Ok I'm pretty confused with this: after watching finless bob's vids on setup and adjusting my 450 I now hover when the stick is at one line past the middle mark (the little guide lines on the side of he stick) with 5º of pitch and about 79% power, but the thing is I've also read and I've been told that you should be hovering at half stick with 5º of pitch with 65%. Now isn't the pitch supposed to be at 0º when you're at half stick? and if not then how do you set up the pitch curve so the heli doesn't jump when you switch to idle up? What is the correct way to set it up.

Thanks!

Both ways.
This is completely up to the individual flyer. Some like mid stick hover in normal mode some like 3/4 stick.
I set mine up to about where you have yours or just slightly above that and I am happy with it.
I shoot for about 2-1/2 to 3 degrees at mid stick and 60%- 65% throttle

Although it is completely the choice of the pilot, you set-up your heli depending on the type of flying you intend to do.

1. 3/4 stick and zero degrees at mid stick is for pilots that are interested in doing 3D and aerobatics where they need the pitch curve to be identical on the negative and positive sides to perform inverted meneuvers.
2. Mid-stick hover is for pilots that do not want to have the sensitvity of the 3/4 stick set-up and WILL NEVER go inverted. It is mostly used for scale flying.

So, go back and convince yourself on which type of flying you intend to do. If you are into aerobatics and 3D, keep the 3/4 stick method. If you will never fly that way, then program your radio for mid-stick. Keep in mind that changing methods half-way thru your learning process, will set you back oon having to re-learn the hover point of your heli.

Rafael

Right now im doing both. I hover at 1/2 stick then transition to idle up when flying out of hover at then have o pitch at 1/2 for aerobatics. The only problem is if you dont have the throttle at the point when the pitch curves meet you get a trottle and pitch bump when switching. Iguess it would be easier for me since im flying 3d to hover at 3/4. It would also be easier to set up heli. Ive seen some guys flip into idle up on the ground after startup and go. I tried this and my heli was jumping all over the place. ..scary. The only thing im thinking is that when i transition from fwd flt to hover i will need almost full throttle stick position to break the fwd flt and my fingers cant get up there far enough fast enough if my pitch is at 0 at 3/4 stick. I guess that is what he means by re learning. not sure what the best is.

That's why you want your pitch curve to match your idle-up curves at mid-stick and above. It doesn't matter below mid-stick because you won't be going into idle-up there. My pitch curve in normal gives me -3 at low stick, 0 at mid and +12 at high. Idle-up 1 and 2 are both at -12 for low stick, 0 at mid, and +12 at high stick. If you set up like that you won't get any jump when you go into idle-up and you will hover at 3/4 stick in all 3 flight modes.

ok now I get it! I'm going to leave my trex 450 in a 3d setup.

I have another question though for those of you 450 owners using the new 3700 motor or anyone with experience with it: at what power setting on the throttle curve should be your hovering throttle? mine is set up so that it hovers at 80% power and 5 1/2 - 6 degrees of pitch. the manual says it should hover with 65%, but when hovering at this throttle the moto get hotter than when it is at 80, so what is the best throttle setting for hovering in normal mode in terms of efficiency?

80 sounds good. that's where mines at. on normal mode i run a 0 35 80 90 100 throttle curve. i run a 100 95 90 95 100 throttle curve in stunt mode. if you have a soft start on the esc set it to super soft.

thanks! what about your pitch curve? is it linear?

I really don't fly much in normal mode anymore. I spool up in normal, lift off and bring it up to about eye level and hit stunt 1. My throttle is set for 90% straight across in stunt 1 and 100% in stunt 2. Throttle curve in normal is 0, 25, 60, 90, 100. I think running in one of the stunt modes is preferable because you'll have a set throttle speed that doesn't change or at least won't change much if your not running a linear curve so when you move your collective stick head speed will stay the same only pitch will change. I think it's easier to hold a steady hover altitude that way. It also seems to handle the wind better this way. If you fly in normal mode, everytime you move the collective your changing headspeed and pitch at the same time.

yep my pitch curve is linear: pitch curve normal: 30 40 50 75 100 pitch stunt mode: 5 25 50 75 95.

i dont use normal mode at all. i spool to mid stick while heli is on the ground then flip switch to idle 1 and fly. when my timer alerts me to land. i get her close to the ground about one half to two foot off the ground and hit the throttle hold switch. lands nice and soft. instead of messing with the switches after i hit the throttle hold i unplug the lipo first then just turn off transmitter. i used this habit for a while now.