Originally Posted by CaptJac

For this training exercise, switch your gyro to heading-hold. Also known as lazy 8's - the pattern you will be flying looks like O-----------------O. With practice it will become O--O. I'm still working on OO. These are really fun in the real world - especially when there is some wind and the translational lift is changing your altitude. You are not only continuously working your cyclic and rudder - but also your collector.

Parts 1-2 are "outside" turns so the nose is turning outwards. As your turns become more consistent - increase your speed slightly - concentrating on the radius of your turns.

Parts 3-4 are "inside" turns so the nose will turn inwards and cross over to the other side. These are more difficult because the nose will be turning in from both directions.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yqd9vITc3QM

This is an awesome Flying Site in the video. Is it a custom site?

I had my second lesson with CaptJac today. It was great fun but very challenging. CaptJac is very good at communicating exactly what he wants you to do and the very patient while you try to do it. I can't believe my good fortune in finding him. It is reassuring to know that my practice time is used wisely. The good Captain makes me believe that if I do as he teaches I will be able to do this.

I'm in my fifties and if I were to take up hockey or soccer it would be comical. So it must seem with this yet CaptJac makes it seem like the proper and normal thing to do.

Hats off to the good Captain!

Russ

Originally Posted by bunger

This is an awesome Flying Site in the video. Is it a custom site?

Kambah field is in Australia - wish I had one of those fields in my backyard. I don't even have a backyard.

CaptJac speaks of building muscle memory. What is that?

The cerebellum is a part of the brain that controls muscle movement automatically without conscience thought. It is why we can ride a bike, chew gum, and think of deep matters all at the same time. We take those actions for granted but looking back we can all remember what a struggle it was to learn how to ride a bike and the sense of triumph when it happened. Chewing was even more difficult to learn we were just to young to remember it.

Our cerebellum is our programmable autopilot. Captjacs lessons are a systematic way of programming our autopilot. He shows our conscious thinking brain how to do it, then with much thought and practice our brain figures it out. Once that happens the brain starts programming our autopilot cerebellum and it makes the proper neural connections happen downstream as well as developing the appropriate feedback mechanisms.

The cleaner and more precise the initial programing is will lead to effortless precision down the road. Captjacs exercises are the pathway to success and methodically working on mastering them on a regular basis will program our autopilots in a clean and efficient manner. Eventually our thinking will only need to be spent on what we want the Heli to do and the mechanical part will happen automatically.

I couldn't imagine learning this any other way.

Last night I was a bit frustrated while practicing going to and fro in a straight line with a nice hover in-between. Then I realized that two weeks prior I couldn't remain airborn for more than a few seconds. Life is good indeed.

Let the good Captain assist you in this process. The discipline and precision that he guides you towards will make you the best pilot that you can be with the least amount of work.

Making small circles is excellent training for nose-in orientation and muscle memory development. Don't worry if the circles aren't circles - emphasis is turning and maintaining stability. Turning at these slows speeds requires continuous rudder input and cyclic correction. Anything but easy.

Important: Switch to heading-hold for this exercise as the forward speed will be too slow for the tail to weather-vane.

Flying in circles (7 min 31 sec)

Trying to translate some of the sim exercises over to real world. Got a little flight time indoors with a Trex-450 Sport. The "heli-pad" is a lecture hall - approx 100 feet x 50 feet - fairly high ceilings. Good for slow maneuvers - nose turns - circles - etc. At least so it seemed. It was running off and looking for something to hit as soon as it lifted off the ground. Gotta really pull on its leash to keep it away from walls and tables and chairs - especially when that nose turns around. Muscle memory only thing that kept me from crashing. Sure the heck wasn't my brain - it was running out the door. Conclusion: The simulator training translated very well - especially when doing the circles - I was having the same difficult doing CW circles as I have on Phoenix. Meaning - more time on the simulator!! The Trex-500 is a bit more docile than the 450 both in the sim world and the real world. The 450 is really designed for high speed fast response - exactly what you need for 3D and don't need for scale flying. However, the 450 is a LOT less intimidating to fly in the real world - so everything is a trade off. There is no end to the training. You get better - but you never get a good as you want to be. That's the challenge - that's the fun. One measurable criteria is not how good - but how consistent. As you get better your consistency will improve. 50% to 60% to 70% - it goes up gradually. Above 70% - verrrrry gradually. Have a great training!! Give a knock anytime - glad to look over your shoulders and encourage. I'll be hanging around in the hangar.

captJac

Originally Posted by CaptJac

Recommend your girl friend's sister's computer - you will need a pretty fast computer for the multi-player mode.

captJac

That's hilarious!

CaptJac,
Can you take on another newbie student? I've had the Phoenix simulator for a few months now and after reading through this thread realized I need some help. Also I've probably developed some bad habits. Reading here I come to realize that I'm punching the stick around. Be it plane or helis.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Saul

Bumping the stick you mean? Just stop doing it then?

No seriously some lessons might help. I find that students who are doing that are usually lacking confidence - every move they make is tentative. When I was young and learning to drive, I also did this, particularly on long curves on the highway - I would turn a little bit and drive to the side of the road, then straighten out a bit and drive toward the center, then turn again... eventually I learned to turn the wheel the right amount and hold it there. You will learn this over time, but it does take practice. I usually tell my students to stop watching the plane and to look at my radio and copy the movements I'm making.

Hi Saul - stick bumping is controlling - just a little bumpy. Try nudging instead of bumping - that helps to smooooooth out some of those bumps. Also pinching the sticks gives a "finer" feel than thumbing the sticks. Thumbs are fine when you stick banging. Precision hovering and turns is more of a caress. Keep your cyclic centered as much as possible. Timing is a lot more critical than amount. The better your timing the less the amount of stick movement is required. Drop a line in my message box anytime to coordinate some on-line time.

captJac

Originally Posted by CaptJac

Hi Saul - stick bumping is controlling - just a little bumpy. Try nudging instead of bumping - that helps to smooooooth out some of those bumps. Also pinching the sticks gives a "finer" feel than thumbing the sticks. Thumbs are fine when you stick banging. Precision hovering and turns is more of a caress. Keep your cyclic centered as much as possible. Timing is a lot more critical than amount. The better your timing the less the amount of stick movement is required. Drop a line in my message box anytime to coordinate some on-line time.

captJac

You got me. I definitely drive with my thumbs. So now I need to relearn how to hold the transmitter and control the stick. Seriously, thanks for the suggestions from both of the instructors. I will implement them both.
One thing I don't get is the Timing statement. Can you elaborate on that or say it another way?

If your input is late, you will need more of it. If your input is ahead of the game, it will be small.

What I typically see is beginners waiting until they can process what the helicopter is doing, then they give some input to correct it - since you waited so long, a little bump will not be enough, but you're scared, so all you're going to give is a little bump, and that's going to mean you haven't fully corrected the hover and you will need another little bump, but now more time has passed, and you're even farther out of shape. This is what causes the typical beginner flight that starts out good and gets worse until they have to set it down. Over time, you will get better and your inputs will come sooner, and they will be more sufficient. After a while, your bumps will come soon enough that they are too big - now you're "over-controlling" because your reaction time is short, but your precision is poor. But you have to do this in steps, so you can't avoid this stage. This is where I think you are now, and you simply need to work on "right amount" of input.

With your thumbs only, your precision is going to be low - think about it - can you write with just your thumb? Assuming you could hold a pen, could you do it? Wouldn't you be better with both the thumb and finger?

Originally Posted by esa3

One thing I don't get is the Timing statement. Can you elaborate on that or say it another way?

Another way to say what Jasmine said - over correction or under correction results in more error. The more error - the more stick input is required. Instead of the error getting smaller it gets larger. This regeneration causes oscillation. The faster you are going the more difficult it is to stop the oscillations. Bring a plastic bag to pick up all the pieces.

That makes sense. And that's what is happening. I'm done with thumbs only and have started relearning and getting comfortable with using the pinch instead. Just doesn't seem natural to me, but I'm sure it will. I hope my penmanship is not an indicator of what my flying will be like.
Thanks again.

Hehe... nope, I don't think so anyway... unless unreadable writing correlates with helicopter ability, cuz I have both

The "titles" in this video are the best I can do...

Spektrum DX8 Intro (4 min 40 sec)