It's definately harder than it looks.....

[152PY]

Hi guys. I'm new into the RC Heli world. Just got a CX2 and having a blast with it. A couple observations after a couple weeks of learning to fly. 1)It's a whole lot harder than it looks! I'm only just now able to maintain a hover(and a sloppy one at that), fly around the room without blade strikes and land without breaking the skids :roll: 2) It's more fun than I thought is was going to be! It's slow going, but I'm sure I'll get good at it.

Is there any advice you vets can give that I could use while practicing? I don't know anyone experienced in flying heli's and would appreciate and advice I can get. Thanks in advance for any help. Dave

[BarracudaHockey]

Its more adicting than crack!

Practice practice practice.

[rufusis]

No Vet here, but I have been flying a CX2 for about 4 months now. I've grown a bit bored of flying it inside, but still get a rush on those rare windless evenings that allow me to take it out.

I bought a sim two weeks after the CX2 and now have a DX7 in anticipation of a Trex 450 build. If you are considering progressing to a collective pitch bird, I would recommend a sim. It will help with the CX2 as well.

Learn how to fine tune the little bugger. My biggest breakthrough with the CX2 came from some advice I received here on the Freak. I cannot remember the name of the poster, but here is the quote:

"...mechanically trim as follows....one direction at at time. First center all trim sliders on TX.

Trim for rotation of tail, ignore sideways or fore/back drift. Read manual, adjust rear trim pot gradually disconnecting battery each time, until heli doesn't rotate either way...as close as you can get anyway. It will rotate gradually as battery gets lower during flight.

Next trim out sideways drift..if it drifts left, unsnap right servo link from swash, turn clockwise one full turn (ie. shorten it), reconnect and check. If it drifts right, lenghten the right servo link...turn counterclockwise.

Last, trim out fore/aft drift...if it drifts back, unsnap both servo links and turn counterclockwise same amount...half or full turn, ie. lenghten them. If it drifts forward, shorten both servo links."

I have done several upgrades/mods. The HD skids, shortened flybar, and tail boom kit are my favorite, and the aluminum heads. Then I started moving the pushrods
out on the servo horns...

Hope this has helped. "...Enjoy". (sorry Bob, I couldn't help it)

[jeffk]

I have to say that IMHO a sim is probably the best way to advance your skills short of flying for hours and hours a day. The only thing you need to remember is that you are using it to help you fly better. Never lose the reluctance to crash. It helps to keep you from getting cocky and keeps you doing things the right way. Have fun, and goof around with it, but don't forget to use it as a serious tool also.

I bought RealFlight G3.5 (had version 1.0 back in the day!) some months ago and I really thought it was too expensive, but after I thought about how many times I've crashed, and then figured out what it would have cost me had it been a real heli, I really believe it's paid for itself a couple of times over.

Even if you get a sim, when you start flying CP helis, you're going to crash anyway. You'll just probably crash a LOT less than you would have if you didn't have the sim.

[152PY]

Do all the filght sims connect to the TX?

[jeffk]

All the sims worth considering come with a simulated transmitter, and as far as I know (I don't have all of them) you can run your real transmitter through a buddy box cable into the sim's TX.

There are a couple (FMS is one) that will allow you to use a joystick, but IMHO, this is not useful as a training system. You're not flying the real heli with a joystick, so why train with one?

In any case, short answer... yes I believe so.

[Iceman140]

jeffk-

Nothing better than a stupendous heli crash in RealFlight that sends the heli cartwheeling 20 feet in the air and 200 ft across the ground. Something I wouldn't want to be around for real, heh?

152py-

My best tip I got was when flying toward yourself, nose facing you, in forward flight. To get used to the "reverse" thinking of left is right and right is left, just remember this. Whatever side of the heli has the lower tilt to the blades, usually just before I crashed, throw the right stick in that direction and the blade will come up and level off so you can turn the heli around, gain control again, and exhale. Pheeeew!

Also, if you don't always feel tension on the right stick, you are not under control. Center stick for cyclic means the heli is in control. Hope this helps. :mrgreen:

With RealFlight G3.5 you can hook up and choose you own radio, but the supplied interlink controller, which is just their controller, must be hooked up. It prevents people from copying the prog and running it without the controller that comes with it. But a great sim and definately the best investment I've made so far in this hobby. :)

Seeya,

Ed

[BarracudaHockey]

I never saw the point of the wear and tear on my gimbles and switches from hours on the sim when the one included is perfectly servicable.

[Pinecone]

Actually one of the best ones, Phoenix (www.phoenixsim.com) does not come witha simulated Tx. You can use your own or get a cheap one to sue. They are supposed to come out with one later.

I prefer to use my own Tx for the feel and switch position. I haven't ever heard of someone wearing one out. :)

[zoltan]

Im in the same boat!! Really enjoying it....if only sussex model centre would hurry up and send me new blades...etc!

[istandalone]

ok so you have a heli and like it. you are now completely screwed. less then a year from now you'll have several birds of varying sizes and you're debit card will be projectile vomiting money at online vendors. say goodbye to your old lifestyle. not that i think all of these things are bad....there are worse ways to spend your time and hard-earned.