How to teach?

[Raptorpilot]

My friend got an ef sabre for christmas and I was wondering how to teach him to fly. He isn't willing to buy a simulator and I can't lend him mine so I don't really know what to do. I would also appreciate any suggestions about turning household items into training gear (trying to keep this low budget) TY

[chaos]

The only thing that comes to mind is metal coat hangers. That's a little heavy, but it might work. You'd have to cut the hanger part off and straighten them out, then bend up on the ends to keep them from digging in, and epoxy them or JB Weld at the junction (centered) to keep them from twisting. Then you could put them on with tie wraps or tape. Be sure to check the balance. It would be good if the training gear holds the heli slightly off the ground, but with the skids level to the ground. Bend the wires to do that.

[Raptorpilot]

good idea I will try that Thanks.

[uneverno]

Eflite training gear is only 7 bucks or so at lhs. (Unless mine screwed up, in which case I got a deal ) Ping pong balls on CF sticks.

I like chaos' idea, but I'd zip tie the center as well and then a good glob of jb weld. I don't think epoxy will hold up to a hard landing as there's not much surface area with coat hangers, and if the center bond comes apart, it could do more harm than good.

In addition to making sure the heli's balanced, I'd also check that it's level in all directions - otherwise take off could get tricky.

[Jeff0r3]

Your gonna help teach him now how to learn to fly. And in a couple of days, your gonna be helping him to figure out how to put that heli back together. The fun will never END!!!


Jeff

[mattsimonton]

get a buddy box or the cable to join the transmitters. that way you are in control if he gets out of control. But I know that Radds school of rotory flight has helped me tremendously and has saved my pocket book alot of money!!! lol

[Daz(DJLFlapper)]

Hello,

You are going to have a lot of trouble trying to use metal rods from acoat hanger as training gear. It will be too heavy for a fixed pitch heli that is only small itself. it will adversly affect the life of the batteries as the extra power required to lift will drain them quickly. You will allso get resononce issues due to the weight hanging out the bottom.

What I would suggest is keeping the heli on a flat surface and trying to use a small amount of lift to help you learn to control the heli.
To do this you will need somthing like a flat table or a hard kitchen floor/wooden floor. Then you will need to wind the heli up and as it gets light and starts to drift accross the floor you should be tryng to hold it steady/still. If you find that it will go to the left and not to the right again, You will need to add a little bit more power giving more lift. you will notice that the heli will need to lift the left set of skids more to move right then it does tomove to the left. this is perfectly normal.

you will need to have full concentration whilst doing this as the heli will want to tip over. however if you can do it until you can Keep the heli facing away from you and keep it in one spot nearly, then your ready to take it up for a hop. just increase the power slightly more as your controlling it on the ground and then it will rise. Just let it rise and then bring the power down to land it again whilst your controlling it. Thats it that is the first step to hovering, As you get used to the inputs and the reaction of the heli you will find it gets easier.
Doing this meathod with a good lightweight training gear fitted will help speed this process up. But if you take it easy and practice without rushing you can do it.

good luck