helecopter CP Tx programming help

[Phil 9]

I am a little confused about the flight modes for a CP helicopter. My current understanding is as follows

Normal mode. CP and throttle are controlled by the throttle stick. with throttle and cp a zero when the stick is fully down.

Idle up. throttle is no longer controlled by the throttle stick but stays at a constant rate (with a fine tune on a dial or slider). The Throttle stick controls CP only with negative pitch at full down, zero pitch in the middle and positive pitch at the top

Throttle hold. Throttle is switched of for auto rotations and as a safety switch.

My futaba set has the ability for three different idle up modes but I am not to worried about that yet.

Have I got this right. Especially normal mode or in normal mode is the CP at zero at 50% stick and below?

[Cuban8]

Yes, you've got it basically correct, although your last paragraph is not quite right saying that CP remains at zero at 50% stick or below. Don't worry about idle up 1& 2 at the moment it'll be too confusing.The only point I'd make is that in normal mode, having the pitch at zero at low throttle will probably be ok for very early training i.e. simple hops, but will be no good at all for hovering or simple maneuvering. You'll find that there is no single correct way to setup a heli, pilots have there own preferences and what will work for one will be no good for somebody else. Your heli should come with these basic settings in the manual - best to start there and tune to your individual taste. BTW what heli do you have?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Basics-Radio-Control-Helicopters/dp/0911295364 This is a great book for beginners wishing to learn the basics of heli setup - I taught myself with it, and am now a competent (non 3d) heli pilot interested in scale.

 

 

Edited By Cuban8 on 21/06/2014 11:45:44

[Phil 9]

I have a trex 450 sport v1 that I am trying to setup but not flying it yet.

I also have a blade 200 sr x that I an using to learn to fly on but this is fixed pitch

[John Privett]

As C8 says, there are different schools of thought on setup. So be aware you will see conflicting advice!

In "normal" mode (not idle-up) you can either have the pitch set with zero degrees at centre-stick, or set so that the heli hovers at centre-stick. The advice I followed was the former, so my pitch curves are the same for normal and idle-up.

Having "full-throttle" all the time is probably ok for electrics, but wouldn't be for i/c powered helis. Here you'd set a "V-curve" with 100% throttle at top and bottom, and something like 60 or 70% at centre-stick.

[Allan Bennett]

My experience with a T-Rex 500 was that it's manual is excellent for setting up the heli, as well as for building it. It suggests that pitch should be -3 degrees at zero throttle, about +3 degrees at mid-throttle (so the heli actually lifts off at mid throttle), and about +12 degrees at full throttle -- all of this when in "normal" mode. Your 450 manual probably says something similar, so I would recommend you follow it.

The reason for the negative pitch, in my experience, is (a) so that you can counter any uplift that occurs when there's a gust of wind, and (b) so that you can plant the heli positively on the ground when landing, to lessen the chance of it falling over.

When you start wanting to fly inverted, you'll probably want to have zero pitch at mid stick, and +12 degrees and -12 degrees at opposite ends, so that inverted and upright hovers occur with the stick the same distance, though opposite ways, from mid position. So that's usually how idle-up or "stunt" mode is programmed, along with a throttle curve that gives near full throttle at all stick positions.

[Dave Bran]

OK, here's how I do it.

Think in reverse.

You are going to be flying in Idle Up as the usual mode soon, yes?

You don't want there to be a major change of lift when you switch into it, yes? (Ideally, no change at all)

Right way up hover in Idle Up will be with the throttle stick ABOVE half stick, yes?

Then THAT is where you want the "normal" hover throttle stick to also be, not half way!!!

GRIN....................

[YakMad]

Forget about books from Amazon, download the ebooks from RCHelicopterfun.com **LINK** there is also loads of useful info on his site, I found his site very useful when I got into flying electric heli's after been away from heli's for many years.

Edited By YakMad on 23/06/2014 09:21:37