What to expect on climb-out

[livesounder]

Running/crashing/repairing a BCPP.

Am getting comfortable now with holding it in position very light on training gear. It shows a tendency to lean right and slightly rearword when I get it extremely light.

A few questions:
Is this is primarily ground affect (will go away once it's a couple feet up) or rotational affect (will always be present)?

Is it better to gradually increase pitch to put it in the air, or to punch it up a couple notches when I get to this point to put it in the air quickly?

What should I anticipate in terms of the heli's behaviour when it goes airborne?

Is there anything I can/should do (mechanically) to tame the behavior of this little beast?

Thanks

[MarkD]

If you can takeoff and land without tipping the heli then it's time to take the training gear off. In the air they are useless and also hinder the heli's natural hovering ability. As a beginner I wouldn't punch it up until you are comfortable with hovering in one spot out of ground effect but lift off the ground slowly but not so the skids stay on the ground for any length of time.

Ground Effect is harder to hover in as the heli is in dirty air

[Pinecone]

To hold position it will always lean right. The tail is pushing to the left, so you have to hold (or trim) some right aileron to keep from moving to the left.

[vera]

I suggest easing it up and stay within a foot of the ground and over a selected spot. Work on keeping it there. Make small timely control inputs. Try keeping the rotor disk nearly level. It will have to tilt a little to the right to hold position, but avoid steep angles of the rotor disk because it's gonna go somewhere real quick if you get a lot of tilt. The thing that's actually doing the flying is the rotor, the rest is a support package for the rotor, so be attentive to what the rotor disk is doing. Try to set it down with no horizontal movement. Contacting the ground while drifting sideways may cause it to tilt over and there goes the blades. So stay with the training gear till you can lift off and hover in any direction within a foot of the ground and land with no horizontal drift. Then take the training gear off and get familiar with it again. It will be a bit more responsive and you will have lost a point of reference so ease into it.

[G-nome]

Livesounder
As a new pilot myself I have found that this site has an abundance of members willing to share their knowledge, so absorb as much as you can.
As for you questions I have found that this site will answer some of them http://www.howstuffworks.com/helicopter.htm
and as for getting to the point of hovering I recommend you read RADD'S SCHOOL OF ROTARY FLIGHT. It has helped me get to the point of hovering much faster than when I was mucking about with training gear on. I have decided not to bother with training gear all together after doing the tutorial by Radd and am already confident enough to practice hovering in my loungeroom at home. Loungeroom hover space is only about 2mtrs by 3mtrs, so you can imagine the confidence the tutorial gives you. I also belive that you should keep up the fear factor (respect for Heli) by training without training gear on.
I have of course been outside and not been respectful enough and ended up brushing a Gum tree. Luckily it was only my pride that was damaged and not the Heli, straightened up the blades and off I went again. When you are able to get off the ground make sure you practice landing straight away, as this is the second most important skill besides hovering I feel. So try not to get above knee height at first and once you are off the ground try to bring the Heli dowm with control. Up, down, up, down over and over again then once you can land without bouncing add a little more height. Try to keep below eye level as above that I have found it isn't good for your nerves, or your Heli if you panic.