Marius' learning to fly - "video diary"

[Marius]

Over the past two years I told my story as it happened on a different forum than RC-Hangout. In November 2014 said forum was shut down, spawning RC-Hangout in the process - this resulted in me copying all of my posts to this thread at RC-Hangout. It's a bitter affair leaving the story I built over two years, which had accumulated hundreds of comments and feedback, over 35000 views and stretched over 53 pages.

The old posts range from page 1 to page 4 in this new thread, marked with the original posting date in red.

Originally posted July 29, 2012:

Some of you may know who I am, but for you who don't:

I started out with the RC-hobby May, 2012.
First heli was a Nine Eagles fixed pitch Solo Pro 228P.
Started flying Phoenix RC-simulator in June, 2012.
Bought and built an Align T-Rex 450 PRO 3GX in July, 2012.
Started flying my 450 25th of July 2012.

I'm all for posts being as beginner-friendly as possible, this thread being no exception. I will document my flights as often as possible, so those starting out can see the progression when starting to fly "bigger" helicopters. I can not stress this enough: These videos are shot AFTER flying a smaller helicopter for some months - it's not possible for most people to start out on such a helicopter! One must master a smaller helicopter first, or master flying the equivalent size in a simulator program. When this is stated, of course the thread is for entertainment and/or "show-off" purposes (you'll probably get to see me crash sooner or later too).

My VERY first hover and maiden flight with the 450.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRvIwxf ... UrhEZ2T5WQ


Today I rocked that bird as much as I dared, and was feeling pretty good about myself at the end
The jogger back there is my GF. LOL.

Battery 1/2
http://youtu.be/vvM2f7h0hGk

Battery 2/2
http://youtu.be/v85GTNAPA4M

[Marius]

Originally posted August 10, 2012:

Well, I'm back from our vacation in Spain - with a tan
Bought a cheap 3ch while down there.

LOL

http://youtu.be/Is_gduaJm1Y

[Marius]

Originally posted August 11, 2012:

Today I executed my first full banked turn! Up till now I've always backed up after going in to forward flight. The banked turn is really scary, and I only dared one. The rest of my flight (including flight 11), I'm just getting a feel for the bird and working on my orientations.

Pretty pleased with progress so far, and will be posting more as I have one more week of vacation - which of course will be spent flyin
ALSO; Still waiting for the camera equipment - so still pretty crap video

http://youtu.be/QK4MooNhqNY

http://youtu.be/d8wYNVqIYO4

[Marius]

Originally posted August 13, 2012:

Got my new camera gadget today. It's a sort of clip with a camera mount, which the enables the user to mount a camera to any hat, cap, visor etc...


I have posted two new videos on my YT-channel, but flew out of frame a lot, so I'm not going to be posting them here. They are available on YT if you'll want to see them anyway (flight 14, flight 15). I think I adjusted the mount correct now, so hopefully future clips will be more in frame.

Also, I got my new stick-ends today! Really excited! BUT, of course they did not fit
Placed a new order, and hopefully I'll get the correct ones this time...

[Marius]

Originally posted August 16, 2012:

Well, today has been the most exciting day in my RC-career so far!
After finishing my new landing pad, I of course had to use it at once.

I'm still training the banked turns and some orientations.
BUT, on my last battery, I pulled off a back-flip! That's right, A BACK-FLIP!

Man, after pulling it off, my heart tried to pound it's way out of my chest. I really had a hard time to land the bird, I was so filled with adrenaline!
Anyways, on the same flight my cam battery dies, so you don't get to see the nervous landing. But I managed to get the back-flip

In "flight 20" I am just flying around doing banked turns mostly.
In "flight 21" I continue the same training. The back-flip happens on 4:20.

http://youtu.be/oOxHXkY5024

http://youtu.be/a40hO-Cz2EY

[Marius]

Originally posted August 17, 2012:

Today I did my first f**k-up. When spooling up, I managed to fall of the pad...
The bird seemed to come out of it just fine, the "crash" wasn't that violent - see for yourself in "flight 26".

BUT, I'm starting to really push the bird now - and some problems are starting to show...

When backing up at great speeds, the tail is hopping up and down like crazy.
At some points while doing serious banked turns, the bird just "clicks" out of head lock - resulting in me getting out of focus and having to gain control of the tail. This happens once in "flight 27".

Please advise.


These clips have not been edited yet.

http://youtu.be/J4wQ5cECuQQ

http://youtu.be/UmYDRmJtLKY

[Marius]

Originally posted August 17, 2012:

In the aftermath of the mishap earlier today, I have now dismantled the entire head.
Luckily I could not find any damage

I did find a microscopic oddity in the feathering shaft though. I noticed a tiny sound which sounds a bit "off" when rolling it on a glass top table. My concern is of course that it might have been bent ever so slightly. But after inspecting it for a while, I have concluded it is not of a major concern - not as of right now anyway. Symptoms of a bent feathering shaft should show as vibrations, but I do not have any. But I will keep a close eye on this in the future.

Regarding the "tail hopping", I tried to reduce the elevator gain on my 3GX, but this only made it worse. I guess I will increase the gain tomorrow, and see if that helps.

I have also increased the rudder gain, and hope this helps on the tail loosing head lock.

[Marius]

Originally posted August 20, 2012:

I have been logging some hours in the sim now, only flying in IU. The DX7S which I have only has IU1 btw.
It's going great, and I feel very prepared for flying in IU-mode now.

My current THR curve in NORMAL: 0-30-50-75-100
My current THR curve in IU1: 100-95-90-95-100

My current PIT curve in NORMAL: 35-38-50-75-100
My current PIT curve in IU1: 0-25-50-75-100

I switched it (my 450 that is) up in IU yesterday, and that went just fine.
Now I'm just looking forward to get the new parts, so I can set up the head and pitch thoroughly - see how that works out

---

I got another set of stick-ends today, this time they fit perfectly!

Original left, new "thumb-stick" right:








After an hour of flyin sim, I decided to switch back to original on my right stick. As I felt my thumb was moving around on the stick surface while flying. But the left stick was left on; that thumb loves the new stick-end. So now I have a fatty on the left, and a slim on the right. LOL

[Marius]

Originally posted August 22, 2012:

I spent all yesterday evening assembling my new DFC head.



I did also order a swash level tool. But the store managed to send the wrong one; I got a level for bigger birds


Old head.


These are the trinkets that was included. The thrust bearings and brass washers had to be "transplanted".


Old PRO shaft, and new DFC shaft (shortest).


After assembling the bearings and what not, I tightened it REAL good, exactly like I have been doing on the PRO head. But on this head, the blade grips seemed more tight; not turning as freely and nice as the PRO. I swapped around bearings, disassembled and assembled, everything seemed fine - but after assembly, the grips still moved more slowly than the PRO grips. I tried the DFC arms on the PRO head, moved smooth as ice! It seems the DFC dampeners are so stiff; the pressure on the bearings is much greater than on the PRO - resulting in "squeezed" bearings and poorer movement. I don't know, what you guys think?



Links attached.


Head mounted.


Finished!






I honestly do not really see much difference, LOL But it's on there, and it's cool to have it! After the head was in place, I put down some serious time setting up the head. A new swash leveler is on it's way, but for the time being I had to use the zip-tie trick when leveling the swash. I probably used like an hour on just getting the head as level as I could possibly get it

Today I took it down to the soccer field on a test run; AND OH MY GOD IT'S CRAZY! The bird is SUPER responsive, actually I feel it's insane!

BUT, I'm not sure if this is due to:

The new 3GX version 2.1 (with default set-up)?
The new DFC head?
The increased pitch settings?
A combination of all these?

My head as per now:

LOW: -10.5°
MID: 0°
HIGH: +10.5°
AIL: 8°
ELE: 8°

I feel I'm right back where I started; super nervous when flying. The bird is a bit too crazy now. I think I'll have to figure out all the 3GX's settings, and tune it down a little Today I also found that there is a DFC swash! Guess I'll have to order that as well. LOL

[Marius]

Originally posted August 22, 2012:

OK. I have now done my homework regarding the 3GX advanced set-up.

Here are my new settings:





I've decided to take it down with small steps, and fine tune in between flights.
Test flight again tomorrow i guess

[Marius]

Originally posted August 24, 2012:

Got my swash leveler today. One that actually fit this time


Today, I was determined that I will get the head right, once and for all!!
I took out the servos, and got them as 90 i could.


Put on my new leveler.


This is as level as I can possibly get it.
The servos are 90.
Adjusted the PIT link two turns, the AIL one turn, and the ELE three turns.
It doesn't get more level then this (At least I think not, LOL).



After lovering the entire swash one turn, then raising the tracking links two turns, I finally got 0° on mid stick again.
I'm not able to get a balanced pitch between negative and positive though... Ended up with 10,1° positive, 10,9 ° on negative.

Anyways, took it out another two test flights.
And she's flying beautifully again
I also got rid of the rudder/elevator problem, I think it was caused by a un-leveled swash.

http://youtu.be/ZthgSLf7aHI

http://youtu.be/8v4xZXEqaN0

[Marius]

Originally posted August 25, 2012:

Today, we're blessed with some good weather again!
Also, I went ahead and ordered another battery, so now I have three packs
Seeing that I have so "many" packs now, I have decided to only record my last (third) flight.

I've been working on using Idle Up. I expected that this will drain my batteries faster, but I had a bit of a doozy on my second flight. Just as my alarm goes off, I am still in IU, and THEN she's starting to loose power! I tried to land on my ramp, but had to abort - she was running out of juice FAST.

This resulted in an emergency landing in the field...


After removing all the grass from my tail rotor, I lowered my timer quite a bit.
Turns out, when flying in IU compared to Normal mode, this shaves off about two minutes of flight time...

Well, here's my latest flight.

http://youtu.be/JqKZjqlUNBI

------

MAN, I'm having a blast flying in IU Mode.
It was fun flying in Normal as well, but it's just crazy how good it feels to mess about in IU
After these last runs, I also noted I'll have to increase the tail gain, as it keeps slipping in IU.
So now, I'll also have to learn to switch between NORM gain, and IU gain. But it's just a matter of practice.

I would just like to thank everybody for your insights and suggestions

[Marius]

Originally posted August 28, 2012:

Not much flying the last couple of days, as we're loosing daylight earlier and earlier for every day. This is the "punishment" for living in Norway In about a month or so, it'll be dark as early as 6.30 pm. And the darkness is of course accompanied by colder and colder temperatures.

BUT, I have just ordered some new exciting gear that may allow me to fly in spite of the cold temperature at least

I'm planning to get up half an hour earlier in the morning. I drive by some big fields on my way to work, so I think I could stop for a while and "squeeze" some batteries. That way I could be able to beat the darkness (I usually get home from work around 6 pm).

Anyways.. Even though not flying, I have been busy

I fixed up my first bird, the Nine Eagles Solo Pro.
Got some new servos, top frame and a new (and much needed) canopy.



Before:


After


It's kinda weird to fly this thing now, as I'm used to the 450. Working the Tx is like swinging a baseball bat LOL. But I love that bird, since it's what taught me to fly in the first place.

I also got some new stick ends (again).
I'm struggling to find ends that's perfectly to my liking.
So now I have gotten some with the same length as original, but with a more "sticky" top.

[Marius]

Originally posted August 29, 2012:

Today I got up earlier than usual, and took the bird along on my way to work.
Well, not really more to say about that. Just circuit training.

http://youtu.be/EcsFmeWJn3c

After work I charged up my packs and went for some new runs.
I executed my first inverted hover, lasting about 2 secs!
I also attempted some tic tocs. Not very good, but at least it resembled tic tocs ;D

Pretty great day, all in all.
Sorry, no recording of the acrobatic stuff - but will record my next attempts.

[Marius]

Originally posted August 30, 2012:

I was at a local "Heli Fun Fly" a few weeks ago, and I came to discuss the available flybarless systems with some of the pilots there. As I am the newbie, I cannot press my opinions in anyone's face just yet. So I had to stand there listening to them talking down the 3GX unit, as the lesser of the available systems...

Up to this point, I have steadily gained experience with the 3GX unit. People who's been following my build and vid threads know this... I believe that people who "hates" the 3GX or thinks less of it, simply didn't try to understand it enough. I can admit the 3GX isn't super user friendly, and the BeastEx may be easier to set up.

To the beginners:

I would recommend people that have the 3GX v 1.2 to just leave it be for the first 20 flights. The v 1.2 has a very easy to understand "difficulty slider", ranging between "Beginner", "Intermediate", "Expert" and "Custom set-up". This is easy to just set at "Beginner" when starting out to fly.

When the unit is flashed to v 2.1 the "difficulty slider" has been removed, and the user is forced to learn about all the different individual settings. But the v 2.1 is NOT difficult to set up. If you hold the mouse pointer over the far left "plus/minus symbol", you get a fairly understandable description of what that particular slider will do to your heli set-up.

The most important thing for beginners when using the v 2.1 is to reduce the roll rate, and flip rate with maybe 15 points.
The second most important thing, is that the head (links, swash, pitch and such) has to be set up perfectly.

In conclusion:

The 3GX is truly an advanced FBL unit, and I believe it will do the job JUST as well as it's competitors. I have just started to do some acrobatics on my unit, and the bird is coping perfectly. I still have left to do extreme maneuvers, but do not think it'll be any problem with the 3GX. If the unit and bird is set up perfectly - you will have one great heli on your hands.

[Marius]

Originally posted August 30, 2012:

I ordered two new canopys, got them yesterday. The store had managed to send one wrong, so only one would fit my Pro.

Anyways here it is



I guess it'll be another week for the other (correct) one arrives. I have high hopes for that one, as it looked very cool on the store's website.

I got out today and continued practicing inverted hover. I also attempt some tic tocs, but still need MUCH more practice. Also there was quite a bit of wind today, and it caused some erratic behavior - as I have never flown in this much wind before. The 450 manages some wind, but this is right on the border to what I dare fly in.

http://youtu.be/UiMx0zbFekg

[Marius]

Originally posted September 2, 2012:

I was out yesterday practicing inverted, and I see my tail does pop out a bit. So I took the advice and tightened my rudder stick. I think it helped somewhat, but guess I still just need more practice.

Beat my record today (longest lasting invert), got it on tape too
It suddenly starts raining, so I aborted further flight and rush to get home at the end. LOL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFDC7Yk ... e=youtu.be

[Marius]

Originally posted September 6, 2012:

Did some loops today
No vid though, but will try to get it next time.

[Marius]

Originally posted September 8, 2012:

Out flying today. Weather not getting any nicer. LOL
This flight I'm using my new Turnigy radio mitt with heater.

It's very windy today, so I'm only practicing orientations and trying to cope with the wind.

http://youtu.be/5W8q15_feBA

[Marius]

Originally posted September 10, 2012:

When arriving at the the ramp today.

The HORROR!



Well, it was left alone for almost a month. And that's not bad.
Last time someone disturbed it, the ramp was chucked in the woods.
This time, it's only been tipped over, and the camo net had been ripped off the nails.
Guess some kids couldn't leave it alone :heart-borken:

One of the support struts had broke off, but I managed to "repair" it.
The ramp was perfectly usable afterwards. I had lift-off within 5 minutes
Boys will be boys, I guess.