I'm still shaking after 1st Flight

[helismeagol]

I went for my first mayden flight yesterday on my new Blade 450 which is my first CP heli. What a beauti to fly but my thumbs were shaking on on the sticks, and had to put her down a few times to breath. Had another 2 flights this afternoon and waiting for packs to charge up.

quick Q: how long should I set my timer on (3s 2200mAh 30c) while doing slow hovers.

[zoombolt]

Good on you. You try telling someone outside RC/heli's that they have that effect on you - they'll think you're a little bit bonkers.

Set your timer to 5 min initially, then check how much juice you're putting back into the battery. You may be able to increase or decrease your timings accordingly.

[tiddler]

Well done m8 You are now an official member of the disco thumb club.
Next comes the disco knees/legs, Lol

[tonystevens]

great feeling isnt it!

[muscleflex]

that's weird coz i have just come back inside the house after flying a pack and my left hand was shaking as well!

[AlastairC]

Well done!!! I set my timer to 5mins ( as zoom bolt suggests above) on my 400 as only just starting and doing landings, hovers, slow movement with it. Still have plenty left in packs. Thumbs still shake now... even after putting plenty of packs through it.

[Snake_uk]

i've got my 450 set to a 8 mins for simple hovering, and they still show 10v,

[simon1]

I love threads like this, it reminds me of the early days, im in the middle ground now, can fly comfortably but way off 3d. Well done and remember baby steps and just take your time

[helismeagol]

nice comments guys and its good to know that every rc heli pilot had to go through this. I need to upgrade my packs from 2 to 10, spending 10 mins flying is just too short

[Tridztan]

Kudos, you should be proud of yourself. Great feeling isn't it?

[heli]

Well done...I still shake after every flight. Run 2 packs myself tonight and buzzing. It's why we do it!

[AcidDrink]

i've got my 450 set to a 8 mins for simple hovering, and they still show 10v,

For 3s batteries 10v is way too low, you are killing the pack, it's about 3.3 volts per cell, which under load will probably go down to about 3v, if you go less, you will damage the pack. I don't know about Blade ESC, but most ESCs would cut off at this value.
The best way is to monitor how much you put back into the batter after flight, optimal value is about 80%, so for 2200 mAh lipo it's about 1750 mAh. If you put back more, then lower your flight time.
If you can't check how much you put, rough voltage value is about 3.72 volts per cell, which is about 11.2 for 3s pack.
By the way hovering takes more power than flying around, because there is no air lift at all.

[muscleflex]

But how do you know the battery still holds the full capacity? Judging by how much you put in is deceiving coz the pack might not have the full capacity anymore?!
Probably easier to just check voltage afterwards and make sure it's showing no less than 3.7v per cell.
My batteries which are 5yrs old show 3.67v after around 5mins

[PeteStewardson]

But how do you know the battery still holds the full capacity? Judging by how much you put in is deceiving coz the pack might not have the full capacity anymore?!
Probably easier to just check voltage afterwards and make sure it's showing no less than 3.7v per cell.
My batteries which are 5yrs old show 3.67v after around 5mins

Well if you are putting more in but using the same timer you know the pack is getting old. It's easy to watch the trends of how much your putting back in your packs. Having said that now I've moved on from hovering into forward flight my pack usage has dropped so I need to fly a bit more before I start noticing any trends again. I fly my TT360 on 4s 2500mah packs and have my timer set for 7:30mins and still even hovering I only use 60% of the pack. Now I'm flying round I'm using about 100-150mah less in that same amount of time.

[Snake_uk]

By the way hovering takes more power than flying around, because there is no air lift at all.

in my novice defence, the instruction manual says that the standard timer is set for 6 mins but you can increase it to 8mins for simple hovering