joshua jones

to update giant cod have agreed the failure and are sending replacement so everyone is happy.

Ok so its been a few days since i updated on my progress so heres a brief listing:   Spent some time getting the CG correct and the model properly trimmed out, then commence hovering very low and letting go of the sticks to see what the natural tendencies are when i was happy with that i started to go higher. Once i realised i dont need to my corrections continuosly i improved a lot, instead just correcting the helis natural intentions has help me hover in a very smal area.   Kept praticing the low hover untill i was totally confident, then increased the height againg until i was happy once i could keep it with the box id drawn on the floor i repeated the exercise at different angles not nose in just yet but im happy at any angle where im still viewing the rear of the model.   Again increasing height i am happy up to about 12ft now and now started to play a little with the collective and seeing how height is lost and gained, FUN. Back down to about 4ft and i have been working on flying forward a few feet stop hover land and take off hover slowly backwards hover and land. This i have repeated many many times   Then the same thing but side ways which surprisingly i found easier than forwards And back!  The only other thing i have tried this week have been slow piro's whilst trying to remain in one place, yeah right one place!!!!. i found clockwise easier to hold still than anti clockwise so tomorrow i will pratice this untill im happy.   So all in all a very productive week. The buzz i get from these Heli's is intense and i see why so many people do it i have a smile on my face now just thinkin about it!!   Anyway got to go now but ill be back tomorrow. Josh     

Geoff,      Thanks for your thoughts there and i have to agree 100% i have allways set up my fixed wing models to fly straight and true without the need to excessively trim them and so it was a logical step for me assume the same practice with the Heli's to.   Pleased to report that my progress has been very good over the last week and i can comfortably hover out an entire battery so im rightfully very happy at the minute. The CG problems i was having are also much much better> The Belt CP is well known for its tail heavy condition you see and as i mounted all component gear inc radio in the advised locations it showed this tail heavy condition quite alot. Thankfully i havent and wouldnt ever use Esky radio gear which led to thinking that there recomendations for loacting these items within the model were probably also suspect, so the other day i completely stripped it and rebuilt it from the ground up ( i took it apart to the point that it resembled the exploded diagram, every single piece was stripped) taking extra care in the rebuild been very accurate. Moved all the radio gear under or just infront of the main shaft and also hollowed out the virticle tail fin it now resembles the carbon versions but plastic. The model now flys very nicely and im pleased with my efforts.   One thing i did not know and all beginners are probably the same, is the trimming should in my opinion not done how many peolpe advise ie as the models scoots and slides around the floor with its training gear on. And SHOULD be done in the hover at LEAST 18inches high preferably a ittle more. Any trim introduced on the ground then needs retrimming once in the air and is really pretty pointless to do. Instead  if anyone reading this whos at this stage you should learn to hold the model still during taKe off using the tx sticks (after al thats what there for!!!) conter acting the torque etc   anyway i would thank all who have added to my questions and im off to practice some more......................................   Josh

ahh thats brilliant i shall now go and get the answers to the questions flying around my head thankyou.

Can someone in the Know kindly tell or show me how to measure the current draw of my servos using a multimeter i get the theory but cant seem to get it wired up properly to take the readings. Using speky rx where do i need to connect the meter probes?????  

Wow,   Ok thanks  guys that certainly give me somethings to think over, and for now they shall stay where they are. The Belt as asked above does have the common problem of been tail heavy AND personally in my opinion overly so its something that most Belt owners will agree about. I understand about balance and cg and really this was the main part of my enquiry you see its quite bad really to the point i use 2100mah and 2500 mah lipos as far forward as possible in place of the stock 1800mah ones and even like this it needs execsive trim to maintain a stable hover which with my limited knowledge cant be right. Surely the whole point of a good set up ie level swash plate even links is to give a nice even performance accross the ranges of possible stick positions in flight. If it then needs excessive trim just to hover stabley which it does this cant be good and i would of thought a model that needs very little triming to achive this would be a much better condition to achive?   Thanks to all who have contributed. Josh

Having brought a 30A Hobbywing ESC last week from Giantcod i installed it in my Heli and on the 3rd flight i had a brown out luckily in only hovering i stopped and checked it out but could find no fault started to hover again same thing so i landed again but this time by the time i got to the model smoke was pooring out of the ESC after disconnecting the battery it was clear that the central wire had come away from the PCB and shorted out blowing it luckily i got it on the ground cause it took out the BEC too.  I have many Hobbywing ESC and there all A1 i dont use anything else but that said any product no matter how good sometime have faults Rob at Giantcod reckons this is the first time this has ever happened but i find that VERY hard to belive so if anyone else has had a similar experience with there ESC's i would be very gratefull if you would just leave a quick post here. And ill get back and leave a post when the matter has been resolved with Giantcod   xxxxx This is in no way me slating Giantcod they just happen to be the supplier in this case and i am in contact with them now to try and resolve this problem so there is no opinion one way or the other at presentxxxxxxx   Josh

Stefan,   Thanks for that its always obvious when its explained is it  i didn't consider that but it does make sense, ans so my idea of adding some holes there to try and combat the tail heavy condition of the stock Belt CP should really wait untill my piloting skills improve.   Josh

Hi Gemma, Well at least it is fortunate that you have a few other lipos to use and that it wont stop you flying. Out of interest can i ask what type of lipo was it, brand capacity etc and how long you have had it and what it was used for. I collecting relvant data of this type.   Either post here or your very welcome to pm me. Thankyou, Josh

Ultymate,   Very very true indeed luckily have loads of nescafe in the kitchen lol. And i'm pretty good with technical stuff i have it set up nicely now flown and crashed rebuilt flown and crashed at least i can hover a little now and dont rash EVERY time  im quite proud considering two weeks ago i had never flown a heli. With the mix levels i was just trying to get a idea of a helis reaction to inputs obviously there all different and there are others wAys of achiving same result it would appear the belt i have likes about 75% pitch aileron and elev in the mix ( that was terrible)   josh

Since recently taking up Heli flying (well attempting it) i have been wondering what the purpose of tail fins are. As my best guess would be, Vertical to protect the tail blades smashing into the deck and the horizontal maybee to provide tail stability durring fast forward flight  or when in down wash durring the hover.   However at least one of my theories must be flawed as the carbon replacements availiable are full of "lightening holes" and especially in the Horizontal plane i can see no benifit in it been there at all.   If one of you would be so kind as to shed some light on this please.......

Owen, Thanks for the reply there i have taken that into account, adding extras is not ideal as you rightly point out. But the Belt CP is surprisingly tail heavy and is really the only fault i can pick. The problem is i already have every thing in front of or as close to the main shaft as is pysically possible i wouldnt use the recomended batteries as there Esky onse and quite honestly for the price theres far better around at present i have 3 2100mah and one 2500 mah flight powers and 1 2200 tornado lipos that i use even with the 2500 mah up front and pushed as far forward as the canopy will allow its still tail heavy!! But i have changed my thoughts of using a reg and small rx lipo as for one its terrible over kill   So instead what im going to try is, A T-rex cannopy as ive been told they offer more room at the nose for the lipo, and instead of adding i plan to take weight away ie carbon tail boom and blades carbon fins untill then i will add "lightening holes" to the stock ones (allthough need to establish there function first, see my other thread)  change tail servo for something lighter have a Hitec 82MG on now thats quite heavy i want a fast digi in its place i have 3 HS 65HB servos for the cyclic  which will add a few grams in front of the main shaft as well but these babys are staying in there boxs till i stop crashing or strip the existing ones I've also just ordered some align blades it wont effect the CG but ive heard there much better and for only £1.80 over the stock  Esky ones who wouldn't.   Would like to hear your thoughts on this new "plan of attack"  Owen. Josh 

Andy,   Thats very interesting that you found the smaller heli a little easier as general thought that bigger is better however i strongly belive each to there own and we must do what works for us as individuals..   And there is no substitute for actuall stick time consistantly on the same machines i found that very true last  year when learning fixed wing.   I would love to be able to have a smaller heli in addition to my belt i couid fly indoors to although it would have to be a CP heli and unfortunately funds wont allow that right now which is a reall shame as the T-rex 250 is VERY tempting to me....   My progress has taken a knock today i have been adopting Radds ( i cant thankyou enough for that one) which has been really working for me i think more than anythng it has taught me CONTROL and that if the heli moves and i havent told t to then im not in control. And focus is the key in just a day and a half i feel i have improved.. But as always with me good is envitably followed by bad my ESC mallfunctioned one of the motor wire came away from the pcb and shorted on the poss+ wire releasing the MAGIC (or not so magic) smoke of not only esc but it fried the motor too.........GUTTED;   So untill i can replace them i am am well and truely grounded........ ill update when i get hovering again.   I have put a new thread on here some where about esc, servos and regulators if you would be so kind to have a look and if you have a opinion i would be most gratefull to hear it.   Josh...

Can i ask of peoples experiences with Esky servo's in particular the new 8g digi's like those in my Belt CP i tink they are right at there limit and they seem to buzz ore thenothers i have come accross which we all know is not a good thing i will change mine out for some hitec 65 MG's as soon as funds alllow but am still interested nin your experiences.   And also the Esky Esc i not worth even buying which i didnt thankfully i have a Hobby wing 30A which i have been using however due to my concerns over the servos and current draw  ive ordered a 40A which has a swicth mode bec and 1A extra although this gives more protection i am strogly considering using a opto Esc and seperate regulator and lipo to power the electrics but have concerns over weight i am confident that the belt will cope in terms of lift but its the CG im worried about i am only beginning to learn helis but have noticed that the belt could in my opinion do with some extra weight up front any way but at the same time i dont wish to make learning harder than it allready is so any advice would be ver very helpfull.   Many Thanks Josh

i know tis is a old thread now but could not help feeling i had to add a bit Ant has hit the nail on the head there i feel if you want to now helis buy a heli mag!!! As for the arguement of this machine or that machine whats the point! As a CP heli the principle of flight and set up are universal just on different scales. And spend what you WANT not what your told or are we to belive now that because someone puts it in a mag ts got to be that way surely not. I think maybe you have felt they write the excellent mag just for YOU and not for the thousands of other model enthusiasts that but it every month and whom im sure got alot from the article.