Need advise on amount of negative pitch.

[gdzero]

Hi All,
I have built a Raptor 50 w/ a 7ch radio. I hav'nt started it yet and I have never seen a model fly.

Matthew (on this forum) is going to help me learn to fly it as soon as I'm ready.

I would like advise as to how much negative pitch I should have.

The raptor manuel says 2 degrees negative, and several people have told me that if its windy you can't get the chopper down without at least this much.

Some people say to set at 0 degrees, and some people say to set at -9 or -10 degrees.


I would feel comfortable at -2 degrees but no more.

What do you guys say? :arggg:

[Hotshot Charlie]

Starting with 2 degrees negative is ok, but I prefered a negative 5 degrees. That is just how I liked it to fly.

Basically, in learning and reasoning behind 0 to -2 degrees negative, is that when you panic while learning to hover, and drop your collective stick to full negative, your heli won't bang the ground hard and cause a boom strike.

How your heli flys is really up to what you want. I would go with at least -2 degrees and consider using up to say a -4 or -5, but that is the way I liked it when I was learning.

Right now, I am running about -6 and +9 in normal modes and -10 and +10 in stunt modes.

I also recommend following your instructors directions, if he wants -2, do it !

Also, if you don't have one, get a simulator. G2's are cheap now and will teach you all you need to know in learning how to hover and basic 3D to advanced 3D. It's just not as pretty as the G3 and the others. :mrgreen:

Have fun, this is a great hobby. Take your time and learn the right way of doing things. It will pay off down the road.... or should I say pay off in the sky !

[Clintstone]

I like -2 when learning to hover but as soon as you get to FF I like atleast -4. You never know when you will do or attempt the first auto. Before I fly anything I know what the pitch ranges are. I even like to talk folks thru autos even if they are not doing them, does away with alot of anxiety.........ask Kyles dad Jeff. He is really having fun now...........way to go Jeff.

[OzarkCopterBum]

I'm just starting forward flight and am running -4. When I first started the guys coaching me set me up with +2 or +3 at the bottom and 0 at half stick to try and keep me from chop sticking and slamming the heli into the ground. It really worked good too. Even with the +3 I was able to set it down in a 10mph wind because I had 0 at the throttle.

[heli]

I just started practicing hovering about 2 weeks ago. I have the negative set at 0 and this seems to be OK for now as I am not doing much more than hovering. I strongly suggest sticking with most recommendations of 0 to -2 for learning, if you hit the -4 spot and get nervous you have a greater chance of overcorrecting and slamming you heli into the ground. Just my .02 cents.

My first day out I had my radio set for a more advance pilot and set the negative pitch to -6 and my practice flight started off bad and ended even worse with a crash. I basically overcorrected when I paniced you might say and dropped the collective quick and brought it to the ground on it's side. The worst thing is I sarted with decent Carbon Fiber Blades and destroyed them within 5 minutes of starting my heli.