Co-Pilot II - How To, Made Simple!

[nightflyr]

I believe you have misunderstood some information...

FM position mode has a hieght limition in where it will operate, the on board camera needs to "see" the ground in order to maintain position mode, usually a max of 3 meters or less, above that the horizontal mode will engage.

CPII though has no position mode, is faster in recovering your helicopter to a level attitude.

It does require a semi clear view to "see" the horizon ( don't try flying in the middle of the city)

It also is not affected by vibrations the way a gyro based platform is.

Originally Posted by crazyhorse21

hi nightflyr,

been following your thread and have subscribed to most of them ... love your work .. and fell of the chair when i saw the 900 .. awesome ...

been in helis for the past 8 months .. so i hover decent and fix my heli after the number of mishaps

purchased a FM from HK ... but then i read Copilot is a lot better .. one post i was looking at said .. FM works only to a few feet above the ground .... is it true ?? and does copilot have the same problem ?? if so till what distance does each provide stabilization ??

thanks for all the info ..and thanks for the great posts ..
crazyhorse21

[crazyhorse21]

thanks nightfly,

so you say if i need to fly in place where buildings exist (or between) them i should stick with FM ... and stay within a 3 meter range and above that the level .. the horizon mode kicks in and the heli will still be stable at around 10 m and above ???

among the 2, copilot is better especially if i am flying around empty spaces ??? right ?? or FM

crazyhorse21

[nightflyr]

soccer or baseball field will suit fine for CPII,
As to the rest of your statement / question yes

[crazyhorse21]

thanks nightflyr

crazyhorse21

[yepe]

guys can I use beast x or kds e bar with co-pilot 2 ?

[nightflyr]

Beastx yes, not 100% sure about KDS ebar

[JimF]

I just went through all 39 pages on this topic and I would say a big thanks to participants such as Nightflyr who has explained the copilot to newbies many many times. In reading the post the issues I encountered have all been answered. I also notice that people all over the world are into this great hobby and can use this form to share problems and solutions. Copilot and helis still fly OK when snow is on the ground and its -5 so don't let winter stop you from flying.

[nof55]

just to be sure. Once d/r expo in tx is set to 100 and inh in order to tame down flight I would use stick priority(eg 100 or less) Was using 55 ail. 55 elv. to learn hover. have to increase somewhat for ff. What should I start at for stick priority? Thanks in advance George

[jmc67]

I just got the Co-pilot II (combo 3). I did the quick setup with no issues. For now, I left the auto trim to its default value and also all other options to default. Because the rx I am using only has 6 channels, I connected the gyro gain to the avionics as per the manual. The on/off function works.

1. With regards to the defaults settings and auto trim set to 6 (default), do I need to set anything else and can the avionics be tested this way?

2. Since I connected the gyro gain to the avionics, do I need to set the gyro gain on the radio to 100% (DX7 radio)?

[Howard Matos]

Originally Posted by nof55

just to be sure. Once d/r expo in tx is set to 100 and inh in order to tame down flight I would use stick priority(eg 100 or less) Was using 55 ail. 55 elv. to learn hover. have to increase somewhat for ff. What should I start at for stick priority? Thanks in advance George

Hi,

You want your throws to be set as close to 100% as possible. Any less, you reduce the time it takes to level itself. The stick priority controls how much stick input is required to override the Co-Pilot. If you are a beginner, you will normally set this rate lower then the default setting of 100%. This means that the Co-Pilot will stabilize more and not respond as much to small stick movements. When you become more advanced, you can raise this rate so the Co-Pilot is only leveling when you stick is near center. Please let me know if you have any questions, thanks.

[Howard Matos]

Originally Posted by jmc67

I just got the Co-pilot II (combo 3). I did the quick setup with no issues. For now, I left the auto trim to its default value and also all other options to default. Because the rx I am using only has 6 channels, I connected the gyro gain to the avionics as per the manual. The on/off function works.

1. With regards to the defaults settings and auto trim set to 6 (default), do I need to set anything else and can the avionics be tested this way?

2. Since I connected the gyro gain to the avionics, do I need to set the gyro gain on the radio to 100% (DX7 radio)?

Hi,

You should be good to go with the default setting for auto trim. If you find that your heli starts to drift off when the CPII is selected off, go ahead and raise it up to 7. That should take care of it.

Make sure you check to see that you assigned level flight to your on/off switch. I had a customer that had a crash and when we were trouble shooting the problem, we found out that he never assigned the switch to level flight.

You need to make sure you set the gyro gain in the preference settings for gyro output. Start by using the same number you had entered in your transmitter for heading hold. You can adjust up or down from this point. Let me know if you have questions, thanks.

[nof55]

Thanks Howard ,I think I understand how it works now. hopefully get to try it soon. Now we're getting winter, more than we had all winter.

[jeremy cooksey]

Hey guys been awhile since I've setup my copilot 2 . I'm using on my trex 500. Mine seems real hot. Can I run expo with the copilot? Thanks

[nightflyr]

Sure can

[Mustbemad!]

As it says in the name===> MUST BE MAD!

ive been reading all of the info here while the FM god looks at my FM unit so a couple of days age i took the plug and got one (CP2) to put on a Trex 600 that ive never flewn...i guest im abit scared of it! mind you the only flight time i have is with a toy sigma!

anyways maticulously following Night's sticky and re-reading all of the threads i felt comfortable that i put it all on right!

as it was such a nice afternoon i braved it and spooned her up for the first time and.... myself.....regrouped and spooned up again and she took off like a rocket!

mangaed to get it back to a distance where i can a leat see the tail and hovered her the best i could....then it went like crazy again (wind took it!) so i paniced, i a split second i remembered reading ....JUST LET GO OF CYCLIC! I did! The bird went from vertical tail dive to level flight in .0000001 seconds! i brought her backwards slowly but still in a panic and dropped her (LEVEL!) tail first in a wheat feild.

DAMAGE: stripped TT gear THATS IT!

So i guest i owe all at FMA and Nightflyr and Helifreak a BIG thanks!

Now im just going to order new gears and get some lessons and await Ivor report on the FM for the 450 before i do more damage!

[nightflyr]

You got away very lucky..
Might suggest you tame your settings a bit till you get accustomed to a 600 class helicopter.

Be Warned... the CPII will correct your attitude, BUT if that machine is headed your way you or anyone near you could be seriously injuried.

[Mustbemad!]

She's put away now! I get what you mean! Luckily I'm in a remote area so no damage done even to me!

New tail gear ordered any tuition book! Just waiting to find out where I can get a new FM gyro for the 450

In the mean guest I'll just have to sit and wait!

Once again thanks!

[bigsy]

Originally Posted by R-P-M

I see in the picture that you have a Co-Pilot II connected to an Align 3G flybarless unit. I am getting ready to put a 550E 3GX V2 in the air for a maiden and am then hoping to hook up the Co Pilot II and a Spektrum receiver. Have you tried this type of setup yet and do you have any advice?
Thanks,
Steve

Hey Steve,
Did this setup work for you, thinking of doing the same to my 550E 3GX V2
Cheers
Rob

[jbashor]

What does "Set your end points +100%/-100% or 100 and 0" mean exactly? Do I do this just for st1? I have a Raptor. 30v2, Skytech TS6i, Revolectrix Copilot2, Ace TRS601DD, TG7000 gyro. I'm having a really hard time getting this all down. I keep over thinking things and it gets me in to trouble. For some reason my aileron is not responding. Can you help? Can anyone help?

[nightflyr]

Setting up your end points is done in your Tx on the ATV menu.
Sorry but never worked with the hardware your using.

Best to read through the 1st page of this sticky for the basic setup.. as to your equipment, unless you know someone who is using the same, you are better off reading through your owners manual to see how thing work.