lessons

[wouldbeflyer]

It is confidence, trying to move the 500 around ,like my 200, my heart feels like its going to jump out my chest and when it goes out of shape and I manage to save it, which it does often, it is akin to a near miss in a car crash. I asked the lessons question to get some guidance ,and thanks to all who have helped. There is a fella near here , that will give and has given tuition to others , but although I believe I met him recently, I did not take his number .He was a sponsored pilot for Align until he became ill.
You are bang on ,lessons are a must for me now I think, Trying to push it without guidance seems foolhardy but I feel my impatience for smooth flight overwhelming

[Peteski]

Have you considered using an FBL with a decent bailout like the Spirit, Demon etc? It obviously won't teach you to fly, but might boost your confidence knowing you can self-level whenever you get too nervous or out of your comfort zone.

[wouldbeflyer]

You are onto something here. I should have probably got a system like one o these ,not that I know the first thing about them , but anything to save destroying a model. As it is now, my 500 is in the cupboard until a really calm day comes along which is so frustrating. Lesson would be good but I will need to travel, buddy is fine if you know someone willing to do it. I am very much undecided what to do ,impatient to move on and just do graceful flying.
I will have a look at these systems and if I can afford one , then maybe invest so thank you

[myxiplx]

For me a lot of it just comes down to stick time. The more you can fly the smaller models, and the more comfortable you become with your orientations, the less nervous you are when you fly. Once you feel in control the adrenaline starts to fade, and it becomes more relaxing than stressful.

Everybody learns differently though. Some people like the sim, some like micros, some prefer lessons, and some just like to take it carefully and learn on a big model. Each approach works, so just go for whatever you like the sound of.

This hobby is a journey though, not a sprint, it takes a good while to build up those initial skills and there's no need to rush. Once you have them, they're there for life :-)

[wouldbeflyer]

Its true ,we all and me especially, try to find what suits I suppose. Being a late starter, I'm scared that I will be too old to use any skills I just may possibly get. It must be nice to think of it as a pleasure and not a must do, I envy you. Just lately the urge to park it in the cupboard has loomed again, I'm sure its not unusual at this stage, a nice day and a good flight will hopefully change this..Got some good advice of here though, well worth another look

[_tj_]

I can recommend a fbl system with ball out / self level.

I went from the 3gx to an ikon.
My flying has improved has you can try new moves and have a backup plan.

Although you can get to nervy and trigger well before you should.

Having said that.
I'm self taught to the level I'm at.
Inverted tail first circuits (still need tons more practice at them)

But taking my first lesson Tuesday.
Mainly for confidence, to know what can be improved, how to improve it etc.

What the next steps are.

I think you can always learn more.
Through yourself, friends or lessons.

Good luck in your quest.
Don't give up, it'll come eventually.

Took me longer to fly a circuit, than inverted hover.

But we all learn differently.

[Granpappy]

Its true ,we all and me especially, try to find what suits I suppose. Being a late starter, I'm scared that I will be too old to use any skills I just may possibly get. It must be nice to think of it as a pleasure and not a must do, I envy you. Just lately the urge to park it in the cupboard has loomed again, I'm sure its not unusual at this stage, a nice day and a good flight will hopefully change this..Got some good advice of here though, well worth another look

I think the emphasis on being a late starter should not be a psychological barrier. Forget about it. Unless you have physical disabilities then you are as good to go as someone in their twenties. A faint heart never won a fair maiden. Just get out there and do it. I've seen golfers in there seventy's out drive me on the golf course. They don't think about their age, they just do the best they can.

Age is not a barrier, it's an advantage. Use that advantage and go out kick the backside out of that 500.

[myxiplx]

Its true ,we all and me especially, try to find what suits I suppose. Being a late starter, I'm scared that I will be too old to use any skills I just may possibly get. It must be nice to think of it as a pleasure and not a must do, I envy you. Just lately the urge to park it in the cupboard has loomed again, I'm sure its not unusual at this stage, a nice day and a good flight will hopefully change this..Got some good advice of here though, well worth another look

Remember too that sometimes you can try too hard. I think you'll find that most people in this hobby have gone through a phase of feeling burnt out, it's a complicated hobby with a steep learning curve, and trying to force the learning process can easily lead to frustration and losing sight of the enjoyment of just flying.

Here's a suggestion, it's something that helped me a lot when I went through this a year or two ago. Put together a training plan for the next month, and make up a little spreadsheet or chart to track your progress, sometimes it's surprising how many little details you pick up without realising. If you want to give it a try let me know what you can do on your 200SRX and I can probably suggest some things to practice.

[wouldbeflyer]

What system did you go for and was it expensive, sounds worth it whatever it was and where did you get an instructor from. I don't want to give up, seeing the 500 sideways on is so impressive, has to be a calm day though, but I just get so fed up trying. Tried the sim today but it has done something to one of the setups on my DX6i so that's out for now. , Blessed if I know why I started this venture, seemed like a good idea at the time. Cheers

[wouldbeflyer]

What a good idea , that way you know if you have improved so maybe get some satisfaction. Today being calm , I have been going sideways with the 500 ,the first advance I have noticed in a long while. I will start to list such changes and make a forward plan , some local kind hearted chaps have offered some advice and help , which is extremely good of them as it is a responsibility , Thanks for you very good suggestion, I am sure others will benefit as well

[wouldbeflyer]

Fair comment ,maybe just looking for excuses . The guy I fly with now is 78 and one of the best I have seen , not a teacher though . If I sat and watched tele all day I'd be bored out of my skull . So what an achievement it would be, onwards and upwards-----hopefully

[Peteski]

You definitely need to think more seriously about using the sim again. It may seem boring, but it's a means to an end. You can make progress in leaps and bounds if you practice on a good sim, no question at all. I use neXt with my DX8, so it's very close to reality for me. Anything I learn on the sim seems to translate pretty well into real life with few surprises. There are inevitably differences in feel and response, but the basic stick movements are the same.

[myxiplx]

What a good idea , that way you know if you have improved so maybe get some satisfaction. Today being calm , I have been going sideways with the 500 ,the first advance I have noticed in a long while. I will start to list such changes and make a forward plan , some local kind hearted chaps have offered some advice and help , which is extremely good of them as it is a responsibility , Thanks for you very good suggestion, I am sure others will benefit as well

Sideways on flight is a milestone, it's one of those things where you feel like you're taking a step backwards to learn it. You go from being able to hover the helicopter confidently with the tail towards you, to feeling uncomfortable and almost out of control with it side on.

It does just need practice though, and the sim or a micro helicopter are ideal for learning these hovering orientations. Don't try to force it, but a few minutes each day having fun and it'll soon start to click. I used to spend 5-15 minutes on the sim working on new things, and the rest of the time I'd just mess about and play.

The first things I'd recommend you work on are:
- Tail in hovering
- Nose left and nose right hovering (and if you find these uncomfortable, just turn the nose a little way, even 30 to 45 degrees is fine, it helps your brain adapt the skills you know to the new direction).
- Nose in hovering. For this, start with nose left or nose right, and just turn the helicopter a little way towards you. To begin with you might only be comfortable with it turned a tiny bit further, but that's fine, it just takes time for you to get really comfortable with the sideways hovering, and then for that to adapt to nose in.

Once you're fairly comfortable with all four (or before that on the sim), the next things you can try are drifting around from a hover, forward flight and slow pirouettes.
- Drifting around: From a hover, drift the helicopter in a straight line, square, or when you're really good, a circle. Once you can hover sideways or nose in, try it like that too.
- Forward flight: Once you can hover in all four directions, you can start slowly flying around, clockwise and counter-clockwise circles are good practice now.
- Slow pirouettes: Once you can hover in all four directions, hovering in one place while slowly spinning the helicopter is great practice. Aim for a really slow spin, 10s or so to turn all the way around. It works on all the directions at once.

If you're interested, when I first started tracking my progress, I just gave myself a score of 1-5 for all the things I was working on:

1 Starting. First attemps at this or sim only.

2 Lots of manual concentration, or sim only.

3 Flying ok in real life, less crashes, but needs concentation

4 Largely automatic or in good control, crashes rare

5 Completely automatic, no conscious thought and good control over height, speed, direction and position.

[Granpappy]

When I started flying side on, I found that it was a lot easier if I rotated my body so that the transmitter was roughly facing the same direction as the heli. I would fly it forward side on for about 20 meters and then bring it around 180 degrees and fly the other way turning my body at the same time. Anyone watching might have thought it a bit strange but it made me feel more comfortable. After a few flying hours of doing this I found that I was rotating my body less and less. It all takes a while but eventually it clicks and all the pieces come together.

Another way I guess is to fly it around yourself in a circle and then reverse the circle. You need plenty of room and to be on your own for this. Either way, I found orientating the transmitter to the direction of the heli a huge help.

[wouldbeflyer]

You are right of course, I should use the sim . Not sure how but it altered all my settings for the 200srx in the tx even though I wasn't on that. Needs checking out. Ideal winters evening pursuit