I don't think adding weight will help. You might end up with the reverse problem - i.e. the heli will go into an initially drift-free hover, but then start to drift. But try both methods - i.e. tilting the skids, as I described, and then if that doesn't work, adding the weight instead.

I went back and re-read your post. Apparently I misunderstood. I know what you're saying now so I tried that and it seemed to help a little. It still wants to drift but a little right action on the stick and it's corrected immediately and I can go into a hover.

Thanks for all your help. I suppose the next heli I get I should research before I buy. This is my 1st so I didn't know what to expect. The only thing I don't like about this one is it doesn't hold a charge for very long. I'll check around for a longer lasting battery.

What kind of flight time are you getting? Since the battery is well forward of the C of G, you can't use a larger one without having to add weight at the tail rotor to keep the heli balanced at the main rotor shaft. It's entirely possible that your battery has lost capacity, however, so getting a similar capacity replacement might boost your flight times. Most people have a few battery packs so that you can get a few flights in every flying session.

I googled the battery and there is no option for a larger capacity. Good to know about the weight though. I didn't give that a thought as to the specs to make this thing fly.

I am going to get a couple of battery packs though. The biggest issue is having to take the cowel off every time I change the batter. I wish it was easily accessible. However it beats having to wait 45 minutes for a full charge.

Oh, and back to the drifting. I added 4 small washers, 2 under each screw on the left side and that seemed to fix much of the drift. I only had 1 washer to begin with. Now it's up in the air with minimal drift roughly a foot or less when I give it some thrust. So I really thank you for that suggestion. It was driving me batty.

Hey I have the WLtoys V911 and I just ordered a new helicopter with Dx6i mode 2. And just realised my V911 tx says mode 1. What confuses me is that I don't know the correct English terms. My TX works as follows:

Left stick up/down makes the helicopter also go up and down. Left stick left/right makes the tail spin.

Right stick moves the heli forward and sideways.

That's mode 2 right? Or am I just totally confused

Yes, what you described is mode 2!

Mode 1 is for crazy people!

Yeah I figured either I'm going crazy or the Chinese guy in the factory decided to play a trick on me and program the wrong text on my controller.

I just finished reading RADD's intro lessons. I think I have a pretty good handle on what I should be doing for my first 10+ battery packs. Unfortunately, I'm a bit confused about a couple of things. I hope someone here can help clarify.

Radd uses the term "throttle" throughout the tutorial. I assumed that "throttle" was a reference to the model's collective control. Am I correct, or is he actually talking about flying a fixed-pitch helicopter?

Second, I have read about the rotor speed (same as head speed?) a lot, even in Radd's lessons. I was under the impression that a collective pitch helicopter maintained a constant rotor speed. How does one control the head speed? Is this something that can be controlled from the Tx? Is it something that you can change in flight?

Thanks,

TL

P.S. I'm sorry if these questions have been asked before. I did some searching, but I couldn't narrow my searches down as I don't know the appropriate terminology.

Throttle would normally refer to the throttle percentage used. With a CP heli, the collective stick controls both the pitch servo and the ESC throttle output. You set the relationship between the collective stick position and collective pitch in the pitch curve, and for throttle in the throttle curve.

For example, assuming the heli has been set up for a pitch range of -10 degrees to + 10 degrees, at full low collective you might want - 2 degrees pitch, so you would set the low collective to be 40%. If you wanted the maximum pitch to be 10 degrees, you would set the high point to be 100%, so your five point pitch curve might be 40, 58, 75, 87, 100.

The throttle curve might be 0, 40, 65, 85, 100.

Ideally, you would tweak your throttle curve to give you as constant a head speed as possible. It takes a while for the rotor blades to accelerate or decelerate, whilst pitch changes are relatively instantaneous. "Rotor speed" and "head speed" are used more or less interchangeably.

Doggs,

Thanks for the info! That makes sense to me. Since I'm a beginner and I have no interest (at least for a while) in anything 3D, I assume that 100% negative collective is unnecessary for me. I'll be using a DX6i with a Trex 450 (haven't chosen the specific model yet). Other than setting a gentle throttle curve without much negative collective, what other things can I do to simplify the learning curve? Here's what I've got so far:

1) Limit the dual rates and expo - loosen the elevator/aileron handling.
2) Add weight to the flybar.
3) Buy some flat-bottom blades (maybe wooden?)

Are these correct? Am I missing anything?

Thanks again,

TL

It's worth having plenty of spares, and using training gear until you're comfortable with hovering in all orientations. Otherwise it's handy to have a LHS nearby that stocks bits for your heli. Then your new clone will gradually turn into an align hybrid....

In order to get longer practice hovers, you can run a lower HS, so with a 3500kv motor, you might use an 11t or 12t pinion in place of the 13t or even 14t that would be the norm for 3D flight. The added benefit of a lower HS is less wear and tear on the heli, less vibration and a bit less noise. If you're flying woodies, you will want to keep the HS below 2600 anyway.

I've not used cambered blades on a heli in a long time, but theoretically they should help extend your flight time, though probably not by a noticeable amount. You could pick up a multi-pack of blades from eBay or Leadershobby for very little that could keep you flying.

Originally Posted by wtl0715

Doggs,

Thanks for the info! That makes sense to me. Since I'm a beginner and I have no interest (at least for a while) in anything 3D, I assume that 100% negative collective is unnecessary for me. I'll be using a DX6i with a Trex 450 (haven't chosen the specific model yet). Other than setting a gentle throttle curve without much negative collective, what other things can I do to simplify the learning curve? Here's what I've got so far:

1) Limit the dual rates and expo - loosen the elevator/aileron handling.
2) Add weight to the flybar.
3) Buy some flat-bottom blades (maybe wooden?)

Are these correct? Am I missing anything?

Thanks again,

TL

If you haven't gone there yet, try reading some of CaptJac's thread "3D is NOT for everyone" on rcgroups. Link here: http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1651066
There's a lot of good info there for flying a CP but not doing 3D.
Don

I have a preflashed ESC and KK2 board with pre-installed 1.5 and also a 9XR.

I can't bind the Rx (FrSKY V8FR-II) to the FrSKY DJT RF.

Get a steady green on back of Turnigy 9XR/DJT Tx, then the Rx flashed green twice and then flashes red.

Does anyone have any ideas on what I am doing wrong?

Thanks,
Fastmetal

I'm about to move from coax to micro cp, and I'm wondering if I should bother with phoenix sim?

Controlling the micro coax heli came naturally to me, so I didn't have any trouble with orientation or anything. I guess I'm wondering if I can skip the sim and just practice on a real micro heli in stead.

The micro cp heli will be a whole different ball game, but pretty resistant to crash damage so you could manage without the sim. I know people who never use a sim, but the best flyers that I know all spend a lot of time on sims.