Flying beyond our means

[Guest]

I am sure most of us have done it. Today, I left the Pro at home (dont have the confidence in my flying to take it at the moment) and took my Twister 3D Storm out. Hadn't used either for quite a while. After a bit of hovering and gentle flying around, I thought I would try and recreate some of what I enjoy doing on Phoenix - but much more toned down. I was really enjoying doing some fairly hard bank turns which actually seemed more like huge rainbows (not sure if that is an official manoeuvre description). The last one went a bit out of control, the tail doesn't hold too well on the standard T3DS gyro (just bought Bart 101's Align GP750 this evening) and it was all a mess in the air. It ended up inverted which I pulled out of then not sure what happened except that I had to reach in a pull it out of the tree.

With the noise it went in with, I was surprised to get away with a bent main and feathering shaft, flybar, 1 broken blade and grip, 1 servo gear (JP 7.5D cheapies) and a dented canopy (which pushed out, shame about the paint).

The third photo with the bent rod, that servo survived...

Good fun though

[POLAR BEAR]

If you dont push your self you wont learn so I suppose we all fly beond are abilaty Kev.

[Mart61]

I sometimes fly beyond my skills and always live beyond my means.

[GravityKills]

OK, different "schools of thought".
In my opinion, taking risks is a dead end. Challenge yourself, yes. But always stay in the "safe" zone. Instead, push the border little by little.
If I do 100 "safe" stallturns, progressively getting more confident and more accurate, I learn infinitely more than in one attempt to do something "over my head" (say, a loop) that ends in a crash.

OK, lots of opinions here. But I see many people who make little progress, simply because they are lacking the basics, taking risks or not. Like, being able to hover at any angle and distance. Or at a later stage, proper circles with tail control at constant altitude.

Of course, this kind of systematic training isn't nearly as much fun

[zoombolt]

Jack

Transferring Phoenix to real life is quite hard & takes some balls to actually say - you know what, I'm gonna go for it. So good for you.

I learnt that pushing personal boundaries meant more enjoyable flying, just cuz you did more.
It costs a crash here & there, but you do enjoy flying the machine more & actually learn more along the way.

Repairing is part of the hobby too & I refer to Tim's 'enjoying the Journey' thread for a full explanation.

Get it repaired, get it in the air & try something different (after practising on Phoenix, checking for neighbours & small children in the vincity of cause.....................................

Fly it, crash it, re-build it & learn stuff & enjoy yourself along the way.

P.S. What have you done to that canopy. I liked that canopy!

[Stuart]

Guilty - been caught out in my early days with the heli being orientated in a way that I wasn't comfortable with. I doubt that anyone hasn't been caught out thinking hmmm - is it left or right...lol

I remember once a learner at my old club shouted me over as he just didn't know what to do as the heli was drifting off to the trees, So I took the tx off him and brought the heli back - needless to stay he asked me to stick with him for rest of the day. Nice chap - haven't seen for ages - I think he put it all on hold not long after....

[Guest]

I came away from this knowing my limits a lot better but also knowing how much more enjoyable it was to really try and get something out of it (although very subtle by an experienced pilots standards).

I don't mind crashing this one, it is peanuts to fix compared to the Pro so this will continue to be the test mule. But I wont be treating my flying like this all the time. I really need to join a club too.

P.S. What have you done to that canopy. I liked that canopy!

It is pretty robust. It has been burnt on the inside (ecu went up in smoke after a crash) and battered on the outside but still does the job. I see there was a new one on the shelf in Avicraft - might have to pick it up.

[wibplus]

But what if ..........................................you are, like me, worried about killing your heli and cant just go and buy another ?
I would love to be able to disregard, a crash safe in the knowledge that I can just go and buy a new heli.

Unfortunately, that is not the case and I have to be careful not to smash the machine that carries my hopes of becoming a pilot.

No doubt, if I had more resources, I would be a fearless pilot. But, for now, I have to be a slow learner. I would be ashamed to berate a learning pilot because he/she was less equitable than I am.

[GravityKills]

>> worried about killing your heli and cant just go and buy another ?

even if you can afford the crash, it doesn't help. Six hours rebuilding your heli is simply time wasted. Six hours spent with Phoenix, now here we start making progress. Oh, and it costs nothing.

Keep in mind, there are so many things one can practise with minimal risk. The "throttle hold" switch is your friend: Keep the heli slow, low and level - if sh*t hits f*n, flick the switch immediately and let it drop on its feet. Especially with training gear this is almost foolproof.

Anybody who thinks he has progressed beyond this stage and it's for beginners only: Show me some hovered piroing circles. In both directions (both circle and piro => all 4 combinations)

Most people don't realize that rock solid hovering at any angle is an important step towards sky flying: Simply because it means that you've spotted all the most basic mistakes and eliminated them.

A competition pilot once gave me very good advice: "If you enjoy your own flying, you're not learning". Unfortunately, it turned out to be 100 % accurate: Making progress involves mostly hard work and little fun, but this looks much better once you realize that the hard work pays off. It's no different from any other type of sport, except that mistakes are not only painful but also quite expensive.

[zoombolt]

But what if ..........................................you are, like me, worried about killing your heli and cant just go and buy another ?
I would love to be able to disregard, a crash safe in the knowledge that I can just go and buy a new heli.

Unfortunately, that is not the case and I have to be careful not to smash the machine that carries my hopes of becoming a pilot.

No doubt, if I had more resources, I would be a fearless pilot. But, for now, I have to be a slow learner. I would be ashamed to berate a learning pilot because he/she was less equitable than I am.

Not many people can afford to go out & buy a completely new heli after a crash. That's where the abundance of spare parts come in and they're not cheap either, depending on what heli you have.

The more you push yourself - within obvious time/skill boundries - the more fun you have tis all. It's a bit of a scarey step to take, but a step worth taking.