Hey guys so afters years of off road and on road racing (e) & nitro. I some how ended up with an mcpx v2 it set on my shelf for about a year. I then somehow acquired a dx6i. If you have been in the hobby long enough you know you just end up with stuff. I know a 3d heli is not what I should start with but it's what I got.

I got it all hooked up adjusted my controls down to beginner by following this thread http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?p=3854858 . The heli fly's fine and is controllable for a rook lol. I have 6 200 mah batteries and I cycle through them flying in my garage at least twice a day. I only let it get off the ground about waist high (less chance of breaking stuff). Which I have to give this heli 2 thumbs up for durability the crashes it's been through and not have broken anything is amazing.

I have been flying it for about 5 days now. My comfort level and control of the heli are growing by leaps and bounds. My goal is to be able to hover through 1 batt without the heli touching the ground. No luck with that goal yet!!!

My question is how can I best get the heli to hover in 1 spot. I placed a frisbee on the garage floor and I am trying to keep the heli hovered over that 1 spot for a full batt cycle. I at times do pretty good with it for about 30 seconds max. However it always ends up getting away from me sometimes slightly other times. Well you can imagine considering everyones a rookie at some point.

I know some would say I need a fixed pitch heli and thats ok. I actually like the difficulty of the heli. That has a lot to do with why I am so intrigued by it at this time. I am easily board by games and hobbies that possess little or no challenge.

You help, criticisms, directions and general input are greatly appreciated.

When doing a hover practice, you don't start with a dinnerplate, you start with a 1 meter square and just learn to keep the heli inside it. Hovering takes a lot of fine control and you'll only end up constantly over correcting if you try hovering on such a small area.

When hovering over the 1 meter square, you only need to touch the cyclic when it's nearing the edge, a *very* slight overcorrection to nudge it back towards the center but try to keep it as level as you possibly can within a couple of cyclic movements. When it starts drifting to the other side five seconds later, nudge it back. If the heli takes three to five seconds to reach the other side of the box, you are hovering. The longer it takes the heli to get across, the better your control is becoming and you can start shrinking the hover area.

Right now, i probably do less stick movements hovering the GeniusCP a foot from my face (probably a five inch box) than i did trying to keep it inside the 1m square when i started.

Don't start with a frisbee, the people you see doing it on youtube has been practicing a lot longer than you have.

1 meter square? Why not 3 meter square for a box and mark the center as a target. Remember when doing orientations that in nose position you move the rudder toward danger for correction. Looking at the side view remember “Tail Away” move the rudder toward tail to move the heli away from you. That helped me a lot. I understand your liking the difficulty; I’m not a noob and a poor pilot but addicted to the challenge

@Santley
Because i practice in the computer room in between breaks and there's only a 1 meter space behind me

Hey sorry, I didn’t mean to criticize you. 1 meter is impressive and will make you a better pilot. When I started out I needed a football field and I still have to focus hard to keep that Nano in 1 meter. Not a problem on the 130x.

Originally Posted by vladconnery

My goal is to be able to hover through 1 batt without the heli touching the ground. No luck with that goal yet!!! My question is how can I best get the heli to hover in 1 spot. I placed a frisbee on the garage floor and I am trying to keep the heli hovered over that 1 spot for a full batt cycle.

For a beginner, flying an mCPx is like trying to ride a unicycle the first time - it seems almost impossible. The problem is not just how big or small your target area is (the bigger the better) - but the mCPx it is too quick to "think" about - it has to be automatic and automatic is muscle memory and muscle memory is developed not by reading - but with practice - practice - and more practice. There are a couple of things you can do to sloooow make your mCPx down and make it more controllable - expo on the cyclic (25%) and reduce the collective sensitivity by flattening out the pitch curve. Both of these are done on your DX6i.

When it time for a break (muscle memory wise) there's a lot of reading you can do. Taking Off With RC Helicopters - FAQs 102 starts from the ground up - which is a lot better than the ground down. Another read which has helped a lot of beginners and a long time running thread on this forum is Don't Touch the Controls. Think that one will jump out and bite you. Good luck in your training - have a great flight!

captJac

Thanks everyone for posting and keep your thoughts and suggestions coming. So the MCPx is really quick like you said. Would a larger heli be slower and more controllable? I'm not doing to bad with the MCPx and if my goal is to keep it in a 1 or 5 meter square I'm actually doing pretty good. Practicing twice a day is really making a difference.

I heard someone say a Nano squirts out like a scalded gerbil.

Yes bigger is slower but much larger repair cost. Go slow and measure progress in weeks not flights. Good luck

I started with the MCPX as my first heli.

Yea its squirley at first, at first my goals were to just hover it without bouncing off any walls. Now I can fly it all around my house and land on just about anything.

Pick up Real Flight 6 or Phoenix simulator and you will have the controls on automatic in no time... I think that's all it takes is practice I don't know eventually you just figure it out. Then when you start trying to turn and actually fly it its a whole new learning game! I liked the challenge of the MCPX.

Don't worry about a precision frisbee sized hover yet, just worry about the ground and other objects. It will get easier and easier, and precision will just happen.

A guy won tickets to go to a concert at Carnigie Hall in NY. On the night of the concert he was lost and wandering up and down 57th street. He saw a man with a cello case, and not realizing it was actually Yo Yo Ma, he asked "Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to Carnigie Hall?" Yo Yo replied "Yes I can... practice, practice, practice."

Originally Posted by karlik

don't worry about a precision frisbee sized hover yet, just worry about the ground and other objects. It will get easier and easier, and precision will just happen.

A guy won tickets to go to a concert at carnigie hall in ny. On the night of the concert he was lost and wandering up and down 57th street. He saw a man with a cello case, and not realizing it was actually yo yo ma, he asked "excuse me, can you tell me how to get to carnigie hall?" yo yo replied "yes i can... Practice, practice, practice."

rofl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by vladconnery

Thanks everyone for posting and keep your thoughts and suggestions coming. So the MCPx is really quick like you said. Would a larger heli be slower and more controllable? I'm not doing to bad with the MCPx and if my goal is to keep it in a 1 or 5 meter square I'm actually doing pretty good. Practicing twice a day is really making a difference.

The crashing doesn't start 'til you get into orientation exercises

Ok so its been a while since i posted so here is an update. I can now hover really good and have developed allot of confidence in my abilities. I can get off the ground with no worries. I'm able to recover if it gets squirley on me. Flying it forward it an backwards is fairly easy. A big help was don't touch those controls. I started out flying all thumbs now I use the pinch method works much better. I had to reteach myself everything it took about 2 days to get used to.

I took it outside for the 1st time today and I now no I really like it!!!! It was slightly breezy today I loved watching it catch a draft and do it's thing. Even with the wind I was able to keep very good control. The wind actually made it really fun. My neighbor who is my RC buddy when it comes to racing off and on road. He saw it and went and bought one. The coolest thing about being outside was when it caught a good draft I could cut the power down to about 40% and it would still stay airborne and even rise in most instances.

Biggest area I need to improve in rather actually learn to do is flying it in different orientations. What I mean is with the tail facing to my left or nose facing me. I can fly (hover) really good with the tail to the right. I suck horribly tail left and nose towards me. Right now I am only able to fly it basically back and forth with tail towards me. Even with that it is still allot of fun. Being outside with all the room was nice beats the heck out being in the garage. It will probably take me another 2 weeks to learn how to fly tail left and nose towards me.

I've already decided that I want another which I will purchase in march. By that time I should be able to do all the basics, fly (hover) in all orientations, figure 8's, soft landings and reasonable precision. I have had my eye on a T-Rex 450 for quite sometime. If there is another brand that I should consider quality or size wise would you guys chime in.