Goblin 630 w/ Self Level and Rescue

[Seasick78]

For anyone thinking about or who may have interest in a FBL system that you can train with; here are a few vids to show you how even a Goblin can be setup as a fantastic training platform. Then, once your skills progress, toss it around to your hearts content.

No spectacular 3D here, just examples of inverted and upright self leveling and rescue action with my 630.

***Edit - fixed the thread title. Also, Sorry the horizon isn't in view more often. It would have been nice to see how steady the model is when th SL and reacue features are activated. However, you should be able to tell that the model is very stable. that is, the attitude of the model is not all over the place. It holds very steady and stable, but cyclic input IS still a factor as this is NOT an "autopilot" system (that would be boring!).

[ame]http://youtu.be/etySVXOvDR8[/ame]

[ame]http://youtu.be/tAVAKkvQJuA[/ame]

[aclysma]

Probably because you type & (ampersand) in the title. & is the escape code to type & in HTML as & has special meaning.

[Slyster]

That would have been SO nice when I was learning! Too late now. Technology marches on. People starting today have it made.

[Seasick78]

Originally Posted by Slyster

That would have been SO nice when I was learning! Too late now. Technology marches on. People starting today have it made.

It's a huge confidence booster. To be sure, the pilot is still in control. But there's a nice peace of mind that comes with knowing that you have those features to help while pushing the envelope... Especially early on, as you said.

[Mr.Gobler]

looks awesome, good vids, Just wish this system was cheaper to purchase

[aclysma]

Yeah I missed the boat for self level too when starting out. I started with a blade 400 flybarred. I crashed it a bunch. Mostly because I didn't fix it correctly. It would fall apart in the air. I didn't even know what thread lock was at the time if that gives you any idea where my build/fix skills were. No one was around me that I could fly regularly with that knew anything about helis. After a few months I quit because I wasn't having fun. But I kept with the sim to some degree since I had it and it was a good diversion from simming planks.

A year later I got bored with planks and got a 500 flybarred protos. SO MUCH BETTER. I has more success with that in a day than the months I had spent a year ago. I flew 17 successful flights in one day with only one throttle-hold panic that luckily did no damage.

The second week with the protos I went flybarless with an sk720. Self leveling worked as advertised. And.. I used it only once when I thought the machine was flying too far away from me and I wasn't sure about the orientation. I probably didn't need it even then. Never even reached for it other than that.

So for me self leveling wasn't that useful after doing planks and simming a little. But man.. If I had that when I was doing the blade 400.. I would have 2 years of experience instead of 1. My biggest problem with the 400 (when it wasn't ripping itself apart in flight due to my maintenance errors) was flying it far enough away to do real turns. It was very hard to see and for orientation loss (as opposed to dumb thumbs) it would have been great.

[Seasick78]

Originally Posted by itsparks

looks awesome, good vids, Just wish this system was cheaper to purchase

Yeah... It's pricey. No doubt about that. But, you get what you pay for. It's not a simplistic self level device. It can be used to learn in orientations that otherwise would give major pucker factor. Also can pull you away to safety. It's a money saver if used to its full potential. I personally am crash free since buying one (knock on wood), and have only gotten more and more daring with time.

Anyway- I just wanted to point out that even a high performance machine like a Goblin can be used to train with. Progress. And then really thrash with. No need for a "beater."

Besides this, all I currently own is a Nano for filling around with.

[Mr.Gobler]

Originally Posted by Seasick78

Yeah... It's pricey. No doubt about that. But, you get what you pay for. It's not a simplistic self level device. It can be used to learn in orientations that otherwise would give major pucker factor. Also can pull you away to safety. It's a money saver if used to its full potential. I personally am crash free since buying one (knock on wood), and have only gotten more and more daring with time.

Anyway- I just wanted to point out that even a high performance machine like a Goblin can be used to train with. Progress. And then really thrash with. No need for a "beater."

Besides this, all I currently own is a Nano for filling around with.

what was the price of one of those units again ? Do you need to run a receiver or does it have satellites plugged directly into it ?

[Seasick78]

It currently goes for $499. You can use a standard RX, SBus, or 2 sat's.

The version without SL/Rescue sells for $249.

[Mr.Gobler]

Originally Posted by Seasick78

It currently goes for $499. You can use a standard RX, SBus, or 2 sat's.

direct link ( for me and others )

[Seasick78]

Originally Posted by itsparks

direct link ( for me and others )

http://www.demonheli.com/category_s/43.htm

http://www.peakaircraft.com/

http://helicommand.com/index.php?opt...mid=94&lang=en

Usually in stock at Esprit but sold all over the place.

[Seasick78]

Originally Posted by aclysma

Probably because you type & (ampersand) in the title. & is the escape code to type & in HTML as & has special meaning.

Corrected on the OP... Thanks!

[parapup]

mine will be here tomorrow

[Seasick78]

Originally Posted by parapup

mine will be here tomorrow

Enjoy! If you have any questions feel free to ask. Whether specific to setup on a Goblin, or otherwise. I'll help however I can.

[aclysma]

Originally Posted by itsparks

looks awesome, good vids, Just wish this system was cheaper to purchase

It's not as bad of a price if you consider you are likely going to buy a ~$250 FBL unit anyways (brain, sk540, etc.)

The sk720 is also worth considering (wait for the black edition) for $400 and you can upgrade to add GPS later. If it comes out before we all die that is. Maybe it will be ready in time for our children to use. They will be able to buy that and the protos 700 as a bundle perhaps.

[Diviner]

On Monday and Tues, Helidirect had them in stock for 12% off. I was sooo close to pushing the buy button.

[CeeveeSiN]

Originally Posted by aclysma

It's not as bad of a price if you consider you are likely going to buy a ~$250 FBL unit anyways (brain, sk540, etc.)

The sk720 is also worth considering (wait for the black edition) for $400 and you can upgrade to add GPS later. If it comes out before we all die that is. Maybe it will be ready in time for our children to use. They will be able to buy that and the protos 700 as a bundle perhaps.

Id much rather have the SK720 with GPS or the FMA HD Module as I would suffer from brain liock and never reach for the button in time. half the time never even get to Throttle hold before it's too late.

much rather a device like the SK720/GPS with user set Hard Deck have the power to save me from myself.

[Seasick78]

Originally Posted by CeeveeSiN

Id much rather have the SK720 with GPS or the FMA HD Module as I would suffer from brain liock and never reach for the button in time. half the time never even get to Throttle hold before it's too late.

much rather a device like the SK720/GPS with user set Hard Deck have the power to save me from myself.

If your goal is to always have something proactive like that activated, they are certainly an option to consider. I personally like flying without regard to invisible lines and the like. There is definitely a marlet for that sort of thing. This one works extremely reliably for me and my momentary switch is very easy to flick if needed for rescue (see example below with a Goblin 700).

My videos in the OP weren't so much about rescue though, as it was for people to see how the "horizon mode" feature works, and how it can be used for orientation training whether upright or inverted (at any height above the ground... No hard deck to bother with). No calibration to set, no sattelites to rely on. You simply set the mixes in the radio and flick the switch when you want to use it. You are also able to set multiple values for how sensitive you want the SL to be. That is what I was referring to in the vids about 17% and 40%.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqYxnLe6ajo&list=UUIzWrgEfSDFk6P_LIBE8Ixg& index=21[/ame]

[CeeveeSiN]

Originally Posted by Seasick78

If your goal is to always have something proactive like that activated, they are certainly an option to consider. I personally like flying without regard to invisible lines and the like. There is definitely a marlet for that sort of thing. This one works extremely reliably for me and my momentary switch is very easy to flick if needed for rescue (see example below with a Goblin 700).

My videos in the OP weren't so much about rescue though, as it was for people to see how the "horizon mode" feature works, and how it can be used for orientation training whether upright or inverted (at any height above the ground... No hard deck to bother with). No calibration to set, no sattelites to rely on. You simply set the mixes in the radio and flick the switch when you want to use it. You are also able to set multiple values for how sensitive you want the SL to be. That is what I was referring to in the vids about 17% and 40%.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqYxn...E8Ixg&index=21

My goal would be to eliminate dumb thumbs completely. and like I said Thold is easy to hit also but 98% of the time I'm too slow to even hit it let alone a rescue button.
So for me the automatic would be far more useful.

The FMA 50 foot is a tad too much for me.. and the excess of ugly sensors is also a turn off.

for my style of flying a 10-15 foot hard deck would not interfere with my style at all. except for some low inverted hovering and grass cutting which you can toggle off for that kind of thing.

[Mr.Gobler]

Originally Posted by aclysma

It's not as bad of a price if you consider you are likely going to buy a ~$250 FBL unit anyways (brain, sk540, etc.)

The sk720 is also worth considering (wait for the black edition) for $400 and you can upgrade to add GPS later. If it comes out before we all die that is. Maybe it will be ready in time for our children to use. They will be able to buy that and the protos 700 as a bundle perhaps.

Yeah i know, but 500$ for a system... its something im thinking about. Right now i have a AR7200bx ready to go, and a Goblin 700 that will be delivered monday WOOT !