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RC helicopters is the tricky

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
So some chucker got me an RC helicopter for xmas.

With the move and all of that I'm only now getting around to playing with it.

Yeah....c'est pas evident, as they say....Just as I was on the brink of getting somewhere, the battery died. So I've got it on charge now. Hopefully I will have a breakthrough soon.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
it took me a few days to figure out mine. now i can semi-reliably fly it from one location to another (eg take off from table, land on counter across the room).
 

RUFUS

e-douche of the year
Dec 1, 2006
3,480
1
Denver, CO
i've been thinking of getting one, if for no other reason than it would drive the cats insane.
All of our cats absolutely HATE the helicopter. I spin the blades and they start running. Maybe I will attach a laser on the bottom of it.
 

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
I managed to snap it back together despite one piece kinda being broken

I'm curious to know when it changes from "making stop doing things you don't want it to do", to making it do what you want it to do.

It's not easy when it yaws 180 deg, and then left becomes right.
 

BigMike

BrokenbikeMike
Jul 29, 2003
8,931
0
Montgomery county MD
You should pretend a goose flew into the blade and try to land it in your bathtub.
You stand to become a hero........self proclaimed......but a hero none the less.
dayum son! That's harsh!



Is your heli a 2 channel or 3 channel? The two channel ones really suck, because they are always moving forward. Some of the mini 3 channel ones don't suck as much, since you have control over up/down, left/right, forward/backward. That is basically how the bigger R/C helis work, some of them just have more control channels.
 

Damo

Short One Marshmallow
Sep 7, 2006
4,603
27
French Alps
You should pretend a goose flew into the blade and try to land it in your bathtub.
You stand to become a hero........self proclaimed......but a hero none the less.
:rofl:

My dog loved my helicopter.
I tried to get skilled on it - an outstretched hand was a little too much, but the table was an easier target.
Mine lasted about a month.
:poster_oops:
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,015
Sleazattle
Did DRB send it to you? An RC helicopter as a gift will cost the giftee twice as much as the original gift in the long run.
 

Da Peach

Outwitted by a rodent
Jul 2, 2002
13,681
4,904
North Van
Sounds like they've sorted that out with:

"2.Facilitate the installation of the demolition of the battery box fixed "
 

ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242
I managed to snap it back together despite one piece kinda being broken

I'm curious to know when it changes from "making stop doing things you don't want it to do", to making it do what you want it to do.

It's not easy when it yaws 180 deg, and then left becomes right.
Focus on practicing with the tail toward you to start and working to maintain that, then side-in, and finally nose-in. You'd be amazed at how many really good RC "pilots" can't hover nose-in very well. Once you're comfortable with side-in a bit, you should be able to work on flying little back and forth circuit patterns.

It does take some time...it's different for everyone, of course, but make sure that you have as large an area as possible. If you're always trying to fly it in a small room it will be hard to feel comfortable enough to try different things.
 

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
Focus on practicing with the tail toward you to start and working to maintain that, then side-in, and finally nose-in. You'd be amazed at how many really good RC "pilots" can't hover nose-in very well. Once you're comfortable with side-in a bit, you should be able to work on flying little back and forth circuit patterns.

It does take some time...it's different for everyone, of course, but make sure that you have as large an area as possible. If you're always trying to fly it in a small room it will be hard to feel comfortable enough to try different things.

That's actually what I was doing. I was mostly just sliding around on the floor just barely touching...more of a hovercraft than a helicopter. .I was trying to keep the nose pointing away from me. But invariably, it would eventually start to yaw, and then things would go sour.Most times I was able to kill the throttle in time. I'd then start over and bring it back in front of me, nose facing away. Keeping left on the left, right on the right.

What was really getting me was when I would get up the nerve to lift of the floor, the loss of the friction of the floor made the controls WAY more sensitive (obviously), and then things would go sour in a big hurry. It's the over correcting that's killing me.
 

Da Peach

Outwitted by a rodent
Jul 2, 2002
13,681
4,904
North Van
Should have gotten him a gas powered one so a crash would more likely result in burning the place down. However LiPo batteries have been known to cause some damage.
I kinda want to see the house before it burns down. I'll have to wait till he decides to upgrade.

Truth be told, I chose it for the name:
 

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
it took me a few days to figure out mine. now i can semi-reliably fly it from one location to another (eg take off from table, land on counter across the room).
Wait....something just occurred to me. If it took YOU a few days, he who has mastered every facet of Gran Turismo, (within 7 days of every new release of the game), that means there is very little hope for me.

I have the WORST hand-eye coordination. I'm TERRIBLE at video games. I think Da Peach can back me up on that one.

No new developments on the heli front. My Krazy glue is still packed in a box somewhere....
 

ebarker9

Monkey
Oct 2, 2007
848
242
That's actually what I was doing. I was mostly just sliding around on the floor just barely touching...more of a hovercraft than a helicopter. .I was trying to keep the nose pointing away from me. But invariably, it would eventually start to yaw, and then things would go sour.Most times I was able to kill the throttle in time. I'd then start over and bring it back in front of me, nose facing away. Keeping left on the left, right on the right.

What was really getting me was when I would get up the nerve to lift of the floor, the loss of the friction of the floor made the controls WAY more sensitive (obviously), and then things would go sour in a big hurry. It's the over correcting that's killing me.
Usually you can adjust the sensitivity by changing the position of the control arms to be nearer to the center of the servo arm (if that makes any sense). You can adjust this on nicer transmitters as well.

Another thing to keep in mind is that, especially the little ones, suffer greatly from "ground effects". They're really unstable in that <2' or so region because they're flying in their own rotor wash. Once you get more comfortable and get the thing up a bit, it will calm down.
 

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
Usually you can adjust the sensitivity by changing the position of the control arms to be nearer to the center of the servo arm (if that makes any sense). You can adjust this on nicer transmitters as well.

Another thing to keep in mind is that, especially the little ones, suffer greatly from "ground effects". They're really unstable in that <2' or so region because they're flying in their own rotor wash. Once you get more comfortable and get the thing up a bit, it will calm down.
Actually I just discovered this a couple of days ago.

I had an epiphany while loading the dishwasher and thought..."Ground effect"....so I curtailed my dishwasher loading activities and hightailed down to the basement.

It was much easier to control about 2-3 feet off the ground.

I had it going for about 10 or 15 seconds! Then I started to bring it down, and kinda clipped a shelf and broke a rotor blade.

I do have a replacement. I just haven't had a chance to deal with it yet.

I'm also going to clear out a larger room to do this in. I'm trying to do this in a space that is way too confined.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,232
20,015
Sleazattle
Actually I just discovered this a couple of days ago.

I had an epiphany while loading the dishwasher and thought..."Ground effect"....so I curtailed my dishwasher loading activities and hightailed down to the basement.

It was much easier to control about 2-3 feet off the ground.

I had it going for about 10 or 15 seconds! Then I started to bring it down, and kinda clipped a shelf and broke a rotor blade.

I do have a replacement. I just haven't had a chance to deal with it yet.

I'm also going to clear out a larger room to do this in. I'm trying to do this in a space that is way too confined.
Try flying it waist high, pantsless of course.
 

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,031
7,550
He has already spawned, it's too late for society to be saved
 

MMike

A fowl peckerwood.
Sep 5, 2001
18,207
105
just sittin' here drinkin' scotch
Well I've wrecked it pretty good this time. I need to order some new parts.

I changed rooms this one hs carpet. It was wicked unstable all of a sudden. I had put a new blade on it and it was all over the place. I finally got it relatively under control, and then I flew it into the ceiling.

It didn't like that. Good thing the spare parts are relatively cheap.

I really feel like an idiot. Everything I'm reading says it "so easy to fly". I'm apparently a mental defective or something because it's just all over the place.