Help with settings for DX6i to Blade 120 SR for beginners

[jerrysec]

Hi all,

I've been searching the site and other forum sites for setting up the DX6i to the Blade 120 SR for indoor flight and haven't really found anything for beginners. This is my first FP heli, DX6i and I'm having some troubles getting the DX6i setup for indoor flight that would just help me as a beginner to practice hover and small movements without me always over compansating the controls, I live in a small appartement. If anyone knows or can help me with a good setting for D/R 0 for the DX6i I would appreciate it. Thanks in advance!

[priestview]

I just posted in another thread that I use "AIRPLANE" type setting for all of my non-CP helis. No muss, no fuss. The "HELICOPTER" type setting is intended for CP helis, as eveidenced by all of the complicated settings that don't apply to FP helis.

[RoundWing]

The basic problem you face is that the 120SR is not the best choice for flying indoors in an apartment. It moves too fast and takes room to get it up and stabilized. If you accept that and move outdoors with your 120SR the learning experience with it will be less frustrating. A mSR is a better choice for indoor flying.

The Blade 45° flybar FP single rotor models (mSR and 120SR) are inherently self-stablizing. Once trimmed all you need to do to achieve a stable hover is apply enough throttle, smoothly, to get it up off the ground then reduce throttle to where stays at the desired height.

It will jump to the left as it leaves the ground in reaction to the rotor torque and tail thrust not having the ground to counter-act it, something which can be minimized by taking off from a smooth surface and spinning the rotor to the point it is light on the skids before taking off. Once in the air if you keep your right hand off the stick the 45° flybar will counter-act the movement of the model and after a period of gyrations it will settle down and hover (if it trim) or wander off slowly in whatever direction the trim is off.

Nothing you can set on the Tx will magically prevent that cause and effect from happening. Until you develop the reactive flying skills to compensate with control inputs immediately after take-off what is needed is SPACE. Space to let the model get up into the air and self stabilized by itself. Indoors it will usually hit a wall before that happens. Trying to prevent that in a panic will result in overcorrection and make matters worse.

If you take it outdoors on a dead calm day (mornings and evenings are best), well away from anything it can hit, put it on a smooth surface so the skids can slip, get it light on the skids, then increase the throttle quickly but smoothly so its about 10 feet in the air you'll see what I mean. It will gyrate around, but with nothing to hit it will eventually settle into a hover. From that point controlling where it goes is simply a matter of trimming for any drifting in the hover state with link and Tx trim adjustments and learning to move the sticks, slowly at first, and observing how the model reacts.


You will find there is a delay between the stick input and reaction of the model you would not notice if in a panic trying to avoid a crash. Cutting back the responsiveness of the model with dual rates <100% and Exponential exacerbates the delay of moving the stick and seeing the result of the input and can lead to over-correction. So I suggest you don't use them and instead just learn how to control your thumbs. Once trimmed its not going anywhere out of hover unless you move them and if you learn to move them carefully you will learn to keep it under control.

Because rotary flight is inherently unstable the two most difficult maneuvers are: 1) stable hover, especially near the ground, and; 2) flying straight and level from point A to B.

The 45° flybar design makes hover easy. But if you fly it off slowly in a straight line with just the elevator input (forward cyclic) you will notice it starts to veer and dive to the right. That's normal, a reaction to rotational forces and unequal lift on the advancing and receding sides of the rotor which you'll learn to instinctively correct with opposite left cyclic if you pay attention to the attitude of the rotor disk at hover and keep it the same as it moves forward.

Once you can master flying 50-100 ft back and forth in a straight line out and back you will have developed most of the reflexes you need for more complex maneuvers better and quicker than puttering around your apartment dodging walls and furniture.

If you learn to fly it outdoors where there is nothing to hit you'll crash and damage it less, and quickly gain the skill to allow you to fly it indoors without crashing. But you'll also find that skills notwithstanding its not nearly as much fun indoors as outdoors where space allows flying it full-tilt into sharply banked aileron turns. Extreme maneuvers involving changes in direction require momentum and that requires space.

Space is always the limiting factor. The smaller mSR is easier to fly indoors, but even it is limited in a small space with 8ft. ceilings. I have both and have much more fun with the 120SR outdoors in the front yard than with the mSR indoors.

[Blade120]

Great info thanks for posting.

[Whitakerp]

Nicely written. Thanks.

[jerrysec]

Originally Posted by RoundWing

The basic problem you face is that the 120SR is not the best choice for flying indoors in an apartment. It moves too fast and takes room to get it up and stabilized. If you accept that and move outdoors with your 120SR the learning experience with it will be less frustrating. A mSR is a better choice for indoor flying.

The Blade 45° flybar FP single rotor models (mSR and 120SR) are inherently self-stablizing. Once trimmed all you need to do to achieve a stable hover is apply enough throttle, smoothly, to get it up off the ground then reduce throttle to where stays at the desired height.

It will jump to the left as it leaves the ground in reaction to the rotor torque and tail thrust not having the ground to counter-act it, something which can be minimized by taking off from a smooth surface and spinning the rotor to the point it is light on the skids before taking off. Once in the air if you keep your right hand off the stick the 45° flybar will counter-act the movement of the model and after a period of gyrations it will settle down and hover (if it trim) or wander off slowly in whatever direction the trim is off.

Nothing you can set on the Tx will magically prevent that cause and effect from happening. Until you develop the reactive flying skills to compensate with control inputs immediately after take-off what is needed is SPACE. Space to let the model get up into the air and self stabilized by itself. Indoors it will usually hit a wall before that happens. Trying to prevent that in a panic will result in overcorrection and make matters worse.

If you take it outdoors on a dead calm day (mornings and evenings are best), well away from anything it can hit, put it on a smooth surface so the skids can slip, get it light on the skids, then increase the throttle quickly but smoothly so its about 10 feet in the air you'll see what I mean. It will gyrate around, but with nothing to hit it will eventually settle into a hover. From that point controlling where it goes is simply a matter of trimming for any drifting in the hover state with link and Tx trim adjustments and learning to move the sticks, slowly at first, and observing how the model reacts.


You will find there is a delay between the stick input and reaction of the model you would not notice if in a panic trying to avoid a crash. Cutting back the responsiveness of the model with dual rates <100% and Exponential exacerbates the delay of moving the stick and seeing the result of the input and can lead to over-correction. So I suggest you don't use them and instead just learn how to control your thumbs. Once trimmed its not going anywhere out of hover unless you move them and if you learn to move them carefully you will learn to keep it under control.

Because rotary flight is inherently unstable the two most difficult maneuvers are: 1) stable hover, especially near the ground, and; 2) flying straight and level from point A to B.

The 45° flybar design makes hover easy. But if you fly it off slowly in a straight line with just the elevator input (forward cyclic) you will notice it starts to veer and dive to the right. That's normal, a reaction to rotational forces and unequal lift on the advancing and receding sides of the rotor which you'll learn to instinctively correct with opposite left cyclic if you pay attention to the attitude of the rotor disk at hover and keep it the same as it moves forward.

Once you can master flying 50-100 ft back and forth in a straight line out and back you will have developed most of the reflexes you need for more complex maneuvers better and quicker than puttering around your apartment dodging walls and furniture.

If you learn to fly it outdoors where there is nothing to hit you'll crash and damage it less, and quickly gain the skill to allow you to fly it indoors without crashing. But you'll also find that skills notwithstanding its not nearly as much fun indoors as outdoors where space allows flying it full-tilt into sharply banked aileron turns. Extreme maneuvers involving changes in direction require momentum and that requires space.

Space is always the limiting factor. The smaller mSR is easier to fly indoors, but even it is limited in a small space with 8ft. ceilings. I have both and have much more fun with the 120SR outdoors in the front yard than with the mSR indoors.

Thanks Roundwing! I went I got myself a msr last weekend and love it with my DX6i! That msr is a quick one! , but at least now I can practice the controls a bit more untill the snow melts and I can get my 120sr out flying. Again thanks for your help! Very informative.