getting there slowly

[speedy jon]

hi all,
been practicing on the phoenix for a couple of hours for the last few nights and couldnt hover for longer than 1-2mins.but tonight was showing my old man the game and set my timer for 7mins.thought id do the same as before and crash after a couple of mins but this time i managed to hover till my beeper went off then land nicely. im well chuffed, just hope everything i learn will pass onto the real thing.just thought id share it with everyone on here.

thanks jon

[machasm]

Well done Jon.
Keep up the good work.

[kluson]

I have been practising on Phoenix as well it's great .
As a real newcomer can someone tell me just how lifelike it is?
It's certainly doing my confidence the power of good.

[Brian Gifford]

Nice one, Jon. Keep up the good work.

[machasm]

I have been practising on Phoenix as well it's great .
As a real newcomer can someone tell me just how lifelike it is?
It's certainly doing my confidence the power of good.

Phoenix will teach you the basics of orientation and it is very good in that respect.
Nothing really prepares you for the real thing though.
Wind, heli innacurracies and the all important fear factor play their part when flying for real.
Once conquered though thers no buzz quite like it.

[kluson]

Thanks
Looking forward to getting out soon

[Holst]

The way the heli reacts is very lifelike.

The sim will also help you alot with your orientation, if you can fly with the side of the heli facing you in the sim, then you should be able to do it for real.

What the sim cant replicate is your nerves. If your very nervous then your will be distracted and more likely to crash.
Also if something goes wrong in the sim and you get disorientated you can throw the sticks around to try and get control back, but in real life you will probably freeze up and crash (at least thats what happens to me)

Another thing to remember is that the sim helis are perfectly setup. Your heli may not be and you might need to change trims to get it flying right. If your unsure it might be worth asking an experienced flyer to take your heli up for a testflight to make sure its all ok.
I didnt do this with my micro heli, and its taken me a long time to set it up so that its easy to fly. Im sure many crashes could have been avoided in the first flights if I got it set up better in the beginning.

[brin]

nice one jon .good to keep your old man interested he may come in handy with funds and the more practise you get with your dx7 the easier it will be when you move onto your first heli.