First chance for a proper flight!

[Mda1701d]

It seems Ive been waiting all summer for the right conditions, no work commitments gigs or guests, and finally this evening I got there! Very light breeze, still good light, and some fully charged batteries.
So, popped the Skoda in the boot, and the Dominator as well, just in case I felt brave enough, and off to my nearby 'secret' location. My wife also came along for moral support!
So, training gear fitted to the Skoda, and off with the first lipo. I started with just hovering around, as I have been in the garden, then practiced a few landings. All seemed ok, so after a few minutes cooling down, second pack went in. This time I experimented with trying to move around the area slowly, but soon found this to be a bit scary, the heli soon became a small dot in the field! I didnt panic, and tried to keep it close. On the sim, i found flying in a circle around me easy, so I tried that. Strangely, I found I had poor tail authority, the heli seemed to be drifting sideways, but I thought this was down to my rubbish flying!
Another safe landing, then the final lipo went in.
Got airborne, and off into the middle of the field. The slightest of breezes came from behind, and instead of the nice steady 10ft I had been keeping to, the heli shot up to about 25ft, aaaargh! Again, no panic, but had to drop the stick quite alot before the heli would come down, I still havent dared touch idle up!
Then, disaster, well, almost! Suddenly lost all tail control, and the bird started spinning. As we were still 10ft up, there was enough time to get a bit lower, and auto to the ground with no damage. It would seem the tail servo had bailed out!
So, out with the Trex.......
Being too nervous about crashing this one again, I limited the flight to just a few short hovers, before putting it back in the box while still intact! I am hoping to take it to the local club next week to get some flight instructions, so wanted to keep it in one piece.
Anyway, everything back home now safely with just a small tail issue to sort.
I must say though, as a novice pilot, being out in a bigger area after the garden puts yet another perspective on learning to fly. These things start moving so fast with just small inputs, and I can see how easy it would be to let one get away.
So back to the nice safe sim for now, untill next weekend, if the weather is ok!

 

[Lee]

Sounds like a good day, and a great save with the tail spin

 

[Graham Lawrie]

Sounds very like my flying experiences over the years

I had a similar thing and it was a slack screw on the tail

I recently had a major one on my 550 where the tail slider screw came off one side and nearly totalled my 550.

I used to ignore vibrations or issues and slap another battery on, I have learnt to box it, take it to the bench and inveatigate saves money in the long run
Keep us posted on how you get on

 

[Blackwarrior]

Sounds like a great adrenaline rush there, I've had much the same experiences, lots of fun though learning, and still is. It feels great when you manage to bring her home in one piece after a near disaster I know that for sure.. Happy flying bro

 

[EyeStation]

You will start to get better speed control after you can teach your thumbs to keep the heli level. Slow flat circuits are much tougher than fast ones.
I have found that if you have a micro for indoors, that will help teach your thumbs to keep the heli level and speeds in control.
My micros do a lot less crashing after I got outside with the bigger 300x and 450.
Good job keeping them both in one piece.

 

[Mda1701d]

Thanks for the replies eveyone! Glad to know that Im not alone with these first steps, after seeing all the vids online of expert pilots etc, my flying seems a bit rubbish lol! Hope to improve as time goes on.
Interesting about the nano comment, I picked up a blade a few weeks ago, but find it a real twitchy handfull! Great fun though, and it doesnt break when crashed. Our rooms are too small here for indoor, but the garden is ok on the rare occasion that the wind drops.
Thanks again to all.

 

[Blackwarrior]

Thanks for the replies eveyone! Glad to know that Im not alone with these first steps, after seeing all the vids online of expert pilots etc, my flying seems a bit rubbish lol! Hope to improve as time goes on.
Interesting about the nano comment, I picked up a blade a few weeks ago, but find it a real twitchy handfull! Great fun though, and it doesnt break when crashed. Our rooms are too small here for indoor, but the garden is ok on the rare occasion that the wind drops.
Thanks again to all.

We are all rubbish when we first start I'm sure, it's a learning curve we start on, and never ends... Lol, always something new to learn...checkout some of Tonys training lessons, there a really good starting point.. Personally I think you need to master orientation skills until you are 100%, because they've caught me out more than once in fast forward flights. So I'm going back to that next time I'm out.

Happy flying bro

 

[Admiral]

Sounds like a great day out. you'll look back in 12 months and wonder why you were so worried, the more stick time you have the more natural it becomes to you.