FlyMentor Setup By Ivor Hill PLEASE READ FIRST!!

[HK500Pilot]

Ivor, what are your thoughts on a field programmer that refuses to connect with the FM? It never goes to the main adjustment screen........when connected it just says connecting on the programmer.

Any help would be appreciated!

[vespine]

hobby king watched the video i posted of my issue and deemed I have a faulty unit, the best part is they are sending me another unit and i don't even have to send the faulty one back! They said i can bin it, now that's great service if you ask me... I'm obviously going to keep the unit for spares as I'm pretty sure it's only the gyro that is faulty..

[HK500Pilot]

Originally Posted by vespine

hobby king watched the video i posted of my issue and deemed I have a faulty unit, the best part is they are sending me another unit and i don't even have to send the faulty one back! They said i can bin it, now that's great service if you ask me... I'm obviously going to keep the unit for spares as I'm pretty sure it's only the gyro that is faulty..

Wow, that is great service. I haven't had the best of luck with Hobby King. Hopefully you can get things working soon.

[HK500Pilot]

Originally Posted by HK500Pilot

Ivor, what are your thoughts on a field programmer that refuses to connect with the FM? It never goes to the main adjustment screen........when connected it just says connecting on the programmer.

Any help would be appreciated!

Still having issues with one of my KDS units. I have the Flymentor on 3 of my helis now but my latest one is still giving me fits.

Any suggestions?

[Ivor Hill]

Originally Posted by HK500Pilot

Still having issues with one of my KDS units. I have the Flymentor on 3 of my helis now but my latest one is still giving me fits.

Any suggestions?

Sorry I can't help I have never used a Field programmer.

[HK500Pilot]

Originally Posted by Ivor Hill

Sorry I can't help I have never used a Field programmer.

The FM will not connect to Helibal either.

[vespine]

got my replacement FM today, initialized without any issues There was definitely something wrong with the gyro unit in the 1st one I got, fortunately HK were very good about sending a replacement.

Thank you guys for your assistance. Setting it up as we speak. Can't wait to try it out

[vespine]

hi again. i think I got the flymentor set up pretty much right, i have a separate tail gyro and i have aux 2 set up to control the flymentor gain. position 0 is 0% and position 1 is -125% which i believe is about 80 in horizontal mode. horizontal mode seems to be working correctly, ive only tried it in a high hover, nothing extreme yet.

what i can't work out, is there a "recovery mode" where if you let go of the collective the heli will self correct, is this just horizontal mode? it just seemed to me that in horizontal mode, the unit is fighting my inputs, do i have to lower one of the other settings for it to only correct when i let go of the sticks?

[joshuaj]

I have set up Flymentor on my 450QS.
When I spool up, the heli seems to slowly rotate counter clockwise..
It's not the tail servo reverse since I checked that already.
Any ideas?

[pril250]

Originally Posted by vespine

hi again. i think I got the flymentor set up pretty much right, i have a separate tail gyro and i have aux 2 set up to control the flymentor gain. position 0 is 0% and position 1 is -125% which i believe is about 80 in horizontal mode. horizontal mode seems to be working correctly, ive only tried it in a high hover, nothing extreme yet.

what i can't work out, is there a "recovery mode" where if you let go of the collective the heli will self correct, is this just horizontal mode? it just seemed to me that in horizontal mode, the unit is fighting my inputs, do i have to lower one of the other settings for it to only correct when i let go of the sticks?

A heli with FM installed will behave like a coaxial heli, the moment you let go of the stick the heli will more or less cease its momentum as opposed to continuing in the direction of flight. So for instance to keep moving forward you will have to hold the cyclic in the forward direction and the moment you let go the heli will come to more or less a stop with minimal drift.

You have to get use to flying the heli in a slightly different fashion. You van try lowering the gain a little to gain more control over the heli.

[pril250]

Originally Posted by joshuaj

I have set up Flymentor on my 450QS.
When I spool up, the heli seems to slowly rotate counter clockwise..
It's not the tail servo reverse since I checked that already.
Any ideas?

Did you perform a mechanical tail setup?

[bach939]

Originally Posted by Ivor Hill

Pin the heli down so that it cannot fly and run it up to speed with FM in position mode 60% gain. The blades should remain level, if they do not then you have vibration problems or you are useing an unsuitable gyro pad.
If the blades remain level then the swash needs re-setting useing helibal servo neutrals and or mechanicle settings.
It should only be necassary to use a few clicks of TX trim.

Can you please tell me how to setup a three way switch on Futaba 9CAP for flymentor position - off - heading settings????

Thanks,

Jim

[koenejet]

Hello,
Today I installed a flymentor on my T-Rex 500. I am brand new to the flymentor, and am having a problem. I browsed through a few pages here, and haven't found my problem mentioned yet, but incase I just missed it and it's already been answered, I apologize, but I would really appreciate any feedback.

The problem is a bad twitching in the tail servo. The twitching actually gradually drives the servo into a full left turn. It doesn't matter what settings I put in. When I disconnect the flymentor rudder/gyro plugs, and connect in the original gyro I was using, then it works fine.

I'm assuming the tail gyro function of my flymentor is fried. I did read that that gyro isn't very good, so most people use a different gyro anyway, so maybe I'm better off using my original gyro anyway.

However I'm a little concerned about flying with a faulty unit, even though nothing else seems affected.

So, any thoughts? Is there any place that sells just a gyro if I decide I want to replace that part?

Thanks in advance for any help,

[Ivor Hill]

Hi Jim. Plug the blue FM wire into a spare channel on your receiver, normally channel 7. Go to aux switch on the TX and set a 3 way switch to channel 7 normally switch e. The switch will now select FM modes it will also set the gains for positional and balance mode and they will be to high, so go to end points on channel 7 and set the end point for positional gain to about 60 and balance gain to about 85 to start. Hover and set these values for best performance. Hope that helps.

[Ivor Hill]

Originally Posted by koenejet

Hello,
Today I installed a flymentor on my T-Rex 500. I am brand new to the flymentor, and am having a problem. I browsed through a few pages here, and haven't found my problem mentioned yet, but incase I just missed it and it's already been answered, I apologize, but I would really appreciate any feedback.

The problem is a bad twitching in the tail servo. The twitching actually gradually drives the servo into a full left turn. It doesn't matter what settings I put in. When I disconnect the flymentor rudder/gyro plugs, and connect in the original gyro I was using, then it works fine.

I'm assuming the tail gyro function of my flymentor is fried. I did read that that gyro isn't very good, so most people use a different gyro anyway, so maybe I'm better off using my original gyro anyway.

However I'm a little concerned about flying with a faulty unit, even though nothing else seems affected.

So, any thoughts? Is there any place that sells just a gyro if I decide I want to replace that part?

Thanks in advance for any help,

It is unlikely that you FM is faulty A lot of people have problems setting up the tail servo and most are not happy with it even when they get it working, it is only a cheap piezo gyro. It can be made to work but it is better to use a separate better quality gyro. No you cannot buy a spare FM gyro.

[bach939]

Originally Posted by Ivor Hill

Hi Jim. Plug the blue FM wire into a spare channel on your receiver, normally channel 7. Go to aux switch on the TX and set a 3 way switch to channel 7 normally switch e. The switch will now select FM modes it will also set the gains for positional and balance mode and they will be to high, so go to end points on channel 7 and set the end point for positional gain to about 60 and balance gain to about 85 to start. Hover and set these values for best performance. Hope that helps.

Thanks Ivor! I got it.

[koenejet]

Thanks for the info. I'll just keep the other gyro on it and try it like that.
thanks again,

[Bizjet tech]

Originally Posted by Bizjet tech

Hi,
I have tried to install a Flymentor to a TRex 500 (ultimate destination a very old, VERY sentimental Graupner Bell 212) but I failed
As the Bell installation has all the components on a removable plate, I set it up on the bench. The components are Eurgle 9X (original) with DS615 servos. It works perfectly on my TRex 500.
I then installed the Flymentor iaw Ivor Hills' excellent thread, powered it up and got a steady green.
It does operate, but the servos chatter constantly with an occasional random twitch when idle.
When I make inputs, the servos move in the correct direction but jerkily - as if some gear teeth were missing! It appears to under and overshoot the selection, then settles down similar to idle. When I remove the input, they return to idle as before. it is especially bad when operating the Throttle (collective pitch) as the rear servo does acrobatics! it appears to go full travel in both directions a few times before settling in the chosen position.
I swopped the radio out with a Planet T5, same as before, but perhaps not as bad.
Its just a bit frustrating! And confusing.
Thanks,
Alan
ps I posted this elsewhere, but got no response - hopefully you folks can help,
thanks,
Alan

Well, long time no post.
I made up an "avionics tray" for another 212. I used 3 Futaba S3003(analogue)and 1 DS615 (digital). I used an Assam250 for the tail and FLymentor for the rest. Control is via a Eurgle 9x.
First I set up as originally designed ie L/R Cyclic on the Left servo (Aileron) with Fore/Aft cyclic on the Rear servo (Elevator) and Collective on the Right servo (run with the Throttle)- non - CCPM mode without using Flymentor. I trimmed it all out and then installed Flymentor. It was miraculous! Not a twitch to be seen. I flew it and it appeared stable but position hold wouldn’t work. Understandable as the floor in the storage building where we were flying is highly polished. Steve then had a go and it was very scale-like in operation. We flew it several times
Unfortunately, I had a heavy landing and damaged the tail boom. However, its now back in action.
So, in my case, Flymentor definitely does not like digital servos, but is quite happy with analogue ones. When the weather permits, I'll try it out at the club field
Once again, Thank you, Ivor. You're worth your weight in gold!
All the best,
Alan

[HK500Pilot]

I'm still enjoying my Flymentor set up as well. I'm using one in a 450 for sport flying as well as have a flymentor set up in a 550 sized Jet Ranger.

My helis are all flying quite well. I have digital servos in all my helis using a flymentor and have not noticed any strange behavior.

[HK500Pilot]

Has anyone used a Flymentor set up in a 600 size heli? I wasn't sure if it would work as good in something this large. The Flymentor in my 550 size scale Jet Ranger is rock solid, I'm very pleased with it.

Thanks for the help.