2 full packs, no crashes!

[Darren@Oz]

Just had to share this moment

I have been trying to fly for around 2½ years now. I've had several heli's, crashed them all, never really figured out how to correctly setup a heli, despite quizzing many people, buying e-books. I've literally spent hundreds of hours trying to fix broken heli's, trying to get them right. I've probably had no more than a hour of actual flying time with a 450 in that time. I know a guy who lives 3 hours away who was kind enough to teach me the basics and would fix the broken heli's, show me what needed to be done etc when I could get the time to take them back to him. But it was never practical or affordable to drive that distance every time I crashed (which was regularly). Despite his best efforts showing me how to set up the heli, when I tried to do it myself after a rebuild, the heli would never fly right and I'd crash again.

I did learn about a year ago how to fly my MCPX, that was also a big moment. Nothing fancy, but basic flight I could handle, even in breezy conditions. I thought it wouldn't be difficult then to translate those acquired skills to the 450. But when it came to a 450, things always went bad. For the last 8 months, I've been trying to get my HK450 (flybar) to fly without success.

It's been over 8 months now since the 450 was flying right. I had a slight mishap where the tail rotor hit a garden hose and I could never get it right since. A combination of my own inexperience and poor quality parts constantly failing, led to more crashes and a heli that I just couldn't fly...... Lucky I am determined or stupid lol...

So after the last crash, where a stripped grub screw let lose on the retaining collar on main rotor shaft (heli slammed into the roof of the shed....) I decided I start a fresh with a flybarless heli.

So about a month ago I bought the 450L, hoping the combination of building it myself from scratch and the stability of a flybarless heli, would bring me some good fortune.

Well it's been a bit of a rocky start, and I've already crashed it once (landing skid unknowingly got snagged in the grass, I powered it up and it catapulted into a brick wall......), I've just finished repairing it, went through the setup again and it's flying! 2 full battery packs hovering. It's the longest I've flown a 450 continuous and no crashes!

Big thing is, I now have the confidence in myself to rebuilt and setup when I do inevitably have another crash. I think that fear factor was a big contributing issue as to why I was so nervous flying my other 450, which would always end up in a crash. I always knew that if I crashed it, I wouldn't get it flying again myself. When I've been flying today I am loaded with adrenaline, but I'm not nervous, trembling when I fly anymore. If I do crash it, I can fix it and get it flying again!

It's taken me this long to get this position, so I will take it steady and continue to build on my confidence. I will still use the MCPX to train on the riskier stuff like getting my reverse orientation right, but it's full steam ahead from here. Very happy

And thanks very much to the members of this forum who have always been happy to assist, I couldn't have done it without your help and the many others who have helped me along the way

[al93535]

Good deal! Now your onto having some real fun flying!

[carlytorres]

Yeahh congratulatuons. Dont guive up if we dont crash we dont learn.!!

[macdad]

Congrats! It is a very frustrating and very rewarding hobby! Keep it up and keep having fun!

[islrcr1]

Way to go! It is such a rush to land after a full pack with no damage. I didn't see any mention of a sim, they are invaluable in learning to fly. Keep it up!

[JimmyJet0092]

Props to you for not giving up! I would have probably thrown in the towel. Now the fun begins!

[Darren@Oz]

thanks guys, it's been a LONG time coming. With the amount of crashes I've had, I should be very learned by now

another 2 packs and it's still in one piece
I'm just hovering and moving back and forward, sideways getting a feel for it in the limited space I have in the backyard. Will wait for some good weather and take it out to the park next so I can move around a little more without fear of hitting the house, the fence, the hot water system, the shed, the garden hose....

And yeah I do accept there are going to be more crashes, but at least there will be some flight time in between the crashes now

[Darren@Oz]

Originally Posted by islrcr1

Way to go! It is such a rush to land after a full pack with no damage. I didn't see any mention of a sim, they are invaluable in learning to fly. Keep it up!

yes plenty of sim time. I have Phoenix, spent many hours on it. I just spent 45 minutes on it last night practicing reverse orientation again. Frustrating part is, I've been able to fly competently on the sim for a long time now. I even added decent wind speed and gusts to improve my handling. However the sim experience never seemed to translate to the real world. The real 450 felt completely different.

I can do reverse orientation ok on the sim. But I take the MCPX out (which I've been able to fly in normal orientation for some time now), and I still struggle with reverse orientation. Something about flying the real deal makes it different to the sim

[kla912000]

I feel the same about the sim. I have Clearview, and although it is not as good as Phoenix or Realflight, it is still pretty decent and way better then FMS. But, as good as I can fly on the Sim, it jus isn't the same as real life flight. What helped me the most was the NanoCPX and mCPX. You can try something new, crash them, pick them up and keep flying. I think they were better then the Sim in teaching me collective management and definitely helped me step up to my 450's.

[Darren@Oz]

yeah the sim has never translated well for me.
It still is a good basic training tool, I'm mainly using it now to try and get my brain trained for reverse orientation. I'll also use the MCPX for that, because I can crash it, pick it up and fly it again

[HSBallina]

Kudos on not giving up! I'm a few steps behind you - still crashing my mcpx.

[Darren@Oz]

Originally Posted by HSBallina

Kudos on not giving up! I'm a few steps behind you - still crashing my mcpx.

at least 10 packs now without a crash (touch wood). Although admittedly I'm still only performing basic tail in maneuvers due to the limited space I have in the backyard. Will have to take it to the park next and get a little more experimental... if I dare...

All I can say is stick with it mate, I'm a slow learner, so you'll probably get there a lot quicker than I did. I found the MCPX is very good starting point, and if you hit that throttle hold when you get into trouble, you rarely do any damage. It really helped build my confidence, although having said that, the 450 is a very different bird to fly - should be easier they reckon... I'm not so sure about that one lol

[toadiscoil]

I know this is a 450 thread but the 360 CFX is technically a 450 stretch =) and seeing this I had to share as well:

https://www.helifreak.com/showpost.p...&postcount=153

Also I have to mention that as a generic comment, following a training path and using a sim has significantly improved my basic skills to the point where I was able to write the post above. It really works. I have found that neXt translates well to real life. The sim helps with orientations and there are real world physics no simulator can really do, but it really helps to get your brain to adjust to orientations and minimize crashes. This is I think the reason most people who are starting crash. Even though you can do semi-advanced things on the sim, it takes a trained eye to really see what you are doing wrong. And it all comes down to perfecting orientations. This very basic skill is the most difficult to perfect and the one skill that will save you from most crashes, conversely assuming you have ok orientations is a trap that leads to more crashes.

I also agree that building/setup is important, and a sim always assumes a perfect setup. Lots of videos and advice, browse through the main forum to find them. There are some very good ones on the 230 S forum that some apply only to that heli, but some are general good info that I for one did not know.

The link to the excellent training I am following that uses a sim to train to prepare you for real flight is:

https://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=531380

Good luck!

[HSBallina]

Originally Posted by Darren@Oz

All I can say is stick with it mate, I'm a slow learner, so you'll probably get there a lot quicker than I did. I found the MCPX is very good starting point, and if you hit that throttle hold when you get into trouble, you rarely do any damage. It really helped build my confidence, although having said that, the 450 is a very different bird to fly - should be easier they reckon... I'm not so sure about that one lol

Oh, way too soon to give up just yet Got myself a second mcpx since it was almost as cheap as buying an MH och Lynx swashplate to replace the broken one. A justification as good as any for getting another bird