About RADD's & general newbie stuff

[nausea]

My very first post here :shock: Have been watching the finless t-rex movies, browsing around here a couple days, big creds bobby!! Never would've put my bird together without them..


I've been playing around with Realflight G2/3 for a few weeks, but just realized that i really haven't really made any progress. I read the "RADD'S SCHOOL OF ROTARY FLIGHT" which seems to be recommended around here, which left me with a couple of questions.. (Some cuz I'm Swedish, and therefor my English isn't the best)


1. I don't have any access to a indoor area to practice, is it possible to do
the first steps with the box outdoors, or in the sim?

2. He talks about watching the mast; now I know all the parts he tells you not to focus on, but the mast I've got no idea about.. Could you explain where it is, a picture, drawing or something?

3. I believe I've been having trouble focusing in the sim, cause I really can't predict movement at all. I'm finding myself sliding back and forwards, and the pixels just blend when the heli is at "standard distance".

Perhaps you should have the heli almost at full screen to learn hovering? I really don't understand how anyone can make out these small movements in the sim, if not really zoomed in.


4. Once again with the sim, in G2/3/3.5 which heli would you recommend to start out with? I read somewhere that the impala is one of the worst to start with, since it's far from reality etc. Any other settings I should be aware of, any modifications to be done?



Of course I'd be more than happy to get any kinds of general newbie advices and comments!



Peter

[Jermo]

My very first post here :shock: Have been watching the finless t-rex movies, browsing around here a couple days, big creds bobby!! Never would've put my bird together without them..


I've been playing around with Realflight G2/3 for a few weeks, but just realized that i really haven't really made any progress. I read the "RADD'S SCHOOL OF ROTARY FLIGHT" which seems to be recommended around here, which left me with a couple of questions.. (Some cuz I'm Swedish, and therefor my English isn't the best)


1. I don't have any access to a indoor area to practice, is it possible to do
the first steps with the box outdoors, or in the sim?

Yes

2. He talks about watching the mast; now I know all the parts he tells you not to focus on, but the mast I've got no idea about.. Could you explain where it is, a picture, drawing or something?

mast = Main shaft, the round bar looking thing that connects the head/blades, goes through the swash, and connects to the maingear.


3. I believe I've been having trouble focusing in the sim, cause I really can't predict movement at all. I'm finding myself sliding back and forwards, and the pixels just blend when the heli is at "standard distance".

Perhaps you should have the heli almost at full screen to learn hovering? I really don't understand how anyone can make out these small movements in the sim, if not really zoomed in.

I use the Dominion3D on the sim and definately zoom in




4. Once again with the sim, in G2/3/3.5 which heli would you recommend to start out with? I read somewhere that the impala is one of the worst to start with, since it's far from reality etc. Any other settings I should be aware of, any modifications to be done?

Dominion 3D is what I use. It's slower than my T-Rex but shows every movement.




Of course I'd be more than happy to get any kinds of general newbie advices and comments!

Peter

Peter, I'm a newbie too, My advice is to take your time and enjoy the learning process. As you progress you'll find you feel very good each step. You will crash so expect that to be normal and be prepared $$ Even the professional's crash. Go slow and you'll not crash often.

As always post here when you have questions. Everyone started out new and didn't know much when they started.
:hug:
Jermo

[nausea]

Aah thx alot!

I thought I read that the whole swasharea was bad, or that's how I understood it. Makes sense now!

I'll try the dominion, but about the box exercise; can you do it in the sim? Seems like those very small differences between sim and RL might be why you even bother doing this in the first place? I'm using the dummy so there'll prolly be even more difference when i attempt my t-rex.


Once again, thx alot! :)

[Jermo]

The biggest difference in the sim vs real life for me is collective management. On the sim I can maintain height easier than in real life. I can do things on the sim I'm still practicing in real life. I can't do the box perfect but that's the whole point of the exercise. Without a focused goal and intent you can't improve.

Learn to hover in all orientations before you start worrying about the box :)
Jermo

[nausea]

O'rly? I thought that the box was the best way to start before even going into hovering :? I'm way to wiggly on the controls while hovering :arggg: its fine for a while, then when it starts drifting slightly to one side, i just make it worse :twisted:

[Jermo]

sorry..I mixed up threads...you are correct,,, the 1 foot by 1 foot box...
Jermo

[shaggybirdman]

i'm going to be using Radd's technique myself, but i have a nitro bird, so i guess i can just do each step per tank instead of battery i guess. not sure on the run time of a tank vs a battery though. probably makes no difference.

[nausea]

Alright.. Well I'll be getting myself a new (working) li-po that works for spooling up and doesn't blow up like a balloon after 10 secs of spinning :arggg: but i guess that a battery works around 8-12 mins~? I've always had the idea that nitro birds have the big advantage that the flytime is much much higher (and u can just fill up and keep going after first tank is off).. At least that's how nitro cars are^^ I guess doing each "battery" around 15 mins isn't to much of an hassle, since i believe i wouldn't feel confident enough with each exercise after such short amount of time :mrgreen:


Wow, wall of text :shock:

[Jermo]

if you over discharge the batteries they can be damaged and puff up. I'm not familiar with the walkera line of heli's (other than I didn't buy one when I had one demonstrated), you may want to consider a battery monitor so you don't damage the batteries.

[shaggybirdman]

well with nitro helis you run them much much richer than cars. i run my impacts (race ready big block .15) at around 2 out, but do final adjustment to 250 to 280 degrees head temp. now thats also on warm 80 to 90 degree day. you can't lean a car motor out to those temps on a 65 to 75 degree day. you would almost defiantly grenade the rod. my cars get about 10 to 12 min run time on 75cc of fuel. my shuttle has roughly a 200cc tank i'd guess, and running very very rich, so i'd guess probably the same run time.

yuppers. the best thing about nitro is back to back tanks of fuel. no waiting for the motor, or batteries to cool :) i'm looking forward to finishing up my t rex also, but i think i'll be fling my shuttle more. who knows. maybe the rex will get sold. ya never know.

a battery monitor is a must have item in my opinion. some helis use a $400 battery. how many of those can you afford?

[Pinecone]

Don't forget that heli motors are larger. So if you are comparing a .21 to a .50 you will burn about 2.5 times as much fuel per minute just due to the increase in displacement.

[vera]

For my 2 cents, the rotor disk is the thing to focus on. After all, that's the thing that's doing all the flying, and the rest of the heli is just a support system for it. You can anticipate horizontal movement if you know the tilt of the disk.

Most models are rigid rotor types so the tilt of the disk and the tilt of the body will tend to be the about the same, at least in gentle maneuvers. During rapid rolls or pitching movements the dampners will allow the disk to be somewhat ahead of the body.


the pixels just blend when the heli is at "standard distance".


My video card is crap because I can't use the G3. The G3 heli jerks along and becomes a difficult to see wad of pixles and the shadow doesn't work in my card. I got a copy of the free FMS sim and that works pretty well... at least the heli moves along smothly instead of leaps and bounds. The FMS doesn't get fancy with background and it lacks some realism but it's just fine for basic stuff and it doesn't take a great video card to make it happy.

[shaggybirdman]

Don't forget that heli motors are larger. So if you are comparing a .21 to a .50 you will burn about 2.5 times as much fuel per minute just due to the increase in displacement.

i was referring to a 30 size nitro heli on fuel consumption. i'm just hoping for 15+ min flight times. a friend says it's like 30+ min if just hovering.

when i learn t fly, and do more than just hover i'd love a nice gasser, or 90 size. only prob is that they cost some serious cash, and alot more to fix.