considering the hobby

[Holst]

This is the "problem" with these micro helis.

I learnt on something similar and also had tbe sometimes.

Centre of gravity is very important, also small parts get bent and mess things up.

Eventually you will get better at finding the right thing to check and fix.

Different micro helis have different problems but they all have things like this.

On a larger heli things generally get smashed rather than bent.

Keep trying and don't try and move too far from tail in.
When you crashediin your video you went straight to nose in and lost orientation. Move in smaller steps.

[5hane]

Maybe someone else with more msr experience can help? I couldn't fix the TBE on one of mine but combining the best of bits from both I managed to get one working ok which I still have. I just got it out to test (after reading your message) and its ok (hardly any TBE) but is a bit tatty - one pin missing one skids, one frame arm missing and I think either the FET is on the way out or the motor as it occasionally resets. The only other things I can think of are the main shaft (but they shouldn't bend being CF) but maybe it's split (check for springy play between the rotor blades and the white main gear at the bottom, or perhaps the gear itself is damaged (check it's flat and has no cracks). Is the flybar ok (not bent?). if the COG of the heli is off that can cause TBE but I can't see how that could be possible on an msr unless you've put anything in it! Other than that I don't know. If you happen to pass this way (Maidstone) you would be welcome to try swapping bits over (it's not like I can sell this one in its current condition) or you sometimes find them on ebay for £5-£10 for spares. I went through the same as you although I actually had the msrx first, then got a msr as at first the msrx was a little 'quick'. But once I got the dx6i setup and put some mix's in I quickly found the msrx easier than the msr (no TBE, and being FBL (flybarless) goes where you want it without being 'dragged' back by the flybar). If you do decide to try one they are still available at Kings Lynn models (E-Flite Blade mSRX - BNF Basic - Instock Now) for £40. You already have a controller, charger and batteries.
I don't want to advise you to try another model just yet (maybe you wont like the msrx?!) hopefully someone else might have some ideas? But if you do decide to get something else think of it as an addition to your fleet rather than a replacement!
I had a very small budget to start but quickly realised I wanted to learn more and more (needed a CP micro, then something bigger (the 130x) and now a 450x) all purchased second hand at roughly a third of what they would have cost new. I only started the end of October so things can move quite quickly once you get into it! I successfully flew a couple of circuits with the 450x this week so I'm still buzzing over that at the moment!!
I wouldn't recommend second hand msr or msrx (unless they go for pennies) as they are relatively cheap to buy new.
Anyone else with any other ideas on the msr?

Actually you have helped, TYVM! One thing you mentioned was the main shaft, and having just looked at it straight on, it is slightly out of line with the frame. I am sure what I did next would not usually be recommended but I tried straightening the main shaft by sheer force. After that I have definitely noticed an improvement, as you might see when I upload the next video.
Following that successful flight I slammed the heli into the fridge and split the part of the tail boom that holds the tail rotor motor in place. Happily a little superglue fixed that and its flying again.
I have to say that £40 for the MSRX looks a pretty good deal and very tempting god Damn it!

Many congrats with the circuits. That must have felt good. I look forward to hopefully reaching that level!

[5hane]

This is the "problem" with these micro helis.

I learnt on something similar and also had tbe sometimes.

Centre of gravity is very important, also small parts get bent and mess things up.

Eventually you will get better at finding the right thing to check and fix.

Different micro helis have different problems but they all have things like this.

On a larger heli things generally get smashed rather than bent.

Keep trying and don't try and move too far from tail in.
When you crashediin your video you went straight to nose in and lost orientation. Move in smaller steps.

I got above my station and failed miserably lol. Yes smaller steps are what's needed. I'll leave the daring stuff to the sim.
That said, now that the TBE is marginally improved I feel a bit more confident.

[Chrisrw]

The shaft is supposed to be like that! (most heli's fly a very slight angle due to the constant 'push' of the tail rotor to counteract the main rotor spin). All mine do if I hover straight in front of me. Except for the msr - it has a slightly offset shaft so that the canopy appears level when hovering (the shaft itself is straight, but it sits a few deg of center). I'm not sure if that was for aesthetic reasons or to reduce the left lurch on take-off. But either way it's by design. You can't straighten the shaft (as far as I know) as it's made from Carbon Fibre - it would break or split but not bend. I'm guessing when you dismantled the heli you may have reseated something that was previously causing the TBE - either way at least its flying better! Well done fixing the tail shaft too - unless you want to start resoldereing the tail motor you have to replace the boom and motor together.
I'm hoping to try again tomorrow with the 450 - trying not be too overconfident. Being a week day it shouldn't be busy at the flying club - so if all goes wrong there'll hopefully not be too many witnesses!

[Chrisrw]

As Holst sais - get comfortable tail in. Once you find you can hover comfortably around the room and save yourself when you make a wrong move that's the time to try different orientations. I have been doing at least 15mins a day of 'slow pirouettes' on the sim since Deccember and can now recover from any direction although I will still return to tail in in an emergency to avoid a crash (I am still much quicker tail in).

[5hane]

The shaft is supposed to be like that! (most heli's fly a very slight angle due to the constant 'push' of the tail rotor to counteract the main rotor spin). All mine do if I hover straight in front of me. Except for the msr - it has a slightly offset shaft so that the canopy appears level when hovering (the shaft itself is straight, but it sits a few deg of center). I'm not sure if that was for aesthetic reasons or to reduce the left lurch on take-off. But either way it's by design. You can't straighten the shaft (as far as I know) as it's made from Carbon Fibre - it would break or split but not bend. I'm guessing when you dismantled the heli you may have reseated something that was previously causing the TBE - either way at least its flying better! Well done fixing the tail shaft too - unless you want to start resoldereing the tail motor you have to replace the boom and motor together.
I'm hoping to try again tomorrow with the 450 - trying not be too overconfident. Being a week day it shouldn't be busy at the flying club - so if all goes wrong there'll hopefully not be too many witnesses!

Oops, I'm glad I didn't force it too much then. I have to say this is feeling like a great little heli to learn from. Even if I destroy it tomorrow think I would have gotten my money's worth

[5hane]

Here we go then. Slightly more stable and the TBE radius is smaller:

http://goo.gl/IsLuBi


Considering how many times this thing has slammed into stuff I'm amazed it still ticks

[myxiplx]

That's the way to do it :-)

These little heli's all have their little quirks, I love micros for learning on but my advice would be to just fly them as best you can. If they start flying weird, don't spend too much time or money chasing problems or trying to get them to fly better, because if it's not one thing it's another.

The more you fly them, warts and all, the better you get. Once you're at the stage you can confidently hover it with the nose facing any direction, and can confidently fly it around the room you're probably ready to move up to a micro CP model anyway, especially since you have a sim :-)

If you want a real challenge, try this lot (they work just as well on the sim as on your micro):
- Hover tail in, keep it stationary for 10s (well, as stationary as that heli does)
- Rotate 45 degrees, and hold it again. You have to keep it over the same spot, and keep it still for 10s
- Repeat until you've done each direction
- Once you're good, start it slowly spinning on the spot (30s to turn around), and try to keep the heli in one place while you do. Work on this while spinning left and right

Other fun things to work on are:
- Fly small clockwise circles round the room
- Then anti-clockwise
- Then try clockwise and anti-clockwise figure-8's (not easy with a small heli that's not precise)

Then once you've cracked all the above:
- Try to fly backwards circles (start slow, just hover it and drift round the circle)
- Then sideways circles

And for a real challenge:
- With the heli spinning slowly (piro'ing), try to drift it in a straight line back and forwards
- Then try a square
- Then a circle

If you get to the stage you can even do most of that in the sim and on the micro you'll have a great skill base for any CP model you do try to fly :-)

[Peteski]

5hane, if you get fed up of chasing problems with micro helis you might want to consider a small quad like the Nano QX. It is a blast around the house and a great learning tool for CP helis. I feel that my flying skills are coming on leaps and bounds with this thing. They don't break (there is nothing to break) and they are super quick. I can spend one battery practising hovering in all orientations (in super sensitive agility mode) and the next battery tearing up the living room in safe mode. It really is a lot of fun and confidence inspiring with the various flight modes and no crash worries at all. In that respect it's a bit like the sim only a lot more fun!

[5hane]

That's the way to do it :-)

These little heli's all have their little quirks, I love micros for learning on but my advice would be to just fly them as best you can. If they start flying weird, don't spend too much time or money chasing problems or trying to get them to fly better, because if it's not one thing it's another.

The more you fly them, warts and all, the better you get. Once you're at the stage you can confidently hover it with the nose facing any direction, and can confidently fly it around the room you're probably ready to move up to a micro CP model anyway, especially since you have a sim :-)

If you want a real challenge, try this lot (they work just as well on the sim as on your micro):
- Hover tail in, keep it stationary for 10s (well, as stationary as that heli does)
- Rotate 45 degrees, and hold it again. You have to keep it over the same spot, and keep it still for 10s
- Repeat until you've done each direction
- Once you're good, start it slowly spinning on the spot (30s to turn around), and try to keep the heli in one place while you do. Work on this while spinning left and right

Other fun things to work on are:
- Fly small clockwise circles round the room
- Then anti-clockwise
- Then try clockwise and anti-clockwise figure-8's (not easy with a small heli that's not precise)

Then once you've cracked all the above:
- Try to fly backwards circles (start slow, just hover it and drift round the circle)
- Then sideways circles

And for a real challenge:
- With the heli spinning slowly (piro'ing), try to drift it in a straight line back and forwards
- Then try a square
- Then a circle

If you get to the stage you can even do most of that in the sim and on the micro you'll have a great skill base for any CP model you do try to fly :-)

Game on. I will give it my best shot and get back to you with the results I can't wait until I can properly fly this thing!

[5hane]

5hane, if you get fed up of chasing problems with micro helis you might want to consider a small quad like the Nano QX. It is a blast around the house and a great learning tool for CP helis. I feel that my flying skills are coming on leaps and bounds with this thing. They don't break (there is nothing to break) and they are super quick. I can spend one battery practising hovering in all orientations (in super sensitive agility mode) and the next battery tearing up the living room in safe mode. It really is a lot of fun and confidence inspiring with the various flight modes and no crash worries at all. In that respect it's a bit like the sim only a lot more fun!

I didn't realise quads could help prepare me for CP. I'll take a look TY

[Peteski]

I didn't realise quads could help prepare me for CP. I'll take a look TY

Me neither at first, but quads respond to cyclic inputs in much the same way as a CP heli does. After a week of practice I could comfortably fly fast banked loops, figure 8's and hammerheads around a 15x15 ft room (in stability mode). I know I wouldn't be able to achieve this with a micro CP heli at this point, because I would have smashed it up long before I got the hang of flying it in that way. That's the beauty of the quad, it can bounce off walls and furniture without any worry of damage and I'm now already at a point where I rarely even crash it unless I try something really silly.

As much as I prefer the look of helis, my Nano QX is the one that's allowed me to make real progress flying indoors. With the various flight modes you can make it as tame or as wild as you could wish for.

[myxiplx]

Oh absolutely, the nQX is very hard to beat for somebody coming in to the hobby. Small, agile, tough, safe. That plus a sim are two of the best tools you can buy early on.

[5hane]

Me neither at first, but quads respond to cyclic inputs in much the same way as a CP heli does. After a week of practice I could comfortably fly fast banked loops, figure 8's and hammerheads around a 15x15 ft room (in stability mode). I know I wouldn't be able to achieve this with a micro CP heli at this point, because I would have smashed it up long before I got the hang of flying it in that way. That's the beauty of the quad, it can bounce off walls and furniture without any worry of damage and I'm now already at a point where I rarely even crash it unless I try something really silly.

As much as I prefer the look of helis, my Nano QX is the one that's allowed me to make real progress flying indoors. With the various flight modes you can make it as tame or as wild as you could wish for.

Sounds very tempting, for now though I will struggle on with the MSR.
I might be wrong but the way I see it at the moment, if I can slowly get the hang of the MSR in a tight space, I should be better prepared for the next step. It occurred to me last night whilst wishing for more space to throw my my heli around in (as usual), that the tight space will help me learn to be a better flyer than having the leeway of losing control and not hitting something in a large space. I've seen a few videos of newbies thinking they are doing spectacularly well wizzing their micro 's around the garden when they actually have very little control.

[Peteski]

The nQX lets you do both though. In safe mode you can throw it around pretty quick even in a small room, which does wonders for your orientation and reaction skills. Then in agility mode it becomes a challenging beast just to hover and fly around slowly. It can get away from you in an instant if you don't pay close attention. I can't imagine a CP heli being any harder and certainly isn't on the sim. Best of both worlds for learning indoors and did I mention that there are no setup issues and you can't break it if you try?

I may well get something like a mSRX for the house next too as I like helis so much and I feel confident I could fly one now. I think I've already found the limits of my mCX2, but it's still fun to fly in the lounge and good for practising precise circuits. I wish Blade would make a FP or even CP micro with their safe technology. That would be awesome for indoor fun.