Practice those Autos!!!

[j42]

Originally Posted by hawkman

Height? I would go as high as possible....and do some steady descents followed by a nice gentle landing.....get this right without dithering and you are almost ok to try a real auto.....dither and you will ruin your heli....because if you spend too long trying to hover during an auto you will loose rotor rpm which will end in disaster....the heli will drop like a stone.

When you are ready, set your throttle hold...but INHIBIT it.....so this way you can fly about...get some height....flip the throttle hold switch....and make sure that collective is DOWN....because we want negative pitch....the heli shouldnt plummet out of the sky....a nice steady descent....push the collective up nice and steady as you reach the ground....slow that heli up....and land as gentle as you can.

By inhibiting the throttle hold you will program yourself into landing without thinking too much.....when you feel ready....activate the throttle hold and go up nice and high....flip the hold on while lowering the collective.....you will hear the engine idling.....and you should hear the blades making a nice swishing sound....you might even hear the rotor speed picking up.....the heli should drop steadily...but not plummet....you want about minus 4 or 5 degrees...too much will let the heli drop fast and can actually decay the rotor rpm.

Keep the heli slightly nose up....NOT NOSE DOWN....and keep it heading into the wind....let the heli drop steadily....if you chicken out then hit the throttle hold and get that engine back on line....climb away steadily and try again....

IF you have a failure...ie engine has conked....DO NOT PANIC....just let that heli drop nice and steady....and as it gets close to the ground raise the collective but not too much....let the heli settle down onto the ground...DO NOT LOWER THE COLLECTIVE TOO FAST ONCE YOU LAND!!! doing this can induce a blade to strike the boom.....you will hear a 'crack' and the heli will end up on its side.

Low height? if you are zooming about and the engine conks out its all down to judgement...and split second timing.....you will be low but should have a good headspeed....just aim to land as quick as possible....keep that collective lowered....but not too much....fairly heavy blades will hold a lot of reserve energy.....good practice is to zoom about....and then land without hesitation....take it easy though beacuse if your field is rough you can end up breaking the heli for no need.

I would get a simulator....I cant stress this enough.....I good way of learning to auto on this is to set your fuel level/time and zoom about....ignore the timing.....when the model runs out of fuel you have to auto....chances are if you can crack auto on the sim then you have a far higher chance of success in real life.

Another bonus of autos is that if your tail rotor fails.....and the heli just spins like a lunatic....you can climb out and then hit throttle hold.....do this at height and you can then steady the heli down with the cyclic....using small movements and then land the heli, hopefully keeping it in one piece.

What heli are you flying?

Rob

Thank you for the info it's much appreciated I will have to try to get hold of a sim I don't think I have the nerve to try it for real yet. I have a hirobo shuttle I need a lot more practice as I have only run just under a tank of fuel in it.

Can you do Autos with electric heli's as they will be cheaper to fix if I mess up or are they too light.

Thanks for the help
wayne

[hawkman]

Theres not that much inertia in the blades of small helis....but it can be done....check out YouTube for a TRex doing some autos....it drops very quickly....I would guess this is to keep its rotor turning nice and fast.

This is the beauty of a decent simulator....you can try out the different helis....and see the differences in how they react.

Rob

[hawkman]

The shuttle is your first heli ever? I started with a Kyosho Nexus 30 which was a great heli....I got 16 hrs out of it (flight time) and got totally hooked! I loved that little heli....

I used FMS which is a free sim (look for it on the net) I had a special cable and a radio set so got learning....I used another sim called 'Easyfly' which is about the same as FMS...very basic but with some nice graphics.....the biggest trouble with such sims is that you cant adjust many things.....like blade pitch...weights of the helis etc etc.

I broke the nexus badly during a botched auto....I was relying on the throttle hold....I switched it and descended nicely but then realised my blades were too slow....I was pushing my limits and missed the switched....poor nexus landed good and hard....should have flaired it out...might have broken less!

Got myself a Century Hawk....very nice heli....cheap to buy and cheap to fix....most things can be straightened out on this heli....within reason. I got loads of time with this heli and did a few autos with it.

Now flying a Century Predator with a petrol engine....I would have stuck with a glo engined heli but fuel is a pain to get hold of here in the Islands...so opted for petrol.....the Predator is a beast!!! nice and smooth to fly....check out the photos section on this site...look for Hawkman...and you should find it.


If the Shuttle is your first heli I would concentrate on doing plenty of airtime.....get those sessions in....nothing else will give you experience....buy loads of fuel and find yourself plenty of spare parts....you will have a couple of crunches for sure...but never give up. Take things easy and push your limits little by little.

Once you can fly circuits easily....and hold a good steady hover....and land with confidence...THEN I would look at doing autos...DO invest in a simulator....one of the cheapest is 'Phoenix' but do check the socket on your radio...and make sure you get the right adaptor...when I bought my copy the lead was included but the adaptors were extra? A bit strange.

Phoenix will give you a real edge....once you try it out you wont be without it....your learning curve will be reduced for sure...and you can auto all day long as well as master the basics.

Rob

[Raptorpilot]

Hey is negative pitch really necessary? I have had my engine quit 2 times and both times i was able to put it down (somewhat roughly i'll admit) with no dammage. I also find that whenever i try to set negative pitch it throws off my trim which is currently perfect.

[hawkman]

Yes its important...though not much negative pitch is needed in reality.

I fly a Predator gasser that has about minus 4 degrees...this autos well enough...too much negative pitch can be bad..the heli can drop too fast.

Real helis auto with negative pitch.....where as Autogiros obviously autorotate but they are using 'advancing/retreating blade' to keep the blades turning. Its quite a complex subject...check out a library and find a theory of flight book to find out more.

If the blades are quite heavy on a model then there is a lot of inertia...so if the engine fails and you are quick to dump the collective the inertia is preserved...to a degree...and if you are low enough you can get a good landing....but from a height? I am not so sure about that. If you have been autoing from a good height I would say you must have some degree of negative pitch in there somewhere....plus some quite heavy blades?

Its interesting on sims when you alter the weights...lengths and drag figures of blades...I have managed to get my favorite sim model to behave much like the Predator I have....which autos really well.

Rob

[gotheli424]

What is autoing? i think that it is like landing but can someone explane it to me. thanks