A bit of beginner advice needed please!

[tigger]

Hello all,

I'm very new to RC heli's so please be kind! I built and flew RC planes when I was a teenager and always wanted to try my hand at helicopters. I've flown (hovered) my friend's Blade 120SR and have had countless 'toy' 3 channel heli's so I thought it was time to jump in at the deep end – so I've just bought a Honey Bee CP3.

Well... After setting everything up and putting the training set on I took it out for a very controlled test hover. My plan was to go only about a foot off the ground and get a feel for the responsiveness etc. As it started to drift over to the right I applied very slight left on the aileron to counteract and basically the whole thing tipped more to the right. The end result was that it tipped over, into the ground and the rotor blades hit the horizontal fin (which is now nowhere to be seen) and basically wrote off the blades and bent the boom.

I discovered that the problem was that the manual was wrong. I had set up the servos to be in 'mode 2' but the manual tells you to have the aileron switch set to normal where it actually needs to be reversed. I did check the controls before I took-off but in my excitement I must have forgotten which was my left and right.

Anyway, it's all fixed now (I think) but I'm having some teething problems and have some questions that I'd love someone to help me with. The main problem is that just after take-off, it wants to move backwards a bit towards me and slides left slightly. I have managed to counteract this with the trim but only if it's nearly all the way to the right which is obviously far from ideal. Could it be because the training gear is causing this? Also, it really wobbles from about quarter throttle to just before half. Is this normal? At take-off throttle, the tail is stable so I don't think the gain needs adjusting. I just don't know if this is common or if the crash has caused more damage that I can tell. There is no other visible damage that i can see...

Should I re-bind or adjust the swash plate? I don't know how to do either of those but I can find out (I don't trust the manual any more though!).

If anyone has some advice, I'd really appreciate it – thanks in advance!

[brummycraig]

Hi

It is fairly normal for most heli's to drift left on take off if it has a right facing tail rotor. Once you have it off the ground this should no longer be a problem so I'd suggest you don't try to trim this out, trimming should be done based on a hover at least 3 or 4 feet off the ground.
As for it moving back slightly this could be a swash levelling issue or just minor trim. If you wish to go the full route of stripping down the head and levelling the swash then I would point you over to Finless Bobs 101 videos on an American site helifreak, I found these explain most things with great clarity!
Crash damage I would suggest you check the feathering shaft/spindle and main shaft as they tend to bend at even the smallest blade strike, well at least on many heli's, sorry not familiar with the HB.

Good luck and enjoy!

[Jez N]

Hey Tigger, sounds like you have a few issues and the causes of each could be numerous i am afraid. Unfortunately it will be a bit of trial and error for you to sort them out.

Yes the training gear could be causing your drift as anything that affects the centre of gravity will influence the heli.

You could have done more damage than you think when you crashed. The main shaft &/or the feathering shaft could be bent, which would also cause tracking/wobbling issues.

the drift could also be casued by the swash not being level, this being one of the key things to get sorted if you want a stable flight.

Wobble can also be casued by a low head speed, so if your throttle curves are not set up properly, then at low-midstick, the low headspeed will casue a wobble that disappears above midstick. So raising the throttle curve at 1/4 - full stick to a flat throttle curve would be advisable.

As you can see, many possibilities......

Did the heli wobble when you first flew it before you crashed it?

[cjcj1949]

Not many people buy what you've bought. You may have some vibration before takeoff due to the training undercarraige. Best to take off as soon as possible, not ideal for learning. Just take of and land to begin with. Buy the phoenix sim and get a tx that will work with it. You can probably get 4/5 channel txs secondhand if you ask for them. It only needs to be a four channel setup as a plane.

When correcting drift on the heli all you need is a short dab. Get used to what the controls do. Check everything before flying, especially any metal screws in metal which should be loctited.

Have a look at Trex 450 or trex 450 clones or blade 450. Look at cost of spares and get glass fibre blades for about £3. Always check feathering shaft and main shaft after a crash. Roll on a glass surface to check.

[SamS]

It's mainly wobbling and drifting because you're hovering low and the down wash of the main rotor blades is upsetting the helicopter and causing it to become unstable.

Most helicopters drift when taking off anyway, after time you will automatically learn to counteract this problem.

There are a few things you can do to maybe achieve a more stable hover, check that the swash-plate is level both from looking at the side and from the front, you can buy swash-plate leveling tools that'll help.

What you want to do is start over again. Start off by switching on the TX and power up the helicopter. Maybe un-plug the motor wires from the ESC to be on the safe side. Center all the trims on your TX. Then you can see how un-level the swashplate is. Level it by adjust the ball links on the rods, one turn at a time. Un-plug the battery from the helicopter, turn off the TX, then plug the motor back in. And start from there.

At least you'll then know you shouldn't have any unnecessary drift (from the mechanical side anyway).


Regarding training gear, I never used it, I think it gives a false sense of control. Don't get me wrong it does help for those 'hard' first landings, But I first learnt from just simply hopping the helicopter across the ground, but, that's up to you, whatever you feel comfortable with.

Like BrummyCraig said, there are a lot of videos online and on youtube that'll help you out !

Good Luck

[Ritchieme]

I haven't been flying long, still at the hover stage. I certainly dont want to dampen your spirits but I bought a CP3 and personally couldn't get on with it, I really struggled with it, I sold it in the end for £30 on ebay and bought a blade 450 with dx6i and it was a completely different experience.

But thats just me I think it was the electric tail rotor I couldn't get on with, then again others like the CP3

Its a right bummer the instructions were wrong ! As already mentioned all helis drift left on take off. Do you have a simulator to practice with ? I notice like me you were flying 3 channel helis which probably had the rudder on the right stick ? If so you need to get out of that habbit asap.

Stick with it, I nearly gave up a few times and although I can only hover its such a buzz now :-)

Ritchie

[tigger]

Thanks to everyone for your kind advice and help. It's good to know about the drift to the left - sounds like I need to just get it up higher to really start to get more control. It's so frustrating to have a basic understanding of helicopter flight controls but be so hard to control a model one! I have nothing but respect to all who can fly these things.

Thanks again - you will definitely hear from me again soon!

[tigger]

I haven't been flying long, still at the hover stage. I certainly dont want to dampen your spirits but I bought a CP3 and personally couldn't get on with it, I really struggled with it, I sold it in the end for £30 on ebay and bought a blade 450 with dx6i and it was a completely different experience.

But thats just me I think it was the electric tail rotor I couldn't get on with, then again others like the CP3

Its a right bummer the instructions were wrong ! As already mentioned all helis drift left on take off. Do you have a simulator to practice with ? I notice like me you were flying 3 channel helis which probably had the rudder on the right stick ? If so you need to get out of that habbit asap.

Stick with it, I nearly gave up a few times and although I can only hover its such a buzz now :-)

Ritchie

Thanks Ritchie, what made you go with that particular heli? I spent so long reading reviews that it all seemed to merge together! The CP3 seemed to be a good beginner one for me, can I ask what were the troubles you had exactly? Feedback would be great so I know what's me and what's the heli!