Zero pitch

[Slobberdog]

I know the convention of having zero pitch at centre stick and that is the way I set up my heli's, but a number of members in my club set up their pitch curves so they have +5+6 deg at mid stick, so they are hovering at mid stick, and then they have a very similar curve for idle up with a bit more negative value, they don't go inverted so it's not a problem

The thing that gets to me is the way the Align manual implies that you need to have 5 to six degrees at centre where in fact it says you need that at 65 to 70 % throttle,

What is the best way to set it up, I have been flying for 18 months and going well but I could imagine trying to transition from setting it up hovering at centre stick as zero at centre, not to mention the problem of setting up an idle up mode that has zero at centre like Align recommend for IU 2 settings

and does anyone actually use the stock settings in the Align manuals,

[trillian]

Basically the only reason to set it up with 5 or 6 degrees at mid stick is if you want more stick travel for F3C hovering or if you never (or rarely) go inverted then you might want more of the stick travel.

I think a lot of the F3C guys setup their normal mode for hovering and then their idle-1 is 0 pitch at mid-stick. I have done this before as well in order to really fine-tune the hovering but you have to get used to the change when you flip into idle-up. Anyway, if you're doing aerobatic stuff and don't need super precise hovering then the easiest is to go zero at mid-stick for all modes.

[Alfie]

As sheryl said, it is mainly for precision F3C style.

50% of my flying is F3C Style, and i use linear pitch curves across the board.

Years ago i tweaked and fettled pitch curves in one mode, but to be honest it's just not worth the confusion if you fly multiple disciples.

Unless of course you have one particular model set up primarily for precision work!.

To set up a 5/6 Degree pitch curve at centre stick 'in only one mode', cannot be done mechanically, therefore resolution is the same, it is only the (feel) 'position' of the collective stick that is different.

Ive built near 100 align models in 14 years, and never even read the setup sections

Col.

[jimmyhorns]

The setup section of the align manuals is even worse than the build sections, which do seem to have become better over time, looking back at some of the old hand me down manuals from the original 450's things were not explained well at all....

I never ever ever ever setup a model for me with anything other than zero pitch at mid-sticks, in any mode. When setting up a model for a new member or new flyer, its the same rules. Centre stick = zero pitch.

If im toning a model down for a new flyer, then the maximum negative pitch is reduced to about -6 degrees, which is enough to land nice and easily, combat a reasonably large gust (changing your translational lift), but still isnt too bad if the learner panics and goes full negative, as 9 times out of 10 they will probably get away with it, compared with the 1 time out of 10 if you have full -ve pitch.


Your brain learns where mid stick is, and it learns where you hover at. The way I see it, you only want to learn that once. If you start with hovering, then move on to basic sport flying and no further, hovering at midsticks isnt going to be a big deal. But if you want to go on to pretty much anything that involved aerobatics you are going to want symmetrical stick response. Imagine having an aileron or elevator that responded twice as quickly in one direction compared to the other..... that doesnt sound very sensible to me.

[electricsceadu]

up until 3d became the norm most heli's were set up with posative pitch at mid stick
many still fly like this
zero pitch at mid gives you the pos/neg pitch for acrobatic flight
neither is right or wrong
it is up to you how you set the model so it feels right for you

going from +5/6 at mid to 0 at mid doesn't take a lot of getting used to

setting the max idle up(2 or 3 in some radio's) in the tx to 0 mid makes a symmetricial set up with a linear curve
you can then alter the other flight modes to your preference

[sparky 2]

Another way to look at it is, your not looking at the sticks when you are hovering . so your stood there and will slowly increase the throttle until the heli lifts in to a hover and if its mid or 3/4 stick that's what you will get used to. A bit like the different clutch bite points in different cars.

[Slobberdog]

Another way to look at it is, your not looking at the sticks when you are hoovering . so your stood there and will slowly increase the throttle until the heli lifts in to a hoover and if its mid or 3/4 stick that's what you will get used to. A bit like the different clutch bite points in different cars.

Lol never thought of it that way,

thanks all just got me thinking last night, he had his + points I had mine! not sure I would ever convince him though,

but as to say each unto his own.

[Mike Sanders]

When I first started (built the 450 which then had a flybar). I set it up with zero pitch at mid stick. Then I added a few degrees at mid stick on the pitch curve.

Then, after a week or two, I thought that, if I ever do aerobatics, I would need as much negative as positive. I didn't want to have to re-learn how to use the collective. There is enough to learn as it is!

I therefore reverted to zero degrees at mid stick. I have set up my other models similarly. Three years on, I still can't do aerobatics but I am glad that my models are set up "properly".

[blahblah]

What about the consequences for spool-up and take-off? Zero-pitch at spool-up seems like a good idea, and setting throttle to mid-stick is nice and easy. Zero at bottom-stick would mean no negative pitch, and negative pitch is still useful outside of aerobatics. Creating sudden pitch changes by switching flight modes doesn't sound like a good idea either. Is it common to use a 'normal mode' for take-off and landing? I just spool-up to full head-speed and go! (by 'go' I mean hover gently lol.)

[Grumpy]

Not everyone in the world wants to fly 3D. I don't think anyone is suggesting to have no negative pitch but for those who don't do much inverted there is a perfectly good argument for having only a few degrees of negative and about 4-5 degrees positive at mid stick. As mentioned previously that was the accepted setup before 3D flying became popular. This setup allows a much flatter pitch curve making the heli less sensitive to small pitch stick movement which makes smooth flying a little easier.

Spool up isnt a problem, you just move the stick down a bit from centre. I started flying with that sort of setup but transitioned to a more linear 'curve' with zero around centre as I started doing more inverted. Personally I didn't find transition at all difficult, there was no 're-learning'. As noted above, you aren't looking at the stick when you fly (or at least you shouldn't be!) so you don't really know if it's centre or not. You just move the stick until the heli responds as you wish and to a large extent where the stick is in it's travel is irrelevant.

[David Drew]

it's just not worth the confusion if you fly multiple disciples.





Col.

That made me laugh! I am sure he meant disciplines but the thought of hovering Matthew, Mark, Luke and Johns could start a new discipline - could be F 12 D for the Twelve Disciples. Lol

[electricsceadu]

i fly a mixture of scale and pod and boom heli's
the scale heli's are at +5/6 mid stick
the p&b are set to 0 mid in idle up 3, in norm mode thay hover mid stick +5
i then blend the pitch curves in idle up 1&2 to make a smooth transition

i use the idle ups on the scale helis to alter the head speed for varying wind conditions

so yes you can fly multi disciplines with differing set ups without a problem