General Back Flip

[Matt]

Is it possible to do a back flip without being in idle up and giving the heli negative pitch when upside down? I’m assuming I have to be quite a bit up in the air, but is it possible?

 

[Tony]

It is possible. Not suggested, but possible. You should have your pitch settings set to the linear from mid stick to full throttle. This should give you 0º of pitch at mid stick. Next, make sure your motor is not slowing way down at mid stick. This is why I mainly fly in IU, just in case. When you are wanting to do a flip or roll, just add some collective so the helicopter is going up, pull back on the cyclic (or what ever way you are wanting to flip or roll), lower the collective to mid stick as you are approaching full inverted. Once you pass the full inverted state, start adding collective to catch it as it comes back to upright.

Definitely practice this on the sim first. And absolutely do not try this without reducing the collective while flipping or rolling. It will pile drive itself into the ground...

 

[Matt]

That’s good to know about the collective aspect. I was afraid it going to lose altitude fast. Kind of wanted to just hold back on the elevator without and throttle movement but it looks like I’ll need to adjust the throttle stick too. Wanted to do this with the least amount of skill. I’ll try it on the sim and let you know how it goes in real time. Excited about the weather this weekend.

 

[Tony]

It sounds harder than it really is. Once you practice it a few times on the sim, you will start to see what I mean. Of course the sim is still a sim and IRL I would definitely take it up pretty high for your first few attempts.

 

[Matt]

I recently got an XK K110 Blast. I was going to try it with that. I’ll have to adjust the throttle and pitch curves in the TX. It comes with throttle and pitch curves already programmed in it.

 

[Tony]

Definitely better than using a larger helicopter. I have my little 150 Align that I use for things like this, and before that I used the Blade MCPx. Very cheap to crash which is most definitely going to happen a few times.

What throttle and pitch curves did that helicopter come with?

 

[Matt]

The preprogrammed throttle curve for normal mode is 0, 45, 70, 85, 100. The preprogrammed pitch curve for normal mode is 40, 45, 50, 62, 75

 

[Tony]

Very interesting pitch curve. at 75, what is your max positive pitch?

 

[Matt]

It goes up to 100. I’m going to set it to the normal throttle and pitch. 0, 75, 75, 75, 75 and 46, 48, 50, 75, 100

 

[Tony]

Sounds like a plan to me.

 

[Matt]

This XK K110 Blast is cool because it has the D/R switch that goes from beginner mode to expert mode to do tricks

 

[Matt]

I tried a back flip and the heli did a nose dive into the pavement. The canopy is split into two pieces. I should have been a lot higher in the air and I probably (maybe) should (ultimately) done it in idle up (don’t know). But time for a new canopy and (hopefully) nothing else. These K110 are pretty resilient I’ve heard lol

 

[Tony]

Another thing that I forgot to mention is do this over grass. Taller grass is better. I know it is hard to know, but did you lower your throttle while going inverted?

 

[Matt]

Tried it in idle up and this time I crashed into the side of my car. Hopefully nothing is wrong with it. I need a new canopy but I’m having a blast.

 

[Matt]

These are a $100 a pop so not worried about destroying this one.

 

[Matt]

Tried it again.. getting closer.. still crashed..

 

[Tony]

If you are in IU with a linear pitch curve, don't drop below mid stick on the throttle.

 

[Matt]

4th attempt and I got it upright but it was inches from the ground..

 

[Tony]

add more collective before starting the flip to gain altitude to anticipate the drop.

 

[Matt]

It’s dropping and pretty much going backwards..