Fine Tuning & Radio Hints
Up to this point we have been using
basic throttle and pitch curves with no mixing other than setting the
Gyro gain potentiometer. Now it is time to fine tune the settings for
your flying level.
You should be comfortable enough with
your radio so that you can reach all of the sub-trims, switches and
dials while in flight. Specifically the sub-trims.
Note: The following instructions
assume you already have the skill necessary to maintain a steady
hover. If you lack those skills, I highly recommended that you take
the
RADD'S School of Rotary Flight
Training Courses located
at: http://www.dream-models.com/eco/flying-index.html
The first step in tuning is to get the
helicopter to hover free hand for at least two seconds. Place the
helicopter into an eye level hover and use the right side sub-trims
to get the helicopter to hover level, Apply as much sub-trim as
required to accomplish this. Once obtained, go back to the computer,
and adjust the electronic sub-trims to that you can bring those
cyclic sliders back to center point.
You may need to test fly and readjust
the software multiple times to get the mechanical sub-trims back to
center.
At this point you should have a well behaved albeit wimpy
helicopter hover. Now you can adjust the throttle curve to provide
more head speed in the range of flying you intend to work in. We
originally set the throttle curve to a linear 0-100 setting. With
higher head speed, the model will have crisper control at the same
pitch. You can alter the curve to give yourself a nice head speed at
your normal hover zone of the left stick. You will notice that it
takes less throttle to maintain a hover, and the helicopter is more
controllable. We started off with the lower throttle and pitch
settings to help avoid too fast a reaction from the helicopter as we
made adjustments.
Throttle curves and Pitch curves are
joined in their operation. Each has an effect on the other, therefore
as you tune the helicopter to your flying skill keep in mind that
adjusting one curve may require adjusting the other as well.
You can return the pitch settings of
the software and dial in a negative starting pitch to something like
-2 (physical pitch) for the NOR setting on EP01. This is done my
setting the value to something around 40. Then position 2 to
something like 50. Depending on what you want to do, you can ramp up
the pitch quickly for more radical jumps, but be aware of the
limitations of your tail gyro and servo. It may not be able to
compensate for the rapid increase in pitch and the tail will blow out
on a vertical punch out. Make sure you adjust the throttle curve to
give your tail rotor a chance in countering the increasing resistance
as the blade pitch increases.
Negative pitch in normal mode always
causes controversy in RC Helicopter groups. For anyone that has ever
had a gust of wind come up and pop your helicopter into the air will
appreciate the ability to apply negative pitch to get the helicopter
to counter the updraft.
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