Gregor99
Elite Veteran
Location: Western Wa
| I’ve been working my nose-in figure eights and not seeing much progress. This is where the direction of the heli puts it nose-in on the outsides of the 8s, tail-in in the middle. I’m fine going the other direction, but with this direction, I’ve really been struggling with transition from nose-in to side-in. Aproximately,the 3:30 and 7:30 positions or in degrees it would be 135 and 225.
One thing I started doing with the toolman piros was to break the maneuver up into smaller pieces then work on each piece. For the piro, that’s starting with a 90 degree turn beteen tail-in and side in. Then side-in to nose-in. Finally combining two, then three then all four until it was full 360. When breaking up move into smaller chunks, I’d often find that I was very solid in one area, but weak in another. I’d then practice the weak areas to be in balance with the stronger areas. With figure eights I found the problem was always when the heli was either at 135 or 225 degrees.
So tonight I dedicated four packs to 135 and 225 degrees. Using the Fender “T” pattern for practice, I held the heli first at 135 degrees, moved through the T pattern, then repeated at 225. The first pack was a real eye opener. It was obvious why I was having so much trouble in the eights. On the 135 position, my cyclic inputs were reversed. 225 wasn’t as bad but still not very confident. By the end of the 4th battery, the controls were moving the heli the right direction. Packs 5 and 6 were dedicated to practicing the nose-in figure eights , which not surprisingly, were much easier.
When we talk orientation, we usually speak as if there are only four. But in fact, there are 360 degrees of upright orientation. Most of the time we only have to only worry about 4, and the other 356 degrees somehow get covered in the overlap. In my cause only 354 were covered leaving me out of control for 2 degrees which I rarely hit, and never stay in for any length of time. In my case, the missing 2 were holding me back and the cause of at least 3 very close calls. I haven’t mastered them in 4 packs, but at least now, I know what I need to be working on to progress.
Canton MO backyard flying club
West Coast Chapter |
