Rc helis

[popeyewhite]

Any other enthusiasts here? My hobby money goes on RC mini helis - just starting on my first collective pitch after a few months of co-axials and fixed pitch. Any advice for a beginner from those in the know?

[sgrimshaw]

popeyewhite said:

Any other enthusiasts here? My hobby money goes on RC mini helis - just starting on my first collective pitch after a few months of co-axials and fixed pitch. Any advice for a beginner from those in the know?

Get some training if you can.

Join a local club if there is one.

Practise like **** on a simulator.

Edited by sgrimshaw on Monday 5th February 07:43

[anonymous-user]

1 - Take your time with the setup. Get the pitch points, main rotors and tail, exactly as they should be at neutral, mechanically. This is the thing. Get everything BANG ON mechanically. smooth, correct max movement, correct servo horn positions. Do all this before going near the radio. Good mechanical setup makes anything you do with the radio infinitely more accuract, particularly with the tail. If you compensate a sloppy mechanical setup with the radio (which you can do easily) your heli will never fly properly . Trust me.

2 - Program throttle cut with a little positive pitch to a switch on your TX and learn to cover it with a finger, always. When you see a crash incoming learn to hit throttle cut instinctively. It will save you a fortune in repair costs - as you will have removed the vast majority of blade energy before you hit the deck.

3 - buy a sim, with a link to your controller, or a special included one. This will save you a mint. I learnt to fly nose-in and inverted on the sim and it converts 100% to real life.

4. Use a cheap heli with variable pitch to learn the difficult stuff. I learnt inverted on a blade MCPx. You can crash it inverted and 9 times out of 10, as long as you hit throttle cut, turn it over and take off straight away. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKkQAQ8Lbgk&t=...

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 5th February 20:05

[Guiddy]

Harder than brain surgery! I really wish I had mastered it but never did! Even the sims didn't help!

I would work along with someone who can do it, they can guide you through each step, so I guess a club is best!

[popeyewhite]

Thanks very much for your replies everyone.

RogerDodger said:

1 - Take your time with the setup. Get the pitch points, main rotors and tail, exactly as they should be at neutral, mechanically. This is the thing. Get everything BANG ON mechanically. smooth, correct max movement, correct servo horn positions.

This I'm trying to do but I have only an inkling of correct servo positions etc so I basically fly the bird, watch it crash and then try to correct mechanically. Maybe Ive just been unlucky but both the more powerful helis I've purchased were impossible to even hover and just darted off at a tangent into a hedge/tree/garden shed as soon as throttle was applied.

RogerDodger said:

2 - Program throttle cut with a little positive pitch to a switch on your TX and learn to cover it with a finger, always. When you see a crash incoming learn to hit throttle cut instinctively. It will save you a fortune in repair costs - as you will have removed the vast majority of blade energy before you hit the deck.

This I've done from day one, probably saved me a fortune. Most common breakage has been rotors and main rotor housing.

RogerDodger said:

3 - buy a sim, with a link to your controller, or a special included one. This will save you a mint. I learnt to fly nose-in and inverted on the sim and it converts 100% to real life.

I will give this careful consideration. Most of my flying has been done in the living room and I worry the V977 (aka STRIMMER 1) will go straight through a window. Am I foolish thinking I can get enough practice with the real thing to proceed?

RogerDodger said:

4. Use a cheap heli with variable pitch to learn the difficult stuff. I learnt inverted on a blade MCPx. You can crash it inverted and 9 times out of 10, as long as you hit throttle cut, turn it over and take off straight away. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKkQAQ8Lbgk&t=...

I'm trying to stick to the cheap stuff. Nice lawn BTW.

What I really need is a guide on setting up the servos on a small heli such as the WLToys V911,V966,V977 and any other tips/tricks for setting up these little helis. Currently scouring the internet... .

[Pete Franklin]

The v977 should fly well straight out of the box.

Buy some spares before you start. You will need a selection of main cogs as they crack if you crash hard. Also get several tail boom motor assemblies as these break quite easily despite being carbon fibre. Luckily parts are cheap but delivery can take an age from China so stock up. I also had several linkages break and replaced the top mount with an alloy one which seems very robust.

My advise ignore the 6g mode and switch straight to 3d high rate mode. you will crash more to start off with but it's the best way to learn. Also careful flying indoors. the brushless set up means that the rotors can cause a lot of damage. Remember it wont auto correct if you get it wrong. They fly well outside even in moderate wind but you need a fair amount of space as they are very quick.