RunRyder - How to do sloooww circles?

rrTV-PHOTO

New HD TV

HOME rrTV-PHOTO GALLERIES MY GALLERY HELP-FAQ

myHOME PM pmRR MEMBERS 770 ONLINE 20 EVENTS SEARCH REGISTER START HERE

1 page

669 views

POST REPLY

Revolution Models	.	CarbonXtreme	.	Midland Helicopters
	.		.

Beginners Corner > How to do sloooww circles?

NoelVK3CNR
Heliman
Location: Victoria Australia

Hi everyone..I have an Ergo 30 that I'm just starting to get the hang of.
I have tried doing a couple of slow circles but everytime I try to turn it after putting it into forward flight & banking the damn thing just leaves FAST!
By the time I am banking the thing it is a small blip in the sky going sideways. Any help would be appreciated.
I have been told to try turning the chopper around ( to do a circle ) by banking it rather than using the rudder but I lose control of it real easy & by the time it's 3/4 round the circle it's going fast enough to disorientate me. Thanks in anticipation.

12-31-2001 Over year old.

Doug
Elite Veteran
Location: Naples Florida....

A Slow circle would be a hovering circle. The machine should never get to more than 2-3 MPH and can be done,in the early stages, around yourself. As your orientation improves then do them with you "outside" the circle. I found that doing slow pirouettes with the heli staying in one place was the way to start, then start doing circles when your "nose in" ability permits.

12-31-2001 Over year old.

Steve Campbell
Elite Veteran
Location: Baton Rouge, LA

You're probably feeding in some forward or sideways cyclic without realizing it.

Try this; start watching the skids. I know, it sounds bizarre, bit if you think about it, the skids- being at the lowest point of the ship- will begin to move before anything else if the machine pitches (fore/aft movement) or rolls. By watching the skids, you will be able to see any adverse movement immediately, and input a correction. And you will need to coordinate aileron (left/right cyclic) and tail rotor to do it slow. A helicopter with a non-HH gyro will "weathervane"- the tail will follow the ship in an aileron-only turn-, but some forward speed is needed for that. When moving at walking speed you will need to force the tail around with judicious use of tail rotor.

It is quite challenging to fly slow, steady manuevers with these things. Any newbie can yank & bank at full collective, and bang the sticks into the corners; the guy who can fly slow, SMOOTH circles around himself, or make slow, smooth inside turns toward himself, has a measure of control that many "3F" pilots only THINK they have. And the lower you go, the more cool it is. But I would get proficient at nose-in before going too low...

It sure is refreshing to hear of someone who does NOT feel the immediate need to flip and flop. Good for you, and stay with it. The little Sluggo is a very stable platform for doing this kind of flying. If your radio has the capability, dial in about 30% exponential on both cyclics and see if that doesn't smooth your inputs up some.

Steve

12-31-2001 Over year old.

NoelVK3CNR
Heliman
Location: Victoria Australia

Sluggo? Sluggo??

Thanks for your reply Steve....but sluggo! I've never heard of an Ergo30 described as such...that's my chopper your talking about.
Any way thanks for the advise, I currently run 70% exponential on both cyclics & yes I do have to try & stop myself nudging all four corners of the right stick. I know it means a lot more practice which I will be able to achieve weather permitting this weekend after I get a new pair of woodies & some " A " links; I lost those when I tried to cheesegrater my blades through a cyclone fence & they didn't fit.
I have tried not more than quarter forward stick to achieve FF & then bank but the helicopter just seems to go sideways rather than bank & turn. More practice...more practice.
I guess having RC Stuntcopter for the PS1 for a sim. & no one to instruct me in mid flight might be my biggest problems at the moment.

01-01-2002 Over year old.

ed vega
Key Veteran
Location: nyc, queens

steve , yes I would do it like that too , keeping the horizon in view thru the skids .. being careful not to get blinded by it's angle or over focused, and avoiding shadows , brain lock etc ..

I like to put those tall orange construction cones to guide and keeping the circle true and flat as possible .. you'll note black skids tend to disappear on the horizon .. white skids with some high vis tape could be of help there too .

as you and I know it's repetition, trial and error .. feeding small tail inputs and avoiding inadvertant cyclic/collective interaction ..

another thing is to always be aware of the wind direction, horizon and knowing where the nose is pointing all the time ..

01-01-2002 Over year old.

Steve Campbell
Elite Veteran
Location: Baton Rouge, LA

Noel,

The term "sluggo" was originally coined by my flying buddy, and meant in a disparaging manner. I bought an Ergo 60 Sport when they first came out, and it was an absolute pig to hover because of the incredibly tight links that defied all attempts to loosen them up.

I was fighting it one day, when another helo buddy came up and asked what kind of model it was? "A JR Ergo", I said. My pal said, "More like a JR Sluggo." The name stuck...

Soon after that I put Rocket City links on the ship, and it became quite enjoyable to fly. Although they claim nothing has changed, JR has since gone to a different material in thier links which makes them almost civilized now.

Keep in mind that this was five years ago.

Steve

01-01-2002 Over year old.

ed vega
Key Veteran
Location: nyc, queens

rocket city ball links are very good ..

01-01-2002 Over year old.

NoelVK3CNR
Heliman
Location: Victoria Australia

Steve

Thanks for cheering me up..........sluggo...ohh the pain...the pain!
( plaigiarised from Lost In Space...you may know who ).
No! Actually it is a good machine; it is just going too damn fast for me.
I have done the bang the stick thing, the my!! it's getting sweaty while I try to get the thing back on the ground ( altitude is your friend ) thing, but through all of that I know it is possible to do.
When I get my new bits I will certainly try your suggestions; by the way, the Ergo 30 here is about 2 years old & I have a Futaba 6HSX transmitter so all of your suggestions re. setup are possible.
Weather permitting I will let you know what happens.

01-02-2002 Over year old.

Steve Campbell
Elite Veteran
Location: Baton Rouge, LA

I was watching a "Twilight Zone" marathon yesterday; one of the episodes featured a young Jonathan Harris (aka Dr. Smith) and William Shatner.

There is no secret to flying model helicopters. It just takes patience and perseverance. The great majority of crashes are caused by trying to exceed one's abilities. "Pushing the envelope" is fine for a fellow experienced in the basics who wants to learn new tricks, etc. But for a true newbie, I think the best approach is a slow, methodical one. The money and re-build time saved is well worth it.

Do keep us posted.

Steve

01-02-2002 Over year old.

NoelVK3CNR
Heliman
Location: Victoria Australia

How to do slooww circles etc.

Thanks again for your reply. Now is that the one where he is the evil scientist, the deranged bio-chemist or the mortician?
Doesn't matter, what they could do with B & W film & great lighting made them all a joy to watch.
However; slightly off the subject: I had a win today!
Expecting some "A" links to arrive today meaning back in the air tomorrow.......except my supplier forgot to get them when he went to the distrubutor; I don't like him anymore although I know i'll get over it.
He did however suggest I try a phone number for a guy who may have spare parts for HIS Ergo 30 ( you know the sluggo thing ..) sigh.
Ends up he flys LOTS! & he even has a friend who flys LOTS! & the best bit is they are no more than 5 kilometres ( about 2 miles or so in your langauge ) from my location here in Victoria.
After thinking I was alone here ( my only other contacts with real live heli people being more than a cut lunch away ) this is grreeaatt!
I may now have met some people who can show & advise me what Sluggo can really do & hopefully get some of that through to my thumbs.
Just thought I had to tell someone that as my wife went " Ohh! thats nice dear ". Noel

01-04-2002 Over year old.

HighFlier
Senior Heliman
Location: Chicago, IL.

Hi Noel, first welcome to this wonderful world we call helicopter land.

I know when i say we have ALL heard that from our wifes,
and that aint lying.

If I had a dollar for everytime I heard that, I would be flying a real machine. The only other thing I can say is practice, pratice,practice and the fingers will start moving the right way. It will become second nature, there will be no thinking about it, just doing. Every new move mastered will feel so GREAT!!!

Keep up the great work.
Ken
Keep'm Fly'n

01-05-2002 Over year old.

NoelVK3CNR
Heliman
Location: Victoria Australia

Nice to meet you Ken & thanks for the reply.
Yes the practice thing would be happening if my hobby shop guy had got my parts ( yesterday was absolutely perfect ). I have got a helicopter with what; over 200 + bits in it & I am grounded because I lost ONE " A " link. I was seriously thinking of picketing outside the guys shop but I went & cleaned out the gutters on the house instead.
If someone else says to me " No use crying over spilt milk " i'll probably deck them. Anyway I've got nice clean gutters & with bushfire season upon us that is a good thing.
As per my earlier post to Steve I have contacted these other guys who fly LOTS & they are most willing to help me over my present plateau.
I can currently hover the thing almost " dead stick ", forward flight, turn
( with rudder ) & drop it from 50 to 75 feet almost at my feet but I just can't seem to make the thing bank & turn as I reckon it should.
Keeping those thumbs nimble...Noel.

01-06-2002 Over year old.

HighFlier
Senior Heliman
Location: Chicago, IL.

Noel, I know the feeling about being grounded!