I get questions on how to setup your heli. There is a lot of confusion about this as you start with:
- Your heli manual - which has one point of view
- Your transmitter manual - which has another point of view
- Your friends or other pilots - each has their own point of view (mine included)
- The internet - an infinite source of points of view (you're reading one now
) - Books and magazines - yet more points of views
I have been through many of these. I usually try to make things easier on myself and do things which make sense to me. So over time I have gone to a setup which I think is the best overall. If you start with this, you will not have a learning curve to go through as you start to advance your skills.
The setup I have been using is very similar to what Mike Mas tries to call his "Mas Technique'.
The details are documented here:
The Mas TechniqueBasically what I try to do is have the collective (pitch/throttle) stick setup so that max stick is my maximum pitch for my particular heli (usually 9 degrees for 30 size heli's, but may be 10 or 12 degrees for more powerfull heli's). My center stick position is not my hover point, but is my main blade zero pitch point. My lowest stick position is set to the most negative pitch for my particular heli (-9 in most 30 sized helis) for idle up 1 or 2.
I have four flight mode (pitch/throttle curve) setups which I use.
- Normal - engine will go to idle at lowest pitch/throttle stick position
- Idleup-1 - engine will maintain a headspeed of about 1750 RPM througout the full collective stick range (lowest to highest).
- Idleup-2 - The same as idleup-1, except the headspeed is 1850. This speed should not be used with wood blades.
- Throttle-hold - engine will go to idle and remain there throughout the stick positions. This is used for doing (or practicing) auto-rotations (landings when your engine quits).
The other thing which I do is make the hover pitch on all four flight modes be the same stick position. This way if I'm hovering and want to change flight modes I do not have to worry my heli jumping all over the place. With this setup the hover point on the pitch/throttle stick will be a bit above the center stick position.
The different flight modes will usually have different max pitch settings. The max pitch is set so that the desired rotor speed can be maintained. So if your engine cannot maintain 1850 RPM at 9 degrees (or whatever max pitch your heli is using) then set the max pitch to something different for that flight mode). My idleup-1 and idleup-2 are both set to +/- 9 degrees.
My normal flight mode is also set to +9 degrees. But the normal flight mode minimum pitch is set to -5 degrees. This makes practicing autorotations without entering the throttle hold flight mode easier. My throttle-hold flight mode is set for so that the max pitch is set to the most pitch I can get without the mechanics binding at all. On some heli's this is +10 degrees. On other's it's +12 degrees. This is so you have all the pitch available to try to save your heli if you let all the head speed bleed off. The full negative pitch is set to -5 degrees so I do not have to worry about bringing the heli down too fast in an auto.
Again, remember that your throttle curves should be set to maintain a constant head speed throughout the full pitch range.
I also advise that everyone use a heading-hold gyro. There is no reason not to used these anymore. There is no need to fly in any mode but heading-hold.
Your cyclic pitch (roll/pitch) should be no more than 6 degrees.
If you want to make setting your throttle curves easier a governer will make this a lot easier. Do not think that getting a governer will mean you do not have to setup a throttle curve, but it makes it a lot easier because you do not have to spend so much time trying to fine tune your throttle curves. If you are just learning, or haven't gone into full forward flight yet, you do not need a governer. Save your money for repair parts until you are fully comfortable in forward flight.
Author