380/420 Help please - Flying in windy conditions?

Blade 400

Active Member
Hi all,

I know that the answer to this is probably - Don`t fly when its windy!

But here in Wales UK, its often windy and even when calm, by the time I've charged up 6 Lipo`s - it usually becomes breezy :banghead:

This is a snapshot of yesterday`s flying:

I flew the second hand B400 yesterday (my spare bird for trying new manoeuvres I`ve practised on the Sim) and all went well, except the wind picked up midway through flying. I was flying with 50% DR and a 70% throttle at mid-stick onwards and was getting jolted around by gusts of wind. I increased the head speed to 0,75,90,90,90 which did seem to help with stability but, control became more sensitive? I changed DR to 70% which enabled me to react quicker to gusts? I am just flying basic orientation circuits at the moment, but the wind eventually meant, I could only hover (fighting to do even that) for the last two battery packs (I only fly for 4 mins / pack as I don`t have to put them all back to storage charge afterwards.

Any advice is greatly appreciated?

Thanks

Blade
 
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Smoggie

Well-Known Member
I'm in the north of Scotland, so usually windy here too. Flybarless copes with wind a lot better especially on smaller size helis. Might be worth considering a updated heli?
 

Blade 400

Active Member
I'm in the north of Scotland, so usually windy here too. Flybarless copes with wind a lot better especially on smaller size helis. Might be worth considering a updated heli?
Thanks for the reply and advice Smoggie, I`ve just bought a lot of spares (trying to future proof them) but FBL is something I will look into :thumbsup:
 

Smoggie

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the reply and advice Smoggie, I`ve just bought a lot of spares (trying to future proof them) but FBL is something I will look into :thumbsup:
Flybarless is without question the way to go if you can. It's probably not worth trying to upgrade an existing heli though, much better and probably cheaper in the long run to pick up a used flybarless heli. Of course if you have a load of spares for the one you have then you might decide just to persevere with it. That's fine as long as it doesn't start to get too frustrating and cause you to lose interest.
 

Blade 400

Active Member
Flybarless is without question the way to go if you can. It's probably not worth trying to upgrade an existing heli though, much better and probably cheaper in the long run to pick up a used flybarless heli. Of course if you have a load of spares for the one you have then you might decide just to persevere with it. That's fine as long as it doesn't start to get too frustrating and cause you to lose interest.
Thanks a lot Smoggie, I understand what you mean about losing interest! I was at that point a couple of years ago but, I intend to persevere, thanks to all the great advice from people on this site and having lots of the same Heli plus spares. I took the Blade Mcpx out earlier as its a much calmer day and Geena`s advice about maintaining a higher altitude paid off - I was able to recover several times from my mis-judgements or the wind and got her back into a hover! I`m going to apply the same strategy to the Blade 400 next time I fly her, after a lot more Sim time :biggrin1: I will go down the FBL route if I`m struggling :thumbsup:
 

D.O.G.

Goblin 380 Supporter
All my helis are FBL DFC. Less parts to adjust or fix plus I like the quick response I get with the FBL or better yet DFC head.
 

RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
And now for something completely different ... ( yeah, a Monty Python reference )

Fly a plank ( ie airplane ) and you won't have all of these issues... perhaps other issues, but not these ... lol

[ just some humor, fly or drive what gets your juices flowing no matter what it is ]
 

Blade 400

Active Member
And now for something completely different ... ( yeah, a Monty Python reference )

Fly a plank ( ie airplane ) and you won't have all of these issues... perhaps other issues, but not these ... lol

[ just some humor, fly or drive what gets your juices flowing no matter what it is ]
I really like Monty Python and Love Michael Palin - His Travel programs are also excellent imho (I also really loved Peter Cook!)
On the Plank flying, I bought a cheap two props on the wings plane (£20!) that came with TX and one square battery & really basic charger! It turned (yawed) by increasing or decreasing the power to each motor and throttle increase or decrease for elevation - it was great fun!
I have tried a few basic planes in the Clearview Sim and I`m doing well, I may buy one, as my local club are all Planks :biglaugh: Plank flyers :thumbsup:
Any tips on a model that Is 3 channel but I`m able to upgrade to 4 as my skills improve please??? (Not too pricey, as I`ve invested a lot re: all my E-flite Heli`s :2c:
 
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RandyDSok

Well-Known Member
I really was just trying to make light of things... just so they wouldn't get so serious and give you a bit of a smile to take off some pressure you were putting on yourself.

I would also recommend sticking to your guns for now... practice heli flying in the sim and later for real. You need to develop that muscle memory we've probably mentioned by now, so your actions become automatic more and you don't have to think about specifically what you are doing, just that you want the model to move in the direction you are thinking of. That way, when a gust of wind comes along... you just react and counter it Get to the point that you don't have to think to do this, I have to move the sticks like that.


When you get past that and if you still want to also fly planes... you'll already have some of the skills you need and just have to adapt them over to a new model. Ignore going with a 3 channel plane, go straight to a 4 channel. On a 3ch plane, the rudder is on the stick where normally the ailerons are... so you end up having to do some relearning going from a 3ch to a 4ch... Just start off with a 4ch. Adding the ailerons won't increase the difficulty all that much and you may as well just start with that. Like on the heli, start practicing in a sim and then move to real life.

On airplanes, keeping this generic since I'm not up on the latest models any more... Much like the heli's, larger is easier to control and are less affected by wind. So start in the 48" - 50" ish range. Avoid starting with a warplane model, they really look cool but they are the trickiest to land because they are nose heavy. Probably should also say about the same with jets or ducted fan models just to have covered them also, not because they are nose heavy just not forgiving in flight. A top wing model is usually the tamest to fly and if they have a little dihedral ( the V angled wings vs a flatter angled one ) it will help keep it level a little bit.
 

Blade 400

Active Member
I really was just trying to make light of things... just so they wouldn't get so serious and give you a bit of a smile to take off some pressure you were putting on yourself.

I would also recommend sticking to your guns for now... practice heli flying in the sim and later for real. You need to develop that muscle memory we've probably mentioned by now, so your actions become automatic more and you don't have to think about specifically what you are doing, just that you want the model to move in the direction you are thinking of. That way, when a gust of wind comes along... you just react and counter it Get to the point that you don't have to think to do this, I have to move the sticks like that.


When you get past that and if you still want to also fly planes... you'll already have some of the skills you need and just have to adapt them over to a new model. Ignore going with a 3 channel plane, go straight to a 4 channel. On a 3ch plane, the rudder is on the stick where normally the ailerons are... so you end up having to do some relearning going from a 3ch to a 4ch... Just start off with a 4ch. Adding the ailerons won't increase the difficulty all that much and you may as well just start with that. Like on the heli, start practicing in a sim and then move to real life.

On airplanes, keeping this generic since I'm not up on the latest models any more... Much like the heli's, larger is easier to control and are less affected by wind. So start in the 48" - 50" ish range. Avoid starting with a warplane model, they really look cool but they are the trickiest to land because they are nose heavy. Probably should also say about the same with jets or ducted fan models just to have covered them also, not because they are nose heavy just not forgiving in flight. A top wing model is usually the tamest to fly and if they have a little dihedral ( the V angled wings vs a flatter angled one ) it will help keep it level a little bit.
That`s great RandyDSok and I did appreciate the humour :bellyroll:
Since the Crash, I have flown my new Blade 400 in the wind and took Geena`s advice, keeping her higher than I used to and when a gust ( or my poor judgement ) occurred, I was able to get her tail in and correct her back into a hover :biggrin1:
I`ve also flown my MCPX which flies similar to the Blade 400 and yesterday my 120sr (She flies differently to Collective pitch in that you hold cyclic in continuously) but it`s still good practise orientation wise.
I will be practising like crazy on the Sim, Clearview has Blade models that are very realistic. Another kind member on this forum gave me a link to the Phoenix Sim, I just need to find a dongle on e-bay for my Spektrum DX6i TX :thumbsup:
 
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