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So my Flasher 500 arrived in the week (a Trex 500 ESP clone for those interested), complete with metal carry box, pitch gauge, GY401, Hitech 5245MG servos, DS520 tail servo and training gear. I had previously bought a DX8 transmitted / receiver pack so had everything I needed.
I had promised myself it would take me a few weeks to strip, reassemble, check, double check, triple check everything before her maiden flight. However, after a few late nights, head scratching, and then some careful programming, wiring and adjustment suddently found myself this morning with my Flasher ready for her maiden in the back garden.
Only problem was that I was still waiting for my batteries to arrive, so decided to use 2 of my 3S 1800 20C packs from one of my many RC cars - in this case a 1/16 scale E-revo VXL. Sure, these packs are somewhat underspecced for what i really need but I figured that i) I could not wait and ii) it was only going to be some lazy hovering in the garden - and how many amps do you need for that.
Needless to say, got the Flasher hovering nicely after dialling in a little trim from the starting positions on the tail, and cyclic - which was not too far out. Took me a little while to get the gyro set up nicely.
I am feeling totally on a high. Not only have I managed to hover the 500 nicely on a couple of sets of packs (have spent lots of time on Realflight over the past 2 years), but am also feeling very pleased with myself considering that I know nothing about helicopters in the real world (only what I have read), and had nobody to help me set her up. It just shows that if you are careful and take your time learning on a sim you can have some successful time in the air without being in a club - something I tried to join but my local club is totally full and has quite a waiting list for new members.
This first hover has shown me a few things and I learned a great deal already just from those 10 minutes in the air. Got some minor adjustments to make, plus a whole load of confidence to build before I try forward flight (which I think I am capable of doing).
One question though (and sorry for the droning on, it's just that I am still on a high). One thing that totally caught me by surprise was the fact that the rotors would spin up at zero throttle -despite my throttle curve being at 0% at zero stick. It is only having throttle hold on that stopped me getting my arms chopped off. Is this normal, or did I set something up wrong?
Thanks for reading this far - appreciate this is probably a little dull for some people.
I had promised myself it would take me a few weeks to strip, reassemble, check, double check, triple check everything before her maiden flight. However, after a few late nights, head scratching, and then some careful programming, wiring and adjustment suddently found myself this morning with my Flasher ready for her maiden in the back garden.
Only problem was that I was still waiting for my batteries to arrive, so decided to use 2 of my 3S 1800 20C packs from one of my many RC cars - in this case a 1/16 scale E-revo VXL. Sure, these packs are somewhat underspecced for what i really need but I figured that i) I could not wait and ii) it was only going to be some lazy hovering in the garden - and how many amps do you need for that.
Needless to say, got the Flasher hovering nicely after dialling in a little trim from the starting positions on the tail, and cyclic - which was not too far out. Took me a little while to get the gyro set up nicely.
I am feeling totally on a high. Not only have I managed to hover the 500 nicely on a couple of sets of packs (have spent lots of time on Realflight over the past 2 years), but am also feeling very pleased with myself considering that I know nothing about helicopters in the real world (only what I have read), and had nobody to help me set her up. It just shows that if you are careful and take your time learning on a sim you can have some successful time in the air without being in a club - something I tried to join but my local club is totally full and has quite a waiting list for new members.
This first hover has shown me a few things and I learned a great deal already just from those 10 minutes in the air. Got some minor adjustments to make, plus a whole load of confidence to build before I try forward flight (which I think I am capable of doing).
One question though (and sorry for the droning on, it's just that I am still on a high). One thing that totally caught me by surprise was the fact that the rotors would spin up at zero throttle -despite my throttle curve being at 0% at zero stick. It is only having throttle hold on that stopped me getting my arms chopped off. Is this normal, or did I set something up wrong?
Thanks for reading this far - appreciate this is probably a little dull for some people.
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