it is?

the cold isnt on plastic or foam.

just tried a scratch build plank and the colder temps are not good on this foam lol

plus the snow here is harder now and not fluffy anymore

rained and drizzled last night

Originally Posted by Heavy Chevy

^^Go for it! Snow is forgiving

27 inches?

The B400 gear for a 450 is only 14 per rod

Originally Posted by Stumblebee

Ah, the siren call of a new, un-flown bird. Raz, I suspect it still has that new bird smell to it. Even if you have not put it in the air, you can still have fun using the RADD'S ground school. Just remember with RADD'S, you MUST stay in the box. If you leave the box, you MUST punish yourself. RADD'S is GOOD. Also remember that your training gear shafts should be about 27 inches long. Dowel rod works well. I hope you have gone over all of the screws with loctite.

LOL

Here we go


lol let the fun times without crashing begin :P

Too bad this is the wrong mode TX for me lol

But that doesn't mean I can't take to the park, spool up, and maybe.... hover? lol

Well I did it lol this was supposed to be just a control check and a little hovering.

Took it up in the air on normal flight mode, had it hovering for like 30 seconds.
Took it down, then back up and did about a 10 foot circle. Put her down.

Then this is where I messed up.
I wanted to check the idle up button - pitch knob was centered.
I hit the throttle up button and the heli snapped to life and began pushing itself down into the ground and stripped a gear.... opps - no crashing but i broke a part already.

Why would it do this on idle up?
Is the pitch off or something?

noob to CP here lol

Apparently my ESC is not set to soft start - oopps

I was doing do well too

Time to get some new gears I guess.

If your throttle was below center, that's negative pitch in idle up mode. But, a good first try, anyway.

You have to learn to use throttle hold, instead of the throttle, to make quick stops.

Thanks I didn't know

It's a learning experience

BUT I can say it was fairly stable for me to, first time CP flyer, to maneuver in a 10 foot circle or so no problem.

I want more lol

I was also using stock TX which is mode 2 and I fly mode 1 lol

You actually turned and flew around in a 10' circle your first try? That is very impressive.

It doesn't surprise me because Raz is da man!

Thanks guys

Hey Raz! So you got your bird in the air. Great. I take it you were flying tail-in in that 10 foot circle. Tail-in is the only way for noobs at first. Yup, you got to watch your blade pitch with throttle up and throttle hold. As a matter of fact, right now you may be better off to forget those controls exist. If you kept your bird inside of 10 feet, you did good according to the RADD'S method. Now it is just a matter of grabbing a spare gear out of your parts inventory and getting your bird back in the air. You do have a spare parts inventory don't you according to the Stumblebee method? Regarding stick length, I was told the training rods should be 1.5 inches longer than the bird. You want the rods to help prevent blade strikes on the ground. If you look at your pic, you will notice the blades appear just a bit longer than the training gear rods.

What is this thing about you and Mode 1 / Mode 2 transmitters? Isn't this the second time those wires have been crossed with you?

Raz, this is just some general stuff for you and your 450. First and foremost, unlike a co-ax, the 450 is not designed to default to level flight. Yours is a 3D bird and that means it can twist and turn all over the place in ways that a co-ax or even a SR-120 can't.

Remember the tips of your blades are traveling close to 200 mph. This bird DEMANDS respect. You should keep both eyes on it constantly, no distractions. Even looking away for a half a second can get you into trouble. You don't even think about talking while flying. When I started out in the gym, I was the only one in there and that was a GOOD thing. You will remember in the early days with the smaller birds, you went through the "magnetic" phase where your bird was attracted to and ran into everything. The same thing can happen with a 450. The 450 seems to have a preference for running into noob pilots, especially their faces and especially at full throttle.

You may have a natural tendancy to try to fly the 450 close to ground at first to prevent crash damage. Not a good idea. You want this bird about three feet in the air in the beginning. As a noob, your take offs are going to be your most dangerous time. If something is going to go wrong (AND IT WILL), it will go wrong in that first 12 inches. You want to learn to get your bird in the air as quickly as possible to level flight. At the same time, you don't want to go too fast or you will go higher than the three feet.

Right now since you are outside, Mother Nature and the 450 are NOT your friends. It will take nothing to have that 450 coming right at you real fast. Your first task as you know, is to learn to hover that beast. Coming from the smaller birds, this means you will have to learn all over again. Hovering means side-in, tail-in and nose in. Nose-in may be the hardest one. I am still working on that one.

30 second flights are GOOD right now. You don't want to try going the eight minutes to exhaust a lipo at first. Fly short, land safely, THINK long. The 450 will teach you something with every flight. If your radio has a timer, USE IT.

Thanks John

All I really intend to do is practice hovering in the gym this winter. The flights yesterday were beginners luck I know lol.

It was more or less just to test if it worked - I get antsy ya know lol.

No it all seriousness I am waiting for new rx to arrive to bind to my DX6i radio and then the training begins.


Anyone have any tips on how to set up my radio (dx6i) to this bird to make it more docile and in training terms.

Originally Posted by Stumblebee

Raz, this is just some general stuff for you and your 450. First and foremost, unlike a co-ax, the 450 is not designed to default to level flight. Yours is a 3D bird and that means it can twist and turn all over the place in ways that a co-ax or even a SR-120 can't.

Remember the tips of your blades are traveling close to 200 mph. This bird DEMANDS respect. You should keep both eyes on it constantly, no distractions. Even looking away for a half a second can get you into trouble. You don't even think about talking while flying. When I started out in the gym, I was the only one in there and that was a GOOD thing. You will remember in the early days with the smaller birds, you went throught the "magnetic" phase where your bird was attracted to and ran into everything. The same thing can happen with a 450. The 450 seems to have a preference for running into noob pilots, especially their faces and especially at full throttle.

You may have a natural tendancy to try to fly the 450 close to ground at first to prevent crash damage. Not a good idea. You want this bird about three feet in the air in the beginning. As a noob, your take offs are going to be your most dangerous time. If something is going to go wrong (AND IT WILL), it will go wrong in that first 12 inches. You want to learn to get your bird in the air as quickly as possible to level flight. At the same time, you don't want to go too fast or you will go higher than the three feet.

Right now since you are outside, Mother Nature and the 450 are NOT your friends. It will take nothing to have that 450 coming right at you real fast. Your first task as you know, is to learn to hover that beast. Coming from the smaller birds, this means you will have to learn all over again. Hovering means side-in, tail-in and nose in. Nose-in may be the hardest one. I am still working on that one.

30 second flights are GOOD right now. You don't want to try going the eight minutes to exhaust a lipo at first. Fly short, land safely, THINK long. The 450 will teach you something with every flight. If your radio has a timer, USE IT.

Hey Raz,

Woke up this morning to the news of the weather in Ontario. Record breaking snow, winds and freezing cold in southern Ontario. Sounds pretty grim from what we are hearing out here in the Tropic of Vancouver. The CBC is saying that even the equipment of the military is having problems moving the snow. Apparently a lot of folks on the 402 around Sarnia spent the night in their cars last night because they couldn't move down the road. Does this mean that those who live in the centre of the Canadian universe, Toronto, will not be able to get their morning coffee at Tim Horton's or Starbucks? If Toronto is affected, that will make it a national emergency. Heaven forbid that life be anything other than absolutely perfect for the folks living in Toronto.