OK....What Skill Am I Missing

[lperagallo]

OK....was out flying today and was having a good day. Perfect weather, a little wind, not bad. :D Engine was tuned and running great! Had to adjust Pitch curve to match 10-0-(-5). I consider myself a beginner as I just started flying in April. I was doing four point hovers OK, Piros OK, slow forward flight in clockwise circles OK, fast forward flight with clockwise circles and circuits OK. NOW THE PROBLEM....Counter Clockwise movements. :arggg: 90% of all my crashes come from a counter clockwise movement. I can go counter clockwise very sloppy. I can't seem to smooth it out. There must be some basic skill I have not mastered. Any ideas on how to straighten this out. :?: I have been lucky and not taken out the tail yet, just blades, flybar, skids, spindle and a couple of links. By the way, I'm flying an Intrepid EB, 800 NHPs and 110 Vblades.

[ShawnK]

Practice, practice, practice. Everyone has a weak side.

Sounds like you need to be doing things a little higher, too, in order to give yourself time to bail out.

[v22chap]

Everyone has a favorite side ,,(brain is wired for a certain side I think ) and you will be uncomfortable on that side or a certain maneuver (counter clockwise movements ) .... this is normal and will go away with practice, many gallons of fuel and parts. Or you could buy a flight simulator that will be easier to fix the crash ,,but will still help you work on those bad positions.

Mike Mass always said the secret to his flying abilities was the fuel !!!! Burn plenty of it and you'll learn every angle of flight really good.
Good luck and keep burning the fuel

[lperagallo]

I am using Real Flight G3 for my sim work. I'm not as smooth outside as I am inside in the counter clockwise moves on the sim. It's just frustrating to be down waiting for parts. As I was tearing down the bird to check the main shaft I see that both main shaft bearings are gone. This bird only has a gallon and a half through it. Isn't that unusual. When I checked the main shaft it was fine and not bent so I'm surprised to find the bearings gone. :( What could I have done during assembly that would have cooked the bearings? I thought I was all set and only had to wait for spindle and blades. Oh well, it won't take any longer to get the bearings.

[v22chap]

You didn't do anything in assembly ,,when you take out a set of blades,,,heck you can just ding the blades in the ground and take out the bearings on large blade birds ,,I owned another brand 60 size and every time you hit the blades it took the main shaft bearings too. It is just the nature of large blades and lots of power. My smaller size 30 birds would bend shafts ,break blades for gallons and not take the bearings out.

Make good use of the time waiting and practice the sim a lot and do all the hard flying stuff ,,not what is easy.

[MarkWebber]

Doing figure 8's is one really good way to improve your weak side. Try in the sim keeping it low and slow while trying to maintain the same altitude. I do them exagerated so that in the center it's almost coming directly at me to keep myself dialed in on nose in manuvers.

[Brady Longmore]

I'm the same way. If flying away from myself I prefer to turn it to the left to bring it back as opposed to the right. The trick is just to force yourself to do it until it gets more comfortable. But, yeah sounds like you need more altitude so you can correct when you screw up.

And yeah, my last crash screwed my bearings too. Just happens.