video question

[stargzr]

Hello all, well I am a newbie here and have well maybe a dumb question......ok her goes........I have been trying to learn to fly an RC helicopter, I have a blade cp I have the blades tracking perfectly, spent hours getting the trim just right and after about a month of messing around with it I can MAYBE get it to hover for 20 seconds at best. Now every utube video I have watched people seem to have no problem hovering,then I give it a try again and limited success. Now I have had my super cub for only a couple weeks and haven't tryed to fly it yet. Now again most all videos I have seen with people flying the super cub they have no problem. Gosh please tell me it flys as easy as it seems it will! I have a realflite G4 sim and can get a helli to hover all day long but not the real thing. I guess my point here is I feel I have waisted my money on the helli, I have always wanted to fly RC and thought the helli would be nice as I could just fly it on my back yard. To fly the super cub I would only have to go a couple miles to a double size soccer field which wouldn't be a big deal being so close.
Just hoping the super cub flyes as easy as the videos I have seen (also been flying planes on my realflite g4 for practice) .Any random opinions would be welcome.

Thanks to all, Steve W.

[zeta30]

I started out almost the same as you have. Planes are much, much easier to fly than Helis, IMHO.

I have HeliMax 450. I practiced on that thing almost every day using two battery packs each day all Summer long and I can still only do a tail in hover with it. (I also have a G3.5 Sim).

I used the Sim and practiced with Helis and planes. I can hover upside down with the Helis on the sim but wouldn't dare to try that in real life.

Bought the SC and found it was so easy and relaxing to fly compared to the Heli.

The advise I would give you with the Sim is to practice flying the plane straight at you so you can get used to the reverse controls compared to flying away from you.

The biggest mistake I see is that people don't start out getting the plane high enough. Remember Height is your friend. Get up there about 150'-200' that way if you make a mistake you have enough altitude to correct it before you crash.

Don't be afraid of crashing, as you know with your heli, it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.

Read up here on repairing tips, there is tons of info here on how to repair your cub when that crash happens.

[stargzr]

thanks for the advice and encouragement! I did learn one tip somewhere on this site I found helpful on my flite sim.....as the plane is flying toward you move your stick toward the low wing to level the plane out "stick to the wing" I think he said......it works great no thinking hmmmm left is right and right is left when the plane is coming toward you, just stick to the low wing!

clear skies, Steve W.

[theriaa]

are you flying the heli with the tail toward you? keep the tail pointed at you at all times.

go outside (need a big place, it's okay if its a little breezy) and trim it out with the tail pointed toward you so it's easy.

after you've mastered tail toward you (10 lipo charges), do some circles by flying it like a plane, then some figure 8s.

[stargzr]

Yes I am flying with the tail toward me. I must say though I have been practicing in my family room and because of limited space I try to keep it on my 4 foot by 10 foot rug. So yes I guess I might have more success outside in the driveway with more room...Though if I could keep it under control in that small space I would have mastered the hover, maybe not a good idea.

thanks for the input, Steve W.

[theriaa]

you're flying it more than 3 feet off the ground inside.... right?

[stargzr]

good point also I have only hovered it about 12 inches off the ground so far.....need to get higher out of ground effect wasnt sure how high that really was...

Steve W.

[theriaa]

3 feet inside
2 feet away from large objects (outside or in garage)

that ground effect is whats killing you. I got a coaxial lama v3. Once you get it tuned in it can zip around a 1/2" off the ground easily as pie. single axle CPs are a different story, but it should work great in the wind, up high.

coaxial aren't that great though, giggling your right thumb while hovering = 4 broken blades

[SCC]

stargzr said:

I did learn one tip somewhere on this site I found helpful on my flite sim.....as the plane is flying toward you move your stick toward the low wing to level the plane out "stick to the wing

Hi Steve.
I use the same thought process when flying nose in. I always say to myself ''prop up the wing''

[stargzr]

Hey guys, Thanks for all the responses! Well I think I have given up on the Helli. I just took out another set of blades I got it to hover pretty good for a few min outside then it took a pretty ugly dive i over corrected , ruined the blades and another pitch arm. At $15.00 a pop for blades and this is my 5th Set I better give up or i will be in the poor house. I realize I will crash my super cub sometime but the parts are sooooo much cheaper, and some stuff you can just tape or glue together....not the Helli Oh well I tryed, I think it will be alot more fun flying the cub at least the darn thing will get off the ground......

clear skies, Steve W.

[theriaa]

duck tape those blades together (im not kidding, broken blades are repairable, and laminate your new blades with clear duct tape or "Extreme" packaging tape the first couple weeks, they will be indestructible) and don't give up!

if you're headed toward the floor, cut power, don't think, or try to correct, the heli is doing something you don't want it to do, so just cut power till you're more experienced, if your less then 5 feet in the air over grass and your blades don't have power, it's hard to break anything more than cheap landing skids, or bend a flybar, but i don't think your heli has cheap ones

[SCC]

theriaa said:

duck tape those blades together (im not kidding, broken blades are repairable

Not a good idea.

[joeflyer]

Blades are cool...don't give up. But, you should be prepared to spend some money.

Here's my web review of that heli, joeflyer.com/Reviews/eFlite/BladeCPPro.htm

And, here's a link that catalogs how much I've spent on it so far
joeflyer.com/Reviews/eFlite/CostOfABlade.htm

Happy Flying!

[zeta30]

Hey stargzr,

Don't give up on the Heli. It will cost you some money, but pick up a Flight Sim somewhere. The better ones like the G3.5 and G4 simulate the flying very well and there are lessons built right in to them. If you can afford one I strongly suggest getting one and practicing on that. They really do help. They'll help with planes too.

The unfortunate thing is that you picked a really hard Heli to learn on. The manufacturers make those CP's sound like such a sweat deal because you can get a RTF model for about $200 or less. The bad thing is the smaller the Heli you get the harder time you'll have learning on them.

You also need a pretty large wide open space, and don't be afraid to get it 5-8' up in the air, that will give you a little more distance to get out of trouble. If you are under 3-4' the wash from the blades will interfere with the hover.

After a ton of practicing on my HeliMax 450 I'm finally able to do a sideways hover with the tail pointing to the left. Once I get down hovering with the tail to the right I'll start moving back and forth.

Let us know what you do either way!