Any value to practising flying in ground effect?

[hackish]

I was bored with the 120SR today since it's the only damn helicopter from e-flite I bought that actually functioned out of the box. Just for kicks I was practising flying around about 2" off the floor. I found it damn hard. Mostly due to the fact the heli would just want to move in random directions.

Is there any real value to this sort of drill due to the fact the behavour seems entirely random and it seems to be flying me instead of the other way around...

[Tomy.]

Been there, done that. Try that with nose in . If nothing else, quickens your stick reflexes and helps you predict how helis move in ground effect. And if you happen to want to land with precision the 120SR it's an OK excercise. Otherwise you can pull throttle and fall through the ground effect from about 10", the little 120SR does not care.

[flyingquisinart]

For kicks I try to pick up a half tennis ball with a "hook" that comes up about 7 inches, with my Pantera. I'm telling you it's really hard to do trying to do a precise hover with the skids just a few inches from the ground! Best to get the rotor speed down pretty slow.

[sarpilot]

Originally Posted by hackish

I was bored with the 120SR today since it's the only damn helicopter from e-flite I bought that actually functioned out of the box. Just for kicks I was practising flying around about 2" off the floor. I found it damn hard. Mostly due to the fact the heli would just want to move in random directions.

Is there any real value to this sort of drill due to the fact the behavour seems entirely random and it seems to be flying me instead of the other way around...

no

[sarpilot]

you want to escape ground effect as soon as possible, wind as a major consideration. Thence you can feel the helis control effects.... wind is always an issue but less noticeable out of ground effect for helicopters,,,,,,

[Rªzª]

ground effect really only exists indoors with the air that's being bounced around all over the place and back at the heli.

in an open area it's a non-issue. even when I fly like this I experience no "ground effect"

[Tomy.]

Raza, nice flying. I will put my heli upside down on the ground later today to take a picture (kidding)

Seriously, these small SR120, msr etc. helis are so lightweight that I always had ground effect with them outside. It seriously felt like iceskating with the heli. Even above grass. Most definitely above concrete.

[BaconRaygun]

RaZa, love what you are doing... But your not 100% right about ground effect.

You probably don’t notice because of your skill level, however, keep in mind that the term 'ground effect' is a text book 1:1 aviation term. It is real and it affects anything that flys... when I hover in a cross wind about a foot off the ground its like trying to walk on a bungee chord, the heli is bouncing all over the place.

Once you are used to it though it’s almost un-noticeable unless there are special conditions like gusty wind or landing at the top of a knoll or next to a building or something like that.

[60something]

Little helis are hard to handle in ground effect because they lack inertia, and they can be especially tricky with undercambered FP blades because the downwash is especially turbulent. That said, if you can't handle a heli in ground effect you haven't yet learned to fly. Just dumping it on the ground is not flying, regardless of how much stuff you can do 50 feet up. Like the full size boys say, "you don't have to take off, but you always have to land". If you don't land it where you want or need to, all you've done is crash it.

[clicky]

I'm flying small helis for 4 years now and never noticed ground effect. At my skill level. Or any in between. Hm... And as scared I always tend to fly 1 or 2 feet of the ground - that's how I learned how to hover, that's how I learned to fly figures on 8 (in my garden in square 30x30 feet), that's how I learned slow pirouettes... And never got to see/feel it. People are constantly talking about it (usually those who are less experienced as I gather) - but never ever experienced it!

Is it possible that with these small helicopters (I'm talking about Mini Titan I started with and now up to walkera 4g6 on smaller or Protos on bigger scale) there is very little of ground effect? Is it possible that people expect it and contribute inherit instability of such helis (including all sloppy linkage, bad blades, etc) to ground effect?

[60something]

Want to experience ground effect? Can you fly? Set yourself up with a helipad with a 10 inch/25cm circle in it (6 inch if you're using a 250 class heli). Take off to a 2-3 foot height and come around and land precisely back in the circle, smoothly, and pointed the same direction you took off from (you did take off into the wind, right?). Repeat. Count the number of times you were able to do it, precisely. Dumping it into the circle doesn't count. Requires a properly trimmed out heli.

Here's another exercise that will provide a more dramatic example - I do not recommend this with a larger heli - set up a small table whose top is about 2 or 3 feet off the ground. Repeat the above exercise. Be mindful that as you get to set down on the table, you must keep the heli over the table - if you drift off the table, you'll have to give it throttle quickly or the loss of lift will take the heli down into the table - really hard on the blades...