I'll sell it and turn a quick buck.
Then I say, "what's the harm in just cranking the engine... make sure it's ok."

Of course the afterrun oil has wasted the plug, and it won't stay running... it's off to LHS.
Before I can understand what's happening, I've bought a set of training gear,
a couple of OS-8 plugs, some fuel, and a long reach glow-plug wrench and ni-starter.
The car scarcely gets stopped in my driveway before I'm inside attaching dowels and such.
They're "just in case. I'm not really gonna try to hover this thing", I say.

We're outside, front yard now... it's running... sounding really sweet.
I have to rev it up a bit, right? Make sure it transitions smoothly, and remains running.
I mean... I hate to sell something, if I don't know what kind of shape it's in.
So I advance the throttle a bit at a time, sort of like a mouse edging closer to the cheese.
The blades pick up speed... the gear reflexes as the heli gets lighter...
I can see the effects of left/right/fore/aft cyclic... and the rudder gently pushes the tail.
SNAP! The trap's set, and I'm caught. It's off the ground, and I'm 6" hovering... kindof.

Quickly I kill the throttle, intending fully to take it inside now that the engine showed fine.
Hmmm... smooth throttle, up she goes, smoother this time. I ease it down from a foot high.

I spot the "idle up" switch... so of course I have to try it. The blades come alive,
the heli sounds sweet, but isn't going anywhere. Real cool.
I push the left stick forward to the original spot where it barely broke ground, and
the little Concept LEAPS into the air to a height of about 8 feet, before I catch it.
Oh. My. Gawd. We're all gonna die!

Somehow, I manage to keep it out of the tree overhead, and off the shrubs and house. (THANKS, FMS!!!)
I ease back on the left stick, manage to keep the main rotor level with the right, though
I'm not doing so hot with the tail... she's almost nose-in to me, but I'm ok for now.
I kill the idle-up and barely catch the left stick in time, as it heads earthward.
Whoosh! up again, but I quickly ease the stick back down, and it stops, then starts to settle.
Just before it touches, I feed in a tiny bit of throttle and it settles nice and square.

Finally, my knees stop shaking, and I de-fuel and take it all inside.
I decide to read all about this little heli, and helis in general.
Ok, so now I know what idle-up is for, and it ain't necessarily for regular hovering ;)
I found out what revo, throttle hold, and all the other radio functions were, too.
(It's an *old* Circus-Circus Apollo non-computer radio... but it all still works)
I go back outside and kinda/sorta hover out another tankful of fuel... no knee-knock.

So... is it too late for me?
Can I sell this thing and run far, far away?
If not, I'm off to the field tomorrow... my yard SUCKS :D

It's all Pugsley's fault.

All I can say is......
 

:)

Pug

Sell it to Pugsley!
 

He's been snooping around! LOL

Chuck...
 

I sold it to him!

Pug

Re: Chuck...
 

What, chicken?? LOL

Is it too late to run? (Long ramble)
 

You're stuffed now, you may as well go to the bank, organise yourself a 'Helicopter' credit card, make friends with the LHS owner and get learning.
I'd be first of all looking to get a better radio.

Check out some good sites to learn stuff, my site, www.littlerotors.com, www.helibuf.com, www.natew.com, this site etc.

Si

Radio...
 

Got it covered. 8UHFs :)
It's already got a couple of .30 helis in memory, too. Maybe one's close to the Concept.

I'm debating though... the other radio is all setup already, and trimmed nicely.
I suppose it would serve well as training, for me to go through setting up
everything, but I'm tempted to just get through hover perfection with the old radio.

I was extremely lucky that the thing was trimmed out so well today.
It could have been a bad scenario if not.
I'm still amazed at how stable it was 6-8 feet high versus 6 inches high.
I've got a l-o-n-g way to go.
I hope there are still enough Concept spares out there to get me through ;)

Thanks for the links!

Is it too late to run? (Long ramble)
 

http://www.helifever.com <---another

Is it too late to run? (Long ramble)
 

Welcome to The Dark Side.

There are many, many "AC/DC" pilots out there. That is, we fly both helis and planks. You're in good company.

And there are a surprising number of us who still fly Concepts. The parts situation is iffy; the bird has been out of print for many years, but The Empire still has quite a few parts in stock, and there are a few other shops around the country with a stash here and there. Some Nexus and most Concept VR parts will fit, but it appears that both of those are also on the way out (discontinued) in lieu of the new Caliber- a machine which I have mixed emotions about.

Bottom line, as long as you don't dork it every time you fly, that Concept will take you well past the stage where you know whether or not you want to stay with this. If you do, you will be planning your second ship purchase very soon...<G> Do yourself a BIG favor, and make that second bird another plastic machine. Save the mega-buck metal/carbon 60s for after you become fully competent.

Steve

Already looking :)
 

Believe it or not, I'm already looking ahead, as I *know* I will waste this bird,
sooner or later. I can accept that, and for what it cost me, it won't hurt *so* bad.

I read through Kirk's buildup of his Falcon 50, and saw this link: http://www.centuryheli.com/

I instantly homed in on what would be my second plastic beginner's heli :)
The Hawk IV looks like it would be fine, and for a good combo price. (With Gyro or crash kit)
Well, that's if I waste the little Concept before the summer's over, I see.
I think I'll go practice when I get off work. I can't crash if I don't fly!


On another note... is there anything "wrong" with using idle-up while learning hover?
Other than using a bunch of extra fuel, I can't think of anything, myself...
The more I thought about it, after my adventure, the more I think it would
be more stable, unless my newbie reasoning is just "off" on this one. Anyone?

You'r Hooked !!
 

There is no need to use idle-up for learning to hover depending on how it is set up. No need to have switches to flip at this point. And BTW.....I am ALWAYS looking for that next helicopter to buy. I dont think I am alone on this one.

Hey Chris....
 

How you know why I sold it......."Heli's lead to frustration......frustration leads to anger......anger leads to the Dark Side......"

Oh hell, who am I kidding? I'm getting a Raptor, Scheadu, the new JR 30 bird, or that Hawk looks good to (and the Falcon 50).....

Help me Obie Wan, you're my only hope..........

The hook is totally set now.
 

I discover this morning that, while I can't hover in place for crap, I can actually FLY
the heli ok, for a beginner. Left circuit, right circuit, figure-8, even landing fairly smoothly.
I found this out quite by accident, of course.

The wind at the field was 5mph or so, with intermittent gusts up to 10.
That's probably not a big deal to competent heli pilots... but here I am, looking like
a dog chasing a rubber ball around, out in the middle of the runway.
(The guys were taking a break, and told me to go for the maximum freespace if needed.)

Pick it up, twenty seconds of madness, set it down, walk back to it... lather, rinse, repeat.
I'm thanking the ghods of wooden dowels and wiffle balls, after each short hop.
Our club's VP and another guy were there, and they're encouraging enough...
"Looks good... you're doing fine, keep at it." Neither flies helis, but the moral
support made me feel a little better, I suppose. Except that when I first drove up,
and unloaded the heli they said, "Hey... Entertainment!" Hmmm.

Anyhow, somewhere near half a tank, a bit of dumb thumb had it headed for pavement FAST...
without blinking, I go full throttle. If it's gonna crash, I'm gonna get one flight ;)
Up she goes, away to my left. A quick FMS flashback, and instantly I had reasonable control.

Aside from stalling it once or twice on the first circuit, I did ok. No biggee, it kinda
just *stopped*, at almost a hover, fifty feet up, and I pushed forward and continued.
I've always flown "coordinated" with the planes, so tail control was a cinch while
flying around the field. The landing was uneventful, as the wind seemed to help.
I actually sat it down softer *that* time, than after most of my hover attempts.
It just seems a heckuva lot more stable coming in with speed, than just "hovering".

I hear, "I think somebody's been sandbagging", from Joe, and I smiled as I shut down.
If he only knew.

Second tankful... I get tired of chasing it around, so whenever it gets off too far,
I zoom it up, take it around the pattern, and set it back down midfield.
All on purpose.

I may be tempting fate, but it seems far easier to fly and land, than to hover in place.
(I'll credit FMS, and always flying with rudder, for that)


Any tips for helping my hovering? Other than burning lots of fuel?
I think I will try a calm day next time... to see if that helps for now.
I just can't keep it from drifting away from me. It gets away, and I have to
either set it down and walk to it, or turn it around and fly it back to me a bit.
Could I be too nose-heavy? it does lean nose down some, when held by the hub.
(The trainer gear made this somewhat worse, as it sits a bit forward)
It seems to want to move off into the direction the wind is coming from, usually.

I got a little better toward the end of my attempts, by "bumping" the cyclic
instead of using it firmly, but I'm still "All Ears" for any helpful hints.
Thanks for any help!

Chris

(Yes Pugs... "The Dark Side" is in control. There's no doubt about it.)

Is it too late to run? (Long ramble)
 

Use Expo to soften the center a bit! Also duel rates sometimes help just don't dial in too much or else if your in trouble and give full right cyclic the heli won't move for eternity. :)

Expo sounds good.
 

Thanks, I think I'll try tinkering with the expo setting.
I actually tried it with dual rates on low/expo today, and the low rate was about
like you describe... it took too long for a command to make a difference.
I guess I just need to dial in a bit more and try it again.

I just discovered that I got my first damage today, somehow.
My receiver antenna broke, where it comes out of the canopy. It's gone, leaving 5" hanging.
That, and apparently I dinged it getting it in or out of the car, as I have a
small chunk missing from the trailing edge of one of the tail blades.
Glad I didn't go too far out with that antenna missing!

Update!
 

OK, I replaced the tailblades, even though the nick was on the trailing edge.
Better safe than sorry. Plentiful Nexxus tailblades fit the concept perfectly @ 5$ :)
Soldered in a new receiver wire. I'll never know where the old one went.

I found that I had bumped the pitch/throttle mix WAY up, giving WAY too much
pitch at low throttle. (It wanted to hover at around 35% throttle).

Off to the field, and it's like a whole different heli. Lifts straight up, mid-stick,
and I was finally able to set the trims correctly. This could actually become fun :)

The shaking has disappeared, and I'm not having to set it down quite as often. (Still a lot)
I played with the dual rates, after I found that they were all the way down.
Moved 'em to 75% of hi-rate, and I'm having a blast now :)
End result is, I can hold it in a "reasonable" area now, and it's not nearly as jittery.

I still went flying with it a couple times, though after getting it a bit far off,
and almost losing orientation, I believe I'll stick to hovering for awhile longer :stupid:
That was scary.
I figure when I can hover out an entire tankful, and never leave a 5' diameter,
on a breezy day, I'll be ready to move on to other things.

So far, my only "in-use" damage has been to one of my training dowels.
After coming in from a flight, I let the gear touch ground while it was still moving,
just a bit. One dowel hit the edge of the pavement, and snapped instead of sliding.
(Note to self... come to a complete stop, or stay away from pavement edges :D )
Glued it back together, wrapped it with a bit of glass, and glued it again. Good as new.


Well, enough of me for now... I'll be back next year, to ask some 3D questions :cool:
(I'm guessing that will be at least one chopper later. )