Beginner Question-Slow Piros-Help

[Biggiekay]

I am starting sim training from zero. I have Heli-X. Hover training set as per instructions found here. I am painfully slow to learn. I start from back/tail view, have rotation set to 1 per minute. As the heli gets to about a quarter through the rotation, I run into problems and crash. I restart and have to wait until I get there to that spot to encounter where the learning curve is. Is it OK to set hover training to start at that position so I can learn from there to get orientation? Or am just rushing it?

[Russell Harding]

Very early in your training, I'd suggest less structure. Just do the hover trainer and practice slowly pulling the rudder yourself to side in. Do both sides. Start with 45 degrees and keep pushing it over until you are completely side in.

Keeping with the piro training with variable piro directions and starting locations is also a good idea to mix it up.

Play around a little with nose in now and again, and try flying around a bit now and again too.
Either way, patience is key and you'll get there eventually.

[kayakboy69]

Seat time bro .... at some point it will just click ....you may not even realize when it happens ... also practice .... fart around and just have stupid fun... the go back to practice ... think ahead of the heli ... you need to be .... okey next it will be moving X so I will counter by ? .. in stead of o sh! $ its moving now wht .... over correct over correct crash ...

Again at some point it will click ...

Stay away from planes on the SIM .... they jack up my heli learning and I dont know why lol ..

Have fun ...

[Obijuan Kenobe]

Welcome to CP.

100% normal.

Wait till you try to learn inverted orientation. Then your brain will actually get angry as opposed to just impatient.

Sent from an undisclosed location in the future.

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by Biggiekay

I am starting sim training from zero. I have Heli-X. Hover training set as per instructions found here. I am painfully slow to learn. I start from back/tail view, have rotation set to 1 per minute. As the heli gets to about a quarter through the rotation, I run into problems and crash. I restart and have to wait until I get there to that spot to encounter where the learning curve is. Is it OK to set hover training to start at that position so I can learn from there to get orientation? Or am just rushing it?

I am assuming you are comfortable with tail-in hover and your coax and FP practice has made you comfortable with collective/throttle control.

If following the FTITA8AFI6M method, you can start with a slower sim speed and slowly increase as you get used to "saving" it from uncomfortable orientations. (Also have some fun with lazy 8's and general flying in free-time and keep hover sessions to 15min or under).

You can also set Heli-X hover training to control "Collective Pitch" initially. This will stop the heli "bouncing round" as it goes in and out of translational lift (like in gusty wind).

Also practice on a lower blade speed (on the Logo 600, in "Flight Mode", try the logo 600 at 50% throttle (1650 RPM). A lower blade speed make the heli less over-reactive. In "Flight Mode" you can also tune the DR and Expo to taste. If using transmitter as "Use 5 channels", "Ignore thrust and pitch curves" and "Ignore expo and dual rates", then these changes need to be done in your DX6i (ie. stunt throttle 75,75,75,75,75 - 75 throttle = 50% on a -100 to +100 scale).

Do not be concerned about finding slow-piros hard. Many more experienced pilots have issues when they start to do slow-piros. It forces people to work on the areas they are weakest.

In Heli-X hover training you can start from other orientations by changing "View Direction".

Also in Heli-X, you can move the start position by either editing the airport or flying to another spot, landing, then selecting "Shortcuts | Set new start position".

Good luck. Fellow HF's will help as often as you let us. We just want people to enjoy flying.

[gitbse]

Originally Posted by Obijuan Kenobe

Wait till you try to learn inverted orientation. Then your brain will actually get angry as opposed to just impatient.

That may be the most valid and utterly true statement I have ever read. I'll never forget when I started to learn inverted orientations. My brain kept saying "no, no, no, .... NONONONO!!!"


Sad but true.
When you're so new, don't be so structured. Craig's vast training structure is AWESOME.. don't get me wrong. But at your level you just want to start to get a feel for the machine.

What I would say if I were buddy box training you, is, start flying around and getting comfortable with controlling the machine in changing attitudes. You joined in April, so if you've been flying since then, you're nice and green. Learning may become tedious for awhile, but it's natural. (Ask anybody here.)
Start flying around, doing circles, learn how to do stall turns, and practice 2 things. Tail in hover control, and nose in hover control.


Then if you want to start learning piros, start with a little quicker rotation. Don't drop straight into 360 degrees/min.. that can be very tough, and may lead you in the wrong direction. Especially difficult, if not impossible if you aren't comfortable at the "points"... nose/tail/side/side in.

The way I would recommend, like I said was quicker piros. FIRST, however, make sure you are fairly comfortable with nose in.
When it is piro'ing quicker, you can catch nose in, and tail in quicker, and only correct at those two points. Eventually you will be able to correct at side in positions, and over time your range around those specific points will be increased. Then you start correcting constantly. That's how I learned it.

Then you can slow it down, to force a constant correction. Don't rush it though.

[Biggiekay]

Thanks guys. You are ArchmageAU make great sense. I had a few co-axial which got the bug into me. Then the Blade120. Then the Nano CPx. Then the Blade 130x. Truth is I can hover tail in like a champ, change altitude, etc. When I got the bird father away from me, as long as I kept tail in I could get myself some fun flying. But I have crashed the all three helis enough to make me want to learn to fly. Does that make sense. My Blade130x has been fun, but in the first week owning it, I mash it around it was a mess. I travel a lot for work and did not want to do the repairs so I sent it to Horizon and said I would pay them. I got a call from them telling me is would be cheaper for me to buy a new one with a 20% discount. I had the new one a week, got cocky trying a flip and the picture tells the rest of the story. So I am at the sim. Your notes give me a little more freedom but I am now committed. PS - I am repairing my damage done at the urging of other members, I have the parts, the videos and the fattest thumbs on the planet. So thanks all. This hobby has layers of depth and I like it more than I thought. Blessings to all.

[gitbse]

Originally Posted by Biggiekay

This hobby has layers of depth and I like it more than I thought.

Untold amounts of awesome.

But don't worry, you're hooked.

[Biggiekay]

OK. I admit it. I just opened a new Nano CPx. The first one is officially spare parts. I did however buy a new feathering shaft and will test my repairs skills to see if I can get so it does not vibrate like its have a seizure. I cannot crash this baby. But then again...

[Biggiekay]

hope its here

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by Biggiekay

OK. I admit it. I just opened a new Nano CPx. The first one is officially spare parts. I did however buy a new feathering shaft and will test my repairs skills to see if I can get so it does not vibrate like its have a seizure. I cannot crash this baby. But then again...

Tip with the nano and feathering shaft is not to make it too tight. If you do, the 3-in-1 struggles to correct quick enough and you end up with TBE (toilet bowl effect - nano wants to go round in circles but still with tail in same direction - have done this myself wen I started )

Also with the feathering shaft, add a spot of liquid electrical tape (or threadlock if you have it). This stops the shaft's nuts working loose and having the head explode mid flight (done this too ).

Test the feathering shaft before each flight by pulling on the grips and ensuring no in/out movement. This is a good tip for larger helis too, as throwing a blade grip mid flight becomes more expensive and more dangerous as size increases.

With the 130x (pictured in a sorry state), getting the tension on the tail gears right I find the most troublesome. However, best to use your 130x as your learning platform as to how to build/rebuild and tune a heli. It's great to fly, but it is by no means a beginner heli. My 130x taught me how to strip and re-build a heli.

Fly the skids of the nano, then work things on the 130x. Once you can confidently fly a 130x in any orientation, you can fly pretty much any CP heli (it's just getting over the "pucker factor" of larger helis then). 130x teaches the basics of building too, but larger helis get more complicated in the electronics (3-in-1 spoils you to a large degree).

This hobby is a rabbit hole. Sounds like you have taken the red pill therefore, to quote "The Matrix": "Buckle your seatbelt Dorithy, cause Kansas is going bye bye". You will know when you have arrived when you realize there is no spoon (There is no spoon!!!)

Have fun, and keep working the slow piros. They make a world of difference.

[Biggiekay]

LMAO. I really appreciate your help. It is fascinating how complex the hobby can be. I have taken to heart the importance of flight sim training. I have pretty much been following ur flight school program. Truth is after 80 minutes I cannot fly nose in for too long without losing orientation. I will stay with it, learn some repair skills, I have to learn the whys and how's of Tx settings but there is plenty of info on the site. And now and then I go out into my yard amd garage and play with the new Nano. Perhaps I have swallowed the red pill after all.