Hover Practice

[Al M]

I have now started my 2nd Gallon of fuel, having been flying for a few weeks. I just thought I would post a video of my Raptor 30! For anyone looking to move up to their next heli, or getting a new 30 size - I would recommend this machine! It fly's like a dream! Not a great video, taken using a Flip cam sat on top of my flight box!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpkhljVzJ6M"]YouTube - Hover Practice.AVI[/ame]

Right... off to work! Byee!

[Mart61]

Nice one! Watch out for those lamp posts tho.

[Al M]

The perspective is quite deceiving on this - the lamp post is well away. Just as well really! lol

[andylinney]

Keep it up, you're doing really well so far. I think we've found Del's inner teacher too!

You'll be off and into lazy 8's before you know it but first we need to get your hovering proficiency sorted mate.

[Baldie]

Nice work, The Raptor is a real confidence giver when learning. Love mine !!

[spunkmyer]

Nice hover with the 30, next side on and nose in. Looking good.

[RookieRC]

Great hovering mate, i may need to get one of those myself.

[Al M]

I know Andy - I was messing about with the controls, dialing in a bit of expo and what not so that is why the heli is a bit all over the place. I was turning it round to side on also. By the time I had my 3rd tank through it, it was sitting quite nicely. And as for Del.. yeah top man, teaching me well. To be honest everyone at the club has been sound - whether it is words of encouragement or advice, plenty of people have been involved in setting the heli up properly, checking it over etc. But fair to say, Del is teaching me plenty and is pushing me when I need a shove - ie taking the training gear off when he did. What a difference that made. And of course your good self - plenty of help from you! So all in all, my start in the world of RC heli's has been really good! I suspect, as a thought for other learners, if I was flying it on my own, i.e. not in a club and teaching myself, I would have binned it by now! So if you are thinking of getting into this hobby / sport - your first port of call is your nearest club!

[Birdie4x4]

Looking good, it looks as though you favor your right hand side, try moving it across your self right and left and concentrate on your weaker side.

[andylinney]

Great hovering mate, i may need to get one of those myself.

You know, I had a wee fly of this during its setup and it's so stable it's untrue. We managed total hands-off, in ground effect, for 7 or 8 seconds before it needed a wee nudge to correct for drift and there it sat again. It was so good it inspired me to get a .50 heli.

[GravityKills]

The 30 is an excellent heli, totally underrated with the popularity of the super-expensive Align etc stuff.
If anybody tries to tell me he has grown out of it, show me some piro stall turns

[Al M]

Looking good, it looks as though you favor your right hand side, try moving it across your self right and left and concentrate on your weaker side.

Good info, thankyou! And you are so right - I am much more comfortable that way. Each time I go out I try and push myself on a little bit. Last night my 'push' was to lift the heli up higher than I have done. I had it hovering up at about 60 - 80 feet - lifting it slowly and lowering down and landing it. Definately now going to work on what you suggested.

[Al M]

It was so good it inspired me to get a .50 heli.

I am really looking forward to seeing your heli.

[andylinney]

The 30 is an excellent heli, totally underrated with the popularity of the super-expensive Align etc stuff.
If anybody tries to tell me he has grown out of it, show me some piro stall turns

I think you've hit the nail on the head there, but in some respects you can understand why people recommend the model they're personally most familiar with (in most cases the T-Rex 600n) so that they're able to help setup and fly in the next stages.

In most respects the raptor is underrated as a beginners' model as most of us have worked on one at some point in their 'career' and the mechanical ccpm makes for an easy to get working model with little technical knowledge and that's got to be a winner, coupled perhaps with easily available spares it's pretty perfect IMHO.

However, the apparently cheaper 600n spares also makes for a good day to day beginners model and I'd imagine that despite being slightly larger in the whirly bits department, the 600n isn't that much more stable than the raptor and perhaps will consistently meet the demands of a progressing pilot theoretically in one purchase, although we all know that as a hobby we're serial upgraders regardless of our skill level.

[del19_82]

Well done Al mate, glad your still loving it! I haven't flown for a few weeks now so hopefully if the weather is ok at the weekend I will get up for a few flights!

I loved flying my Raptor I just wanted something different so went for a 600. I keep changing my mind about selling the raptor but think its going to go as I'm unlikely to fly it again and I want it to get used!