Feeling Crappy

[littlehammer05]

So for those of you who know, I'm in love with the heli world...lately I haven't been feeling like I'm good enough. All I've ever pretty much done with helis is sim, I've flown an MCP x and a Blade SR 120, but other than that nothing. A lot of people have been telling me that I'm done with the sim and to fly for once. Plus, I was told that I really shouldn't go to IRCHA because I don't fly. I know it's probably stupid, but it really hurts my feelings! =( I try so hard to get good enough to where I feel comfortable enough to fly a bigger heli, but that isn't good enough. Maybe I should just go fly and not be safe and just do it because everyone wants me to.

Sorry for the rant, but hoping maybe someone understands.

[courtney2018]

You have to learn at your own pace, but at some point you're going to have to put down the sim and go out and fly for real. There is a huge difference between the sim and real life.

You have the Atom 500, right? If so, go out and start to do basic stuff. Take it one step at a time. Once you can do a maneuver move on to another one even though the first maneuver might not be perfect.

Do you know your hovering orientations yet? Can you do forward flight? If so, get and fly that and start getting used to your heli. Fly as much as you possibly can. I'm sure it's cold out right now, but in a couple months that will change. Try to fly every weekend and as much as you can during the week and stay off of the sim. Just do basic stuff until you start to feel your heli. Once you get to that point start adding in more maneuvers until you're doing basic aerobatics.

As for IRCHA, it's kinda close to you. If you have the money to go it's one of those events that everyone should go to at least once in their life. I'm hoping to go this year as well.

Moving up in heli size can be intimidating. When I moved up to the 700 from the 550 I was very intimidated. The sound is louder and seemed scarier. You just have to start off with basic stuff until you can feel that larger heli. It's something you have to get used to.

Now, it's no problem for me to go down to the 550 and move back up to the 700. These days I'm mostly flying the 700s. You just have to get used to your particular helis no matter what size they are and then it's not much trouble to jump between sizes.

Get out there and fly!

[sarah1097]

I started with a insane align 450 se v2 that was just insanely set up. It had the fastest motor, servos, etc. This was a little pocket rocket heli. I then went up to a 600 the size totally scared me to death. I spooled it for the first time and about died, it took me 6 times just to hover. Then When I realized how much better it was, that is all I flew. now I am on a 700 and because my small heli was sooooo insanly fast, starting with a new does not bother me as much. I set my 700 f3c up for the fastest most rigid flying and it was still slow compared to my 600 esp and stupid slow compared to my 450. (yes the 700 is getting much faster here shortly). People ripped on me, that little signature that I have that is really what somebody told me. So in short ignore them and just go do it, have fun, because it is something that YOU do and nobody else. Who cares what they think. You know I fly by myself, in which I am always the best one out at the field because I am theeeeeeeee only one flying. do I care no, and the reason is I am dying what I love and that is flying my helicopter my way. I may not be as aggressive or do things recklessly but it is mine, I get to do what I want with it. If you can fly a sim you can fly a real one. That atom 500 is 1000 times better then that 120sr as control response and stablity. Go down and get your self a great big pink hola hoop, and put some half inch wooden doles on your skids, (like a x or plus sign) the attach the hola hoop to it. One it will slow it down, and two you can really see it with it being bright pink. that is what i did. then go to a place where it is just you and some one who supports you and fly. You will be surprised how good you really are.

[GimpyGolden]

Atom is an awesome heli to learn/practice on.
Is your FB or FBL? FBL might help a little as it'll fly like a bigger heli and easier to tune to suit your needs.

The sim is a help but the real thing is where it's at.
The beauty of heli's is they are completely serviceable and rebuild able.
If you crash you fix and like new again. Atom is tough and pretty cheap to repair.

If you need any setup help to tone it down you can PM or come on over to the Compass forum, lot's of us to help.

If anyone is belittling or judging your abilities maybe find a different crew to fly with.

As to IRCHA I'd love to go but just not gonna happen.
If your broke should you not go to the mall to check things out?
Besides you will pick up some tips as most heli guys\gals are supportive and not judging. That goes for any fun fly not just IRCHA.

Do you have a club or local instructor? Having that buddy line bail out sure adds to confidence when starting out.
Remember this hobby is supposed to be fun not stressful.

[Helico-pteron]

Originally Posted by littlehammer05

So for those of you who know, I'm in love with the heli world...lately I haven't been feeling like I'm good enough. All I've ever pretty much done with helis is sim, I've flown an MCP x and a Blade SR 120, but other than that nothing. A lot of people have been telling me that I'm done with the sim and to fly for once. Plus, I was told that I really shouldn't go to IRCHA because I don't fly. I know it's probably stupid, but it really hurts my feelings! =( I try so hard to get good enough to where I feel comfortable enough to fly a bigger heli, but that isn't good enough. Maybe I should just go fly and not be safe and just do it because everyone wants me to.

Sorry for the rant, but hoping maybe someone understands.

We all learn at our own pace and who ever told you not to go to IRCHA because you don't fly is, excuse my French, full of kaka.

There are many of us that fly extremely well and go to IRCHA just to go, not fly.

Take a step back, breath and remember that you are in this hobby for you and not others.You don't have to impress anyone except yourself. Stay on the sim as long as you want, crashing cost nothing on the sim. If you try to do stuff to impress others, you will crash and that costs money and time.

Take your time, SRSLY!

Also, this...

[littlehammer05]

Well I don't have the 500 yet, it's a long story. I really want to fly, I do, I just want to feel ready. I'm not sure if anyone ever feels "ready" to fly the first time, but I feel like I would crash within seconds. Part of the reason I wanted to go to IRCHA was so I could see more people fly and get tips and stuff from them and learn, I feel like that may be taken away from me. =(
I'm trying hard each and every day, but I'm such a beginner compared to the people around me, I only know 3 other people that fly helis around here and they are WAY better than I am. Plus they have all flown real helis and I just feel stupid even trying.

[sarah1097]

I crashed my blade 400 in less then one minute so we have all done it before trust me. I had a boom strike my very first flight I had to fix the tail boom, feathering shaft and main shaft. so it was a cheap fix, but i hovered and went to high and became scared and didnt realize i was in idle up and had minus 10 and i killed the throttle and down she came into my drive way. oops. but I learned from it. After there i flew great for a long time. That is what you need to do. take that first step and your golden.

[GimpyGolden]

Perfect example why you need a good setup for learning.
Set all flight modes the same to have -2 at most at low stick.
Also helps to hover at half stick 4-6* depending on heli and no more than 10* max.
Hover at half stick allows more resolution on your collective meaning it has more precision and is less sensitive.

Most of the time you can setup like this through radio alone and therefore have a learning setup and a sport/3D setup saved in another model memory.

Definitely use training gear until you can hover steady and take/off land smoothly.

[MXRACERX43]

I don't recomend setting up you heli to hover at halfstick for anyone who has intentions of flying aerobatics/3-D.

Keep it simple o deg at 50% stick a linear curve (slightly eliminate - the first few flights) then there is no need to relearn when you start flying inverted.

[GimpyGolden]

Originally Posted by MXRACERX43

I don't recomend setting up you heli to hover at halfstick for anyone who has intentions of flying aerobatics/3-D.

Keep it simple o deg at 50% stick a linear curve (slightly eliminate - the first few flights) then there is no need to relearn when you start flying inverted.

Did you learn hove @ 1/2 and have difficulty transitioning?
I did learn hover@50% and had no problems, in fact I still fly scale heli this way and aero with 0 @ half.

I have heard this debate countless times, most who argue it have not had experience both ways.

I setup my buddy's machine same as I learned and transitioned him in an afternoon no issues.

You fly the machine, stick position makes no difference.
While doing lessons on buddy cord my instructor did one exercise to simulate heavy wind when we had none. He called it stick offset, basically to hold hover he'd adjust trim on you so you'd be down in one corner of your stick travel.
It made you learn in a hurry that the machine rarely sits in a hover with cyclic centered and not to stress the fact. Just fly, it is what it is.

A 3D/sport setup crams 10-whatever degrees into half your stick travel, this makes collective very sensitive.
Having any amount of negative over what you might need in strong wind to plant the heli after a landing(-2*) is just inviting trouble in panic.
Most newbs will chop collective when they get freaked out. If you have -10* you will drive that thing into the ground.

[Lynbird]

Do what you want to do. Everyone starts at the beginning. They don't start knowing how to fly 3D. Also, we all learn at our own pace and it is different for everyone. Find someone who is a good encourager that can stand by you. Go through the Radds school of flight. Put training gear on your heli and leave it on until you are comfortable hovering and landing. I went through the Radds thing in my garage and by the 10th battery I could hover. I didn't do it all in one day. (My husband did think it was stupid but I didn't care as I learn differently from the way he does.) This March will be 2 years since I first spooled up the Mini-Titan(450 size) and I still haven't flipped it. (I know my husband thinks I should be doing much more because I can do it on the sim but there is a fear factor that you don't get when you are simming.) But I'm okay with that as I am having fun. Most of the guys don't say anything because they can't even fly heli's. The ones that do are usually very encouraging and are happy to help someone take up the hobby.
Bottom line is do it at your own pace and have fun. If anyone says anything, just smile. Go to IRCHA, and you don't have to fly. Sometimes it is more fun to walk around, chat and learn from others. Don't let the naysayers dictate what you do or limit your abilities. We're both not that far away from Muncie. I'm hoping to be there this year also.

[AnTi Taco]

Buy a heli and go fly....simple.as that if.u crash in the first 10 seconds who cares just start over..

[Larry227]

Originally Posted by AnTi Taco

Buy a heli and go fly....simple.as that if.u crash in the first 10 seconds who cares just start over..

+1. It took me 10+ flights to keep my first heli in the air longer than 10 seconds.

As for IRCHA, just go. It does not matter if you fly or not. I went for the first time last year and I'm going to try and make it again this year and may not even take a heli. It's just a blast being there.

[AnTi Taco]

My first heli was a Exceed Falcon 40 kinda like a Esky Honey bee.. and i crashed it literally 5 seconds after i kinda did a hover was down for a week waiting on parts..and whike waiting for parts i bought a esky Belt CP then a week later a Honey bee.. then a month later my first clone kit a EXI trex clone...i was addicted to buying helis before i could even fly them...but i had to modivataion to learn to hover no matter how many crashes and how many helis i needed ... point of story just buy and go learn like i posted above thats the best thing for ya.. and before u know it everthing in the SIM u can do will kick in

[funknrock]

We ALL crash!

It's just part of the game. Once you get your hover down with a bigger bird, you'll start crashing some more with FF. Every time you add to your arsenal of tricks, you crash some more!

I suggest a 450 to start and flybared. You'll learn good control and corrections and they are fairly inexpensive to repair. You'll also learn a lot about the mechanics of what the heli is doing. Once you step up to larger birds and FBL you can then be more focused on the flying.

Just my opinion and hope to see vids of you kicking butt at the field soon!

[ddj74]

i bought a piece of junk from china i could never get off the ground. then i jumped right to a trex 500 with zero sim practice. after two tail strikes and one tip over while hovering i have yet to even come close to crashing yet. the fear of crashing will make you crash. once your confident and just relax you are less prone to make mistakes. if you wait till your ready you probably never will be. no sim can teach you real flying. sim flying is unrealistic because you have no fear of crashing but when its outside and the remote is in your hands its a totally different world. you gotta break the fear and just get out and do it. some say you need to crash to get to the next level of confidence. no one wants to crash but once you do...for me anyways i felt a lot more relaxed and flew 100 times better. i've flown since 01-14-2012 (my first actual flight) and im incredibly better since then for only flying a few hrs a week. my first collective pitch heli...my first time flying...with a T-REX 500! don't feel down on yourself...learn at your own pace...but hands on is only way you will ever get to be good...and a few parts...lol.

also i have had ZERO in person help with my heli. i've learned from this website and good advise from here also. so far i've only flown solo since i don't know anyone around here that flies.

[Raidwing]

The best thing you can do is buy a heli. I like the align trex, because lots of people have them so there is lots of info on them. I like the 450, can fly just about anywhere, its cost effective and easy to transport.But the choice is yours to make, pick the one you like best for whatever reasons you like it, even if its just for looks! Check out finlessbob's build vids and go to town! You will learn all you need to know while doing the build to repair it. Then after all that hard work on the build, you will have a gorgeous new heli giving you itchy fingers! You won't be able to contain yourself and the lure of flying will overwhelm any fear of crashing or doubts in ability! Then you WILL fly it! I bet you won't even crash it the first few times. You will have fun and you will crash sooner or later but who cares we ALL do. Heck that's how you learn what not to do! You can fix it! And if you have ??s just ask us! There is no such thing as a dumb question! Take that first step, you will never look back!

[krobinson103]

Heck I must have crashed my first CP 40 times before I finally worked it out. Ignore everyone and just go do it. Crash a few times and you realize its not all that bad... (unless you ask my wife how much it all cost )

[nitro-pro]

I can tell you that I was pretty much like you, had ton's of sim time logged, hovered small inexpensive (crappy) heli's and was told by many that I don't have what it takes to fly a heli.. Well The best thing I ever did was purchase my Align 500 Esp, It fly's so amazingly well I have been enjoying the awesome world of heli flight ever since. You can do it, I promise you, I even went as far as to have a pro pilot buddy boxxed waiting to catch me if I fell, he unplugged after my first min of flight and was asking me why I thought I needed him. Those small one's are great for me now when it's raining out or have no where to fly but inside, but only because I have now flown a ton since purchasing my 500 3 years ago. Don't let anyone tell you you can't, they tried that with me and have since had to eat their words! You CAN do it.

[j bomb]

Whoever told you that you shouldn't go to IRCHA if you don't plan on flying has probably never gone themselves. IRCHA is a blast for anyone with any interest at all in RC helis, whether you fly or not. I can also practically guarantee that, even if you don't fly there, you will be DYING to fly by the time you leave. If you don't plan on staying all week, Friday and Saturday are the "don't miss" days.