Cant believe I was this stupid

[Sesame]

Its something I think everyone does at some point, now I have mine set so although the heli will fly perfectly ok without the idle on, the head speed is slow enough that I wont be termpted to do something stoopid until I flick the switch.

[Planehazza]

hard lines.. a simple thing to forget with large consequences...

If it helps, I have my helis set up so the normal and idle throttle and pitch curves match at half stick so I can flick to IU before taking off and that way I only fly in IU mode. It's now just routine to flick to IU after I've started my timer, both switches are next to each other on my TX..

I was going to say the same thing. My normal and IU curves are the same from mid stick upwards. This way, I spool up and get it sitting at 0 pitch then flick into IU1 before taking off

[alex]

nm Graham- at least you were doing something proper and looks like you are progressing well m8 I remember you first MD530 Vid that you posted. I think after my last significant crash, a total strip down ( do the heli too ) is the only way to be sure you have found everything.

I am going to try some my first loops on the MD530- seems less scary than the 500 and less cost to repair. I'm not sure how far I can tweak the Innovator though before something breaks :P

[CookieMan]

This happens to me a lot... although its only on phoenix but then Im slowly getting the hang of it now... What I do is, just as Im about to reach mid-stick I flick the IU1 switch. Im trying to make that a habit now.

And mate, don't worry too much (except for the crash costs - but thats part of the hobby), the important thing is that you learned the hard way; so chin up I trust your fingers will now not alow you to repeat this mistake over. Im sure you will somehow check for the switch next time before even thinking of going 3D

Good luck with the rebuild matey. All is well.

[GravityKills]

ouch.
But I think it happens to everyone...
I banned normal mode from my electrics, they are on/off now.

[Mojo]

You're not the only one that's for sure.. Low Flip.. And as i give it some negative to hold it inverted the head speed just died and it goes in like a dart.. Luckily i was shin deep in snow and there was no damage.. Never again! (fingers crossed)

[tiddler]

Well thank you all for reassuring me that I'm not the only Plonker here. Makes me feel much better

I do have my pitch and throttle curves set up to be pretty much the same from mid stick onwards, so when I flick in or out of IU there is no real discernible difference.
In a way I think that was part of the problem if you see what I mean, as the heli sounds and reacts much the same, that is until you try and put in some negative and you suddenly realise there isn't any (or at least very little) and the motor has slowed right down and then CRUNCH Too late mutter mutter mutter.

[trillian]

In a way I think that was part of the problem if you see what I mean, as the heli sounds and reacts much the same, that is until you try and put in some negative and you suddenly realise there isn't any (or at least very little) and the motor has slowed right down and then CRUNCH Too late mutter mutter mutter.

The other thing I got to thinking recently is maybe we need to see about upping the roll / flip rates on these 450s. I'm not sure if it's all swash mix and then use some expo to mellow out the mid-stick or maybe different paddles.

The point being, if you can flip all the way around faster then you can get back to level flying and get out of a dive / fall whatever.

I like the stable hover with the flybar weights but maybe that's slowing down the roll / flip rates too much? Or maybe the weights could stay on but use some different paddles that bite more when you give them some input. (and yes, I realise the weights could be removed but then the flybar has less authority for keeping the heli stable in the hover, and I have flown without them so I know the difference in feel).

[Chris Boughton]

thts exactly wot i did the other day and i broke mi sab red devils i waz well annoyed!!!!!!!!!!1

[trillian]

thts exactly wot i did the other day and i broke mi sab red devils i waz well annoyed!!!!!!!!!!1

Ouch! That bites. I hate smashing up nice blades.

[Farmer Giles]

The other thing I got to thinking recently is maybe we need to see about upping the roll / flip rates on these 450s. I'm not sure if it's all swash mix and then use some expo to mellow out the mid-stick or maybe different paddles.

The point being, if you can flip all the way around faster then you can get back to level flying and get out of a dive / fall whatever.

I'm not sure that would help much in this scenario as the blades have slowed right down so no matter how fast your 'flip rate' if the blades are only turning at half the speed then you'll never get it round.

I'm sure at full head speed you can flip and turn a 450 on a sixpence but in these 'forgot to flick to UI mode before I went inverted' incidents the head speed is normally lost and unless you have plenty of altitude the ground normally get in the way of your recovery

[trillian]

I'm not sure that would help much in this scenario as the blades have slowed right down so no matter how fast your 'flip rate' if the blades are only turning at half the speed then you'll never get it round.

I'm sure at full head speed you can flip and turn a 450 on a sixpence but in these 'forgot to flick to UI mode before I went inverted' incidents the head speed is normally lost and unless you have plenty of altitude the ground normally get in the way of your recovery

Yeah, if you're wacking the stick all the way down expecting full negative and get zilch instead it's gonna take some very fast thinking and / or plenty of altitude.

I have been reading about the KBDD paddles and just ordered a pair. I seek the holy grail of cyclics /flybardom, which is a super stable hover but fast cyclics when you want them.

When I first flew this 450 I had a 13 tooth pinion and no flybar weights and I didn't like the feel of it, the 13 tooth pinion was too much for the motor (430X) and it was very twitchy and didn't handle wind very well. It's much much happier with an 11 tooth pinion and a pair of flybar weights, now I just want to punch up the bite of the paddles a bit and see what happens.

[Mart61]

Nightmare!

I'm minded of a chat I had with Professor James Reason, he of human factors "swiss cheese" fame (Google him if you are not sure who he is).

I asked him how he got into the field of studying human factors. He told me that many years ago he came down into his kitchen one morning, having just got out of bed. He knew he had two key jobs to do - feed the cat and make a pot of tea.

His mind was wandering and, when he looked down, he found that he had just put a couple of teaspoons of cat food into the teapot. From that moment on he decided to dedicate his life to studying why humans do what they do.

This was your "cat food" moment.

[tiddler]

Nightmare!

I'm minded of a chat I had with Professor James Reason, he of human factors "swiss cheese" fame (Google him if you are not sure who he is).

I asked him how he got into the field of studying human factors. He told me that many years ago he came down into his kitchen one morning, having just got out of bed. He knew he had two key jobs to do - feed the cat and make a pot of tea.

His mind was wandering and, when he looked down, he found that he had just put a couple of teaspoons of cat food into the teapot. From that moment on he decided to dedicate his life to studying why humans do what they do.

This was your "cat food" moment.

OK, so I shouldn't try feeding any cats or making a pot of tea whilst flying inverted then. Well not unless I'm really concentrating anyway

Cheers Martin, Ill keep that in mind

PS. The helis now on the operating table and I have ordered some parts. So a full recovery is expected