My first circuit and nose in, week 6
I had been flying my Twister with the gyro set to rates, it should be used on heading hold for a beginner. It did not work correctly on heading hold, this was because it was not set up correctly. I had been trying to set it up with a low head speed, CB increased this for me it now wobbles less and reacts faster to control stick inputs. After thinking and reading about it, I set the transmitter rudder trim to zero and slid the rudder servo along the boom until the heli did not rotate, it now hovers without trim in hold and rates. perhaps we should set our fixed wing models up to fly straight and level without trim or sub trim
Last week we had a Tee shirt with the slogan Airplanes are
for sissies , This is true, Heli pilots will do a rolling 8s backwards at
high speed and lightening fast round the clock tick tocks, the only maneuver
they don't do is sustained KE, fixed wing don't do 540 stall turns.
And while on the subject of sissies, I still have my training under carriage
fitted, I was chased round at Bentham by two members armed with side cutters
trying to cut it off
I had 2 mild crashes on the field last week, I think the training frame saved
it. Coping with the wind is a new experience, the Twister seems to ignore the
wind mostly, although it was blown behind me once, I tried it sideways to the
wind both ways but not tail to the wind as the tail rotor servo looks very
cheap. The tail has a slight wag in heading hold, I will try fiddling with the
gyro gain and may try a servo with a smaller dead band.
I managed a few circuits at the field, this was not too traumatic as it is the
same as flying fixed wing, this may be worrying if you don't have fixed wing
experience because the heli
comes at you nose in
The tail rotor servo failed on Saturday, the landing this would have been fun to
watch for a spectator, there is plenty of advice on what to in this
situation, my solution is to see how many bodily functions I can do at the same
time, luckily it did not spin too fast and landed OK only breaking the training
undercarriage, so this came off.
The Servo was a JP 7.5D , I replaced it with an ESky
digital EK2-0508 rated at 0.1 secs and 1kg which looks the same
The best way is not to think of it has a crash, more an unplanned upgrade opportunity,
then replace the tiny plastic cheap parts with expensive metal ones so the force
of an impact is carried through to something major, a bit like replacing fuse with a nail.
In the afternoon I got it uncomfortably high, the decent was precarious as
the throttle/pitch curve was wrong and reducing the throttle stick slowed the
rotor up, I had set it up for indoors.
The first part of my heli flying has ended, I can hover, do a circuit and nose
in, it could be some time before I try a loop or roll
To get to this stage may take a couple of weeks or a year, I was lucky to be able
to practice the hover at Bentham and to get help and support from club members.
Phil
Indoor flying
Every Saturday at Bentham Hall 6.00PM till
8.00PM, bar open after.
This venue is open to all with BMFA insurance, spectators welcome, criticism
in the manor of Statler
and Waldorf especially welcome
Photos from the 18th session at glos-mfc.co.uk
Photo:- Gareth's free flight helicopter
