Auto's with the X5, a flat TC and potential main gear destruction...

[cygnar23]

I am using Revolution blades and a Castle 100 esc. In the castle you can program how fast the motor spools up in bailout. So I just hit hold and if I don't like my auto I just flip back out of hold and the motor spools up to the speed I set.

As you get used to autos you can come down at different speeds if you want. Sometimes I come down fast, sometimes I do a "floater" auto where I take as long as possible.

[RedOctobyr]

If/when I get more comfortable autoing my stretched 450, I hope to have the guts to try it with my X5. But I'm not there yet.

I have had to do an emergency auto with the X5 once. But it disappeared behind the slope of a hill, so I couldn't tell how close it was to the ground, for timing the flare. So it was more of a softened, skids-down crash, "Now With Bonus Boom Strike!"

So I don't even have that one to look back on, for a successful auto with my big heli. The X5 should be easier than the 450, but there's more on the line, so it's scarier.

For now, I'll just read the threads about the brave people

(BTW, Castle ESCs on the 450 & X5, with autorotation bailout set up on both. It's a really nice feature, and has worked well for me)

Sent using Tapatalk.

[S.Millar]

I been practicing auto's on my X5 the second half of this season. I have experienced a lot of what has already been mentioned in this thread.

You need a reliable ESC. I would caution anyone doing repeated auto bailouts with the stock Hobbywing ESC. The user experience with these ESC's varies and auto bailouts are one of the hardest things you can do on the ESC. Most people either you think they are amazing or you have experienced a BBQ or two. I am in the later group...lol.
I would recommend a minimum ESC of a Hobbywing Version3, or Castle.

I use the Vbar Gov with "auto bailout" and a "idle during bailout" which allows the head to spin at 60rpm to prevent the head from stalling if you make a mistake. This was a lot of help in the beginning. With the X5 you only get one chance to flare. If you mess it up you are going to bunny hop the landing or stall too high.

I usually start my autos about 50 feet high. I found (same as you guys) that it takes time to settle into a consistent head speed on the way down. I also start my flare at approximately eye level.
When you start to get good at them they are a ton of fun

For my TX set-up. I try to do autos from my regular flight modes. A few guys at my club started by creating a special "auto" flight mode with a max of -6 degrees pitch built in. They are now stuck with this crutch and find it very difficult to transfer into autoing in a regular IU flight mode with 12-13 degrees of negative.
I have only 4 active switches on my radio.

• Flight mode switch(3 position): normal, IU1, IU2 - This just switches head speed and Bank together. Each mode is tuned to the specific head speed. Each mode has full +/- 12deg pitch.
• Auto Idle/Auto Bailout Arm switch: Activates bailout and maintains 60 rpm on the head.
• Throttle Hold: Overrides the throttle on all modes including "Auto idle".
• Throttle Hold/Idle High: A slightly higher idle during hold for nitro so the carb doesn't load up while sitting on the flight line.

One of the guys I fly with uses a BD3SX and Kontronic ESC on his Goblin 570. He changed his normal mode to 10-20% throttle when he was learning autos. He gradually kept lowering the throttle percentage until it was off. For the bailout he used the one built into the Kontronic ESC.

[RedOctobyr]

Seems like great advice to me Thanks.

My 450 is using Castle Ice + VBar Gov, with Autorotation Bailout enabled in both. Mine doesn't actually keep spinning at 60 RPM, even though I *think* I have that box checked in the VBar. My motor just shuts off. The X5 is using the Edge's internal governor, with AR Bailout.

It's probably old news to the people who know how to auto, but I thought it was tremendously-helpful advice, which someone (Code3Medic?) shared in the "auto your 450" thread:

For learning what pitch to use for descending, fly with a really-low HS. I dropped my stretched 450 from a governed 2800 down to 2000. Then, with the motor still running normally, go up high, and practice descending with negative collective. But tweak the negative collective amount until you hear the blades actually *speed up*. That way you can get a sense of how much negative pitch is needed to actually put some energy and headspeed into the blades. Then just raise the collective and fly away before you get too low. And try it again.

This may not be a perfect method, but it doesn't need any fancy ESC features, and I found it very helpful. It's how I got brave enough to try them on the 450. It's also pretty safe, since you don't have to fumble with switches when approaching the ground, just raise the stick. In a sense, it's similar killing the motor to practice descents, but there's less to worry about.

I do also like the idea of gradually-lowering the throttle % during the descents, to wean you off motor power. But I only tried the low-HS-overspeed method.

I have also set up my TX to beep once, when I'm in TH, and reach a certain point on the collective, as just an audio cue of how much pitch I'm giving. I still have the whole range available, but I could make it tell me when I'm at -6° if I wanted.

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by S.Millar

...\
You need a reliable ESC. I would caution anyone doing repeated auto bailouts with the stock Hobbywing ESC. The user experience with these ESC's varies and auto bailouts are one of the hardest things you can do on the ESC. Most people either you think they are amazing or you have experienced a BBQ or two. I am in the later group...lol.
I would recommend a minimum ESC of a Hobbywing Version3, or Castle.

.... With the X5 you only get one chance to flare. If you mess it up you are going to bunny hop the landing or stall too high.

I usually start my autos about 50 feet high. I found (same as you guys) that it takes time to settle into a consistent head speed on the way down. I also start my flare at approximately eye level.
When you start to get good at them they are a ton of fun
...

I have only 4 active switches on my radio.
...

My X5 uses:
- standard GE-610 ESC (Hobbywing)
- standard blades
- BD3SX
- stock Scorpion HK-4020-910KV
- 4000mah - 6S batteries
- +/- 12 degree blade pitch (all flight modes)

Soft start is 8 seconds. If <5% throttle for 3s, soft soft start is re-enabled. I also run the ESC in governed mode (usually round 2400 RPM head speed).

The ESC comes down cold (even with auto bailout after repeated autos). No BBQ yet. I touch test the ESC after each flight.

My auto-bailout for the X5 is 0.1s 5% / 0.9s 0% throttle (pulses for 25 seconds) TX controlled. Gives about 10 RPM (in small kicks). If I reset the flight timer, auto-bailout is turned off immediately. Auto-bailout takes 1s to get back to full throttle when TH disengaged so main gear is not stripped in flight.

Posted my full TX setup for the X5 in Any ideas for auto bailout programming (could not do this type TX setup on anything less than a Taranis or JETI). I use a few more switches but in a normal flight only really TH, rescue, flight mode and agility, everything else requires me to move my hands.

Hobbywing does not have active freewheel, so running low speeds will heat up the ESC. The TX controlled pulse method means 90% of the time it is cold (no current) and only 10% of the time it is heated by resistance (high current aggressively switched). This does not give it a chance to heat significantly. Also spent a while ago tuning the timing so even after a normal flight at governed 2400RPM it still comes down cool.

Can confirm you really only get one flare with the X5. By end of flare I am at usually eye level. After that, your head speed is such that you are landing. The more I practice, the longer this flare feels though (just I think I'm starting to get used to it). They are starting to be less stressful and more fun.

I do not have any special auto pitch. I vary based on feel (visual blade speed, descent rate, wind effect) and sound.

When autoing, I move my finger from below the TH switch to above it (Up to TH, down to TH - Pinch flier, I do not rest my finger on the tip of the switch, I usually throw it with the side of my finger). This way as soon as I think of releasing TH, it happens (instead of fumbling for the switch having finger on the wrong side of it).