wonwinglo

Tickled pink today as I have now been successful with my nose in hovers with my Shuttle,it has only taken me the best part of fifteen years of on and off helicopters to finally master this manoeuvre.
I know that heli's are not everyones cup of tea but they sure sharpen up your reflexes,you have more respect for your rudder on a fixed wing and your brain to stick reaction times are increased.
One thing has occured to me about helicopters and that is a lot of things are possible by the flyer if only he would just push the barriers to get there,many never get past the proverbial hover an art in itself but the biggest danger with helicopter flying is to not recognise your weak spots,I pushed those personal barriers today and it certainly worked for me,three flights of one to one with my model provided the necessary move forward,I am thrilled at this and urge others in a similar position to just give things a try.
One tip that I have learned with helicopter flying is to always have a 'safe' position to reurn to should things go wrong,practise and more practise make a good flyer whether fixed wing or rotary,should things go pear shaped then quickly place the model where you know you are comfortable,give it a try and best of luck with your flying and let us know your own experiences,good or bad we can all learn from one another.

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'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

adzam

having tried a model heli sim, for a couple of months i can really understand how pleased you are m8.

well done.

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Wowbagger

Hmmm, never mastered the nose in hover - but then I've never used a gyro either! What it is to be a purist,eh?!

wonwinglo

Wowbagger I bow to you there are not many out there that do not use gyros in their helicopters,I have never bothered with these heading lock thingies,you might just as well set the whole thing up on autopilot and put the transmitter down on the floor.
For myself the helicopter learning curve has been a painful but eventually rewarding pursuit,there just is no easy way out,it really is practise,practise and more practise,I am not interested in flying a helicopter inverted my aim is scale like flight path,nice towering take offs climbing above obstructions,smooth circuit flying under trees and down rivers etc these are a pleasure to watch if done properly.
The same with fixed wing,I would sooner watch a well executed circuit just like Dave Boddington does,I remember seeing him fly a Sopwith Pup at Old Warden some years ago I stood by him and watched his lovely smooth take off,proper circuit and landing,what a pleasure to watch,I actually said to him that is the way I want to fly,and I have always taught people to fly in a proper scale like fashion and not like scalded wasps all over the sky.
We all have our ways of doing things and I do not want to appear biased but that is the way that I like to see a model flown.
I am going to say here that Wowbagger is a really good pilot simply because he gives his all and practises all the time,his flying has become an extension of himself which is how it should be,literally hundreds of hours of flying shows,I know that he will kill me for giving him this boost but it really is true,a total model aviation person,he deserves this credit which nobody has given him in the past,take another bow Wowbagger

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'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

adzam

i mis-interpreted your "but then I've never used a gyro either!" statement, i thought you where coming from a fixed wing point of view.

i had no idea you where talking rotary !!!

respect is due, but dont ( or didnt ) you find it a handful ?
i always thought a gyro was a necesary aid in flying , but i never had a heading gyro installed due to the cost of the relevant "fast " servo that was req`d.

but no gyro = balls of steel with much in order .

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Wowbagger

...and I remember very well standing in my back bedroom window trying to catch a glimpse of a Mercury Aeronca Sedan flying those perfect circuits you describe and which I so, so, so, badly wanted to emulate. Who was flying those wonderful circuits. Yes, you Wonwinglo. If I'm any kind of a pilot today it's because of the example you set for me in those far off forever sunny days! The foundation that everything I've done since was built on. You were my hero then - the best flyer I'd ever seen, and, as today, the smoothest. Okay, I taught myself, but I'd have gotten nowhere without your example and endless good advice. I'd watch your thumbs on that transmitter (Skyleader in those days!), all the little corrective movements, the continuous and subtle movementof aileron, rudder, elevator and throttle, and really believed I would never be able to emulate you! Every little thing you did I would soak up like a sponge. All the other flyers were wizz bang look at me merchants, but you were the one who could really fly and knew what he was doing.

So Wonwinglo, it is you who must take a bow - the best pilot I ever saw - and in those days that really was something...

Wowbagger

Adzam, your post went in while I was writing mine so I missed it.

Nah! It's not that difficult. Really. When I started heli's there were no gyro's so you had to fly without one. There were all sorts of "training" methods the most famous being Jim Morley's "piece of string" method, where you had a helper holding the tail in position with a legth of string tied to it! God, those were the days! After the tenth time of getting it wrapped around your tail rotor you just resigned yourself to much more hovering practice! Mind that wasn't as easy as it sounds as most heli's of the time were falling to bits all the time you were flying! But you did learn to hold the tail and anyone today can do it too if they really want to. Just have as little movement on it as you can and remember to fly the nose, not the tail.

Don't fly them as much as I should anymore, but if I did I'd go the scale route. Still have my old Kalt Baron 20 MX with TT 36 Pro and NHP carbon blades and somewhere there's a Hughes 500 body but minus the boom. Hmmm...

wonwinglo

All of this reminds me of the first model helicopter that I saw flying,it was at Trentham Garden a waterplane display,then out came this little model called the 'DB Lark' it buzzed around between the trees,over the water with that doyen Dave 'Boddo' Boddington at the controls,no gyro,fixed head and all that but it was a first in helicopter engineering,only recently one changed hands for heavy money at an auction because it is considered a pioneer machine.
How things have developed from that simple fixed head to the all flying heads of today with complex swashplates.
That Lark must have been a nightmare to handle,MFA copied the design on some of their early designs,some of those kits were sold off by Maplins a few years ago ans someone thrust the transmitter in my hand to test fly it,it was dreadful and I was happy to get her on the ground again after a nerve racking test hover.

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'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/

Wowbagger

I see Peter Valentine, designer of the MM Lark helicopter, the first really successfull commercial heli', has died. RIP

wonwinglo

A MM Lark helicopter ( airframe only ) realised £300 in a specialised auction in London last year,the design is considered of historical significence in the development of the model helicopter,does anyone remember what they sold for initially ?

__________________
'And there I was oil on my goggles from a broken pipe,then I looked at the altimeter,all I could see was the makers name !'
www.wonwinglo.scale-models.net/