Hi stompjrkz400

no worries , i am betting you will be pleasantly surprised at how stable this machine is , i am running the fast forward blades , and my first indoor flight was pretty uneventful , i have heard the other blades are not much if any harder

only point i know to be careful of , is to leave the sticks alone while you spool up , and only start to correct after it lifts off , let the electronics do their thing while it is on the ground

it is a great little machine , enjoy

All,

I bought the mCP X because I figured it may help my move beyond the hovering/slow-flight phase that I've been in with my BSR for a year. Although I can fly up a storm in RF with pretty much any heli in the sim & those I have downloaded, I always chicken out when I fly my BSR. I can hover the BSR in any orientation & do spot-landings - both in 15+ MPH winds. I can slow-fly out a couple hundred feet and then slide my way back - but I have yet to even fly a simple rectangular circuit or figure-eight, or attempt FFF. Each time I tell myself that this time, I'm going to do it, I manage to find an excuse. It's too windy. Or the light isn't right. Or, there are too many people at the field. Or.... It's always something. Somewhere along the line, I developed a serious case of 'crashphobia'. Enter the mCP X.

Well....it worked!!!

This morning, it was +20 F, with a light 3-5 MPH breeze. Perfect time for my first outdoor flight with the mCP X. Spooled her up in the driveway, and walked her out to the road. Wow! As rock-solid as she was in my living room, she is even more locked-in outdoors! The light breeze seemed to have no effect on her at all. I walked her to the cul-de-sac. By this time, I was already feeling a sense of confidence that I had never felt before when flying my BSR - even though the headspeed is maxed and it's equipped with Microheli's FMH & swash, TR450 dampers, and Eflite's c/f CPP blades.

Without hesitation, I gave her some forward cyclic & rolled into the collective. She started to accelerate. I flew her out to around 75 feet, did a sweeping turn, and flew back to myself nose-in - and landed nose-in. Wow! I really did it! I just flew my first circuit with a CP heli! OK..time to try that again - but a bit faster. Spooled her up again, went to idle-up 2, and took her around a couple more times, increasing the forward speed and bank angle in the turns. Oh, yeah, now we're cookin' with gas! Hmmm....this is much more fun than hovering around for a year! I flew her back to my driveway, and my 10CHP's flight-timer said it was time to land. Grabbed my two remaining batteries & headed back outside for more!

In less than 10 minutes of flying the mCP X outdoors, I got over my 'crashphobia', and moved beyond hovering/limited slow-flight - to flying circuits & FFF. Something that I had not been able to do with the BSR - even after a year of flying.

Batteries are charged. Grips are still solid. Time for a few more flights!

Just got back from flying a few more packs. Wow! I am impressed! Of course - I'm not a 3D or even a sport-aerobatic heli pilot as-of-yet, but this heli seems like a perfect choice for grab & go flying in the yard or parking lot at work. The wind was up a bit more this time, and it was starting to have an effect. She was still absolutely rock-solid in pitch & roll, but required some work on the collective stick to maintain altitude - as is expected. I was a bit more brave this time around. I pitched her over, laid into the collective, and she took off like a rocket. I flew a couple of FFF circuits - cw & ccw. Unlike the mSR, she seemed to turn well in both directions. I got a bit carried away on a couple of occasions, and found myself with her so far away, I could barely tell which way she was heading. Since I knew she was approximately level, I simply brought her down for a gentle landing - despite the fact that she was nearly 150 feet away! I didn't attempt a takeoff from that distance, however. Another time, a gust took her upstairs during a FFF pass. She was well over the treetops - around 80-100 feet AGL. The wind was a bit stronger up there, and she was quickly disappearing tail-first. I gave her some forward cyclic & laid into the collective. She started to get bigger again. I flew her back - nose in, and landed - nose-in. Crashphobia cured!!!

Grips still feel solid. With the stock cells, I'm getting ~5 minutes to the 80% discharge point. Next will be some light-weight Hyp 240s - using bare Hyp 240 cells & Glenn's mCP X battery connector.

So far, I absolutely love this little heli!!

Joel

Hi turboparker

good work on your flying , getting over 'crashphobia' is a mile stone , in the learning curve , i was in the same boat a few years ago , till i figured out how tough a 4G3 was , it's all fun from here , best regards

Originally Posted by rchelijc

Nice one rdnek (u a keen fisherman by any chance?)... unfortunately I cant keep up with that thread

I knotted the loop above the main shaft so it forms like a fig-8 when viewed from above - zero chance of interfering with the blade collective movements.

OH, I like that better. I am going to re-do mine.
Ron

Originally Posted by turboparker

All,

I bought the mCP X because I figured it may help my move beyond the hovering/slow-flight phase that I've been in with my BSR for a year. Although I can fly up a storm in RF with pretty much any heli in the sim & those I have downloaded, I always chicken out when I fly my BSR. I can hover the BSR in any orientation & do spot-landings - both in 15+ MPH winds. I can slow-fly out a couple hundred feet and then slide my way back - but I have yet to even fly a simple rectangular circuit or figure-eight, or attempt FFF. Each time I tell myself that this time, I'm going to do it, I manage to find an excuse. It's too windy. Or the light isn't right. Or, there are too many people at the field. Or.... It's always something. Somewhere along the line, I developed a serious case of 'crashphobia'. Enter the mCP X.

Hi Joel!

I too bought the MCPx with the same intentions. I have a BSR too, and a Blade 400 and can hover them any which way but inverted. I can also do FF in the sim with no problems. Just can't get past that into forward flight hurdle in real life.

I took the MCPX out today but it was just a little too much wind and I ended up fighting with it and eventually ditching. Things seem to be calming down this afternoon so I'm out to try again.

Gary.

Awesome heli... however...

I experienced unexpected loss of control while flying outdoors today. I'm stil not sure what happened. One second I was making slow figure-8 circuits at 50% rates, next thing I know it quickly tumbled inverted and lawn-darted. huh?

Originally Posted by mCP_X

there is one consensus that the bearing should be installed , so that the silver side is closest to the main shaft , the idea being that the thicker edge will take more of the thrust load

I've worked in the mechanical maintenance trades for 45 years and I can assure you that the above is correct. The fact is that this type of bearing isn't really designed for side loading, but they're a lot less likely to disassemble themselves if the side with the press-in shield is facing the blade and the solid side is facing the main shaft.

Pete

Was a near-perfect flying day today! I now have about 1.5 hrs of time on the bird. She's doing great, so far! No bearing problems, no hot motors, no mysterious vibrations. Nothing but pure grin material! I have now flown a bunch of high-banked FFF circuits - cw & ccw - and some figure-eights. I've done many nose-in landings, and a few excursions that took her far enough out that I could no longer maintain orientation. I managed to fly her back all but twice. On those occasions, she was so far away, I didn't even have a hunch as to which way she was pointed. After a few attempts at 'making her get bigger' again, I realized that she was simply too far away for me to regain control. So, I executed an emergency landing while I could still tell that she was right-side-up. No problem. She just landed uneventfully on the snow.

My confidence level shot up higher than it has ever been since I started flying CP a year ago! I decided to try some more aggressive FFF Now, that was fun! She can move out pretty good, and she shows no tendency to balloon. In FFF, she tracks like a pattern plane. Got in trouble a couple of times, but managed to work it out while she was still airborne. I did dump her into the snow twice while flying low FFF circuits, though. Just blew off the snow, checked her over, and flew. I had to re-seat the main gear once.

I also worked on smooth, scale flight. This seems to be relatively easy, thanks to the FBL system. I bet she'll make a great scale platform.

BTW - all of my outdoor flying has been on stock cells with the high-speed blades. As soon as I finish wiring up some bare Hyp 240s with the mCP X plug, I'll be leaving the stock cells behind.

I'm loving this little heli!!

Joel

Originally Posted by Warhorse

Hi Joel!

I too bought the MCPx with the same intentions. I have a BSR too, and a Blade 400 and can hover them any which way but inverted. I can also do FF in the sim with no problems. Just can't get past that into forward flight hurdle in real life.

I took the MCPX out today but it was just a little too much wind and I ended up fighting with it and eventually ditching. Things seem to be calming down this afternoon so I'm out to try again.

Gary.

Gary,

Good luck! In just one day of flying her outdoors, I went from hover-only flying - to high-banked FFF & nose-in landings! I believe she has paid for herself in just one day! I almost tried a loop, but decided that going from hovering to FFF & nose-in landings in less than an hour of flying was good enough for one day.

When it's windy, I find that I prefer to fly in idle-up with the highest headspeed I can get. I found this out with my BSR. Makes it easier for me to keep up with the sudden altitude changes.

Joel

Originally Posted by A Rdnek

OH, I like that better. I am going to re-do mine.
Ron

Ron... hold on!!! Don't cut your loop

I'm pretty sure you knotted that loop pretty good, and from the photos, you didn't wrap the line underneath the ball links.

Just get a bit of braid to tie a simple shoestring knot up above so that it secures both sides of your loop up top.

Then if you're worried about the knot slipping (as braided knots do), just a drop of CA on the knot itself and let it soak in...

Hi all,

I totally suck at inverted so I got to thinking what if one could just takeoff inverted to do some hovering practice. So I searched my brain and shop and found that there is a 4.2mm hole in the top of the head with a flybar about 5-6mm down. So what could I find that would fit it just right. Well it turns out that a 6-32 blind nut is just about right. So I bent over the retaining spikes and inserted a 6-32 screw with a locknut to hold it into place. Then used a heavy pair of vise grips to hold the screw vertical. The found that the heli will set inverted on the blind nut. So I then set my radio for TH, ST-1 and about 35% throttle. Then fingers cross hit the TH off. It soft started inverted and damned if it didn't liftoff and fly Then it smacked into my chair Remember I suck at inverted Anyways it works about 75% for liftoffs but so far I'm 0% for inverted flights so back to the sim. BTW, this sucker gets moving fast so you gotta be good or you'll smack something really really quick

YMMV, Don

Originally Posted by Warhorse

Hi Joel!

I too bought the MCPx with the same intentions. I have a BSR too, and a Blade 400 and can hover them any which way but inverted. I can also do FF in the sim with no problems. Just can't get past that into forward flight hurdle in real life.

I took the MCPX out today but it was just a little too much wind and I ended up fighting with it and eventually ditching. Things seem to be calming down this afternoon so I'm out to try again.

Gary.

I remembered that hurdle too! I had the habit of being too relaxed while on the sim, which is bad. I recommend 2 ways to get the confidence for FFF (or 3D or anything) in real-life.

I GUARANTEE it'll take you no more than 3 hours to get your confidence up.

Note: mine is realflight (now 5.5)

Tip:

1. Use a really sensitive 450/500 heli - one that you're uncomfortable flying
2. Set wind/gust to 5mph
3. Set zoom to manual zoom (to get used to the heli looking small when far away)
4. Ask someone (your bro/mom/dog) to set random trim on the heli.
5. Get your heli up to about 50ft or whatever safe height you fly in real life (to get used to how it looks hovering at this height)

Then try the following 2 things:

1. Do absolutely super duper micro mini slow but large figure 8's. The figure 8 might take you 1 minute to complete. This will force you to ALWAYS keep the heli in control and near hover, in all orientations, as it slowly moves through the air. Fast figure 8's builds the habit of losing control of the heli at some points.
   
2. Once you feel confident of the above, set the Physics speed to 150%, and do the same. This forces you to speed up your reaction time to 150%. If you're feeling good, bump it up to 200%.
   
3. I'll add a third thing. I got my wife involved with this. Once I was good at the above 2, I'd fly randomly doing what i liked (keep high physics speed). My wife would yell STOP and I have to instantly bring it back to a hover. I liked this cos I was always on edge, and she'd try to do when I least expect.

When I did these things, I could never relax while in the sim. I was always fighting something, and the controls had my full attention.

I know speeding up the physics sounds stupid, but try it out for an hour or so non-stop. Then set it back to 100%. You'll be surprised how SLLOOOOOOWWWW everything is, and you'll feel you could almost set it to hover, go have a ciggie, and still make it back in time to make your first correction.

You want to make this feeling permanent, cos that's how I think the pro's feel. Not only are they doing those fast crazy 3D maneouvres, but it's slow enough for them that they can notice small errors such that they're actually making minor corrections mid-stunt!

I thought i would post this in this thread too,since it doesn't travel at a million miles an hour.

I have problem with my first mcpx, maybe gyro is stuffed heli keeps wobbling inflight and shaking.I have put new blades on,swash, new blade grips new main rotor hub,new main shaft ,new gear, new spindle.Im at a loss??Second mcpx flys great i have been alternating the parts from both mcpxs.Gear is pushed up.

Originally Posted by pappy1

I thought i would post this in this thread too,since it doesn't travel at a million miles an hour.

I have problem with my first mcpx, maybe gyro is stuffed heli keeps wobbling inflight and shaking.I have put new blades on,swash, new blade grips new main rotor hub,new main shaft ,new gear, new spindle.Im at a loss??Second mcpx flys great i have been alternating the parts from both mcpxs.Gear is pushed up.

I'm assuming side to side (aileron) wobbles - yes it's likely gyro is overreacting.

Not personal experience, but try to see if the PCB is loose. If not, check for play in the swash - since you got two compare them both.

I get the same thing when I lightly touch the ground with one of he skids.

Last resort - loosen the blades, try, then tighten the blades till it can't move on its own weight, then try again.

If nothing, then yep your FBL is acting up.

Originally Posted by rchelijc

I'm assuming side to side (aileron) wobbles - yes it's likely gyro is overreacting.

Not personal experience, but try to see if the PCB is loose. If not, check for play in the swash - since you got two compare them both.

I get the same thing when I lightly touch the ground with one of he skids.

Last resort - loosen the blades, try, then tighten the blades till it can't move on its own weight, then try again.

If nothing, then yep your FBL is acting up.

Already tried to loosen /tighten blades countless times.I have swaped blade grps to the other mcpx,an i get no wbble on it,so think gyro