Learning=Breaking Things

[Mojo]

So another installment of my action lately.. And.. Yup, you've guessed right, as the title says.. There was breakage involved..

Thursday (fooled by the weather report i thought it'll be a glorious day), so took the day off work and went to have a few flights with the T-Rex and the repaired Twister.. It was quite windy and cloudy! Not raining though, so no complaints there

So twister first, taken by one of my club members for a quick spin.. and the tail was vibrating like mad!! .. Hmmm.. Interesting!! So after changing the blades and tail blades, the problem is still there.. Definitely checked the main shaft and it seemed fine.. I find out later that there is the slightest of bends in the shaft which you can only tell by rolling it across a table and listening to the noise and comparing it to a brand new one, as it's visually fine).. So, no Twister.. I guess it's the T-Rex's turn

First flight and it was going pretty well, i'm really enjoying this heli.. Although all i do is hover it around, i am starting to have some authority and do controlled hovers where i want to hover..

Had to stop after 2/3 of the tank as i was getting mentally tired.. So a little break, fill the tank up again and go for another flight..

Now this one was eventful (by all means).. The nerves are not as bad now, i am confident and i was actually looking forward to flying it..

New maneuvers: Hover very nicely and still.. Move it 45 deg to my right and maintain a hover.. bring it back in front of me and hover very low in preparation for a controlled land (sort of practicing for when the TG comes off) ..

However, i did make a mistake eventually!! Took it a bit higher than i'm comfortable with (sort of half intentionally) and in bringing it back down it came down a bit too quick.. So without much panic i tried to correct it's attitude and almost managed to but it landed a bit heavy while still in a backward movement..

Damage: Tail fin and a stripped tail gear..

So why did that happen?? I did not give it more throttle while i was doing the correction maneuver (i think anyway).. That won't happen again in a hurry!!

However, i wonder whether the reason it came down too quick is because i don't have enough negative pitch in my heli and when the wind gets under it i have to shut off too much of the throttle?? I'll have to check?

So, heli fixed and lesson learned.. Roll on tomorrow.. I need to fly some more!!

[Mart61]

Sorry to hear of your mishap. Still, not too much damage eh?

Lessons leaned and all that...

[zoombolt]

If that gust of wind is gonna come, you can bet your bottom doller it's right when you don't want it. May have been the wind, but -3to4 pitch & slightly higher throttle keeps it more stable near the ground.

[machasm]

Another thing to watch is that you come down level, especially with TG on.
The TG can catch on the ground and tip the heli to one side (in your case it sounds like it tipped backward).
I would put in at least -4 deg neg pitch for the reasons you state.
Also look at having a higher headspeed when your left stick is below mid-stick position (mode 2).
With a loss of headspeed the heli can become wallowy and more difficult to control.
Adrian.

[agh321]

ive seen you flying today and have to say (ha ha)

keep going your doing ok and youll get there in the end

[unwind-protect]

I find out later that there is the slightest of bends in the shaft which you can only tell by rolling it across a table and listening to the noise and comparing it to a brand new one, as it's visually fine

I never has success with the "rolling it along glass/ table" method unless the bend was quite big. The method I use now uses a permanent marker to mark deflections in the shaft. With practice you can detect tiny bends.

See http://www.rcheliwiki.com/Poor_man's_dial_indicator.

[Mojo]

Well today has been quite good.. No ground breaking progress but a solid 3 Flights with the T-Rex.. Been working on my hovering and (to my right and left as well).. However, i can just tell how hard it is getting it spot on (The A Cert is definitely a fair way away) as the more comfortable i get with one maneuver i have to re-learn it again when coupled it with another..

But i am very excited and wanting to learn, i actually was looking forward to every flight (still a bit nervous in everyone to start with) but enjoying them immensely..

Had to put the Heli down a few times during my flights to just relax as it is mentally exhausting to keep the concentration..

Later in the evening i did fancy a flight with my Twister and crashed it pretty quickly (the usual) .. It needs a lot of work to get it setup right i have to admit (or maybe flying it after having such a long time on the T-rex is a bad idea)..

So the repairs begin tonight.. Main shaft, tail shaft, blades, boom, feathering shaft and some servo gear..

Still a happy bunny though!! lol!!

Mo

[cambs flyer]

Well at least your spirits are high after such events, but it's still a ****er when it happens.

Here's to far less crashing in the coming months buddy.

[Mojo]

Well at least your spirits are high after such events, but it's still a ****er when it happens.

Here's to far less crashing in the coming months buddy.

Thanks mate..

I'll drink to that too .. I think it's just getting it set up right.. I'm fixing it now and waiting for some parts.. I still want to fly it, it's a nice little heli.. So hopefully when it's done i'll post a thread regarding the matter..

Cheers,

Mo

[gramey]

Mojo, I never ever bothered with TG on my 600, I used it on my Blade when I had it and found it caused more problems than it's worth if your flying off grass. I think they're fine on hard surfaces where the ping pong balls will roll but on grass they tend to catch and tip the heli one way or the other.

[Mojo]

Mojo, I never ever bothered with TG on my 600, I used it on my Blade when I had it and found it caused more problems than it's worth if your flying off grass. I think they're fine on hard surfaces where the ping pong balls will roll but on grass they tend to catch and tip the heli one way or the other.

Hi Gramey,

I think with the little one the TG can be quite treacherous as you say.. It's quite flexible and sometimes causes trouble with the grass.. One of my crashes was actually a bounce caused by the TG.

On my 600 i have a short TG (half the normal size) and it's not flexible, so sort of gives me a bit of an error margin.. I'm practicing controlling the heli now and having it in a short stable hover just before touchdown as i would like to take it off as soon as i can

[gramey]

Mojo, good idea with the smaller training gear, if truth be known I didn't jump I was pushed. When I joined my local club and went for my first lesson the instructor said ' You don't want that rubbish on there, put it away' as I went to attach my TG.
To be fair I think he did me a favour as on my first landing I did a tail blade and gear but since then my take off's and landings, the intentional landings, have been pretty smooth. It's the bit in between and the unintentional landings I need to work on now!!!

[Mojo]

Mojo, good idea with the smaller training gear, if truth be known I didn't jump I was pushed. When I joined my local club and went for my first lesson the instructor said ' You don't want that rubbish on there, put it away' as I went to attach my TG.
To be fair I think he did me a favour as on my first landing I did a tail blade and gear but since then my take off's and landings, the intentional landings, have been pretty smooth. It's the bit in between and the unintentional landings I need to work on now!!!

Well top marks for the bravery with the TG (i think i would have said "i don't think so!" )..

However, i would sacrifice a tail blade and a gear if it means i can take the TG off and be comfortable with landings (evidently, take offs are the easy part)

Good luck with the in-between stuff, I'm working myself towards it, and can't wait

Mo

[gramey]

Usually when I get down to the last 1/4 of a tank I practie my landings, just up 8 - 10 feet or so and down again and do 3 or 4 or these. It sounds really boring but I've found it's helped me get fairly confident with landing it more smoothly and pretty much on the spot I want to land on.
It'll still be good to practice this with your TG on, just try landing it softly and try not to get it just above the ground and then dumping the throttle knowing the TG will save it. When I first started I just used to let my CX2 bounce down on the TG but it it was ugly. Now, unintentional landings aside, I'm getting quite good at putting it down. I also found using the landing training on Phoenix helped.
I'm sure you'll soon master it and really enjoy flying your 600, I know I enjoy flying mine.

[Mojo]

I'm sure you'll soon master it and really enjoy flying your 600, I know I enjoy flying mine.

It's a beauty!! i love it And thanks, i'll be working on my landing and looking forward to flying it, when i've mastered my hovering and landings