Orientation Aids?

[StreetDragster]

Morning All

I'm currently at the stage of side in hovering, and i'm struggling with orientation.

I'm really really trying to use the body of the heli, but no matter how hard i try, i find i am using the skids to assist my in positioning the heli. Even if i death stare at the header tank/exhaust (depending on which side) i find it difficult to keep in a stable hover without using the skids to assist me with the heli's tilt left/right.

The problem being that when i'm getting to full blown side on (as in at 90 degrees to me) the skids are creating an optical illusion where i think its actually gone too far round (nose in) when in actual fact its tail in.

Very frustrating.

So to assist with this, i wrapped red electrical tape round the left hand skids, and black electrical tape round the right hand skids, which is helping.

But i now have two problems-
1) Wheres best to try and orientate yourself on the heli, is the skids a good idea to use or am i teaching myself a bad habit?

2) The red/black colour scheme works great when the heli is low, with green grass backdrop, but as i raise it to the horizon the bright but overcast sky turns the red tape black so i end up with two black skids and back in the same problem. Is there a better combination of colours to use or a better means or seperating the two skids to the eye?

I was think no tape and black tape, but i think i'll still have a silouette problem.

Thanks

Matt

[Gate88]

It kind of depends on the individual, I used to have a dayglo orange and dayglo yellow strip on the outside of each skid, it helped a bit but I was always told to try to watch the heli as a whole rather than fixate on any single part and by doing that I wasnt helping myself.

With me it was just one of those things that came with practice, I still get a bit of brain fade now and again, depending on the backdrop, but I now automaticaly input a tiny stick movement, my brain recognizes the result and sorts it all out without me really thinking about it.

[antsis]

The problem being that when i'm getting to full blown side on (as in at 90 degrees to me) the skids are creating an optical illusion where i think its actually gone too far round (nose in) when in actual fact its tail in.

Stripes on the skids (I also used dayglo orange stripes on the front struts of my R60) will help, but you'd be better off putting horizontal reference lines/marks on the canopy.

[Planehazza]

Stripes on the skids (I also used dayglo orange stripes on the front struts of my R60) will help, but you'd be better off putting horizontal reference lines/marks on the canopy.

Yeah I've seen people paint their canopies 50/50 dayglow green on one side and orange on the other. Helps with orientation.

On my 450, I haven't painted it, but I've put the align stickers on one side, but left the other blank.

[coptermanic]

A good canopy will help a lot. I found the same confusion using the skids, and have been using the canopy more and more as I am trying to take the heli further away.

[ianthebrave]

i have always covered the tail fin in dayglow orange film, still do, i find it rely helps.

[StreetDragster]

Cheers chaps, some good ideas there. I think i'll start by striping one skid, and leaving the other plain white, and putting some horizontal lines on the canopy

Thanks

Matt

[unwind-protect]

Yeah I've seen people paint their canopies 50/50 dayglow green on one side and orange on the other. Helps with orientation.

I used to put a stripe of electrical tape from the top of the canopy to the bottom, over the nose. It makes it really obvious if it's tail in or nose in, and makes it easier to see the heli in roll, too (as you'll see (or won't see) a bit of canopy past the tape).