T E A M
I'm listing up a series of (Share Your How To) threads to provide something for those who are interested in learning and sharing.
Firstly, I've been asked recently if it's ok to learn autos on Trex.
As far as I know, every heli 'should' be able to auto. However size does play a very big part here. The bigger you go, the better your autos and energy reserves you'll have in the blades.
I tried on micro helis without much success, they always turns out to be controlled falls that always lands very hard.
I highly recommend learning them on large helis if possible.
The heavier the blades, the more energy retention they have.
How To?
1) See someone do it first.
Get someone who knows to advice by ur side.
---Autos should be done into the wind if possible, don't do them in the downwind direction until u get very confident with it.---
2) Fly up high, as high as you can still gauge the orientation of the heli.
3) With a bit of forward speed, dive slightly at 0 to -5 pitch (slower = more neg?)
4) Flick that throttle hold switch--- the first few times i couldn't bring myself to flick it
5) The heli should start to drop slightly faster, at this point, reduce your pitch a little to about -1, -2 if you're at 0 initially. maintain at -5 if you find that the headspeed is insufficient, however try not to use too much negative pitch. This is where the advisor beside u can help to judge and feedback to you.
I personally find the best balance between descending speed and headspeed at say -1 to -3. TOO MUCH NEGATIVE WILL ACTUALLY CAUSE EXCESSIVE DRAG THAT BLEED OFF THE HEADSPEED TERRIBLY!!!
6) Your heli should still be pointing the nose down slightly or level. If it's pointing up, use a bit of forward cyclic to adjust back to level. During the course of descent, some helis might have the nose going up now and then, it's ok, just adjust with cyclic.
7) Overall, your heli should follow a somewhat diagonal path from the top. Do not try to do it by dropping the heli vertically, you're loosing a lot of advantage that the forward speed can give. Do not stretch the path while learning also, this will bleed off the headspeed too much if you're not familiar with the collective amount yet.
8) When you reach the height (again advisor guidance) to start recovering, maintain your collective at where it is. If you are at a large negative pitch, you have to reduce to close to 0 degrees. Once you start to flare, Negative pitch is NOT needed.
9) ALWAYS Start your recovery by flaring with a bit of back cyclic to slow the forward speed -> which will allow you to really slow the descent without a serious drop in headspeed. The back cyclic should be input in a smooth progressive manner. That's why I mentioned earlier on the advantage with some forward speed.
10) Although back cyclic is used but it should not be too aggressive in the learning stages, the heli should be returned to level attitude as you feel that the back cyclic flaring is almost used it. At this point of time, the heli should be pretty low, I would suggest about waist or knee height.
11) Once the cyclic flaring is used up, meaning that it no longer further slows the descent of the heli anymore, the heli should be sort of floating or descending slowly into the ground. This is where the reserve of your positive pitch comes into play. Move your collective up(positive pitch) progressively to use the energy 'reserve' to lower your heli for a gentle landing. The tradeoff is loss of headspeed. Therefore once you're already committed this far, you've got only one chance to get it.
12) I am still working on the last part of my descent to time it properly for a gentle landing. Most of the time i bounce a bit....... Alright, Let's just say I bang the ground more than i kiss it....
Note: Your advisor should be able to tell you to abort the attempt at any point of time if he feels that there is not enough headspeed or ground left to land smoothly. Immediately Un-do the throttle hold switch! If you do not trust your advisor at this point, you shouldn't ask him in the first place!
Scary parts:
MOST SCARY--> FLICKING THAT DAMN SWITCH!!!
The speed of descent for maintaining the headspeed will be MUCH faster than you think initally, but don't worry, as long as you have good headspeed, you have a good chance of a safe flare.
The rudder/gyro will not be effective without enough headspeed. If the headspeed is too low or there is too much cyclic/pitch load when you un-flick the throttle hold, the sudden application of torque will cause the entire heli to swing around violently. How far it'll swing and how violently and how long it takes to regain tail control, I do not know and cannot tell, but my heart always jumps to my mouth whenever I make that mistake.
I hope all fellow flyers enjoy the little write up from my own experiences.
Let's all chip in and share our experiences openly, be it good or bad, why it failed or so.
I definitely still need a lot of work on my autos, so PLEASE FEEL FREE to point out any mistakes i make or where-ever i should improve on my autos.
This thread is meant for open discussions/comments from everyone.
Firstly, I've been asked recently if it's ok to learn autos on Trex.
As far as I know, every heli 'should' be able to auto. However size does play a very big part here. The bigger you go, the better your autos and energy reserves you'll have in the blades.
I tried on micro helis without much success, they always turns out to be controlled falls that always lands very hard.
I highly recommend learning them on large helis if possible.
The heavier the blades, the more energy retention they have.
How To?
1) See someone do it first.
Get someone who knows to advice by ur side.
---Autos should be done into the wind if possible, don't do them in the downwind direction until u get very confident with it.---
2) Fly up high, as high as you can still gauge the orientation of the heli.
3) With a bit of forward speed, dive slightly at 0 to -5 pitch (slower = more neg?)
4) Flick that throttle hold switch--- the first few times i couldn't bring myself to flick it
5) The heli should start to drop slightly faster, at this point, reduce your pitch a little to about -1, -2 if you're at 0 initially. maintain at -5 if you find that the headspeed is insufficient, however try not to use too much negative pitch. This is where the advisor beside u can help to judge and feedback to you.
I personally find the best balance between descending speed and headspeed at say -1 to -3. TOO MUCH NEGATIVE WILL ACTUALLY CAUSE EXCESSIVE DRAG THAT BLEED OFF THE HEADSPEED TERRIBLY!!!
6) Your heli should still be pointing the nose down slightly or level. If it's pointing up, use a bit of forward cyclic to adjust back to level. During the course of descent, some helis might have the nose going up now and then, it's ok, just adjust with cyclic.
7) Overall, your heli should follow a somewhat diagonal path from the top. Do not try to do it by dropping the heli vertically, you're loosing a lot of advantage that the forward speed can give. Do not stretch the path while learning also, this will bleed off the headspeed too much if you're not familiar with the collective amount yet.
8) When you reach the height (again advisor guidance) to start recovering, maintain your collective at where it is. If you are at a large negative pitch, you have to reduce to close to 0 degrees. Once you start to flare, Negative pitch is NOT needed.
9) ALWAYS Start your recovery by flaring with a bit of back cyclic to slow the forward speed -> which will allow you to really slow the descent without a serious drop in headspeed. The back cyclic should be input in a smooth progressive manner. That's why I mentioned earlier on the advantage with some forward speed.
10) Although back cyclic is used but it should not be too aggressive in the learning stages, the heli should be returned to level attitude as you feel that the back cyclic flaring is almost used it. At this point of time, the heli should be pretty low, I would suggest about waist or knee height.
11) Once the cyclic flaring is used up, meaning that it no longer further slows the descent of the heli anymore, the heli should be sort of floating or descending slowly into the ground. This is where the reserve of your positive pitch comes into play. Move your collective up(positive pitch) progressively to use the energy 'reserve' to lower your heli for a gentle landing. The tradeoff is loss of headspeed. Therefore once you're already committed this far, you've got only one chance to get it.
12) I am still working on the last part of my descent to time it properly for a gentle landing. Most of the time i bounce a bit....... Alright, Let's just say I bang the ground more than i kiss it....
Note: Your advisor should be able to tell you to abort the attempt at any point of time if he feels that there is not enough headspeed or ground left to land smoothly. Immediately Un-do the throttle hold switch! If you do not trust your advisor at this point, you shouldn't ask him in the first place!
Scary parts:
MOST SCARY--> FLICKING THAT DAMN SWITCH!!!
The speed of descent for maintaining the headspeed will be MUCH faster than you think initally, but don't worry, as long as you have good headspeed, you have a good chance of a safe flare.
The rudder/gyro will not be effective without enough headspeed. If the headspeed is too low or there is too much cyclic/pitch load when you un-flick the throttle hold, the sudden application of torque will cause the entire heli to swing around violently. How far it'll swing and how violently and how long it takes to regain tail control, I do not know and cannot tell, but my heart always jumps to my mouth whenever I make that mistake.
I hope all fellow flyers enjoy the little write up from my own experiences.
Let's all chip in and share our experiences openly, be it good or bad, why it failed or so.
I definitely still need a lot of work on my autos, so PLEASE FEEL FREE to point out any mistakes i make or where-ever i should improve on my autos.
This thread is meant for open discussions/comments from everyone.
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