My First flight.. My First Crash...

[knobby]

Hi Guys

I recently purchased a Century GL450SE. Went out on Saturday afternoon for my first flight. I have been practicing for a while on the flight simulator but wanted to get out and try the real thing out.

Went up a small playing field with a mate set up the heli with the training gear attached. On first take off i was surprised how much easier it felt in real life than it did on the simulator, didnt know if that was because it was sat in front of me and i had a better idea of distances etc..

The heli took off very easily, i went in straight into a hover and seems to have good control. I said to myself i wasnt going to do anymore than hover as i wanted to have some more sim experience.

First battery lasted about 20-25 minutes all hovering and practicing software landings etc. felt really comfortable and very pleased how stable the heli was and not how twitchy the 450 felt in the Pheonix sim.

Second battery came out and again i practiced hovering around.. Then about 10-15 minutes into the flight the heli caught a gust of wind and it took it up into the sky flying towards a fence and garden i tried to correct this but press the wrong controls and it went further into the dive towards the fence, i managed to fly it away from the fence, then it was on its way back towards me and towards a load of trees, I decided to put it down, unfortunately the training gear got stuck in the grass and it flipped it over and the blades hit the ground.. DOH!

Ive managed to cause about £60 of damage i believe, need new blades, new rotor arms, new rotor head, new tail boom, new tail fin, new flybars. not too bad i guess.

Was really disappointed as i thought the first battery, flight went very well. I learnt from this i need far more space to fly and not to fly too high in too higher winds.

I'll try and get some pictures up.

Off to the model shop today for spares! hoping to get back out next weekend!

Cheers

Knobby..

[glen_j]

sorry to read about your crash matey, keep practicing on the sim possibly put the wind on so you can practice controlling it with the wind blowing, it will help in the long run.

[jboweruk]

At least it's repairable, I wasn't so lucky my first time as I had a heli for which spares just not available... Unfortunately experiance is a harsh teacher, she gives the test first, the lesson after.

[knobby]

Just been to the shop, sounds like the parts are going to be a couple of days. Sorted can be out flying again at the weekend (weather depending).

Couldnt imagine having a heli with no spares available, sounds like these parts are readily available. Hopefully the rebuild should be early enough.

[withnail]

Hope all goes well with the rebuild and you are back in the air again in no time. It certainly is a "character building" hobby!

Regards

Mark

[marktigere1]

Sorry to hear of the crash.

Still, even rebuilding allows you to gain experience. (Just not one we want too much of eh?)

Keep at it.

Cheers

Mark

[jboweruk]

Yeah, sorry if my reply sounded unsympathetic, it came out wrong, my words should've sounded consoling, (is that a word?).

[LoBsTeR]

Damn harsh luck. If it weren't for the wind, you would have had a great day. Best days for flying are the real 'dead weather' days when you get a bit of frost, your breath looks like you are smoking and the breath cloud doesn't move away. A heli flyers dream.

You will get there. Keep up the good work.

[Smoothound]

Only comment I'd add is that 20-25mins is a long time on a 450 Helis pack, i realise you were only hovering but unless you were spending a fair bit of time on the ground between hovers and including it your pack will be not liking it at all

[knobby]

Perhaps you could offer me some battery advice.. I just put it on until it says its full and i recon i got a good 20 minutes out of it.. I guess i should be timing flight time.

[Goto10]

Hi Guys

I recently purchased a Century GL450SE. Went out on Saturday afternoon for my first flight. I have been practicing for a while on the flight simulator but wanted to get out and try the real thing out.

Went up a small playing field with a mate set up the heli with the training gear attached. On first take off i was surprised how much easier it felt in real life than it did on the simulator, didnt know if that was because it was sat in front of me and i had a better idea of distances etc..

The heli took off very easily, i went in straight into a hover and seems to have good control. I said to myself i wasnt going to do anymore than hover as i wanted to have some more sim experience.

First battery lasted about 20-25 minutes all hovering and practicing software landings etc. felt really comfortable and very pleased how stable the heli was and not how twitchy the 450 felt in the Pheonix sim.

Second battery came out and again i practiced hovering around.. Then about 10-15 minutes into the flight the heli caught a gust of wind and it took it up into the sky flying towards a fence and garden i tried to correct this but press the wrong controls and it went further into the dive towards the fence, i managed to fly it away from the fence, then it was on its way back towards me and towards a load of trees, I decided to put it down, unfortunately the training gear got stuck in the grass and it flipped it over and the blades hit the ground.. DOH!

Ive managed to cause about £60 of damage i believe, need new blades, new rotor arms, new rotor head, new tail boom, new tail fin, new flybars. not too bad i guess.

Was really disappointed as i thought the first battery, flight went very well. I learnt from this i need far more space to fly and not to fly too high in too higher winds.

I'll try and get some pictures up.

Off to the model shop today for spares! hoping to get back out next weekend!

Cheers

Knobby..

Shame :/
Gonna happen again - just keep dusting yourself off and carry on going
20-25 mins though !! I set my timer to 6 mins on revo 2100s and have around 25~30% left in them according to cellpro, even if I emptied the things I doubt I'd even get 8/9 mins out of one - what batts are you using..? (Don't flatten lipos completely, it will drastically shorten their lifespan)

[Tim Procter]

i recon i got a good 20 minutes out of it.. I guess i should be timing flight time.

I rather fancy it felt like 20 minutes knobby..

Don't know of any battery that will even just hover for 20 minutes.

Either that or I have learnt something new..


Bad luck on your crash mate, Take it on the chin and don't feel down, We have all been through the same, Seen our lovely helis thud into the ground with a sickening blow.

As quoted fix it, Make sure its set-up correctly and start again, Keep hammering away on the sim though, It all helps.

[knobby]

WHERE ARE MY PARTS... Doesnt look they they will be in for the weekend so no flying (crashing) for me this weekend..

[Bigbellypopper]

Century Spares

WHERE ARE MY PARTS...(

It seems things don't change with Century. It amazes me how they seem to have enough parts to put kits together, but cannot seem to support there customers with spares........shocking

[knobby]

Ive only been waiting since Monday so i cant complain too much.. just me being impatient.. They should be with me tomorrow.