Got Phoenix Up And Running - Question!!

[ShaggyRS6]

I want to thank Rich for taking time to come to my house and setup Phoenix. Top bloke. Really Top Bloke.

My question (I dont want this to sound big headed) but how realistic is Phoenix. I only ask because my son hovered it right away, well after about 2 mins, and after 30 mins I can fly a T-Rex 500 upside down, do a few circuits and land. And I have never flown anything other than a 4 channel Fixed pitch.

I know if gives a false sense of security, I get that, but its either not as bad as people say, or, and this is a very outside chance of an or.... me and the boy are actually ahead of the curve.

I must re-iterate, i don't want to sound as though we are prodigy Helo pilots, just looking for some feedback )

[BavarianRob]

Hi,
I've only had Phoenix a few days and I can take off, fly about a bit and get inverted and back upright and land. I have been doing loops and flying backwards (not always intentionally!) but when you try proper banked turns and figure of eights/stall turns and stuff, that's when I've noticed it to be harder. Still, only been flying a couple of weeks and the sim had defo made a difference might get the old mcpx inverted soon. But then again more likely I will need a new feathering shaft, blade grips, rotor linkages, tail boom lol.

Rob.


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[Cagey]

Me - jealous ? Nah !

Interesting post Shaggy, because I'm one of them folk that don't get on with Phoenix too well, but in an effort to speed up the learning process I persist with it as I'm getting peed off with always pranging my 450. To be honest I do rate it as an excellent training aid, because the fear / cost factor is nil, you definitely gain a sense of automatic thumb response that would take many hours of real stick time to develop.
So to answer your last point, I'd say you and the boy are probably inclined towards the gifted re heli driving and I hate your guts !

[ShaggyRS6]

I don't want to say i agree, but I would tend to agree :P and the reason I say this is I have now, in about 2 hours began to fly smooth circuits with rudder and aileron input (sorry going back to my fixed wig days), they are not so smooth 100% of the time, but they will do for now. I then went downstairs with the Atom FP and was doing things with that that I have never done before. So actually, it must be doing something right

Gonna keep plugging away though. I don't want to get that T-Rex 500 in the air until I am absolutely sure its not gonna end up in a bin bag.

[Vikki]

Oddly enough, flying around, with momentum behind you, it does seem easy. It's the hovering and the slow moves that are difficult. It can get away from you so quickly. Banked turns can lead to a nasty side on crash into the deck. I've been learning banked turns and tend to do it at height so when I screw it up I at least have the height to recover. Too low and I pile it into the ground (simulated).

I'm spending quite a while learning the slow moves and then spend time doing the fun stuff. It's all beneficial in the end but don't neglect at least 10 minutes each session learning the fine touches that slow requires.

To clarify my first statement, I should point out that that is with auto-zoom on. Do yourself a favour and turn auto-zoom off. My goodness but it brings it into perspective on just how quickly the heli can vanish to a small spot in the sky. Crucial to remember your orientation so you can guess at flying it back. Better yet is to learn to fly in the area that you can comfortably see and identify your helis orientation. Turning auto-zoom off will shock you.

I hope that was of some help. You can bet that it's all going to be deceptive. Which is why, when I get my 450 outside, I am going to start gently (effectively from scratch) with the training gear on.

The sim did, however, enable me to hover my mCPX and my Blade 120 SR. I couldn't before but a few sim hours and it helped enormously. It became a fine tuning the thumbs lesson in real life flying.

Vikki.

[ShaggyRS6]

I hear you Vikki, I did auto zoom off right away. I actually find the hover the easiest bit of it all. Take some concentration, and every now and again it gets away from you, but I find it ok. Interesting stuff!!!

[hedonist222]

Happy about your progress shaggy.
Looks like your shiny new Heli will be up in the air soon.

I remember you getting a good deal on it.

May I suggest you attempt to hover it once a week?
This way you'll know for sure whether you're Sim skills are precise and if not you'll know what you need to concentrate on in the Sim if hovering the real thing is not as fruitful as in the Sim.

[ShaggyRS6]

I like the idea of trying a hover once a week. thats a great idea. First things first though, I need to get it to my local model shop for them to test it out and setup.

I wont have it available for flying until at least next weekend.

Unless - Anyone local to me reading this thread is able to test it for me. I'd rather see £25 go to someone on here rather than a shop

[hedonist222]

I learned this hybrid way of doing things from a wise person on a Porsche forum.

There is a lot of debate about whether to keep RPM levels below 4 thousand the first 1000 km of a new Porsche as per the manual instructions or to dive it in high performance from day one. One group says that the engine should break-in and mold the way third naturally dove it while the other group says that silicone is required to maintain long term performance.

Anyways so this one person suggests a hybrid break in technique that goes as follows:

During short trips stay below 4I Buy try to do extended trips at least 10 times during the first 1000km and in each extended trip dive it first softly got a God teen minutes, making sure mechanical parts and fluids reach optimum opposing temperatures then dive it hats and fast for a good 15 to 20 minutes then cool down the engine by driving stay constant gear and RPM level for 15 minutes.

This way the engine breaks in and molds based on two driving attitudes.

I apply this school of thought to all aspects of my life. There is always an optimum equilibrium between the two extremes.

So practice on Sim and real Heli.

This methodology compliments the two extremes on the spectrum.

[BavarianRob]

I learned this hybrid way of doing things from a wise person on a Porsche forum.

There is a lot of debate about whether to keep RPM levels below 4 thousand the first 1000 km of a new Porsche as per the manual instructions or to dive it in high performance from day one. One group says that the engine should break-in and mold the way third naturally dove it while the other group says that silicone is required to maintain long term performance.

Anyways so this one person suggests a hybrid break in technique that goes as follows:

During short trips stay below 4I Buy try to do extended trips at least 10 times during the first 1000km and in each extended trip dive it first softly got a God teen minutes, making sure mechanical parts and fluids reach optimum opposing temperatures then dive it hats and fast for a good 15 to 20 minutes then cool down the engine by driving stay constant gear and RPM level for 15 minutes.

This way the engine breaks in and molds based on two driving attitudes.

I apply this school of thought to all aspects of my life. There is always an optimum equilibrium between the two extremes.

So practice on Sim and real Heli.

This methodology compliments the two extremes on the spectrum.

I dont think this is much help if I'm honest!

[hedonist222]

I dont think this is much help if I'm honest!

Which part? The once a week real heli hovering session or the finding a balance between two extremes?