Newbie Saying Hi and a quick question

[redlinezak]

Hi all.
I have just got my first 'real' Heli in the shape of an E-flite Blade 400 3-D having progressed from my Lama V4. I have only run 1 pack through so far due to the extreme nightness when i get home from work . I have been spooling it up in the living room on the floor just to familiarise myself with the TX functions etc. I have noticed something that may be perfectly normal but i thought i would ask anyway.
When the heli is spooled up to maybe 50% throttle (normal mode) and i move the right stick forward the heli leans forward and left and when i pull back fully it leans rear and right. I have only had it in the air for a maximum of 10 seconds at a time and it or should i say I was all over the place so cant really say whether it flies straight forward etc.
Can anyone shed any light as to whether this is normal.
Im sure this will be the first in a long line of questions so i will apologise in advance.
I hope to join a Heli club soon but was wondering if there is anywhere indoors to fly in the Southampton area as i feel it might be easier to learn to hover with no wind (although it would give me one less reason on which to blame my shortcomings as a pilot).

Thanks in advance

Nath

[blackbrabus]

Hi and welcome.

you are in the same boat as me, not had my blade long.

not sure about your question on the controls but as far as I know if you are trying to fly indoors ie at a gym or something, most clubs will want you to have insurance, and will not let you fly without it.

let me know how you get on, and tape all your flights if you can. then watch them if you want a laugh, I do.

[Boggy]

hi nath
welcome to the forum. what your describing sounds right . if your spooling up till the heli is light on the skids it will tend to try and tip left. if your trying to do this 10 sec hovering in your living room it will be allover the place because of all the air currents you will generate. its not advised really mate things can go wrong really fast!! becarefull mate

[redlinezak]

Hi boggy and blackbrabus and thanks for the wecome. My brief 10 second hover was outside in very light breeze i do not have anywhere near enough space to fly in the living room (and the mrs would crucify me). I guess im possibly doing what a lot of newbies do and questioning whether the Heli is setup ok or whether i am actually really that bad I think i will reserve judgemnet until at least my third pack . I have just found the recommended tx settings thread so i have entered those on model 10 so i will give that a try if i can use both memories on the same RX (i have asked this on another thread)

Thanks again for the help and advice so far.

Nath

[Boggy]

other thread answered!!

[heliTV]

... I guess im possibly doing what a lot of newbies do and questioning whether the Heli is setup ok or whether i am actually really that bad Nath

Hi Nath and welcome!

My B400 lasted about 10 seconds into its first flight so you're doing well! My gut feel is that you're probably " really that bad" as pretty much everyone is if they haven't done it before. For me, its a skill to be learned and once learned looks easy... A few tips though - firstly, do you have some training gear installed? If not then get some because it makes the first few hops that much safer (might have saved me!) and secondly, take a look at Boggy's settings for the DX6i. The "out-of-the-box" 400 is not set up for beginners...

Final advice I can give is get a simulator like Phoenix. You can try things to your hearts content with no risk of crashing - and all the helis are setup perfectly!

As Boggy said, be VERY careful about even spooling up inside - its easy to hit the wrong switch and the 400 could do serious damage anywhere - inside a house doesn't bear thinking about...

Th B400 is a great heli but be prepared for a crash or two along the way - the first is the worst - when it happens, there's plenty of us around that can help!!

All the best

Graham

[163phil]

When the heli is spooled up to maybe 50% throttle (normal mode) and i move the right stick forward the heli leans forward and left and when i pull back fully it leans rear and right.

Hi Nath and welcome to the forum

I may be wrong, but it sounds to me as if you have your swash set to single servo 90 degrees. Make sure your swash is set to ccpm, which can be found in the setup menu.

Have fun

[redlinezak]

I havnt changed anything from new so it should be ok but i will check it just to make sure.

Thanks

Nath

[redlinezak]

Well i checked th TX and the swash is set to CCPM so i thought i would give it another go. Had some more space this time so was able to get it maybe 3 feet up but still struggled and ended in a small crash but only casualties were 1 rear blade and blade grip.
Assuming zero wind if the heli is set up correctly should i be able to lift off and hover with vitually no input from the right stick or is it usual to have to keep adjusting? Im also finding it hard to trim as i cannot get it stable enough to check trims.

[zoombolt]

With the trims, land then trim. It saves crashing & we really can't multi-task anyway.

The heli will want to go all over the place, so constant input is necessary ( Newtons 3rd law - for every action, there is an equal & opposite reaction).

That's what your fighting to keep it in the air as well as unseen air currents. If flown indoors (bad idea) the wash/air moving will magnify Newtons law, as that unseen air is bouncing off all the floor, walls & furniture etc. A sudden stop is pretty much guarenteed sooner or later.

Training gear & Radds school of flight is a good option.

[redlinezak]

Thanks for the advice zoombolt at least that gives me some hope that its purely my lack of skill and not anything with the heli. Regards the trims what i meant was that because i am so all over the place im struggling to figure out what needs trimmiing but i think i am getting somewhere. With my old coax i could pretty much get hands free hovering so it was easy to see where the trims were out. I guess as i get a little better it will be slightly more stable and consequently i will be able to trim it more accurately.

Thanks again

nath