Copilot hands free. Need help..

[nightflyr]

Who do you thinks watches over my fleet when I'm not home

[icerat4]

Hey Night I got a chance to get the 450 up..Its alot better but still not hands free..Nose in it still comes forward and to the left when i take hands off.But not as hard ...other wise i felt a difernce with it on.Compared to it off.....I am going to give the 500 a try next time i get a chance but it thought the 500 was managable with the cp2 on..Not hands free ..But hand assit id say...

[nightflyr]

just need to set the flight angles to correct your issue, nothing major

[icerat4]

Yup .But i can handle it and it helps..I went the farthest away with the 450 down the block and made it back np..So it was helping me out as long as i compasated which wasnt a lot of stick..Nothing i couldnt get use to....Other wise we had time of clouds which the ir said no go joe..So i hovered without while clouds pasted all was ok ..but we can dial it in the last bit and ill be good thanks night..

[nightflyr]

"Other wise we had time of clouds which the ir said no go joe.."

Maybe not for long and with a better extended flying condition......Stay tuned...

[icerat4]

Sorry night ..When it said no go ..I turned off the cp2 ....and just flew without..Thats when i noticed the differnce in.On and OFF...But when skys were clear it helped fly ... But not hands off so a little mo twicking

[pril250]

That is the thing, the weather never stays fair or stable for long enough to do the job properly and as if that is not enough suddenly the rear bearing in my engine (nitro) sounds like it is about to perish so bird gets grounded.

Got the spare engine in now but tomorrows forcast is not encouregingSo the long haul of waiting continues. I am sure I'll crack it one day

[icerat4]

i had a great day today ...

[pril250]

....and may all your days be

[nightflyr]

pril,

I believe you purchased the incorrect type of stabilization system required for your environment.

The issues you are experiencing are not due to the CPII, but your location and local weather, In your case a Helicommand or as you have already a Flymentor are better suited to your needs.

Most who look to acquire the CPII understand it's operational window and if there is a question on wither it will perform for their specific location and /or weather conditions, they usually make inquires concerning those possible issues.

Trying to find fault with a system that is clearly not intended for the conditions you are exposing it to is only sending misleading information out on the forum with regards about the CPII

In general the CPII design works very well for most user, with few exceptions it has performed exceedingly well for many pilots.

But in your case..... the weather is not well suited for this type of system,

I can only suggest that if it does not suit your requirements, remove it and install a more suitable system.

[pril250]

Originally Posted by nightflyr

pril,

I believe you purchased the incorrect type of stabilization system required for your environment.

The issues you are experiencing are not due to the CPII, but your location and local weather, In your case a Helicommand or as you have already a Flymentor are better suited to your needs.

Most who look to acquire the CPII understand it's operational window and if there is a question on wither it will perform for their specific location and /or weather conditions, they usually make inquires concerning those possible issues.

Trying to find fault with a system that is clearly not intended for the conditions you are exposing it to is only sending misleading information out on the forum with regards about the CPII

In general the CPII design works very well for most user, with few exceptions it has performed exceedingly well for many pilots.

But in your case..... the weather is not well suited for this type of system,

I can only suggest that if it does not suit your requirements, remove it and install a more suitable system.

This is very odd, you putting words into my mouth and seem to object to me posting my own impressions of this system.

At no point did I claim CPII is a bad system or say anything bad about it. You don't have to tell me it is not suitable to my enviroment, I have already said that myself. I don't know what is rattling your cage exactly or at what point you took a disliking to my person but I think you have to stop with this bullying right now! This is very unprofessional and patronising behaviour on your part.

Quoting Howard Matos who is the authority on the CPII :

Obviously, FMA wants to deliver a product that is completely free of any issues. We are proud to say that there has been absolutely no need for a firmware update since the unit began shipping. It is clear that we need to look into the marginal weather issue a bit. This is probably the trickiest part of the whole design, making sure CPII goes offline gracefully without unexpected results in the midst of bad weather. One thought we had was to have CPII switch OFF permanently on bad weather and not allow flight stabilization to reactivate until power was cycled. But this will not work because depending on sensor attitude, surrounding objects, etc, the CPII might record bad weather many times throughout a flight. The sensors don't "see" bad weather, they only see temperature. The programming has to decipher the cause to the best of its ability.

[nightflyr]

This is very odd, you putting words into my mouth and seem to object to me posting my own impressions of this system.

At no point did I claim CPII is a bad system or say anything bad about it. You don't have to tell me it is not suitable to my enviroment, I have already said that myself. I don't know what is rattling your cage exactly or at what point you took a disliking to my person but I think you have to stop with this bullying right now! This is very unprofessional and patronising behaviour on your part.

You are misunderstanding what was being said to you..I am not in anyway trying to put words into your mouth.

Nor have you rattled my cage or taking a disliking to you.Or am I trying to "bully" you
All I am trying to say to you is....

Your conditions may not warrant the use of a CPII ..Yes you have stated this due to the poor weather in your location, you have yet to use it.
As to your impressions of the system, as you have said due to poor weather you have yet to put it to a conclusive set of test flights,

In your case, another design type system might be better suited due to your poor weather conditions.

I own several types and all perform quite well given the needed requirement and uses.

That is one of the benefits of this hobby..there are many choices to suit a specific need or requirement.

[pril250]

Originally Posted by nightflyr

This is very odd, you putting words into my mouth and seem to object to me posting my own impressions of this system.

At no point did I claim CPII is a bad system or say anything bad about it. You don't have to tell me it is not suitable to my enviroment, I have already said that myself. I don't know what is rattling your cage exactly or at what point you took a disliking to my person but I think you have to stop with this bullying right now! This is very unprofessional and patronising behaviour on your part.

You are misunderstanding what was being said to you..I am not in anyway trying to put words into your mouth.

Nor have you rattled my cage or taking a disliking to you.Or am I trying to "bully" you
All I am trying to say to you is....

Your conditions may not warrant the use of a CPII ..Yes you have stated this due to the poor weather in your location, you have yet to use it.
As to your impressions of the system, as you have said due to poor weather you have yet to put it to a conclusive set of test flights,

In your case, another design type system might be better suited due to your poor weather conditions.

I own several types and all perform quite well given the needed requirement and uses.

That is one of the benefits of this hobby..there are many choices to suit a specific need or requirement.

I think you are misunderstanding what is being said, firstly I think people are entitled to buy and try what ever systems they want whether suiting or not as part of enjoying this hobby.

Also posting their experiences is not a bad thing, even if something didn't quite work out for them for any reason.

I am very happy you were able to reach the same conclusions as myself in this case, I am sure glad we are both so perceptive here. Thanks for the invluable advice never the less.

Just to add to the point of the CPII, that even in more suitable enviroments the system has the potential to turn itself off for reasons beyond the pilots control without acknowladgement or prior warning. This can make it very difficult to trust if when you need it and think it is working it suddenly lets you down.

Also the fact that it can cause the swash plate to suddenly move violently for what ever reason in my case during take off which drove the heli straight into the ground, this could have caused a great deal of damage to a costly machine and luckily only cost a cyclic servo and a pair of tail blades.

So I feel whether suitable to my enviroment or not folks have the right to know of a system's shortcoming and other folks experiences.

As far as "Your conditions may not warrant the use of a CPII ..Yes you have stated this due to the poor weather in your location, you have yet to use it." I am sure I am not the only one either.

[vanguy]

I think the issue with CP2 is that the limitation or parameter of operation is not clearly communicated or understood. Based on my own personal experience, CP2 will work perfectly under blue sky and open field environment. The worst case is heavy overcast sky and a very confined environment like in the middle of Mahattan. The problem occurs if you are flying in condition that is between best and worst case. Nobody really know how CP2 might react between these extreme conditions. In theory, CP2 is suppose to shut down if it see a system error but I know it does not because I tried flying it once with system error and I left CP2 on and the heli became totally uncontrollable. As Howard from FMA stated, CP2 does not "gracefully" transition between best and worst case flying conditions. For me, if there is a blue sky, I know CP2 will work flawlessly, if the sky is grey, I turn CP2 off regardless if it says the systems is OK.

[icerat4]

Originally Posted by vanguy

I think the issue with CP2 is that the limitation or parameter of operation is not clearly communicated or understood. Based on my own personal experience, CP2 will work perfectly under blue sky and open field environment. The worst case is heavy overcast sky and a very confined environment like in the middle of Mahattan. The problem occurs if you are flying in condition that is between best and worst case. Nobody really know how CP2 might react between these extreme conditions. In theory, CP2 is suppose to shut down if it see a system error but I know it does not because I tried flying it once with system error and I left CP2 on and the heli became totally uncontrollable. As Howard from FMA stated, CP2 does not "gracefully" transition between best and worst case flying conditions. For me, if there is a blue sky, I know CP2 will work flawlessly, if the sky is grey, I turn CP2 off regardless if it says the systems is OK.

Welli just got back in after all ok was on the ir with very very lite cloud coverage ..And all seems well..Its not hands off .But it helps alot on the sticks.Ive gotton used to the moving forward and just compensate a lil to have it hover absoulety stable dead on...AND Flying around in a small area with trees cars wood fence all in my area here is a utube below of my area..The video is without the cp2 even on the heli..But if u see the piros i did the heli gets away from me a bit..NOT anymore i can piro alot with no issues it stays put..Very nice helper indeed...


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOpJE7uC7EQ[/ame]

[vanguy]

Ice, I think you flying environment is OK for CP2, I fly around in my cot de sec with houses and trees and bushes and CP2 has no problem. I think the general rule is the more CP2 sees the horizon, the better.

[icerat4]

Here is my area and the sky conditions i just flew in....I did get it to hands off for breif periods ...It handles nice

[nightflyr]

[QUOTE=pril250;1902597]I think you are misunderstanding what is being said, firstly I think people are entitled to buy and try what ever systems they want whether suiting or not as part of enjoying this hobby.
Very true and all the better if people have the xtra funds to experiment

Also posting their experiences is not a bad thing, even if something didn't quite work out for them for any reason.

On this point I have to disagree..If you install a piece of hardware .knowing it may not operate correctly due to conditions ..your "posting experiences" is giving a skewed report.

I am very happy you were able to reach the same conclusions as myself in this case, I am sure glad we are both so perceptive here. Thanks for the invluable advice never the less.

Just to add to the point of the CPII, that even in more suitable enviroments the system has the potential to turn itself off for reasons beyond the pilots control without acknowladgement or prior warning.
I can not comment on that, I have several hundred flight on my heli's and none of them ever shut down on me, I know when to operate the system and when to keep it turned off so I get no surprises during a flight.
This can make it very difficult to trust if when you need it and think it is working it suddenly lets you down.

This is a fact everyone who is in the RC hobby deals with when it concerns any electronic component used.

Also the fact that it can cause the swash plate to suddenly move violently for what ever reason in my case during take off which drove the heli straight into the ground, this could have caused a great deal of damage to a costly machine and luckily only cost a cyclic servo and a pair of tail blades.

Whatever issue that caused this action may or may not have been due to the CPII.
I can think of @ least half dozen conditions that would cause this action ..and none are due to a fault with in the CPII..."reflective deflection " can prove to be a very nasty problem and very difficult to trouble shoot

So I feel whether suitable to my enviroment or not folks have the right to know of a system's shortcoming and other folks experiences.

How do you report a "systems shortcomings" when you clearly stating you are trying to operate it outside it operational parameters?.

As far as "Your conditions may not warrant the use of a CPII ..Yes you have stated this due to the poor weather in your location, you have yet to use it." I am sure I am not the only one either.

I'm sure there are many pilots that due to poor weather condition..wither they use a stabilization system or not are still grounded, I know I am, but then I get on my flight Sim

Again I am not trying to "bully you" I have alot of time and funds invested in my fleet, I do not report findings that are not 100% tested nor would I lead a person to believe something that I could not prove or disproveconcerning these systems.

Ex. Mikado Vbar, as great as it operates, has "proven fault" that are well stated by many users, and yet you will only hear the complaints on how difficult it is to setup and dial in... but this is exactly how it is, the setup is basically the same..some find it harder than others.

Yet I managed to meld both a Vbar and CPII to function together as a Stabilizied Flybarless system....
If I thought for one second either system was a faulty design do you or anyone else believe I would risk a $3,000.00 helicopter to test it on?

I deal in facts and proven conditions and work within them

[pril250]

Originally Posted by vanguy

I think the issue with CP2 is that the limitation or parameter of operation is not clearly communicated or understood. Based on my own personal experience, CP2 will work perfectly under blue sky and open field environment. The worst case is heavy overcast sky and a very confined environment like in the middle of Mahattan. The problem occurs if you are flying in condition that is between best and worst case. Nobody really know how CP2 might react between these extreme conditions. In theory, CP2 is suppose to shut down if it see a system error but I know it does not because I tried flying it once with system error and I left CP2 on and the heli became totally uncontrollable. As Howard from FMA stated, CP2 does not "gracefully" transition between best and worst case flying conditions. For me, if there is a blue sky, I know CP2 will work flawlessly, if the sky is grey, I turn CP2 off regardless if it says the systems is OK.

+1, I think you expressed the right and balanced measure of things here

[icerat4]

I dont know guys ..U see the vids above with the skys i hover flew in...The cp2 worked fine for me and in that area ..That vid was takin the same time i had the 450pro up and running..And no issues...It got more overcast here and i turned off the cp2 and Yes it was a lil tuffer on the sticks..So i do notice a good size differnce when on and off..