In February of this year, I purchased a new Blade 400 RTF. I have been slowly but surely working my way up to forward flight by posting on forums, watching videos, buying e-books, and practicing on a simulator. Oh yeah, and practicing on the real heli, too. I had finally worked my way up to forward flight when on the 3rd day of flying forward, I had my first major crash.

I rebuilt the heli and despite the repair costs, it was a good thing. It taught me how to program throttle and pitch curves, set proper pitch on the main blades, balance the blades, etc. I hovered the heli what seemed to be a million times until it was tuned just right and I tried forward flight again. It was in the air a grand total of 5 seconds and it crashed again. Not as bad as the first time but a major blow to my confidence, which was already weakened.

Trying to find someone local to train me on a buddy box didn't yield much results. I was seriously considering giving up - was thinking what I could do with the money I could get from the sale of the Blade 400 - and I randomly came across the FMA Direct Co-Pilot II. I zealously read all about it and after I saw a video of a heli automatically righting itself into a hover from the top part of a loop, I knew I had to have one. This would be the perfect way to train - let it correct my mistakes and put the Blade 400 back into a hover. As I get more confident and comfortable, I can reduce the gain on the heli until I don't need it at all.

I bought a used one off a fellow RCGroups.com member for a great price. It, and the replacement parts, are on the way. I'm excited about heli flight all over again. This is the shot in the arm I needed!