vertical tail fin stabiliser

[rob12770]

OK Tom, Il change the pitch to match your suggestions.. thanks alot for that
throttle curve is 0 42 65 78 100 is that ok ?
cheers rob

[tomatwalden]

Again, it's not really what I woudl advise. Essentially a collective pitch helicopter should control height using just that ... collective pitch. The altitude should NOT be a function of head speed which should remain largely constant.

Now, as a beginner, true constant-head speed (aka "idle up" or "sport mode") is a bridge too far since beginners tend to instinctively "drop the throttle" in a panic situation. Thus, full left-stick down (assuming mode 2) should kill the motor. You should get out of this habit, but that's another discussion. Anyway, the point is that even as a beginner, you want the heli to fly most of the time with a consistent head speed.

So, left-stick down = no motor, but then as you move the left stick up, you want the rotors to gain speed fairly quickly, then by the time that the heli lifts off, you want the rotors to have settled down to a constant RPM. With that in mind, I suggest the following throttle curve ...

0,40,70,70,70

Again, remember the middle number is mid-stick. So, along with the pitch curve I gave you before, by MID-STICK, the rotors will have reached 70% throttle, and will remain there as pitch continues to increase. I suggest 70% as the max, because more than that will likely freak you out more!

You should find the heli flies better like this too as changing RPM = changing torque. This means the gyro has more to contend with to hold the tail in a locked position. By having a constant head speed, you should find the tail hold is better!

[bell222]

Hi Rob

To get back to your fin.
I'm also new to the hobby and bought a 450L
I fitted a 500 fin and landing skids to avoid damaging the tail blades on heavy landing.
So far I had no problem at all.

Cheers
Lucas

[Peteski]

It's well worth a tenner to buy this beginner's setup guide to cp helis:-

RC Helicopter Tips & Setup eBook

It explains how to setup your heli to be completely beginner friendly and how to step it up as you advance. I found it invaluable at the start and I'm sure it saved me from several crashes!

[rob12770]

Again, it's not really what I woudl advise. Essentially a collective pitch helicopter should control height using just that ... collective pitch. The altitude should NOT be a function of head speed which should remain largely constant.

Now, as a beginner, true constant-head speed (aka "idle up" or "sport mode") is a bridge too far since beginners tend to instinctively "drop the throttle" in a panic situation. Thus, full left-stick down (assuming mode 2) should kill the motor. You should get out of this habit, but that's another discussion. Anyway, the point is that even as a beginner, you want the heli to fly most of the time with a consistent head speed.

So, left-stick down = no motor, but then as you move the left stick up, you want the rotors to gain speed fairly quickly, then by the time that the heli lifts off, you want the rotors to have settled down to a constant RPM. With that in mind, I suggest the following throttle curve ...

0,40,70,70,70

Again, remember the middle number is mid-stick. So, along with the pitch curve I gave you before, by MID-STICK, the rotors will have reached 70% throttle, and will remain there as pitch continues to increase. I suggest 70% as the max, because more than that will likely freak you out more!

You should find the heli flies better like this too as changing RPM = changing torque. This means the gyro has more to contend with to hold the tail in a locked position. By having a constant head speed, you should find the tail hold is better!

Brilliant mate , thanks very much !

sorry had to go away earlier..
il try these settings out later, im sure they will help .
cheers Rob

[rob12770]

It's well worth a tenner to buy this beginner's setup guide to cp helis:-

RC Helicopter Tips & Setup eBook

It explains how to setup your heli to be completely beginner friendly and how to step it up as you advance. I found it invaluable at the start and I'm sure it saved me from several crashes!

Hi, thanks for that, i see its an ebook, cool

[rob12770]

Hi Rob

To get back to your fin.
I'm also new to the hobby and bought a 450L
I fitted a 500 fin and landing skids to avoid damaging the tail blades on heavy landing.
So far I had no problem at all.

Cheers
Lucas

Oh ? interesting, il look into that , thanks

[rob12770]

Hi, after testing the new curve settings i input, the heli does not seem to run as smooth... its a bit more shaky than i t was last time i went out..what might be causing this ?
the Only thing that's changed are the throttle and pitch curves ?
cheers

[tomatwalden]

What do you mean by not as smooth? Can you be more precise?

For example, is it louder? Are you getting jittery movement (perhaps on the tail?), etc. Does the heli feel more responsive/"edgy" ?

[rob12770]

yes, the tail seems most affected, sort of a wobble, i also nitice on lift off the heli seems to yaw a tad more than it did, i also think in the air, i seem to have to correct the rotation more, its slowly turning i guess
cheers rob

[rob12770]

i don't know if its relevant Tom but im using MINI K_BAR

[rob12770]

another very Alarming thing was.. i had throttle hold switch flipped for safely ( thankfully) as when i unflicked it to spool up.. the heli went nuts.. spooled up real quick with no throttle input at the stick from me, i quickly killed the throttle via the switch, then noticed my flight mode switch was in the wrong position..I dont recall it doing that before, but maybe it was just never flicked.. il need to sort that as its very dangerous.. just lucky i observed safety..
sorry if my terminology is not quite right , hopefully you get what im saying ?
cheers rob

[tomatwalden]

Ok, sounds like you may need to adjust your tail gain. A slow wobble of the tail = gain too low. A rapid wagging of the tail = your gain is too high.

The other possibility is that the RPM of the motor/blades etc. at exactly 70% may be causing a resonance in the body of the heli that is affecting the gyro (kbar). Try changing all the 70s in your throttle curve to 75 or 80, eg. 0,40,75,75,75 or 0,40,80,80,80 to see if that helps.

[rob12770]

Ok, sounds like you may need to adjust your tail gain. A slow wobble of the tail = gain too low. A rapid wagging of the tail = your gain is too high.

The other possibility is that the RPM of the motor/blades etc. at exactly 70% may be causing a resonance in the body of the heli that is affecting the gyro (kbar). Try changing all the 70s in your throttle curve to 75 or 80, eg. 0,40,75,75,75 or 0,40,80,80,80 to see if that helps.

Thanks Tom, il do that..il let you know

[tomatwalden]

another very Alarming thing was.. i had throttle hold switch flipped for safely ( thankfully) as when i unflicked it to spool up.. the heli went nuts.. spooled up real quick with no throttle input at the stick from me, i quickly killed the throttle via the switch, then noticed my flight mode switch was in the wrong position..I dont recall it doing that before, but maybe it was just never flicked.. il need to sort that as its very dangerous.. just lucky i observed safety..
sorry if my terminology is not quite right , hopefully you get what im saying ?
cheers rob

Yep. Throttle and Pitch curves are specific to flight modes. Your "normal" mode throttle curve is as I've described, which links the power to the left stick position. Typically, flight modes 1 and 2 set a constant power to the motor regardless of left stick position - this is what is typically called "idle up" mode.

For now, stick to normal mode only - and ensure you're not in FM1 or FM2 before releasing throttle hold!