Collective and tx set up

[spike]

Ok I know XTR doesn't come with a c/card debit facility when things go belly up in the sim. But after some 20hrs on XTR I altered the set up so that the collective was centred on the left stick ie up +ve pitch, and down -ve pitch. After a couple of hours I found it much easier to control the heli and the response seemed much tighter (and I crashed less). I have done a further 25hrs on the sim with this config. When I finally move to the 'real world' should I go with a basic set up and dial-in a modest amount of negative pitch at min collective (full down left stick) e.g. - 2 to -3 degrees?

Am I running before I can walk?

[warboysastro]

There's always that possibility you're going to panic and bring the throttle stick back too quickly, and with -ve pitch, end up burying it in the ground.

No matter what anyone says, sims aren't 'exactly' like flying the real thing. There is far more 'fear' there when flying something real that cost hundreds of pounds than steering a group of pixels around a screen!

I think for initial learning and hovering, have a linear 'curve' (ie. a straight line) with 0deg as the minimum pitch available.

It's easy to later adjust for more pitch and set up a throttle/pitch curve on your radio.

[robgt]

As warboysastro says, there is always that possibility of panicking, and with too much negative pitch, that can be a disaster.

I suggest that you mechanically set up your heli for +/- 10° pitch with 0° at midstick - and then use the pitch curve to remove most of the negative pitch below the mid-stick position.

So, if your linear pitch curve goes:
1: 0%
2: 25%
3: 50%
4: 75%
5: 100%

...giving you +/- 10° pitch with 0° at midstick - change points 1 and 2 so your curve looks like this...

1: 40%
2: 45%
3: 50%
4: 75%
5: 100%

You will have maybe -2° at full negative stick, up to 0° at midstick, going up to 10° at full stick positions. This gets you used to hovering at 3/4 stick, which is what you need to do if you want to fly 3D. Then, once you're comfortble flying the right way up and want to start loops and inverted, you just drop your pitch curve back down to 0% and 25% on points 1 and 2 and you have +/- 10° pitch available on the standard linear curve again.

Cheers,
Rob

[warboysastro]

...Then, once you're comfortble flying the right way up and want to start loops and inverted, you just drop your pitch curve back down to 0% and 25% on points 1 and 2 and you have +/- 10° pitch available on the standard linear curve again.

...not forgetting of course to add a throttle/revs V curve so you have some revs at negative pitch. Nothing worse than seeing your heli drop out of the sky when inverted!

Cheers - Rob

[robgt]

Of course

LOL
Cheers,
Rob

[spike]

Thanks.

I've tried +/- 10 degrees pitch and 0% midstick and this seems comfortable. However, the linear (pitch) curve set up I have configured does make hovering and landing a little trickier as it is quite twitchy. However, I have not yet set up hover RPM yet (throttle curve) so maybe this is why landing is a bit tricky at times. I can quite happily do (not very symetrical) loops, stalls, 360 rolls and basic inverted flight (with enough height!). However, I have noticed if the heli has rapid forward speed and go from say +ve pitch to -ve pitch too quick, it seems to stall and the control surfaces do not respond to input. And falls like a brick to the deck. Can helis stall like a fixed wing?

Is this all a bit sad given that that I'm talking about a simulation? Maybe I need to get out more!

[robgt]

Sounds to me like you have not got Idle Up switched on - when you pull negative pitch, the head should not stop...

Cheers,
Rob

[Ade_Law]

get yourself on the buddy lead with the full pitch range with somebody that has plenty of experience using a buddy lead. learning process is so much quicker. you will work your way through walking into running in no time.

Ade