Advice needed

[13Flatspins]

Hello!
This is my first post in this forum. I've been a R/C fixed wing pilot for 24 years. Last spring my friend came over with a small, not eflite, co-axial heli.
The next time at the LHS, I bought the Blade CX2 and all the upgrades. So now I've been smitten by the heli bug! I'm thinking of selling a plane or 2 so I can afford something better able to be flown outdoors than the CX2. I haven't decided on gas or electric yet, though I'm leaning towards electric. Cleaning the oil off planes gets old.
I have a Dave Brown RCFS 2001 sim. I'm trying to get serious now with the heli part of it. I THINK that I've figured out how to set up the pitch & throttle curves.The Simstar controller that came with it in addition to the 4 control axises & trims has 3 two position switches. One is throttle hold off/on, the second is heading hold off/on and the 3rd is pitch curve one/pitch curve 2. I've set pitch curve 2 to act like the "Idle Up" on a normal heli radio. That is, 90% power all the way across the throttle curve. How do you guys set your pitch curve? I have a straight line from 10% neg. pitch at low stick to 10% pos. pitch at high stick. You see, when I get bored with basic manuevering, I'd like to try a little 3D! Anything you can tell me will help. I can even change gear ratios!
I can fly the CX2 fairly well. I have hundreds of hours of hovering practice on the sim, but room to improve. I'm getting pretty good at making circuits around the sim field. I finally figured out that I should turn a little wind on!
When I get a new chopper, I suppose you all will be hearing a lot from me!
Thanks in advance!

[Aztek1701]

Hi dude,

A straight line pitch curve is the standard for 3D flying, a 90% across the board throttle curve is fine if the machine has a governer otherwise we tend to set the throttle curve up in a V... 100 , 75, 50, 75, 100 or similar because you dont want to overspeed the blades at zero pitch. Also on the real machine, even if you ARE flying a governer, its a good idea to program a fairly sane throttle curve just in case the gov fails because then the model reverts to curves, and you could end up in a world o hurt lol.

There are 3 advantages with gas helis.. 1 they can be refueled and back in the air in 3 minutes 2 you dont have to buy all your fuel up front 3 the power doesnt drop off at the end of the tank. Electrics are cleaner, quieter and have a better power to wieght ratio. Its totally your own choice but for the time being, I'd still get a gas powered machine (they dont get that oily because there isnt so much of them behind the exhaust). But Im pretty sure that electrics are going to end up taking over. The technology for charging a pack in about 10 minutes isnt that far away.

Good luck with it

[13Flatspins]

Hi, Aztek!
Thank you for your advice. I had not even considered that one could overspeed the head. Would that result in parts flying off?
I was thinking of a Trex for an electric and a Raptor 50 for gas. Everyone suggests that parts for those are available everywhere. Know of anyody that would like to buy a 1/4 scale biplane? I have to sell it to afford fore-mentioned 'copters & sundry equipment.

[Aztek1701]

Hi Flatspins...

Do give you an idea of the forces at play in the rotorhead..

at 2000rpm the blade tips on a 50 size machine (600 mm blades) are moving at around 200 MPH and the force on the blade root (the mounting bolt and the feathering spindle bolts) is about 300+ KG

To reply to your comment if you seriously overspeed the head, there are 2 dangers...

1. You'll get a catastrophic mechanical failure such as shearing the feathering spindle bolt (quite unlikely) failing a blade grip (not likely) or a blade failure (the most likely)

If this happens, the imbalance caused will result in the heli literally exploding in the air and you'll be dodging carbon fibre and bolts lol.

or

2. You'll get a major blade flutter that will end up in an inflight boomstrike. (not catastrophic but as near as you can get, you will be looking at 50% of the cost of a new model to fix it)

Either way you DO NOT want to overspeed a head too much.

The maximum head speed you can run depends very much on the blades... Wooden blades should never exceed about 1800 Glass (I am guessing is about 2300) and Carbon Blades is higher (depending on the size).

As far as the machine goes, the trex 600 is an excellent machine. I would look at it in nitro version as well because its a newer design and the spares are really cheap.

[hawkman]

Hi there, Aztek is correct on the forces involved. RC Helis are fun but they are not toys...well the larger electric and nitro ones anyway.

Its worth getting an optical tacho to work out how fast the rotor is going...but you will need someone else to use it while you hover about.

I have never used one, always gone by 'ear' and response of the heli...if the cyclic seems seems nice and crisp...and the heli ascends and descends without too much bogging down then its ok.

I am inclined toward nitro as a serious first outdoors Heli, its a good intro into probably the most common type of rc heli.

Rob

[13Flatspins]

Hello, Aztek and Hawkman!
I really appreciate that both of you took time to give me some advice. The more that I read this forum the more I realize the hazards of a model heli's spinning blades. If you guys read my first post the you can deduct that I'm an AMA member and a local club field member. I'm fortunate that my club welcomes heli flyers!! That said, when I get my new heli I damn sure ain't going to fly it at the park!! Exactly for the same reason why I don't fly my 14 pound 1/4 scale biplane at the park! That much mass traveling at 80 mph WILL kill a person if hit! Kid, dog or grandma. Shoot! I fly my Zagi at the park. Only weighs 18 OUNCES! Will hurt a kid, but won't maim. Kids are attracted to "TOY" aircraft & such. Reading this forum and other forums made me rule the local parks & schools out for flying fields.
Any other advice that you guys could give me will be greatly appreciated!
Happy Holidays!
13Flatspins

[13Flatspins]

Aztek & Hawkman,
Oh, by the way, you didn't read my complete posting here at Helifly. I only have a Blade CX2 right now. The advice that I asked for was related to a computer simulation. I have a Dave Brown RCFS 2001. But none the less, I appreciate what you guys cautioned me about the dangers about a R/C heli's rotorblades. Wow!! they are spinning at 200 mph at the tips. SCARY!!!

[13Flatspins]

To All,
How does one send a private message to someone else in this forum?