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Ok, so i'm a Mode 1 pilot, stuck in that way from racing cars as a kid and flying 2ch slope soarers with my dad 25 years ago. My radio was my Dad's hand me down (Which once cost him a months wages!).
$T2eC16N,!)kE9s4Z-u5hBR(Km0C,tg~~60_35.JPG
The ugly and not very ergonomically designed Futaba M Series 2. This was the radio responsible for moulding me in to a mode 1 pilot forever! Now for plank flying, I never saw this as a bad thing at all as it kept your two primary functions separate and allowed better control during aerobatics. The tail is also on one stick, which means that when flying 3D planks, there is often a stirring motion that is often associated with piro flips (my current nemesis!) .
I started flying helis 3 years ago and as a mode 1 pilot, I often get stick and usually asked where my disabled badges are on my helis!
Am I really at a loss being on mode 1? Or is it just like being left vs right handed?I know that these days the trend in this country is just most people are on mode 2, however I do know that in other parts of the world mode 1 is more popular.
Last year, I bumped in to Moonmanflyer and found out about the sw grass roots event and entered. With just a Trex 500, I entered and came out of it a better pilot, no question. It gave me focus and discipline in learning new moves. It taught me to have goals and sim practice routines which sent me on a steep learning curve that continued throughout the rest of last year and just makes you want to fly more and more. So for any other novice heli fliers out thinking about having a go at grass roots, seriously just do it!
At the beginning of last year, I could do the odd loop and roll, just about fly a heli backwards and inverted forward flight. Having flown planks for 25 years, I was flying my helis like a plank almost and almost all in forward flight. After the grass roots event, I soon learnt my weaknesses (there were lots) and concentrated and what I learnt to be important. I wanted to be able to have the helicopter in any attitude and be able to bail out.
Last year I concentrated on nailing my forward and backwards flight both upright and inverted. I think I'm pretty much there in that respect but have discovered that I'm a little handed and need to force myself to do everything I can do, the other way this year (easy said than done as I'm sure most will agree, it's easy to drift straight back in to your comfort zone). I can now do funnels, pirouetting circuits upside down and the right way up, but again only one direction for most things. I've discovered I can do rolling circuits from my plank flying. Four point tic tocks are nearly there, but rough around the edges. But the one move i've always, always wanted to be able to do it decent piro flips and I just can't!
Piro flips seem so much easier in mode 2, or can any mode 1 pilots out there tell me otherwise? I can happily do half piro flips and almost keep the heli stationary. Full and 1 and half piro flips just wander around the sky and It often becomes more like avoiding the ground than flying! Is this a mode 1 thing or is it just me?
With only knowing one other mode 1 heli pilot near me (Geek), I'm hoping to find some others out there that can also help me and others further progress our flying this year
$T2eC16N,!)kE9s4Z-u5hBR(Km0C,tg~~60_35.JPG
The ugly and not very ergonomically designed Futaba M Series 2. This was the radio responsible for moulding me in to a mode 1 pilot forever! Now for plank flying, I never saw this as a bad thing at all as it kept your two primary functions separate and allowed better control during aerobatics. The tail is also on one stick, which means that when flying 3D planks, there is often a stirring motion that is often associated with piro flips (my current nemesis!) .
I started flying helis 3 years ago and as a mode 1 pilot, I often get stick and usually asked where my disabled badges are on my helis!
Am I really at a loss being on mode 1? Or is it just like being left vs right handed?I know that these days the trend in this country is just most people are on mode 2, however I do know that in other parts of the world mode 1 is more popular. Last year, I bumped in to Moonmanflyer and found out about the sw grass roots event and entered. With just a Trex 500, I entered and came out of it a better pilot, no question. It gave me focus and discipline in learning new moves. It taught me to have goals and sim practice routines which sent me on a steep learning curve that continued throughout the rest of last year and just makes you want to fly more and more. So for any other novice heli fliers out thinking about having a go at grass roots, seriously just do it!
At the beginning of last year, I could do the odd loop and roll, just about fly a heli backwards and inverted forward flight. Having flown planks for 25 years, I was flying my helis like a plank almost and almost all in forward flight. After the grass roots event, I soon learnt my weaknesses (there were lots) and concentrated and what I learnt to be important. I wanted to be able to have the helicopter in any attitude and be able to bail out.
Last year I concentrated on nailing my forward and backwards flight both upright and inverted. I think I'm pretty much there in that respect but have discovered that I'm a little handed and need to force myself to do everything I can do, the other way this year (easy said than done as I'm sure most will agree, it's easy to drift straight back in to your comfort zone). I can now do funnels, pirouetting circuits upside down and the right way up, but again only one direction for most things. I've discovered I can do rolling circuits from my plank flying. Four point tic tocks are nearly there, but rough around the edges. But the one move i've always, always wanted to be able to do it decent piro flips and I just can't!
Piro flips seem so much easier in mode 2, or can any mode 1 pilots out there tell me otherwise? I can happily do half piro flips and almost keep the heli stationary. Full and 1 and half piro flips just wander around the sky and It often becomes more like avoiding the ground than flying! Is this a mode 1 thing or is it just me?
With only knowing one other mode 1 heli pilot near me (Geek), I'm hoping to find some others out there that can also help me and others further progress our flying this year
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