Review - FMA's new Co-Pilot II

[rockjock3]

O.K. everybody. First, sorry I seem to be taking so long. Working shift work, two kids, and windy days are slowing me down.

Second, I did get three more flights in today. I think I am close to dialed in, eve with the 15+ trades we have blowing here. On that note. Can I say AWESOME again?

I am very impressed so far. Today I changed some of my settings to get more feedback out of the system. I set both the gains to 70% and my stick priority to 50%. I then set to trimming the bird. Once I got it trimmed (both with the CPII off and then with the CPII on) I tried switching it on and off to see if there was a big trim difference. There wasn't, so I left my autotrim gain at 6%. I could still get the whole system dialed in (trims and such) but I tend to be a perfectionist at times and I would need a good windless day to do that. Nobody wins, so I am a go with a really good setup right now.

I am going to try to get some video shot this weekend, but here is what I have done so far. After trimming I took the heli up about ~15 feet in a hover, then I slapped it hard to the left, let go of the stick (centered) and watched the heli keep falling towards the ground, finally corrected it ~7-10 feet off the ground and went back to original position (10-15 feet up in hover). I did this several times to both sides, just to get a feel for what the heli would do and how fast it would fall once I centered the stick. I was getting the heli to around 30-40 degrees out of hover (disc angle from hover).

Now for the test. I switched the CPII on and proceeded to do the same thing. This thing is fast is all I can say. Almost as soon as I centered the stick (1 second) the heli was back in a hover. Now, this is with the settings I have. If I really tweaked this thing out to like a 100% gain and maybe a 10% stick priority it would probably be blinding.

Well, I was impressed, to say the least. I figured, what the heck, it is only money, right?

I took the heli to a hover at 4 feet. I did the same thing and I doubt it would lose more than 6 inches to 1 foot of altitude each time I did this.

At a minimum this weekend I am going to try and get some footage of both of these tests. Higher level recoveries from quick rolls and some lower level recoveries from the same. Hopefully my schedule and the winds will cooperate.


NOTE: These current sessions are all being done in winds between 10-15mph and in an are about 100 foot in diameter, with 5 very large trees around as well as houses on two sides. I have added a pic to let you know what kind of area this thing is working in.

[nightflyr]

SWEET!!!!!RJ3 , we been having rain all week so all I can do is look at my birds........ till I got bored tonight and bought a 600ESP

[boomer6]

Sounds good rockjock3.Cant wait to see the footage on your tests.............very interesting.

[nightflyr]

Is that sunshine and blue skies I see in your pics?????? we been having one color here in NY lately...GRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rockjock3]

Originally Posted by nightflyr

Is that sunshine and blue skies I see in your pics?????? we been having one color here in NY lately...GRAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes it is. Hawaii stinks like that. I get that probably 362 days a year. Of course I get trades blowing about 362 days a year also. When they get going good they can run 15-25+mph

[nightflyr]

consider it good flight training weather, improve your collective management

[rockjock3]

I didn't get out to the field today, but I did to some playing around behind my house some. I tried something I just hadn't thought to try yet and it impressed me.

I had the heli up in a hover, playing with my flight cam some. During the flight I figured I would try a quick roll to one side with the CPII off and then switch it on as the heli was falling.

With all my settings as stated earlier the thing corrected almost as fast as I switched the system on. Again, this is with the gains set at 70% each and the stick priority set in the middle at 50%. From almost a 35-40 degree falling roll it corrected within about 5-6 inches of lost altitude of where I turned the system on. This is when the heli was already falling and had momentum.

I HAVE to get out to the field and film some of this stuff for all you guys. It is very impressive.

[ElectricSheep]

Originally Posted by rockjock3

Your trim should be adjusted from the TXr. You trim the heli with CPII off, then trim the heli with CPII on (hovering). Now, when you turn the CPII off your heli should remain trimmed. If it doesn't then you can turn autotrim up until the CPII trim doesn't change much between on/off.

If it seems that once you turn off the CPII that it is controlling your heli too much you can turn the autotrim back down. If this is the case, then you can reaquire trim of the system, when the CPII is on, by using the Set Angles menus under Preferences.

rockjock3 and nightflyr,

Thanks for the info. I was initially able to adjust my major trim problems by basically tilting the main sensor on the boom.

I spoke with Howard at FMA yesterday and he recommended that I move the main sensor about half-way between the horizontal stabilizer and the end of the canopy. I couldn't trim much because it was too overcast this morning (the CPII gave me a "System Error" during preflight because there was only an 11-degree sky/ground temp differential.)

I thought that would be enough of a temperature differential, but I'll have to look at the manual again to check what the minimum difference is.

I went up anyway, turned on the CPII at about 20 feet up -- but got significant oscillation (my gains were turned down to 60% and 40%). Anyway, I turned the CPII off and will try trimming again tomorrow.

[nightflyr]

not sure why you were shaking, if the system doesn't see good conditions it will turn down or turn off depending on how bad the weather is, and judging by your setting unless your over asphalt or concrete and low altitude it should not really be shaking... Was your bird and Tx 100% dialed in b4 you installed the system?? Any mechanical issues on your heli??

[nightflyr]

Hey RJ.....
We finally got some sun and decent weather today, tried your setting on my bird and replicate your test.

It does boggle the mind to see it recover that quickly though, going to run it for most of the day (weather permitting) along with the continued tweaking on my flybarless 400, this will be the last chance I get to fly for a while..my new 600 (PROJECT HERCULES) arrives this week, so guess what I'll be involved with...Was that a grown I just heard????? I'll be making a build series for it

[rockjock3]

Originally Posted by ElectricSheep

rockjock3 and nightflyr,

Thanks for the info. I was initially able to adjust my major trim problems by basically tilting the main sensor on the boom.

I spoke with Howard at FMA yesterday and he recommended that I move the main sensor about half-way between the horizontal stabilizer and the end of the canopy. I couldn't trim much because it was too overcast this morning (the CPII gave me a "System Error" during preflight because there was only an 11-degree sky/ground temp differential.)

I thought that would be enough of a temperature differential, but I'll have to look at the manual again to check what the minimum difference is.

I went up anyway, turned on the CPII at about 20 feet up -- but got significant oscillation (my gains were turned down to 60% and 40%). Anyway, I turned the CPII off and will try trimming again tomorrow.

Hmm. Yea, it should work down to 7 degrees differential. I got that once and it is system error <7.

You can always try turning both your gains down to like 20-30% and see if that stops your shake. The gains control how much the servos move during recovery. A lower gain has the servos moving less for a given amount of deviation and a higher gain moves them more during a given amount of deviation. If that works then it is easy to continue the process of dialing it in, just like you would do for a gyro (dial it till it shakes and then back off bit by bit till it stops).

Let us know.

[nightflyr]

Hey RJ,
just for giggles I tried your settings, mind you we're having a pretty windy day here in NY, and yes it does snap back very quickly, but very jittery on the servo movements during flight

[rockjock3]

Originally Posted by nightflyr

Hey RJ,
just for giggles I tried your settings, mind you we're having a pretty windy day here in NY, and yes it does snap back very quickly, but very jittery on the servo movements during flight

Told ya. As far as the jittery servos. I noticed that a bit, but am pretty sure that is the CPII adjusting as the wind is hitting it. I see the heli body moving, but staying in a hover when the gusts and/or stronger winds hit it.

Try doing a hard roll with the system off then snap that thing on as the heli is falling. That is REALLY cool how fast it corrects from even the off position.

[nightflyr]

did it earlier today , unless you somehow manage to drop your throttle it's better than even money the bird will recover itself , unless a tree jumps out and grabs it.

[Black Sparrow]

better stay away from that tree on the second picture, I dont like the way it looks at your heli. Nice flying day...

[nightflyr]

Even with the wind ..didn't much bother the heli, ohhh that collective management!!!!!, instead of falling off to the sides all you worry about now is keeping air underneath you.... Well i look at it this way, if I can manage through the jungle of branches and still keep her in one piece, an open field will be a cake walk

[nightflyr]

what a day!!

[ElectricSheep]

Originally Posted by nightflyr

not sure why you were shaking, if the system doesn't see good conditions it will turn down or turn off depending on how bad the weather is, and judging by your setting unless your over asphalt or concrete and low altitude it should not really be shaking... Was your bird and Tx 100% dialed in b4 you installed the system?? Any mechanical issues on your heli??

Yeah, not sure why it was shaking either... I was flying over hard-packed dirt (might as well have been concrete) and a very overcast morning sky.

Good question about whether the heli is dialed in; I've seen people wonder why their heli shakes so much, only to find out that they didn't change their main shaft after a crash...

Anyway, my heli (T-Rex 500 ESP) and TX (JR X9303) are pretty much 100% dialed in. It was my first build, but the main heli guys at the LHS gave it a big thumbs up right before I maidened it... No shakes anywhere and hovers are rock-solid. The heli only has about 50 flights on it and hasn't even had a hard landing (knock on wood). The only thing I've replaced on this heli is the front torque tube gear set -- which stripped twice. Once after I landed in some taller-than-expected grass. The second time I replaced the same gears was *yesterday.* I'm not even going to try and describe what happened... Let's just hope the video is clear enough so I can post it and provide a chuckle for all. (Hey, I didn't crash!)

No flying today because of Mother's Day, so I'll be back at it sometime tomorrow.

BTW, thanks again guys for keeping this thread moving at a brisk pace! Good info for all...

[ElectricSheep]

Originally Posted by nightflyr

Hey RJ.....
...going to run it for most of the day (weather permitting) along with the continued tweaking on my flybarless 400, this will be the last chance I get to fly for a while...

Please tell us that you've tested the CPII on the flybarless Blade 400... Did it work OK???

[rockjock3]

Originally Posted by nightflyr

Hey RJ,
just for giggles I tried your settings, mind you we're having a pretty windy day here in NY, and yes it does snap back very quickly, but very jittery on the servo movements during flight

No imagine how quick it would snap back at even higher settings (if a heli will take it without getting the jitters).