Autorotate

[th0rg0d]

For you stretch owners, how well does it auto?

I've been doing a lot of autos in the sim. Whenever my timer goes off, I flip hold and auto it in from wherever I'm at, or try to at least. But I mainly fly the TDR on Phoenix. I'm not expecting 700 class performance, but is it autoable?

Thanks!


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[Thunder Fighter]

Originally Posted by th0rg0d

For you stretch owners, how well does it auto?

I've been doing a lot of autos in the sim. Whenever my timer goes off, I flip hold and auto it in from wherever I'm at, or try to at least. But I mainly fly the TDR on Phoenix. I'm not expecting 700 class performance, but is it autoable?

It autos fine in stretch form. I do it all the time and it was the first heli I did autos on. You just don't really get any time at the bottom of the Auto, I just flare at the bottom to kill the forward speed and gain some head speed back then put it straight on the deck. Make sure you are landing into the wind.

Start doing autos with the Protos in Pheonix and see how you go. There are a few good guides around that start with mini autos close to the ground and then build up. One trick I found when starting with Autos from hight was to get the heli into forward flight and feed in negative to get a good even decent rate going then flick hold. This way you will already have about the right amount of negative already applied and can concentrate on flying the heli down to the flare without worrying too much about how much negative pitch you need.

//Dennis.

[th0rg0d]

Thanks Dennis. I can auto the Prôtos in Phoenix just fine. 1 out of 20 goes bad. I can barely auto the Beam, but usually 1:3 goes bad with that. I know that many helis don't have the correct auto characteristics in the sim, so that why I asked. We have pretty tall grass at the field, so I know my flare has to be spot on or I'll get tripped up. I think I may just try to auto my mini anyway next trip out.


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[Thunder Fighter]

Just realized you are talking about the Mini, I was talking about the 500 stretch (this is in the 500 forum). I have had a couple of unplanned autos from pinion issues with the mini and it went fine each time but I haven't been doing planned autos. The guys around here have been autoing their Minis with no problem and I just put some Radix 350 blades on that will improve the auto performance due to their extra weight so I will be doing more planned autos now.

//Dennis.

[th0rg0d]

Nope. I'm talking about the 500 stretch.

I have a Mini, but it's 3s non stretch, and I'm worried it won't auto well.

But, I'm considering picking up a stretch 500 FBL, and wondering if it'll satisfy my need to start autoing. Otherwise, I'll prob go Fusion 50 or similar.


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[Dr. M]

If the stretch autos half as good as the stock, you'll have no problem doing it. Though I suspect it'll auto a little better because of the larger blades and higher mass.

I auto most every flight on my non-stretch Protos and found that it works best to come down fast with a good amount of negative pitch and forward airspeed. I flare pretty aggresively about 10-12 feet AGL and smoothly, but quickly feed collective to slow it down. You really can't get any float time out of the Protos in an auto, just set it down straight up without trying to bring it to a hover off the deck. I did learn autos on a 450 and the Protos 500 is way easier, though not nearly as easy as the sim.

It's a whole different story if you ever lose the belt in flight. If you keep your wits about you it's a great and super easy auto with a belt-less Protos. It acts a lot like the sim (sans tail control) and seems to just want to float forever until you feed it quite a bit of negative pitch, then at the bottom you can really hover it for a few good seconds if you can compensate for the torque reaction.

[th0rg0d]

I know it's best to auto into the wind, but we often have the wind in our face. I'm concerned that a light heli won't handle that well, forcing me to feed too much neg pitch, which I understand robs HS too.


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[jmcneil86043]

My non-stretch 500 autos great in the wind. I like to flare with cyclic and stop the heli from moving forward before you feed in collective. With no wind you have to set it right down. With wind it'll float a bit. There is no problem with it being too light. I auto my beam 450 too. It's not as good, but still reliable. I do high autos pretty much every flight. Starting high (>100ft) is much easier than from mid height (~50ft). When you start high you have time to fiddle with the collective setting to get the max rpm by ear.

[Trini92]

Did my first auto yesterday, unintentionally, on my stock protos 500. I had it in idle up 2 for the first time and didn’t reduce my timer, yeah I know. Timer went off, I was bringing it in and debating to do an auto, however, my battery was low at that point. Low voltage cutoff kicked in and the motor slowed then turned off. Didn’t panic just gave a little neg collective to keep head speed up made sure not to angle in too much and gradually/smoothly gave positive collective a few feet off the ground. Soft landing no problem! Just like I’ve been practicing on the sim. One of the guys on the field said it was a nice one for my first try, I said yeah if it was on purpose. Man the protos is great!

[jmcneil86043]

Nice job congrats

[Trini92]

Originally Posted by jmcneil86043

Nice job congrats

Thanks. Was actually surprised how calm i stayed. All that sim time paid off!

[th0rg0d]

Originally Posted by Trini92

Thanks. Was actually surprised how calm i stayed. All that sim time paid off!

That's great to hear cus I auto in every sim flight that I can, especially if its a light crash that I can keep flyin through.

My 500 stretch is on its way. I'm hoping to have it in the air this weekend, but I suppose we'll see. Special thanks to Bill @ MSH-Direct for getting me squared away!


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[Trini92]

Originally Posted by th0rg0d

My 500 stretch is on its way. I'm hoping to have it in the air this weekend, but I suppose we'll see. Special thanks to Bill @ MSH-Direct for getting me squared away!


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You should enjoy trying autos on the stretch. My protos vs my mini titan was night and day comparing the hang time. The protos has actually helped me be more comfortable with trying autos higher up with the mini titan.