Is it really that difficult

[ian1972]

Hi

Me again, just purchased Align 600, DX8 and Phoenix Software, never flown helis before nor the model but joining a club. The cyclic / engine seem very sensitive in Phoenix and however hard I try the heli assencds and descends very quickly with very little input, is this the setting problem (I hope) or is it really hard to hover the heli just above ground level. Any advice would be great

Thanks in advance

Ian

[challis349]

Put around 30% expo in and see if it is better

[josh h]

in a word yep its hard keep practicing and you will sonn pick it up and it will get easier.

try using one of the scale heli's on phoenix they are a bit easier, the hughes 500 is a good 1

[psychosaffa]

keep practicing guy!!
did you remove the ratchet from the throttle stick so that the movement is smooth?

[tiddler]

I'm guessing you mean collective control here not cyclic. and yes it should be fairly easy to maintain a fairly constant altitude without too much of a struggle.
One way to see if you have a settings problem would be to, go into Phoenix, then go into System > Your controls > Edit profile.... and then by moving the throttle/collective stick slowly up and down, you should see the two orange bars in Phoenix follow the same movement smoothly.

If they don't then you've done something wrong during set up.

[johnsandywhite]

You can go into the Program set up and change the simulator speed. It MAY help to get the feel:=

Run the program
Click on System setup
Click on Program setup
Click on Physics
Change the Simulator speed to a comfortable speed for you........Simples

[ian1972]

Thanks for your comments, i'll keep on trying

[vanman]

keep at it ,, i remenber those days of learing when the guy who showed me how to fly could hover the sim in the one spot at the same height and when i got it every thing was juming up and down all over the place , you will master it it just takes some time but it is worth the effort

[Randall]

lol yea i kinda look at newbies now and wonder how they struggle so much as it just comes natural after some time but then if i think back i also struggled to get it off the deck, its a fun part of the hobby tho, at least the crashes are cheap when learning to hover. its when you drive the thing into the ground backwards from 100 feet it starts getting expensive.

[cjcj1949]

Check the calibration. You should calibrate with full throws on everything and then reduce it. Your throttle/pitch curves will make a difference as well. There are also options on using your own curves or the preset ones. You should find it easy to hover fairly close to the ground as you get more lift due to ground effect. Phoenix can be a bit tricky and is not very friendly to new pilots. There are training modes though. 70% rates work quite well as well as the expo.

[ian1972]

Thanks for your continued comments, sorry what are 70% rates and expo, is this something i can alter on the transmitter

[cjcj1949]

Yes. Rates alter the throw of the servos. 70% rates would limit the throw to 70% of normal. You control whether to use the restricted throw or the full throw with a rate switch. You can either use one switch to control all rates or one switch for each function. Rates are usually only available on Aileron, Elevator and Rudder. exp stands for exponential and gives you more or less sensitivity around the neutral point. You usually have less sensitivity when learning to hover. Exp and rates may not help you for collective control as that comes from the throttle stick, via the throttle and pitch curves. There is also a screen for the CCPM mix which is usually around 60%. Hopefully you are not using that at the moment as Phoenix prefers the controls unmixed.

[waveydavey]

Yes, just go to the model memory you are using and adjust your elevator, aileron to 70% they will be at 100% at the moment. Then probably on the same page adjsut your expo for the same controls. Start with 20% and see how it feels. My advice though would be not to dumb it down too much.

[hedge]

Hi,

I remember too well starting off and at nearly a year and a half of flying ccpm I still feel like a newb.

There is so much to learn, but that is helis. Your TX is a computer and has many settings that need to be correct. Pheonix is a computer program that has to be learned and for me as each month goes by Pheonix becomes more and more important to my real life heli world.

1) To start with in your TX you need a new model memory space and you need to set the swash servos correctly. Thats it nothing more - for now - to change in the TX.
2) In phoenix you need to calibrate the TX. Choose Calibrate and follow the prompts
3) In phoenix select a large heli like the Trex 700 leccy or nitro either will do
4) Edit model in Phoenix choose Control Expo and move the slider in Elevator Expo to 30% same for Aileron Expo leave/set Rudder at 0.
5) Now in Phoenix the model should be infront of you select Model drop down menu and position change the heli position so its tail is closest to you and the front farthest away (this is called tail in). Click finish

Now slowly raise the power and pitch as the heli lifts off it will drift left or right and forwards or backwards. One setting at a time using the trim levers in the TX adjust so that when it lifts off it only just drifts left this is normal and you should counter this with a bit of aileron.

Now if you followed all that you know have the heli at a stage where its That Hard

It took me days to learn to turn and months to get all the orientations. if you get bored buy and Eflite mCPX.

Good luck

[ian1972]

Many Thanks Guys