Hovering practice

[24sevenslacker]

Just been out with my 450 and im quite happy with my flying. Heres a couple of videos (they are quite boring) i was trying to fly side in but kept bottling it. I need my nano fixing so i can practice indoors!

Align Trex 450 sport v2 hovering practice 1 (3 min 57 sec)

Align Trex 450 hovering practice 1 (4 min 15 sec)

[gitbse]

Good job, keep it up! You've got the idea. Small stick bumps for corrections. You don't overcorrect, which is good. Keep practicing!

Nice field by the way.

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by 24sevenslacker

Just been out with my 450 and im quite happy with my flying. Heres a couple of videos (they are quite boring) i was trying to fly side in but kept bottling it. I need my nano fixing so i can practice indoors!

Looking fine. Keeping good tail control and level. Able to get back to tail-in when unsure.

You may want to look at removing the training gear (unless you still need it as a visual cue for level and drift). Once you are above 1m (rotor width) it will not help you in a crash. (it also off-balances the heli). Your call, your heli.

Use the sim to help with orientations other than tail in. Then try for real at height (3m or more). The more height gives you more room to save. Remember the 3 mistakes high rule. Helis and planes like height. Less to crash into.

Lastly, keep taking it slowly. No extra rewards for progressing fast (except greater cost in spare parts).

[24sevenslacker]

Im working away at the moment so i cant use my sim so all i have is the real thing. I was flying with the training gear off but it just gives a bit of bounce if i wander to close to the ground. Going to take it out again tonight

[RogerRabit]

It is good to be away from the sim.

You get more real sticktime then.

[24sevenslacker]

I was going to get another video of my progress tonight but after a quick inspection before "flying" i found a screw missing from the head assembly/mixing arms, it will still fly as it has a screw holding the opposite side but im not taking any chances, hopefully over the weekend i will get it replaced and get some more videos up.

Any tips on maintenence, i was going to start another thread but i dont want to flood the forum lol

[gitbse]

Good catch. That could have prevented a nightmare, lol.
General maintenance isn't too crazy on a 450. Basic stuff, make sure the bearings are in good shape, make sure you go through the screws on pre flight like you did.

On my 700 I do some pretty hefty maintenance. Every 10 flight hours or so, I'll do a basic check. Bearings, gears, stuff like that. Every 20 hours or so, roughly every 100 flights, I'll do a full breakdown. I pretty much take everything fully apart that moves. Gear train, completely disassemble the head, the tail, everything. Clean and relube.

That's only on my 700 though. There's a whole lot of stress on that whole system, and I do my best to make sure it stays in top shape.
The 450 needs not much more than basic stuff. Make sure the bearings stay smooth, make sure the tail stays clean and smooth, and check for gear wear, make sure all the loctite is still holding. That's about all I do to mine.

Good little trick to check if anything is loose in the head for a pre fllight though...
Power up the elec's and give the head some force against the servos. Don't go too hard, obviously. You don't wanna break the servos. But if anything is loose, you will feel it move with the resistance.

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by 24sevenslacker

I was going to get another video of my progress tonight but after a quick inspection before "flying" i found a screw missing from the head assembly/mixing arms, it will still fly as it has a screw holding the opposite side but im not taking any chances....

+1000

To re-iterate gitbse's post. Well done.

Too many think "I can still fly" when finding problems. Then realise why they shouldn't. (lost count of the "just one more flight" or "it'll be right" stories with unhappy endings).

Take-off optional, landing mandatory.

[24sevenslacker]

Iv been trying to get out the past few days but every spot i have been to has had too many people or distractions for me to fly, i also touched the tail on the floor when i was landing it today and the belt has stretched and the blade is knackered!

[24sevenslacker]

update time. iv been out a few times after fixing the heli but I have been trying to come up with a way of filming myself with my iphone as I have nobody to film my progress.... then today while sat eating my lunch at work I had a brilliant idea, I got home and grabbed an old hard hat from work, and my iphone holdster which sticks to the windscreen of my car with a spring loaded sucker pad. I stuck the holder to the top of the hard hat, and it works a treat.

heres how iv been getting on.... I bought a micro fixed wing to "warm up" before flying the heli and it seems to work, sort of trains my fingers a bit before I fly, loosens them up if you like.

I have been practicing side in again, and added a little forward flight into it. all in all im really happy with my progress (although I managed a quick go with the nano over the weekend and im still a lot better with that)

I did make another video but somebody decided to call me half way through, so next time its going on "Flight Mode" literally

Align trex 450 hover practice with some forward flight (4 min 54 sec)

Edit: oh and the hissing/blowing noise you can hear half way through is me trying to blow a mosquito off of my nose, iv been eaten alive by them over the pars week. I put a long sleeved jumper on and that just concentrated them to my hands, and obviously I cant remove my hands from the tx to swat them so they have been hammered.

[24sevenslacker]

Feeling more relaxed with my heli now. Im buying a blade 130x tomorrow so hopefully that will help me improve

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by 24sevenslacker

Feeling more relaxed with my heli now. Im buying a blade 130x tomorrow so hopefully that will help me improve

Should find it great after the 450 (a bit less stable though).

Check out the stickies in the 130x forum.

Basic pre-first flight checks:

• Metal A gear if you can (a lot come with it in the box but not installed).
• Ensure TT is not backwards.
• Check (and lube) all bearings (especially tail grips )
• Check for 3-in-1 roll (see 130x sticky by DoubleCH - now in an addendum by Blade).
• Dynamic balance the tail (See http://www.rchelicopterfun.com/130X-tail-vibration.htm)

Optionally, you may want some lynx shims to make the gear mesh even smoother, but that can come later.

130x is a great heli. Don't fall for the bling trap. Fly it as close to stock as you can (keeps the weight down).

[24sevenslacker]

After hovering in all orientations and flying circuits with the 130x (i am now realising how much better fbl is) i decided to try going inverted. After some practice on the sim i went out in the garden with the 130 x. I started from tail in with a little forward movement and pulled back on the elevator. My first attempt went wrong with the heli landing back on its skids. Within 3 attempts i managed to hold a stable inverted hover and then flip it back over. I also put together a couple of flips

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by 24sevenslacker

After hovering in all orientations and flying circuits with the 130x (i am now realising how much better fbl is) i decided to try going inverted. After some practice on the sim i went out in the garden with the 130 x. I started from tail in with a little forward movement and pulled back on the elevator. My first attempt went wrong with the heli landing back on its skids. Within 3 attempts i managed to hold a stable inverted hover and then flip it back over. I also put together a couple of flips

This is a big improvement from where you were with the 450. Well done.

130x is a great little heli. (piro flipped mine today for the first time ). Keep going. It just gets getter (and feels more comfortable). Progress sim -> 130 -> 450. And you will be fine.

[24sevenslacker]

More time on the sim tonight. The only problem is the 130x on pheonix doesnt fly anything like the real thing. Can i download a setup or anything on this sim? Im thinking of getting rid of the 450 and buying something fbl

[gitbse]

Don't fly anything small in Phoenix, they're absolutely worthless. Stick with the 700's.

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by gitbse

Don't fly anything small in Phoenix, they're absolutely worthless. Stick with the 700's.

I second this. I only fly 600 size or above in sim except when "playing". From experience, the small birds are never emulated well.

[24sevenslacker]

After some practice on the sim i decided to have a little fun. I have been trying to get a screen recorder but they all cost too much and i cant find a decent free one. So i set up my phone to record my screen and stuck it on youtube. Its come out pretty well lol.
Heres where im at on the sim up to now. Still a little sketchy with my turns but all in all im happy with my sim progress

Trex 600 pheonix practice 1 (4 min 37 sec)

[ArchmageAU]

Originally Posted by 24sevenslacker

After some practice on the sim i decided to have a little fun. I have been trying to get a screen recorder but they all cost too much and i cant find a decent free one. So i set up my phone to record my screen and stuck it on youtube. Its come out pretty well lol.
Heres where im at on the sim up to now. Still a little sketchy with my turns but all in all im happy with my sim progress

You are progressing well. From experience, anything you feel 100% comfortable with in the sim can be taken into real life. (ie. can do it 10 times the way you like it, no crashes, not gimmies, no "that didn't count").

You are right, the turns are a little sketchy (more rudder will help that). Try full circles, you have the basis for them already. Getting more comfortable with inverted will help too (the high inverted hovers were good, but I get a sense that putting the heli where you want it in the sky while inverted is still a challenge).

The quality of the video came out OK.

[24sevenslacker]

Need more practice! Iv only just got to grips with the sim as iv only used it as "playtime" before. I plugged it into the tv that seems to help too as i can see the heli better. I think im going to practice turns more and maybe some backwards flight