Cyclic sticking (noob!)

[TimB]

Hi, I'm a complete noob to Helis and have recently aquired Pheonix flight SIM, to help stop me smash my £10,000 heli into a tree... :-) However, I have noticed that on the majority of the models, when you select any amount of cyclic, then release the control, the blades stay at the previously selected cyclic input: If you nudge a bit of left cylclic the blades stay tilted towards the left and do not return when you release the stick.

So, my noob question is - is this normal?

I was under the impression that when you release the cyclic, the heli should move acordingly, not stay at your last positive imput.

Any help would be much appreciated - especially as I'm at the stage where I can hover for 2 mins before I stuff it into the ground!

Thanks.

[Tom Burgess]

to help stop me smash my £10,000 heli into a tree... :-)

Geez, what you got?

What you are experiencing is normal.

[machasm]

This is normal.
You need to put in an opposite and equal amount of input to bring the heli back to its original position (in an ideal world).

[machasm]

Geez, what you got?

A stcky '0' key Tom

[Holst]

If you pitch the helicopter forwards then it will say at that angle untill you apply some rearward pitch to level it up.

Rather than thinking of the cyclic control as controling the helicopter pitch, think of it controling the rate of roll.
So if you push it forward a little the heli will eventually roll all the way over in several seconds, if you push it all the way with it will rotate faster.
Once you return the stick to the centre the heli will stay at whatever angle you left it at untill you roll it back level.

This is why its so hard to hover when you first start out, its very easy to overcorrect and end up putting bigger and bigger movements to try and get it back under control.
The better you get the less you will need to move the stick to hold it in a hover.

[ivor-bigen]

Hi
from say a hover if you push a cyclic command in, eg forwards.
It will tillt the swash forwards and the heli will start traveling forwards.
if you release the stick the swash will level off but the heli will still have forward momentum. To stop the momentum you have to apply a cyclick command in the opersit direction, In our case it would be a touch of backwards to stop the forwards drift.
so what you are geting is normal.
Ivor

[ivor-bigen]

4 of ya beat me to it lol

[TimB]

Blimey that was quick!

Thanks folks, I had wondered about this, but couldn't work out why when you release the cyclic the blades don't move - as if you had moved the stick towards the centre yourself.

Contra rotating helis appear to do this, but not 'proper' helis :-)

I don't have any hekicopter at the moment, but am working on the possibility of a Len Mount (or similar), Huey or Vario EC145...I'm a scale modeler, rather than a 3D type!

[Tom Burgess]

A stcky '0' key Tom

[machasm]

Blimey that was quick!

Thanks folks, I had wondered about this, but couldn't work out why when you release the cyclic the blades don't move - as if you had moved the stick towards the centre yourself.

The blades do move back when the cyclic is relesased! Its just that the heli will then stay in that position and needs the reverse of that manouver to come back to its original position.
As IVOR explained previously. (Did a better job than me).

[TimB]

Ok, thanks, think I have it now.

This has to be the fastest responding Heli forum I've ever tried - well worth joining - many thanks.

(All I have to do now is rob a bank or win the lottery, then that Len Mount 'Lynx' is mine!!)

[Holst]

Blimey that was quick!

Thanks folks, I had wondered about this, but couldn't work out why when you release the cyclic the blades don't move - as if you had moved the stick towards the centre yourself.

Contra rotating helis appear to do this, but not 'proper' helis :-)

I don't have any hekicopter at the moment, but am working on the possibility of a Len Mount (or similar), Huey or Vario EC145...I'm a scale modeler, rather than a 3D type!

The contra rotator is more stable as it has two lots of blades.

The top set are fixed at one pitch and cant move.

The botom set can move, so if you pitch them in one direction the heli will go that way.

When you let go the heli will still be leaning in one direction, but rather than just continue like a "propper" heli the contra rotator will pivot on the fixed upper rotor and stop moving pretty quickly and settle back down to being almost stationary.

[TimB]

Ah, I see - light at the end of the tunnel.

(Now all I need is to decide on which club, nitro or electric, Trex, Raptor etc etc. the list is endless - guess some more forum reading is in order!)

[ivor-bigen]

i personaly think its best to try and make a choice of heli based on what your local model shop stocks parts for.
Its not to bigger deal if they dont do the spares but its nice to be able to just pop down the road and pick a part up and get straight back in the air.
Ivor

[TimB]

Thats very good advice - it makes perfect sense - no point in me getting anything exotic I realise, but I had been looking at machines not available locally.

Local to me would probably mean Skyline Models - in which case, it's probably going to be a Trex or Raptor.