Wayne Jones Posted September 22, 2007 Share Posted September 22, 2007 Hi All,Any advice would be helpfull please, I have a Hummingbird V3 which after a few crasher's has been ok for me to learn with. My question is Although I have not yet masterd forward flight, I understand that a nitro helicopter is more stable than my eletric and I now find myself frustated with the poor flight time that my electric offers.I am considering a 30 size heli but how much more time would I get with nitro and although I have not yet masterd forward flight is it worth spending it on a nitro, any advice please.wayne. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Daniels Posted September 24, 2007 Share Posted September 24, 2007 With a nitro your only limited by fuel but as for exact time in the air i couldnt say ( i fly electric) but im sure its more than you get with your flight packs A lot of people say that a good flight sim is the way to go when learning as the savings made whole learning are worth it. May be a trip to your local club would be a good way to go, talk with teh heli boys there see what they fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Ashby 123 Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 Wayne, You'll certainly get a good 15 minutes with 30-size i.c. heli' (if not 20!) and, yes, it will be significantly more stable and somewhat easier to fly than your Hummingbird. I'm a great believer in 30-size helicopters for training as they're far better at coping with adverse weather. As you'll know, the more practise you put in the quicker you'll learn and if you live in the UK you'll never get anywhere if you have to wait for a nice day before you fly. With a bit of stick time under your belt you can fly a 30 in any reasonably strong wind. As a point of interest I've just started building a 30-size electric heli' for the new series I'm writing, so it'll be interesting to see how it compares to the i.c. equivalent from a training point of view. Forward flight? Again, it'll be easier with the bigger machine. Learn to nose-in hover first though! Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Child Posted September 25, 2007 Share Posted September 25, 2007 I fly a Twister Medevac - a small, indoor electric heli. I found I make the most progress in learning to nose-in hover by doing it outdoors, with the heli about 12 feet off the ground 20 feet away, and with a reference point behind it (like a tree in the distance or, more often, the back of next door's house.) It helps me because it allows me to use much greater wobble distances, and it gives me time to hit the throttle and rotate it round to nose-out flight and regain control if I lose it. But I also practice forward flight during the same flights. I suppose that this may be impatient of me, but as a teacher I have always reckoned that lots of little lessons mixed up and regularly repeated are the best way to embed a new skill. I may be wrong - after all, I have only clocked about 50 hours stick time since buying my heli, and still have a hell of a long way to go, but by doing it this way I reckon I'm not slowing down my learning progress at all, and allowing myself to have more fun at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Jones Posted September 25, 2007 Author Share Posted September 25, 2007 Many Thanks Guys,Graham your right about the weather, loads of open space close to me but not many still days.Gareth will give you nose in hover a try sounds like a good way to practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARTIN SMITH 2 Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 Hi,Im new to helis ,NEVER flown anything before ,just bought MINI PRED(ELECTRIC) Have charged battery but it cuts out after a few seconds PLEASE HELP! NOT GOT A CLUE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted December 1, 2007 Share Posted December 1, 2007 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Martin 2 Posted December 7, 2007 Share Posted December 7, 2007 Wayne, my Raptor is good for 15 minutes a tank on it's superb OS32 SXH engine but needs BMFA insurance for safety and really a club, unless you live in a mansion or in the middle of nowhere, the whole street would hate you practicing in the garden I should imagine..! The FP Hummingbird v3 copes with forward flight very well due to the evolutionary mods they inherited from the earlier ones, but a micro heli will always be a lot twitchier than a heavier nitro model and limited by the weather all the time.Fit a decent capacity Sub C size Rx battery (e.g 2400mah) and make sure your Tx batteries are fully charged to begin with and you can fly all afternoon with a nitro 30 size if you're careful..(buy a quality engine like an OS 32 SXH and you'll never touch it again and it'll purr for years, plus the prices have crashed at the moment so jump in quick)'Nose in' can be learnt fairly quickly by putting the training aid back on and using the heli as a hovercraft for a few goes. Use the rudder stick to steer the tail and push the right stick in the direction the heli tries to wander off to, this will correct it back to stationary. (i.e if it goes away from you, push the stick up, if it goes left, push the stick left, if it's going to cut you in half, pull the stick back etc...don't try and think of 3 of the 4 functions in reverse...you've just spent ages getting them embedded as 2nd nature tail in and it's not nessesary..!) I think Eric's right Martin, back to the shop mate..! If that's not an option due to a private sale, have you got a beefy enough speed controller (esc) fitted..? If these are under rated for the currents they face, they over heat quickly and cut out. A local club (there must be one within 10 miles of you I should think) would be a good bet on a fair Sunday morning/afternoon. You may find one listed on here.. http://www.bmfa.org/clubs/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlfk Posted December 8, 2007 Share Posted December 8, 2007 To state the obvious, how the heli flies will be largely down to its size, not the power source.By lowering the headspeed, you can tune electric helis to have relatively long flight-times - 10 minutes or more would be a very reasonable target. But for larger helicopters the batteries can get quite pricey.K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Ashby 123 Posted December 11, 2007 Share Posted December 11, 2007 Good advice on the 30 size heli' David, couldn't agree more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Martin 2 Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 I got my OS after reading about your experiences a few years back with your first Shuttle Graham, I believe your's ran like a sewing machine too if memory serves me right..I don't mean to stray from the thread, but I have been flying (probably more than most) the Twister CP v2 featured in this months RCM&E. I flew mine every lunch time, both Lipos, for 7 months earlier in the year and apart from a bruised carbon blade tip and a little induced slop, it still flies great, so if your main interest over the Winter months is sports hall flying, this is a superb piece of RTF kit for the money in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Ashby 123 Posted December 12, 2007 Share Posted December 12, 2007 Hi David, yes I've had three O.S. 32 heli' engines now and they've all been utterly bullet-proof, sweet as anything and totally reliable. I'm very impressed with the Twister and, again, I agree, it's a superb sports hall model and terrific value for money. Horribly twitchy at first but now it's tamed it's a cracker. And to think we all parted with the best part of £500 for our Piccolos a few years ago! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Martin 2 Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 I plucked a Hughes bodied FP Piccolo from the ceiling of an Ashford model shop about 5-6 years ago, modified it all up from the net and magazine hints and tips and then only just managed a sort of satisfactory forward flight. Then I had a Hummingbird Elite CP that ate 8 cell Nimh packs in about 4 minutes and wasn't really a satisfying experience changing packs all the time, now the Twister v2 CP flies for 15+ minutes per lipo charge with power in abundance and a calm weather flight performance to equal my Raptor..! Micro helis have progressed more than any other branch of radio modelling IMO, maybe pushed to the crown by RTF small electric planes. The price is dropping rapidly as well and a FP good flying heli is available RTF for under £60. A few men I work with have them to try heli's without spending a fortune and they look and fly like exact replicas of helis twice the price..! I'm waiting for the first micro turbine heli... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted December 13, 2007 Share Posted December 13, 2007 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Martin 2 Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 Very true Eric, can't see it catching on either.Has there ever been a nutter try and fly a nitro model in there front room do you know..? I've never heard of it but it must have happened, most things have..! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wlfk Posted December 14, 2007 Share Posted December 14, 2007 I've seen a piccie somewhere of someone hovering a .90 in their living room - with their friends sitting calmly on the sofa (rather than behind it, as any sensible person would do).http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxni3OXT_VoThere we are.K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted December 15, 2007 Share Posted December 15, 2007 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Martin 2 Posted December 18, 2007 Share Posted December 18, 2007 Unbelievable, thought it must have happened at sometime..!Can't see Youtube stuff wlfk unfortunately, banned from here but I can imagine it.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Hailey Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Hi all.Yes You Tube is an eye opener you cant beleve what you see on the tube It sertanley gets me through the long nights.happy new year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Former Member Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 [This posting has been removed] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Hailey Posted January 1, 2008 Share Posted January 1, 2008 Thankes for this Eric. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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