Finally a nice day

[pvolcko]

Was still a little breezy at times, but good enough to get the birds in the air today. Took the 300 and the 550 up to the flying field I recently joined and gave it a shot. Wow what a difference is makes having some space to fly around in without trees and other obstacles to worry about. Finally got to open up the 550 and do some turns at various banks and speeds, big stall turns, some inverted hovering, flips and rolls. Good stuff.

Had one close call with the 550. Saved it about 2' off the ground. I have an issue where I'm feeding in a bit of forward elevator while doing left side rolls. MAkes it corkscrew. I tried to correct one in mid flip and end up going the wrong way with it and very nearly lost it. Managed to get it upright just in time and the engine unbogged just in time. I had them sticks pegged!

Strangely, I do not do the errant elevator on left side rolls in the sim, but I do do them in real life unless I'm being very conscious of my thumb positioning.

300X flights went well. That thing will get going very quick in a downwind run.

No vids on todays flights. I was nervous enough flying in front of some other heli flyers for the first time, and at the new location. Didn't need to put on the added pressure of filming it all.

 

[stokke]

I also give unintended input during rolls, only I give it rudder input instead. Just like you, I do not have this problem in the sim. But in my experience this will train out with lots of practice.

 

[pvolcko]

Huh. Glad I'm not the only one with the issue. I tend to put some rudder in if I goose the collective a lot. I'm wondering if, since I sim without my neck strap, if I am holding the Tx at a slightly different position and so my thumb isn't pushing foward on the leftward extension for the left roll input. Will have to give it a try with the strap and see if I do it in the sim too. If so, maybe a simple strap length change will clean it up.

 

[Tony]

If you are sitting down, I can assure you that you are holding the Tx different. This is one reason I have started using my 55" TV to sim. I have to stand up to see it (I don't, but I do stand lol) and I have found that it helps get my hands to know where they need to be. I try to use my neck strap, but sometimes I go without it just to learn with having to hold the Tx with my hands. When I do things though that are a little sketchy, I tend to hold the Tx up anyway closer to my chest. Not sure why lol.

 

[callsign4223]

It is closer to the fetal position. It's prepping for the crying after a crash.

 

[Lee]

I have the roll elevator thumb interaction too. Its the way you hold the radio, puts your thumbs at an angle. I think having a radio with the stick angles tilted slightly in would counter this. So 12 o'clock is actually 1 o'clock on the left stick and 11 o'clock on the right stick. Or have a radio thats body tapers down towards the bottom, putting your hands at a better angle to the sticks. I think the Futaba 8FG has a better ergonomic design than the DX8 for this.

 

[pvolcko]

If repositioning on the strap doesn't help I may try tightening up the stick tension a bit, that way when I push for the left roll it will help fight back a bit and hopefully keep me in line. That or just practice... which is funner... hmmm?

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And, yes, I used the grammatically incorrect, non-word "funner" on purpose. Apologies to my English teachers.

 

[Tony]

That is one of the issues of "thumbing" the sticks. Not as big of an issue when you pinch the sticks. It's taken months, but I have taught myself how to pinch the sticks, and there is a MUCH greater control feel when doing so.

 

[pvolcko]

I've been toying with pinching in the sim and on my nano. I agree, there is a greater sense of precision in stick movements. However, I can't seem to get comfortable basically supporting the Tx with my pinky fingers (with a little assist from the ring fingers pushing in on the top). Even with the neck strap in use it feels awkward and tends to fatigue my hands much more quickly.

 

[stokke]

I'm stubborn Will not convert to pinching! Tried it, hated it

 

[Tony]

I was the same way for a long time. Just didn't feel right. I just decided that since I was ONLY flying on the sim, might as well give it one week flying at least 1 hour a day. Turns out, I can't fly with my thumbs lol. I'm sure I still revert to thumbs unknowingly from time to time, but I only try to pinch now.

 

[murankar]

If your hands are getting tired of holding the tx while pinching then get a tx holder for pinchers. The tx tray will support the radio with the neck strap. The youtube channel I love to fly helis shows how to build one with wood and eye bolts.