Governor?

[Sesame]

but personnally I think by fitting a governor when you first start out your missing out on part of the learning curve of flying rc helis.

I think you need to know how to setup your throttle curves as I always setup my helis without a governor when I first start, as if you lose a magnet you revert to them anyway and without them in your transmitter your asking for trouble.

You certainly dont need them when learning to hover or even for flying circuits.

[Si Goodchild]

Having tweaked my throttle curves a bit this weekend and released a fair bit more power I'm thinking that some further work plus cyclic mixing would be a good thing, however I also feel that a govenor is probably the way to go in my Raptor 50 V2/dx7 combo (I may end up using the flight gear in a 90-size one day too, so will need to buy with that in mind). I'm not flying 3d, but am looping, rolling, inverted etc.

Given that I already have a CarbSmart on-board I don't think that a multi-gov is right choice for me. I'm on a fairly tight budget, so what govenors do you guys recommed? The align unit seems well priced.

Si G

[J-S-Q]

It's the Align one that I just started using (also along with a Carbsmart). My flying level sounds roughly similar to yours and like I said in my previous post, I definitely felt it made a worthwhile difference. Actually, another heli flyer at my club commented on how much more consistent it sounded in flight. Very easy to set up as well.

[coptermanic]

+1 My sentiments all along. I am not good enough to mess about with mixes an all that stuff, Bert Kammerer need not worry. The gov gives me protection and my heli flies better with it. I have just run-in a new engine, without using the gov, and I did notice the difference in engine smoothness and heli flying when I re-engaged it.
I agree with what the experts/aces say though: you should know how to set up T and P curves etc, and what the TX functions can do for your flying.

[J-S-Q]

I agree with what the experts/aces say though: you should know how to set up T and P curves etc, and what the TX functions can do for your flying.

Yes I think that's definitely true -just get your head around the effects of pitch/throttle curves before using a governor as that helps with your general understanding of the way a heli works. I'd also have thought it's a bad idea to use the governor during the actual run in phase.

[Si Goodchild]

That's very useful, thanks. I've downloaded the Align RCE G600 gov manual and it does look relatively straightforward. I guess I'll use the rpm data for the JR radio on my DX7. Has anyone got any expereince of fitting the sensor system on a Raptor? Clearly the TREX 600 is designed to take it, but I'm wondering how much fettling I'll have to do to get it work on my machine?

[moyesboy]

The governor wil try to keep your motor goung at the set RPM by opening the throttle, even if your mixture is so completely wrong the motor is way down on power.
The result is that if your mixture is off the governor might well stop you noticing - especially if your only hovering about. You wouldn't notice the lack of power unless yuo did something power hungry like a full pitch climb out or some sort of aerobatics.

Even with a governor fitted you operate without the governor when testing the motor and getting the mixture right.
Runnng in a motor with the governor on is asking for trouble.

Until you are flying in idle up then the governor would be normally switched off anyway.
normal thing to do is have normal governor off, idleup1 with a head speed of about 1700, and idlleup2 at 2000+ (on a .50).

The main reason for a governor is to prevent overspeeding in a situation where you are descending in idle up and the rotor is offloaded becuae it is autorotating. The loads through over speeding are more significant the larger the heli so a governor ispretty much essentuial on a .90 where the blades are big and heavy and the motor is more fragile if it over revs (and more expensive). On a .50 it is optional but preferred by most. On a .30 its just a nice to have.
So until you are into fast forward flight and big swooping manoevres the governor is a luxury, and possibly a source of more problems than it cures.

The other aspect is it is actually quite common for the govenor magnet to go missing, or the sensor to pack in. Should that happen you will end up running with the existing throttle curves so they do need to be approximately right (some folks have been known to set 100% flat line which could be nasty if the governor packs in).

The governor will work better if the throttle curves are set and cyclic -throttle mixing is active. The reason for that is the throttle setting is passed through to the servo by most governors and then the control is applied on top. If the throttle curve was exactly right the governor has nothing to do (but it does due to the attitude of the model, wind etc etc.). This is what is meant by an active governor - it uses feedforward of the throttle curves. The early governors (the GV-1 for example) can only change the throttle after it sees the motor start to slow down as it doesn't have the active feedforeward.

With the rudder throttle mix that might be used without a governor - this is best replaced by a rudder governor speed mix. If this is set correct the rotor rpm should remain constant relative to the air when the heli piroettes each way. not got round to setting that myself yet.

Two mixes for cyclic throttle and one for rudder-gov means all the mixes are gone in the DX7.

Compared to a well set up set of throttle/pitch curves with approriate mixing the effectof fitting a governor should not be that noticeable - but if your curves are way off then of course the difference will be really pleasant!

There is a very good explanation of setting the throttle curves and applying the mixes at Raptor Technique

[coptermanic]

Thanks for the detail there. My DX6i only allows one set of rpm and temp settings, so i have settled with 1900rpm and 95c, to cater for both NORM and STUNT requirements.
The Aerospire MultiGov requires a linear 0/50/100 diagonal T curve, and I set the gov to kick in at 35% throttle. Am interested in the mixing theory, though, and might seek further advice on it with my 600.

[coptermanic]

Have just read the item on throttle mixing etc at the Raptor site and didn't understand any of it.

[rudeboy]

Have just read the item on throttle mixing etc at the Raptor site and didn't understand any of it.

lol, I was reading that earlier and must say i was struggling a bit with it..
gonna do a bit more research...

[simon1]

lol, I was reading that earlier and must say i was struggling a bit with it..
gonna do a bit more research...

I think these are my sentiments exactly its fine for you experienced flyers saying set up cyclic mixing ,but doing for me, is much another matter.
Although I think its a good point, and for now I think researching mixing throttle and cyclic is a must for the rainy days

Governor on the backburner for me now then, and more reading ahead

thanks for all of the comments

much appreciated

simon