Some Great Tips for Newbies

[asker857]

Kenh, please post some more. There's enough about builds, set-up and tuning. Tell us a story about what got YOU started and how YOU learned to fly RC helis. Thanks.

- Nol

P.S. I got started when I saw a YouTube vid. I haven't even begun to learn to fly, a very new newbie.

[Grooverc]

Originally Posted by asker857

Kenh, please post some more. There's enough about builds, set-up and tuning. Tell us a story about what got YOU started and how YOU learned to fly RC helis. Thanks.

- Nol

P.S. I got started when I saw a YouTube vid. I haven't even begun to learn to fly, a very new newbie.

So do I, a newbie who is flying with simulator for almost one month. I do hope get more know of RC world. Thanks

[Tailbender]

Lot's of great stuff here... What I've tried to do is capture all the lessons learned over the past year of flying and consolidate it all in a single message. Rather then paste here, I'll just post the link if anyone interested in things I discovered w lots of flying and Q&A w top pilots here... https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=359554

[61Espo]

Hey Thanks!!


These are great sources of info!!....

Someone like me can't thank you enough!!!


Steve

[Ironrotor]

What is a preffered lubricant for bearings or shafts and frequency? Typically, I wax the main and tail shafts with carnuba auto wax and leave the bearings pretty much alone as I replace them each year.

[skyl3r_2k]

My tip: PC Simulator then Blade SR. Awesome.

[Tailbender]

Ironrotor.. my favorite is Tri-Flow, normally found a better bike shops... I use it on everything from my mCPx to my Atom500 - clean, doesn't attract the dust of some products and w it Teflon base really makes things run smooth

[marc121]

Hi all, ive recently purchased the walkera cp genius with devo 7 controller and im having a few problems.

wen i throttle up it powers up half way then wen i go the other half of the controller it dies down in power. if that makes sense?

just wondering if anyone can help me out. have i set it up wrong or is it busted, plz help it was a pricey toy and wana get the best from it lol.

cheers

[jacko1985]

Hi new here hoping someone can help me with my bee here is the problem it keeps wanting to go backwards on takeoff even tho the battery is on a new plate right at the front in the canopy swashplate is level as well really can't see what is up with it the paddles are also level with the paddle frame plz help thanks in advance

[Mustang Fever]

Newbie Stuff that Seems to Be Working:

1. The heli must be setup properly. This can take a lot of time and experimenting. Servos must be centered when pitch is at mid stick, and linkages at 90 degrees where specified. Ball links need to be sized so that there is little resistance to movement, but no slop. Swashplate should be leveled using a tool that slides up and down the main shaft, midstick, bottom and top. Eyeballing doesn't get it, ever. Any tilt in the swash, even a few thousandths of an inch, will result in unwanted cyclic inputs and a heli that seems to have a mind of its own.

2. The gyro and tail servo that come on a lot of clones are often useless. A good quality digital servo and a gyro such as the Spartan Quark are essential. Basic anti torque pitch needs to be cranked in with the servo centered, otherwise the servo will be way over in one direction or another just to hold the nose still. Gyro mounting is critical to good function.

3. Heavy fly bar weights/paddles and a lower headspeed seem to help. Large amounts of Expo are to be avoided. If the controls are not sensitive enough, the heli won't respond in real time, and it's easy to get into overcontrol/oscillation situations. I run 0 expo on ailerons and elevator. I control sensitivity by reducing the pitch curve, setting dual rates down, and setting swash mix down.

4. Don't try to progress too fast. Orientation is something that has to become automatic. (The U.S. Army says you have to repeat something 1500 times before it becomes automatic. I believe them.) I've been using Jim Ryan's exercises and slowly working up to nose in flight. The latest exercise I've been using is just to make forward slow flight runs left and right along the flight line, stopping at the ends and doing a hovering 180 turn, and flying back in the other direction. I started out with the heli out about 10M from me, and have been moving closer each session, getting closer and closer to nose in flight. It's essential to master the basics before attempting circus tricks.

5. When you get in trouble or get disoriented, don't fight it. Get back to safety by: 1. Releasing the cyclic stick 2. Climbing to a safe altitude. 3. Getting to a stable nose out hover.

If you live in an area with lots of wind, like I do, the smaller helicopters are tough to learn on. I didn't really start to progress until I got my 700E F3C. I went through all the adjustments and a lot of test flying. My final test flight was in a large gym, and I got it trimmed to where it will hover hands off for about 15 seconds. Trying to get the trims right outside in a wind is a waste of time.

Most of all, ya gotta stick with it. Keep getting back on the horse.

[Tailbender]

Good stuff Mustang Fever / practice, practice, practice... one of the best things I found (wish I had it when I started) is the Blade mCPx - teaches you excellent collective management since it's has low power but one of the best ways to learn orientation both up and inverted - crash and 9 out of 10 times you can push the main gear back on pop on a ball link and fly away from the crash site..

[Big_Maxx]

+1 on the mcpx i started with a cp pro learned how to hover tail in then moved to a trex 450 learned nose in hover but didnt have the guts/money to try circuit flying. then i bought an mcpx and i fly circuits all orientations of hovering and started loops and rolls and pretty soon inverted hover. you cant break them all ive replaced is the main blades cuz i hit pavement but now with the kbdd blades its unbeatable. cant wait to gain up the curage to fly my 500 like i do this little bird

[asker857]

Not really familiar with your gyro but I guess some things about all of them are generic. Tail lock ON would be Heading Hold (HH) mode. In HH, your heli will hold its nose in one direction until you give it a command to do otherwise (via your controller).Tail lock OFF would be Rate mode. In rate mode, external forces (wind, etc.) will make your heli point elsewhere than where you want it to.You can read all you need to know about those here in this forum. Is that your tail slider binding on one side but is OK on the other? Adjusting your ATV trying to correct this will not work. Your ATV adjusts how slow or fast you piro. As I said, I am not familiar with your gyro but on my gyro (KDS800), I adjust the LIM (limit) switch (found on the gyro case itself) to correct tail binding. I also started quite on my own in this hobby but I learned a lot reading here this forum. Mabuhay.

[Tailbender]

asker857 - Well said - that was one of the clearest I've seen describing heading hold vs. rate mode. Gyros especially the flybarless controllers are so good I don't even play with rate mode anymore, albeit in the past when I've built helicopters would put in rate mode and adjust the tail linkage so it's neutral (heli doesn't rotate in either direction with no stick input) so it has the correct anti-rotation. That way when you turn on gyro (heading hold) it's mechanically perfect.

[bflan2001]

Thank you guys for clarifying some of those terms, I'm just getting into the hobby and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by all the terminology. The info here definitely helped so thanks again.

[jonny239]

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[Drtool]

I will admit that this is a great Hobby I have spent tons of time on sim and it is so worth it especialy if you spend the time fying properly. learning figure 8s and things like that. will keep you from developing bad habits just flying crazy all over the place. No reset in real life just $$...

[my27kgame]

Great thread! Thanks

[Keoni]

Right on! Thanks

[RCJuNkY89]

Thanks for all the help guys!
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