How do I know I am ready?

[mporlier@gmail.com]

I purchased my first helicopter, a Blade CX. I can fly it well although
I still have difficulty flying when it faces me. Still, when will I
know if I am ready for a real one like a T-REX ?

Thank you.

[Doug McLaren]

In article <1158074222.247004.230330@i42g2000cwa.googlegroups. com>,
mporlier@gmail.com <mporlier@gmail.com> wrote:

| I purchased my first helicopter, a Blade CX. I can fly it well although
| I still have difficulty flying when it faces me. Still, when will I
| know if I am ready for a real one like a T-REX ?

For starters, get past the difficulty when it faces you. You can get
past that difficulty in the T-rex too, but the CX is a lot more
forgiving so it might be better for that.

The T-Rex will fly very very differently than the CX. Sure, the
controls are the same, but when you let go of the sticks on the CX, it
generally just stops moving laterally -- the CX never really
banks/tilts very much. The T-Rex will just keep going in whatever
direction it was going -- right into your car!

Accidents will be a lot more expensive too.

You may be ready for the T-rex now, but be sure to use a training
gear, and start with the simple tail-in hover and go from there. If
you have a simulator, try one of the higher performance helicopters --
they'll give you a good feel for how the T-rex will respond.

--
Doug McLaren, dougmc@frenzied.us Nostalgia is living life in the past lane.

[The OTHER Kevin in San Diego]

On Tue, 12 Sep 2006 15:26:38 GMT, "Doug McLaren"
<dougmc+usenet-20060912@frenzied.us> wrote:

>In article <1158074222.247004.230330@i42g2000cwa.googlegroups. com>,
>mporlier@gmail.com <mporlier@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>| I purchased my first helicopter, a Blade CX. I can fly it well although
>| I still have difficulty flying when it faces me. Still, when will I
>| know if I am ready for a real one like a T-REX ?
>
>For starters, get past the difficulty when it faces you. You can get
>past that difficulty in the T-rex too, but the CX is a lot more
>forgiving so it might be better for that.

Agreed. The nose-in stuff has wadded up a lot of helicopters -
several of mine included.

>The T-Rex will fly very very differently than the CX. Sure, the
>controls are the same, but when you let go of the sticks on the CX, it
>generally just stops moving laterally -- the CX never really
>banks/tilts very much. The T-Rex will just keep going in whatever
>direction it was going -- right into your car!

Or worse, someone else or someone else's car.

>Accidents will be a lot more expensive too.

True, but most 'rex crashes aren't TOO bad money-wise.

>You may be ready for the T-rex now, but be sure to use a training
>gear, and start with the simple tail-in hover and go from there. If
>you have a simulator, try one of the higher performance helicopters --
>they'll give you a good feel for how the T-rex will respond.

All good advice. In addition, see if you can get some help from an
experienced heli guy in initial setup of the 'rex. If the setup is
off, the heli will be harder to control than it needs to be. Get the
setup dialed in and you can concentrate on controlling the heli
instead of trying to keep up with it.

Good luck!

[sam]

> The T-Rex will fly very very differently than the CX. Sure, the
> controls are the same, but when you let go of the sticks on the CX, it
> generally just stops moving laterally -- the CX never really
> banks/tilts very much. The T-Rex will just keep going in whatever
> direction it was going -- right into your car!


Felt the need to "me too" here on this issue....
I thought I'd pretty much mastered my CX and was ready for a T-Rex.....I
decided to purchase a G3 simulator first, and was amazed at how
different *any* heli with a tail rotor was from the CX. Comparisons with
people who actually flew them confirmed that I wasn't imagining it. I
suggest you take these descriptions very seriously when jumping from the
CX to a machine like the T-Rex.

BTW, can anyone suggest a good T-Rex *electric* profile model for the G3
simulator?

[The OTHER Kevin in San Diego]

On Wed, 13 Sep 2006 00:16:15 GMT, sam <samSPAMMENOT@home.com> wrote:

>
>> The T-Rex will fly very very differently than the CX. Sure, the
>> controls are the same, but when you let go of the sticks on the CX, it
>> generally just stops moving laterally -- the CX never really
>> banks/tilts very much. The T-Rex will just keep going in whatever
>> direction it was going -- right into your car!
>
>
>Felt the need to "me too" here on this issue....
>I thought I'd pretty much mastered my CX and was ready for a T-Rex.....I
>decided to purchase a G3 simulator first, and was amazed at how
>different *any* heli with a tail rotor was from the CX. Comparisons with
>people who actually flew them confirmed that I wasn't imagining it. I
>suggest you take these descriptions very seriously when jumping from the
>CX to a machine like the T-Rex.
>
>BTW, can anyone suggest a good T-Rex *electric* profile model for the G3
>simulator?

Hit up www.helifreak.com and head to the Trex 450 forum. There's a
reasonably new thread there that describes how to tweak one of the
heli models to best emulate a Trex.

There are also a couple downloadable Trex models on other forums, but
at least one of them requires the G3 Expansion Pack 1. One of them
flies NOTHING like my 450SE, but it's so twitchy, it actually helps in
flying the real thing 'cuz it feels like it's in slow-mo when you're
burning electrons.

[The OTHER Kevin in San Diego]

On Tue, 12 Sep 2006 20:40:28 -0700, The OTHER Kevin in San Diego
<skiddz "AT" adelphia "DOT" net> wrote:

>On Wed, 13 Sep 2006 00:16:15 GMT, sam <samSPAMMENOT@home.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>> The T-Rex will fly very very differently than the CX. Sure, the
>>> controls are the same, but when you let go of the sticks on the CX, it
>>> generally just stops moving laterally -- the CX never really
>>> banks/tilts very much. The T-Rex will just keep going in whatever
>>> direction it was going -- right into your car!
>>
>>
>>Felt the need to "me too" here on this issue....
>>I thought I'd pretty much mastered my CX and was ready for a T-Rex.....I
>>decided to purchase a G3 simulator first, and was amazed at how
>>different *any* heli with a tail rotor was from the CX. Comparisons with
>>people who actually flew them confirmed that I wasn't imagining it. I
>>suggest you take these descriptions very seriously when jumping from the
>>CX to a machine like the T-Rex.
>>
>>BTW, can anyone suggest a good T-Rex *electric* profile model for the G3
>>simulator?
>
>Hit up www.helifreak.com and head to the Trex 450 forum. There's a
>reasonably new thread there that describes how to tweak one of the
>heli models to best emulate a Trex.


I was at helifreak and found the thread you want to check out...

http://www.helifreak.com/viewtopic.php?t=19473

It uses the Impala 30 model as a base. Tweak it per the thread and
it'll get you close.

[jeff]

Hi,

The best way to get use to nose in flight is flying the heli on a
profile until you are almost fully nose in. Enjoy and good luck with
your flying, Jeff...


mporlier@gmail.com wrote:
> I purchased my first helicopter, a Blade CX. I can fly it well although
> I still have difficulty flying when it faces me. Still, when will I
> know if I am ready for a real one like a T-REX ?
>
> Thank you.