Joined: 30 Dec 2010 Posts: 932 Location: Latvia / UK
Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 5:18 pm Post subject:
First - get yourself some rechargeable NiMH to put in the Tx ... you can buy usually a charger and 4 AA's in a deal at most supermarkets etc. That will save you on Tx batts for a start.
Second on flight time on packs - most electric models are in the 5 - 9 minute slot ... and to be honest most people find that at 5mins and more thinking about landing anyway.
It needs another owner of same machine to give better time answer - but I would suggest about 75% of run time manual says - as they are usually over-generous on that ....
Remember that unlike Fixed Wing planes that can glide when motor stops ... Heli's have the glide slope of a brick !
The trick is to use negative pitch to keep up the rotor speed and inertia, then flare out to positive - using the power stored in the rotor - just before touchdown. No different to a 'dead-stick' landing with a plane really.
Joined: 30 Dec 2010 Posts: 932 Location: Latvia / UK
Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 8:38 pm Post subject:
I know the theory of Autorotate and like most other CCPM machines - my 450 has the one-way shaft and autorotate gear ...
But I still maintain that a heli has the glide-slope of a brick. Why ?
Most flyers are too close to the ground to use the AR feature. You need to be appreciable height to be able to use it effectively, second many newbies are running Normal Curves not Idle Up .... so limiting negative pitch amount to often -1 or at most -2 .....
Unless a really experienced pilot - I reckon most would fail to hit Idle up and back stick in the panic, second would be too near ground for it to work well anyway.
I'm always ready to be educated ... but I reckon I know what I would do or not do !!
Joined: 15 Jan 2010 Posts: 990 Location: suffolk UK aged 61
Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 12:10 am Post subject: post subject
i have been fascinated by helicopters since i was a lad and for my 50th birthday the wife bought me a helicopter lesson in a full size heli. the pilot said he would demonstrate how to land with no engine power. i dont know how high we were but he cut the engine and we floated down and landed with barely a bump. it was a perfectly normal thing for him but i had my buttocks quite tightly clenched.
Folks,
Thanks for the replies.
I'm embarassed to say that the info was in the manual that came with the helicopter.
I KNOW it wasn't there the times I read the manual before.
Placed there by gremlins I suppose.
Maybe has something to do with my 82 years.
Manual states "Li-Po should NOT be discharged below 3V each under load.
On controller if voltage on LCD screen falls to 4.5V or less, an alarm will sound, and it will be necessary to replace batteries.
Joined: 04 Nov 2008 Posts: 4718 Location: Santo Estêvão, East Algarve, Portugal. Now 82, but still feels 22.
Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 1:11 am Post subject:
Hi solentlife,
When I hit 'Throttle Hold' I have the same pitch curve as in 'Idle Up' and at the first sign of trouble I hit 'Throttle Hold'. I was no more than 35cm (~1') off the ground with the EXI 450 when my ESC went up in smoke. I floated it in with no more problem than controlling the transitional lift/drop of a short gust.
The trick is not to loose rotor speed before flaring out. It will never glide like a sailplane, more like an overweight jet, but there is control and the best place to learn it is on the sim.
Joined: 30 Dec 2010 Posts: 932 Location: Latvia / UK
Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2011 1:13 am Post subject: Re: post subject
chopper54 wrote:
i have been fascinated by helicopters since i was a lad and for my 50th birthday the wife bought me a helicopter lesson in a full size heli. the pilot said he would demonstrate how to land with no engine power. i dont know how high we were but he cut the engine and we floated down and landed with barely a bump. it was a perfectly normal thing for him but i had my buttocks quite tightly clenched.
My late Father was Civil Aviation Authority Official and many years ago - Director of DTi who controlled then asked my Father to gain Helicopter Licence. Being a friend of Eric Bristow - my Father had lessons at Gatwick 'Beehive' - the southern base then of Bristows ...
I have small snippet 8mm's of his flying and I remember my fathers words one day : Bl***y awful accidents waiting to happen .....
The worse day for him was AR instruction. He was nervous wreck by time he came home ... we lived only 2 miles from the 'Hive'. My Father flew Wellingtons and others during the war and he reckoned he was as scared in both !
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