Pitch & Throttle Curves - Shall I change??

[David Drew]

When I very first started I was advised - rightly or wrongly - to set hover (+6)at centre stick and have no more than about -4 at bottom stick.

This was to avoid putting in too much negative pitch in a panic moment when throttling back hard and making the whole matter worse. Also, to give a longer range of pitch & throttle stick movement around hover.

Now, I have gotten used to -4(P1) 6(P3) and 10(P5) but this does not give the clean -10,0,+10 curve most people use and it means a strange throttle curve to give more power lower down to hold the hover, so the whole thing looks a bit strange.

I think the best thing - now those panics are over, I hope - is to set my helis up in the more usual linear pitch / throttle curves and re-learn the 'feel' of hover at 3/4 stick. I think the whole heli would be smoother.

I pretty well reckon what you are all going to say, but anyone else been through this process?

Any input gratefully accepted.

David

[Smoothound]

When I first started I setup like you David but as I've gone on each Heli has been setup to hover a 3/4 stick with +-max pitch I wish to use in each mode.

It's a no brainer

I don't fly in Normal it's purely for spoolup, I never leave the ground unless I'm in ST1 or ST2. I still don't see why some insist on setting differing amounts of pitch in different modes it just adds to the chance of confusion. If you know you have +-12 in each mode you know it and you aren't wondering where to put the stick you just do it

No I don't do 3D just about 1.5D still

[Steve]

For me:

Set the heli up for -10,zero,+10 pitch range to get all the linkages and servos etc right.

Then use Tx settings to get:

Normal
Throttle: 0,50,100
Pitch: -4,+5,+10

Idle Up 1
Throttle: Governed to 1750rpm ish, or 60,50,100 ish
Pitch: -6,+5,+10

Idle Up 2
Throttle: Governed to 2000rpm ish, or 100,50,100 ish
Pitch: -10,0,+10

Throttle hold:
Hold at tick-over plus 5%
Pitch: same as idle up 1

These pitch settings would for a 50 size heli. 30 size will hover nearer to +5.5 deg and 90 size will hover nearer to +4.5 deg

[Made2Fade]

David i wont start chucking TX figures at ya because everyones arnt exactly the same. I however will say you are thinking along the correct lines mate. And you will find the helicopter will feel/perform much better setting up with the linear curves/everything at 90 with collective at half stick and zero on the blades with equal pitch travel both ways. It doesnt take much to get used to a 3/4 stick hover IMO. I converted as soon as i could hover the heli in diffrent positions. My first circuits i flew with a full pitch range. And to be honest i like it like that. It teaches you better collective management and you know you have enough pitch both ways to get you out the $h1t no matter which way up you are. Go for it mate.
Cheers
Lee

[David Drew]

Normal
Throttle: 0,50,100
Pitch: -4,+5,+10

Idle Up 1
Throttle: Governed to 1750rpm ish, or 60,50,100 ish
Pitch: -6,+5,+10

Steve,

Why different pitch settings? I'm not into Idle 2 yet, butwhat I have been doing is using Idle 1 to keep the motors spinning faster above hover so as to get faster response and less bogging. What do you do in 1 that needs an extra -2 deg pitch??

Cheers

David

[Made2Fade]

That'll be for aerobatics (general sports flying... loops/rolls/flips) David and full on 3d in idleup 2. Obviously sports type aerobatics dont need the fast headspeed as full on 3d does. Obviosuly in normal mode the less negative pitch just calms things down for tootling about which is pretty much all you do in normal mode. All i use normal for is spooling up full stop.

Cheers
Lee

[David Drew]

Lee, cheers.

I'm thinking -9, 0 +9 on my Rappy with intermediates exactly in between. 0,25,50,75,100 for Normal and something like 25,50,60,75,100 for Idle 1.

I just need some settings to get smooth circuits.

David

[tourerjim]

That'll be for aerobatics (general sports flying... loops/rolls/flips) David and full on 3d in idleup 2. Obviously sports type aerobatics dont need the fast headspeed as full on 3d does. Obviosuly in normal mode the less negative pitch just calms things down for tootling about which is pretty much all you do in normal mode. All i use normal for is spooling up full stop.

Cheers
Lee

Well I must admit i've been given various setting in the past & never really got on all that well so-much-so that doing circuits could be hard work & to do loops I had to get up to such a hight that most times I would bottle.
Lee came to me rescue & gave me a complete new lot of settings for all 3 modes these settings suite me as I like very fast circuits etc, loops/rolls i still need to work on them but I dont need the hight to attemped anymore.

[Made2Fade]

Well on my raptor 30 i had linear pitch curves in all modes (0,25,50,75,100). This equated to +/-9 degrees pitch. Normal mode looked something similar to 0,20,38,58,100. Idleup1 was 100,58,48,58,100 and Idleup2 was set the same as i was only doing very mild flips etc (but this will look the same just slightly higher figures at points 2,3 & 4 for a higher headspeed). This was with a thunder Tiger motor so they will differ to yours but you can see how it looks anyways. Basically the idleups are v curves. The first one giving a set headspeed to do mild aerobatics and the second idleup is for a higher headspeed for 3d. You may never even go into idleup2 at your stage so it can just be setup the same as idleup1 until you progress. Which is basically what i did when i had my raptor 30. I now setup my idleup 2 for 3d regardless. Afterall i know its programmed but you dont have to go into it if ya dont want to. With my electrics pitch is always linear in all modes. Throttle curves are linear in normal (spool up only), flat line 90 in idleup1 (mild aerobatics and FFF) and flatline 100 in idleup2 (3d).

Cheers
Lee

[DIJ]

I'm thinking -9, 0 +9 on my Rappy with intermediates exactly in between. 0,25,50,75,100 for Normal and something like 25,50,60,75,100 for Idle 1.

Looks like you have the right idea, but I find it better to only have the 2 modes. Normal, and idle up, with idle up throttle being a straight 100 percent line on my electrics and 100,60,45,60,100 V curve on the nito's. I only use normal mode for take off and fly in idle up.

[Steve]

Steve,

Why different pitch settings? I'm not into Idle 2 yet, butwhat I have been doing is using Idle 1 to keep the motors spinning faster above hover so as to get faster response and less bogging. What do you do in 1 that needs an extra -2 deg pitch??

Cheers

David

In normal mode, I've got -4 deg pitch at zero throttle. This is what a lot of people use for learning to hover - if you bang the collective down in a panic situation, the heli hopefully won't drill itself into the ground, but will just sit down and the engine will die off.

In idle up 1, I've got -6 deg pitch at full head speed, so it will hover or climb slightly when inverted at full bottom stick, but I've still got upright hover at middle stick, so I can fly about in this flight mode, do some stall turns, loops and rolls etc with just enough negative pitch to carry through the inverted parts, while maintaining the head speed.

[David Drew]

Ah, see what you're doing.

I think most people go to a full 100, 50,100 & -10, 0, 10 for Idle up1 with zero pitch at centre stick. But you've got hover still at centre. Sort of a mixture!

I think what I'll do is a normal setup for circuits with hover at about 3/4 stick and dial in some extra throttle in Idle1 just to keep the motor spinning. Then when (if) I ever get to rolls, etc I can adjust the Idle 1 to suit..

David

[Steve]

Exactly.

I have a pitch change between idle up 1 and idle up 2, because I like to try and do close-in accurate hovering stuff in idle up 1 (i.e. hover at mid stick) and then go for a blast around the sky in idle up 2 (i.e. have the full pitch range available both ways up).

It's not to everyone's liking, and you have to think carefully about when to flick the flight mode switch, as getting it wrong can pummel the heli into the ground (i.e. going from 1 to 2 while hovering low down).

It's not all about the pitch, it's a combination of pitch and throttle in all flight modes.

[Mike W]

I think most people have diff ways of set ups as its always down to the person who is flying ...Me I run the same throttle /pitch curve from centre stick up and its only below centre stick the my throttle/pitch curves differ ..I only use the normal mode to spool up and then go to idle 2 .. I do have an idle 1 set but never use it .. I feel more comfy flying this way....

[Steve]

Think about this as well...

In my idle up 1, I've got a pitch range of 11 deg from bottom to middle, and 5 deg from middle to top, so the flight mode is heavily geared towards upright flight.

In idle up 2, I've got 10 deg from bottom to middle and 10 deg from middle to top, so it's the usual linear, mirrored pitch range that favours 3D flying and gives the heli the same control inverted as it has the right way up.