Are collective pitch/fixed pitch helicopters hard to fly?

[Sneaglebob]

Hi people, I'm new to this forum. anyways, I want to know if flying collective/fixed pitch helicopters are hard, I have been flying the blade CX2 and CX3 for years and recently I got the blade SR as a christmas present. When I first flew it, it went out of control and non responsive and it seems when I moved the stick slightly forward, it then moved and stayed forward and so it crashed and have not been flying it since. I've been flying on the simulators and although I have gotten more experience in it, I feel like it's not the real thing. So from coming from a coaxial helicopter like the CX2, will the collective/fixed pitch helicopter be hard to fly, lets say the Eflite blade 120 sr?

[poor_red_neck]

Short answer: Yes. A lot more difficult than a coax. The coax is good to teach you orientations and what sticks do what. Other than that the differences between a coax and collective pitch are huge.

What simulator are you using?

[bad007]

Like going from a trycyclic to a unicyclic

[Dylan Hudock]

They aren't really that hard to just fly but they are hard to learn. I went from a coaxial to a collective pitch and it took me a while to hover.

[flyingquisinart]

Coax is good for fun indoors, I Really don't know much about fixed pitch, but the capability and flight envelope are worlds better with a collective pitch heli. The challenge and rewards are much greater. There are all kinds of great helis out there. When I learned, nitro 30 size was IT. Electrics were terrible. Now they have amazing performance, but expect 5 min approx for battery life for most. As a moderate investment, probably a 400 / 450 size is the least expensive way to go. You WILL crash, but a 450 won't kill your wallet with an average crash, so don't develop fear to learn. Good luck, and get a SIM, even an old second hand one will do.

Sent via tapatalk

[My98stang46]

Balance a golf ball on a basket ball on a broomstick on your nose. Lol yeah it's difficult but once it clicks, it clicks. The sr isn't a bad heli but it's one hell of a first cp heli especially going from coax.

[linux_24_00]

I would say they are hard to learn how to fly it takes a lot of time and dedication and of course practice practice, I've been flying over a year now and I'm just starting to fly around inverted. I can fly inverted in all orientations. But YES it takes a lot of DEDICATION!!!

[Bikersurgeon]

Originally Posted by bad007

Like going from a trycyclic to a unicyclic

I agree...going from amitriptyline to bupropion is a pain in the tukus I agree with the answer: easy to fly, hard to learn.

[squeky]

Like anything else, it just takes practice. And like anything else hard, it takes a lot of practice. Unlike many other sports, practice *almost* never leads to injury, so get your fill! Not like you're going to fall off your helicopter and break your leg. Practice just costs money and time (if you crash) or the reset button on the sim.

The hardest part of the hobby for most people is finding time. Every challenging hobby has its own set of confusions and frustrations and RC helis fall in line with others. Seems much harder at first, but just takes practice and patience (and at least one good hand and set of eyes).

[InFocus]

The SR120 (fixed pitch) is much easier to fly than the SR (collective pitch).

The 45 degree flybar on the SR120 makes it want to 'return to hover' when the cyclic is centered. Much like your Coax.

The collective pitch heli is exactly as folks have already described. There is no self centering/hovering. You have to constantly act/react to what the heli is doing to keep it in the air. It's not easy.

[infamousnation]

It's not they they are hard to fly, it's just that it takes a little time to develop the coordination to fly one. Then they are very easy to fly.

[Slyster]

CP helis are actually very easy to fly. The trick is though... you need to learn how. But trust me.. once you know how.. they are very easy. I could fly until the day I die and not crash again at this point. (Of course that would mean only flying in my comfort zone and not progressing any further... and not including the occasional mechanical issue which is inevitable)

[memosteve]

In addition to what's already been said: The other equally important component to learning/flying CP helis is proper setup...especially to a new person just learning!

It's unfortunate that new people don't know the difference between a properly set up heli and one not so much. So much of the learning curve of flying can come down to fighting a poorly set up heli and not knowing...you just think you suck and it's too hard to learn when in fact you might be attempting to fly something even a seasoned pro would have difficulty flying!

I see it time and time again at my club; new people show up with something they assembled w/no idea if it's set up correctly or not. I watch them "attempt" to fly and they are just disgusted...I then sometimes fly their machine and I can barely fly the thing as well. I teach them a few things about setup and surprise, they start to actually learn how to fly in short order!

[FlyingFiz]

Have a look at the website rchelicopterfun ( I think thats what its called), a lot of good stuff for beginners. He also shows you how to tone down a CP heli for learning. He uses a blade 400 and a DX6i as a reference. You could get a Blade 450 and a DX6i package, they are good value, and it should be set up properly.

Better still is to build your own 450 or 500 heli to learn and know how it goes together. Tarot is a good cheap (clone/copy) brand and the genuine article the Align Super combos are actually good value but pricier than the copies/clones.

The Blade SR despite all the misleading marketing hype is a very tough heli to learn on. It is sloppy and too slow to respond in the tail and the tail motor burns out all the time, the swash separates in mid flight, its not really stable, the list goes on and on - repair it and sell it would be my advice, or repair it and leave it on the shelf until you can fly a quality 450 and then you'll know what I mean.

Lastly and possibly MOST Importantly get a SIM, Pheonix is a great one, and compatible with most quality transmitters (including the DX6i). Choose the big easy training heli and practice and practice each night for a week, and you will find you are no longer crashing, then your flying. Then you will be able to carefully fly your real CP heli.
There is tons of good stuff on this site, look at the beginner 101 stuff in the tech room and Finless Bob's build videos - everyone here has used them - read and learn.

You will get there and it is such a buz when you do, well worth the trip. It wouldn't be as much fun if it was as easy as a co-ax,

[toolow]

HEy there: Yes the SR can be challenging but I suggest you look at: helicopterfun.com

Check out how he tames the sr through his transmitter. I've tried it and it works! You might have to buy one of his ebooks to get the specific info for your bird. It might mean programming your sr to a spectrum dxi radio. Just go look at that site to see if won't help. Good luck!

[barrymartin]

Originally Posted by Sneaglebob

Hi people, I'm new to this forum. anyways, I want to know if flying collective/fixed pitch helicopters are hard, I have been flying the blade CX2 and CX3 for years and recently I got the blade SR as a christmas present. When I first flew it, it went out of control and non responsive and it seems when I moved the stick slightly forward, it then moved and stayed forward and so it crashed and have not been flying it since. I've been flying on the simulators and although I have gotten more experience in it, I feel like it's not the real thing. So from coming from a coaxial helicopter like the CX2, will the collective/fixed pitch helicopter be hard to fly, lets say the Eflite blade 120 sr?

They are not really so difficult but are difficult than a coax, To fly a CP heli you need a great amount of time and dedication, and of course more practice, I've been flying over 3 months and now I can fly it easily in all orientations......

[Atomic Skull]

A coaxial is like walking, a fixed pitch is like rollerblades and a collective pitch is like ice skates.

[HeliSmith]

Yes it's a real challenge and a huge accomplishment, if you can even hover a fixed pitch you have my respect. The rule is if you can do it 100% of the time on the sim without crashing you are ready to try the SR120. If you can learn to hit throttle hold to kill the motor in an emergency this gives you a leg up learning collective pitch. Anything you can do on the sim technically you can do on a real heli it's much easier, except for any nerve related obstacles.

[Crowbar]

Whatever you do, don't do the first flying attempts inside. Helis are a hand full at first and you don't wanna crash into hard wall, your TV, etc. What you want is a lot of space, very little wind and something soft to crash on.
I recommend a field or open space wilderness with tall grass. Gring a large doormat or MDF board with you so you have a level and smooth helipad where you can start from. Practice landing approach over the tall grass with the finger on the throttle hold switch.

[Flooznie]

It's kind of like Bruce Jenner once said about flying r/c helicopters, "like playing the piano and singing at the same time". I started about a year ago and I was so excited about the hobby, I called my father up and told him he had to get an MCPX and get into the hobby too! Little did I know my father would order an MCPX, take it out of the box and attempt to fly it off his dining room table. Needless to say, it flew into one of his speakers.

I'm sure you willl hear this about 5000x, but get a simulator and get an mcpx with a Dx6i. The sim will get the muscle memory in your head, and the MCPX is like a real life sim you can fly outside. Pick a big open area, and use a floor mat from your car to take off on. Fly over grass and you most likely won't have to replace any parts when you crash. I can't imagine trying to fly these things 20 years ago when there weren't any sims and everything was nitro 600 sized without the gyros we have today. I think I would have quit a long time ago if I had started back then.