Do you still use a flybarred heli Yes/no

[Dave Rand]

Do you still use a flybarred heli Yes/no

Still got the trusty old 450pro flybarred, Niggling doubt in the back of my head as to wether I should Vbar it or not ummm don't no!!!

[AcidDrink]

No flybars, I don't see a reason to use them anymore. Learned on flybared 250 though. I wish I wouldn't.

[flamelily]

Can someone explain why I always read that the powers that be are trying to make their FBL helis feel as if they have a Flybar ????

I have built a 550 Trex FBL. It sound like a jet engine on spool up and is super responsive. A little to much for me at the moment. I set it up on normal settings, perhaps the beginner ones would suit me best. I shudder to think that raw beginners are learning on machines like this.

What is the best way to tone down the FBL system?
Have been flying a Mcpx BL and a 130 x
I love the way such tiny helis can be so stable!
Have played with an e-sky belt cpx . It is really only good for hovering practice. How things have changed.
Remember when you had to shop around to find all the suitable electronics for one build.
Now you can get it all in one package.
Takes all the guesswork out for the beginners.
Where can I find more information to help fine tune my 550 Trex FBL?

[trillian]

Can someone explain why I always read that the powers that be are trying to make their FBL helis feel as if they have a Flybar ????

I think the main idea is that some of the designers started with the goal of replicating what a flybar does, maybe not all of them but certainly some brands were coming from that mindset because a well setup flybarred head can fly very well and does lots of desireable things.

But with FBL you have the ability to go way beyond what a flybar can do, especially with changing headspeeds. It's also possible to get a very different 'feel' to what you would get with a flybar and really there is no absolute right or wrong so long as you end up having the heli fly like you want it to.

[waveydavey]

Can someone explain why I always read that the powers that be are trying to make their FBL helis feel as if they have a Flybar ????

Because in essence this is what an fbl system is doing. With a flybar you have a mechanical gyro and inbuilt damping system, the electronics that you fly try to replicate this. I've said it before if you can't fly you can't setup an fbl system properly, yes you can set it up so it will be docile or lively by following the instructions, but as you don't know what it is you're looking to tune you can't get the best from any fbl unit. For example a beginner, hovering around installing a high end fbl unit is a waste of money, although it's their money but a waste non the less.

[Ritchieme]

Re: Do you still use a flybarred heli Yes/no

Been flying (trying) a year, all my helis were flybarred until this week, i bought a mini titan with a G5 fbl controller, I'm only at hovering all directions and lazy eights stage but for my skill level the fbl is ridiculously easy to fly, I really couldn't believe it, goes straight into a hover and you can just stand there pirouetting with only rudder input! I think its a touch more help than simply replacing a flybar, some may even say cheating :-)

The reason I bought it is because I love thunder tiger helis, I have 4 of them as well as a trex 600 but this seemed to cheap to turn down £250 and I only had to add a spektrum satellite

[trillian]

Been flying (trying) a year, all my helis were flybarred until this week, i bought a minj titan with a G5 fbl controller, I'm only at hovering all directions and lazy eights stage but for my skill level the fbl is ridiculously easy to fly, I really couldn't believe it, goes straight into a hover and you can just stand there pirouetting with only rudder input! I think its a touch more help than simply replacing a flybar, some may even say cheating :-)

The reason I bought it is because I love thunder tiger helis, I have 4 of them as well as a trex 600 but this seemed to cheap to turn down £250 and I only had to add a spektrum satellite

A 90 size heli setup for F3C (flybarred) is also ridiculously easy. My Robbe Futura can hover so still it looks like it's resting on an invisible table. But the difference is that when you setup a flybar for ultimate stability you loose the super fast cyclics and that's where FBL comes into its own because you can, in many ways, eat your cake and still have it. What the FBL controllers have to be very clever about however, is getting the smoothness that you naturally get with a flybar, but that's also a personal preference thing.

[Ritchieme]

Re: Do you still use a flybarred heli Yes/no

So are we saying for scale flying stick to flybarred?

[electricsceadu]

not all
i fly a mix of flybared
fbl
and
nobar

[stephen. guest]

yes still have several with fb all flyable just don't have cash or inclination to chance them

[simm0]

Its very interesting to hear your comments.thanks for your thoughts keep them coming
Craig

[waveydavey]

Good reply Sheryl couldn't have put it better

[PKNEC]

All flybared here then again my flying ( hovering) is in the jurassic period.
Oooops forgot the mcpx wall hugger.

[James A]

Just finished converting my trex 450 sport to FBL having first changed my 500 esp about 10 months back. Have to say the change on the 450 is really dramatic, it is now far more stable in windy conditions and I no longer have issues where it would go from being stable to drifting depending on the orientation. I specifically always had fun when flipping it to inverted where it would always end up on a bit of a tilt which was just frustrating. it's taken it from a heli I had shelved for a long time to one I now fly every time I go out.

I guess the real thing is that it takes a lot of effort and knowledge to properly setup a FB heli, especially on smaller models, but with a FBL unit you can pretty much attach and fly without having to make many adjustments. IMO the real difference will be when you can tun your FBL in flight, then you really should be able to get the best out of it making real time changes and assessing the results.

[pgkevet]

Each to their own. Generally folk who spent large sums on anything new have to brag and say how good it is. FBL may help turn a class4 pilot into a class3 pilot and it may help a class1 pilot carry out even more extreme moves. Look back at class cats flying FB a few years ago and ask if you can ever fly like that with whatever technology you may stick on the thing. I've got both FB and FBL but simple beastx stuff 'cos i have n interest in spenidng ages fiddling with PC's and tuning FBL stuff... heck i get cheesed off enough running in and retuning a newly rebuilt engine.
Equaly I see no rush to upgrade or modernise my fleet any more than I have. If it comes to the point that i ever get to outfly the kit (that'll never happen) or can't get parts and have to rekit then, yes, it'd be fBL because that's whats about but to go spend another £350 to convert a heli to a quality fbl system and still fly no better than i do is pointless for me.
I do fly my FBL#s more than the FB's..but that's more to do with their relative crash costs than how they fly although i freely admit that the 500FBL flies much like my 600 did FB and is a cheap basher/fixer.

Age and resignation to my limitations and keeping this a hobby rather than an obsession also plays a big part in that now. I'm no longer working and it's not logical to carry on crashign my way through several thousand squids worth of parts with the cheerful attitude of yesteryear...there's other things that spending all my time mending and fiddling and rushing out to buy the latest shiney bragging right.

If i do make any upgrades then likely it'd be for a unit with reliable self-righting so that it has a cost-effectiveness to the investment: somethign seriously missing for spartan coming in as a late player