Adjusting hover height and throttle position

[totalgeek]

Ok been hovering for awhile with the help of people on this forum, especially vera. Can't do nose in yet, got all the other perspectives. My question is when I'm hovering do I adjust hover height on the copter, HDX450, or transmitter, DX6?

At a certain throttle position I want to be X feet off the ground. In order to do that and maintain it I'm constantly moving the throttle up and down. I would just like to stick it and have it just stay in one position one height. Or, is this how you fly a heli? lol Unfortunetly, without a mentor I find I can't just ask them is this how you fly? Constant adjustment of the cycle and throttle to maintain one height?

If not do I manually adjust the pitch on my copter at a certain position or do I play with pitch throttle curve? I havea 430L outrunner and these are my current curves, normal mode in stunt they're just linear:

Pitch: 41,50,100
Throttle: 0, 78, 100

As usual TIA!

[Pinecone]

If there were absolutely NO wind or other air movement, and everything was perfect in the world, it would work.

But in real life, you will be constantly making corrections.

Also, once you get out of ground effect, it takes the same amount of power to hover at pretty much any altitude (baring MAJOR altitude changes). So there is no stick to altitude correlation.

[BarracudaHockey]

Just get used to flying it, its like balancing a basketball on the end of your finger.

[totalgeek]

Ok thanks everyone. The problem is one click just up or down and my position changes drastically. For example, one click up and I go from a 1-foot ground hover to almost 20 feet! I just find that a huge distance for one-click. If I just want to hover the copter in front of my face it seems thats near impossible without a lot of click down click up movements.

But if thats the way it has to be then thats the way it has to be. I just wanted to make sure that there was nothing weird I was doing. Most videos of the PROs I have watched hovering shows them being able to hover 5 - 10 feet off the ground this would be perfect. I wish they showed stick movement like RealFlight does so I can see if they are constantly adjusting the throttle.

Or, are they, or what PineCone is saying, because they're copter is in idle up mode? I only fly in normal mode and the clicks are killing me :( I want to be able to practice doing turns but I'm not doing it from only a foot off the ground and then my next click brings it up 20 - 30 feet :(

[Jermo]

Ok thanks everyone. The problem is one click just up or down and my position changes drastically.(

Does your TX throttle ratchet? search around and do the mod to smooth that out. You'll find that makes a world of difference.
Jermo

[totalgeek]

It does ratchet! So there is a mod? I've been trying GOOGLE but couldn't find anything. But I'll give these forums a search.

@Pinecone, I've been thinking and expierementing with what you said. The problem is OK on one click my copter hovers at the perfect height 1-2 feet off the ground. I click up and it rises. From what you are saying, when I get it to the height I want I click back down, to where it was hovering great and it should stay in the same position. Problem is it doesn't, as soon as I click down it drops like a rock :(

Thats what got me to thinking that there is a hover height to throttle position correlation. Maybe my copter can just use more work to zero everything out. Ugh... frustrating, but fun :) I just want to be between 5-20 feet off the ground it seems my copter so easily climbs out past 20 feet faster then I can say "Damn".

[Naruto28]

Just open up the tx and you will see the metal clip on the back of the throttle stick. Either slip a piece of fuel tubing over it, bend it back, remove it, etc. I think on mine I just took it out and turned it over and reinstalled it. That way the smooth part of the metal clip kept some tension on the stick, but without the ratchet.

[Pinecone]

Get rid of the clicks.

Which Tx do you have?

Hitec ships with the smooth spring. JR sells one for some Txs. Of course if you buy a heli Tx, there is no ratchet. :)

I would not remove it, as that makes the throttle too floppy. You can flatten it, or what I did on one Tx was to use a piece of heat shrink. I figured that would wear better than fuel tubing.

[BarracudaHockey]

Also it sounds like your pitch range is way too much. Do you have a pitch gauge? If so whats the top and bottom values of your pitch setup.

[totalgeek]

BarracudaHockey initially I had it set for -9/+10 but I just had a crash today. It was hovering and then this gust of wind came without even adjusting the throttle it blew up like 30+ feet. Well the wind died and I wasn't ready for how fast those things come down. I think I caught it in time but it tipped and bent my spindle shaft and flybar like a whirlpool. I'd likek to think if I didn't have ninja reflexes lol that it would've been worse but I am just making myself feel better because of the crash.

Man, the parts for this copter is much cheaper then my Axe CP. Only cost $24 to fix all that damage.

Now that I had to replace the spindle shaft and flybar is there a pitch range you recommend? I remember I had my remote set so it would do -2/+10 normal mode should I bring it in more?

[Jermo]

Totalgeek, he's referring to the pitch curve in the TX. It's normal for new pilots to have issues with throttle. I'm working through the same issues, I'd suggest learning to fly it. You may just need to slow down a bit. I have the same exactly problems with wind. If it even things about breezing my rexxie starts floating. You just need more stick time.

Do you have a sim? flying a sim will help you develope Emergency Reflex that will ultimately reduce damage when things happen. Have you heard of RADD? sounds like you're at the later parts of what it would teach you but the primary advantage RADD has is that it teaches you self dicipline. With a Heli there's little room for errors (especially with a bird like the rex that's fast and agile).

One thing I did was tone down my cyclic on the swash mixing panel. Watch the end of The Finless Series CCPM2 video where Bob talks about a setting for beginners on the swash.

RADD (http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html)
The Finless Series: CCPM2 (http://video.helifreak.com/?subpath=finless/trex450&filename=CCPM_Part_2.wmv)

[totalgeek]

Jermo, thanks I've actually read and viewed both. My pitch curve on the TX is in the first post. It sucks because the DX6 is only 3 point, but I like the fact that unless there's 80+ pilots I don't have to worry about channels at the park. But I'm resetting everything back to linear and 0 trims all the way around. I just got a swash leveler so hopefully that helps.

I have RealFlight G3.5 and thats one thing I can credit for not crashing as much.

What I'm getting from all the posts is that this is natural. I wish I had a mentor here in NV but the flying field I went to was mostly composed of plane people. Thanks for the tip about the cyclic I'll try that, if Finless mentioned that I must've ignored it.

[Pinecone]

Actually 3 point pitch curves are fine. Even with my 9303 with 7 point curves, I run 3 point in most modes.

N - 40 - 50 - 100
Idle/Stunt 1 - 0 - 50 - 100


The place it hurts is throttle curves. Mainly for normal. I run something like 0 - 45 - 60 - 80 - INH - INH - 100

Idle/Stunt 1 gets 100 - 90 - 100 or 100 - 100 - 100

[BarracudaHockey]

Geek let me give you an idea of whats going on.

If you view the rotor disk as a lift producing airfoil, as wind goes over the airfoil, as either forward ground speed, or airspeed caused by wind, the airfoil becomes more efficent and produces more lift causing you to have to lower the collective, the opposite is true transitioning out of forward flight or loosing wind in a hover the airfoil becomes less efficent and needs more pitch/power to maintain altitude.

[totalgeek]

Thanks everyone!

After doing the smooth throttle mod with fuel tubing my system rocks! It can now hover at certain heights so I guess it was ratcheting. Plus after the crash I got the swash leveler and redid my whole head from the ground up, I have subtrim but no trim, its trimmed all mechanically, this copter flies stable. All I have to compensate for is the left push from my tail.

I'm happy and now I can just fly it 10 feet off the ground. No more 2 feet, 1 click, to 25-30 feet in the air. I thank all who have replied and given me advice, it was all helpful.

[Jermo]

:hug: