How do people progress

[anti]

The sim is ace, it's not so much fun directly as the knowledge that next time you fly you'll be a little bit better every time. Funnels just twigged with me on the sim, so a bit of an ability leap for me hehe.

[r4nd0m]

well I got hooked by this amazing hobby, early this year, only a few left to my 40s as well ... started out with 250size models for "beginners", which didnt turn out to be any good for me to progress on my own, mainly been repairing them over and over again.

then I looked into larger models as it is said that learning on a larger scale model is easier as it is more stable. so I went for a Trex 600 and joined a local club to learn from experienced people, get the knowledge and to exchange about things with other people. however after roughly a month with the club I did make some good progress but it does indeed take its time, you dont get much flight time out of an electric always keeping in mind that you are still familiarizing yourself with the transmitter, movements, model, outdoor conditions and what not ...
I had some minor issues, when I wasnt controlling the helicopter so I had to do a few repairs, basically gears, skids and stuff nothing serious and you need to get over the thought that something may happen, it does if you dont control the helicopter thats the lesson I have learned so far so you aim to control the helicopter and not you just putting in counter reactions.
that being said, I know what a sim is meant for however to me its pretty different to what I see/feel "live" so thats definitely an issue, at least to me.
I hover my mCPX indoors and in the backyard when the weather allows it - 4 batteries at a time, if time allows it on a daily basis and always try to recap and push myself a bit to do something new, for example side hover, 180° turn on spot etc just to get used to it and to leave a bit the comfort zone. it has not caused any damage so far so touch wood.

On the other hand however I also must admit a 600 can be a bit scary, size, noise level especially when you are unfamiliar with it and there is nothing you can do to fight it, its just experience I believe, I thought however a step down might be an option so I went for a 500 I am currently building in addition to that as the 450 at least to me is still to unstable, also I no longer want to repair the torq gears on the 600 so I went for a belt which helps if the tail touches the ground, I know larger tail fins will do assit in the same way ...

so as you can see my "fleet" is already quite huge for someone who has just started ... so with this background I can say joining a club is the best decision I made, you get to see different size models, different skills and advice, knowledge when needed and people like to share everything about helicopters with you, so no questions remains unanswered if you ask someone about it. clubs usually offer dedicated trainers who help you to progress, you wont have them all day but depending on the club you surely get a couple flights a day and its really worth watching other from a far as well as next to them and watch their stick work and discuss manoeuvre later even if its basic stuff.

and regarding age - get over it. we have members in their 60s who started less than 6 months ago I do look up to and guys way younger than I am who are just amazing from my perspective.

hope this helps
Sev

[animal47]

I think i am just going to stick to the mcpx for now as it seems that every time i try and have a play with any of my other heli's then it just makes me have to learn the mcpx all over again as it so much more responsive than any of my others and i find myself over correcting all the time. With a bit of luck we will have a nice calm summer which will allow me to get lots of time outdoors and with a few more batteries i can get longer sessions in.
I will certainly keep trying on the sim although i must admit i have just tried again and lasted only 5 minutes before i was bored stupid.

[Spasmod]

If it's Phoenix you have then flying online with friends makes it much more appealing. I hate flying alone unless there's one specific thing I'm working on

Also, when I'm flying with pilots better than me, it gives me the drive and inspiration to push myself that little bit harder

oh and I'm 41 this year and age hasn't hindered me one bit

[animal47]

Well I am pleased to say that things are finally starting to come together.
I have finally sort of cracked nose in providing that I have plenty of room to get things sorted out as it tends to shoot off in all directions when turning to get to nose in but I can catch it if I have enough room.
I have started to fly dodgy looking circuits and this is where the mcpx gets difficult as it is so hard to see it properly when you are flying around.
I even got inverted a few times one of which I held in a hover for a while but stupidly lack of sim time meant I wasn't prepared for everything being so arse backwards when inverted.
Still a very long way to go but definitely buzzing with the progress.
One thing that I think will help is that I forced myself to fly today with zero expo and 100% dual rates and by the end had got completely used to how twitchy it was.

[Scooby1doo1]

People think the sim is boring because it is, you can drive a car or ride a bike. Do you learn via a sim, would you use a sim to learn new moves.

It's harder and takes time to learn, I had a sim and then sold the sim. It was ok at first, but soon got boring.

I started over a yr ago now, and not much better off now. Times a killer for me, I don't have any spare time, hence not learning much.

It was weeks ago last time I went out


Sent from the Iphone via talktapa

[discoferret]

This year I thought I really need to start progressing. I use to just fly about maybe once a week and not really do alot. So for the last couple of weeks I have been on the sim for an hour a day and its really made a difference. Ive been just practising one orientation in this case backwards circuits and today I tried it out and it all went well. So I think alot of time on the sim and then just having the balls to do it is the key.

[heli]

I've been flying for just over a year now and I'm not a 3D god by any stretch. The key to this is stick time. Whether it's sim or real both have a positive effect (although real can have a negative effect on your wallet!) It's actually a bit scientific, what you have to do it firstly program your subconscious how to fly and then un-program your subconscious to go beyond your safety limits. Flying has to become 'automatic' just like driving a car, we don't really drive our cars we just plan the route, it's your subconscious that drives the car.

I also think things that have help me are; Taking my time, boring hovering flights are important to train the brain; Planning, I always set myself an objective to my flying session. Might be nose in, might be side on, might even be loops; Use all the tools to learn, Sim, Mcpx, Msr or even a plank. I bought a plank at Christmas and it’s really helped my orientation skills.

Most important...get advice from somebody else...the forum is full of commentators!

[highlightshadow]

Its definitely true about things clicking ... i'm still in the hovering stages but until recently i was doing fairly wild inputs on the sticks ...
One thing that helped me was get someone to video your hands on the sticks while you're hovering ... one of the chaps at the club videoed my fingers on the sticks and then once i'd finished played it back and explained how my inputs were too jerky and trying to keep the heli in this imaginary small box which is fine but he said relax and let it flow around more .... another 1/2 dozen packs later and i'm much less fearful about the heli moving about and letting it drift....

I'm how happily hovering out pack after pack tail in .... so i'm (just) starting to do drift left and right (so heli is 45 deg on) and holding the hover at each end for a few seconds before drifting back .... i'm also going to interspace that with hovering in front but doing the clockface of orientation until i get to 3 & 9 etc and hold the hover at each ....

Have to say though that i find the sim difficult too ... main reasons are that i struggle with the camera always panning around so much and because i find the heli becomes too hard to make out at distance (which would help with the camera situation) so i end up keeping it fairly close so the view is always shifting which i find disorientating more than outside where i feel more sure of position

[Sheldrake]

Have to say though that i find the sim difficult too ... main reasons are that i struggle with the camera always panning around so much and because i find the heli becomes too hard to make out at distance (which would help with the camera situation) so i end up keeping it fairly close so the view is always shifting which i find disorientating more than outside where i feel more sure of position

Oh Good it's not just me!! What really helped was having a lesson and seeing and feeling how it really works now the perspective is less off putting and the sim time is much more enjoyable.

[highlightshadow]

My situation is made worse by not having the most powerful computer so i cannot run Phoenix at full-screen and with decent detail to be able to see more of the world on the screen....

Do also find that the model in sim doesn't feel the same as my own real one but i do need to put myself through some more sim time really ... start learning orientation hovering... might set timer to something like 10 minutes so i know i've done a decent run 'seriously' and then spend a few minutes whizzing about as a reward

[heli]

.. might set timer to something like 10 minutes so i know i've done a decent run 'seriously' and then spend a few minutes whizzing about as a reward

This is a good idea, I usually aim for about 20-30 minutes, but always decide what I want to learn. I practiced froward and reverse tumbles (not sure if this has a name!) saturday, then sunday did it for real. New pants where required as in the real world it corkscrewed through the move and headed at me!

[helimadness]

Good to see so many people going through the same thing. I started about 2 months ago. Had a few indoor 3 channel heli for a couple of years then got a sim for a month and got hooked and got a trex 500. was getting ok on the sim and second day on the 500 was nose in. Starting to fly around a bit and attempt 8's when decided it was time to take the training gear off. This helped heaps with seeing the heli in the air at distance. But after about 10 flights tipped over on take off. Now after fixing and weather has been rubbish I am back to where I started. Little frustrating but got a quick hover in on the weekend and its starting to come back. Also just ordered a mini CP (cant get blades here) for sure stick time is the key. I was on a roll in the beginning as had a weeks holiday to fly everyday. Then 2 weeks off put me back to dot. Really looking forward to the Mini CP so I can fly each day.
With the sim I get a bit bored as well. What I have been doing is setting the timer for 7 min and seeing how far I can get through the orientation training. (RF3.5) in that time. Gives me a bit of a bench mark to aim towards. Then normally do some figure 8 practice as that is what I am trying to learn in real life. Then push my skills to the limit with trying some 3D. Can do inverted hover, flips and rolls not too bad on the sim. Always a little rewarding when you learn something new even if it is on the sim.

[animal47]

Well another 9 batteries yesterday and the poor little mcpx is beginning to show the strain of my "sod it lets just try it" approach. The main shaft and gear have now just about had it from being crashed and pushed back on again and again and i can now turn the blades with the gear stopped and the feathering shaft is like a banana although in normal mode it still flies just about but in idle up it has massive shakes, the canopy is also getting a bit battered.
On the plus side the circuits are getting tidier and more in control and i have held some nice inverted hovers so it is all worth it, i would never have been doing any of this by now if it wasnt for the mcpx, it just takes everything you throw at it, it was even quite windy yesterday and it still managed ok, i will never sell this thing

[Rich_H]

Hi,

The sim is great and saves a lot on repairs but realistically there is no substitute for stick time. The thing with a sim though is to avoid it becoming like a 'game' if that's what it becomes then frankly there is no point. If possible try to spend no more than an hopur a night on the sim, try to have a training regime and stick to it, if it's not going well or you find that you are just playing then leave it, go find something else to do.

With regard to progressing certainly outdoors, there was a very useful article in RCM&E a while back specifically aimed at the level it sound's like you are at. I have just 'printed' the relevent pages to PDF. If you deop me a PM with your email address I can send to you.

I agree with the post by JoeBailey btw, start by hovering at different attitudes relative you, it will help you become more familiar with how to correct when in different positions/situations. The article however explains this in WAy more detail than i can here.

Rich