Got a New Bird Today

[HPIguy]

I picked up an mCPx today at the hobby shop. Did the grommet mod, turned my links out 2 full turns for 0 pitch at mid stick, and loc tited my feathering shaft screw. Just got done with the first test hover, shockingly stable for a CP heli, especially this size. No trimming, ever, the flybarless system doesn't need it. Here's a few pics, I'm off to drain the other three batteries.

Compared to my MSR

 

[hamz9561]

Nice!!!!

 

[HPIguy]

Thanks hamz.

I got in a little more stick time last night. I still say it's very stable, but, it's also very responsive (as you would expect due to it's size) and the collective is super sensitive to input. It also suffers from what's known as vortex ring state or VRS. This is when the heli is caught in it's own rotor wash, it will head towards the ground even when feeding in power and pitch, the only way to get out of it is to move forward into clean air. Combine this with a touchy collective, and you can understand how things can do wrong in a hurry when learning. You can tone down the collective for learning, but then I'll just have to re-learn when I set it back to normal pitch rates as I progress or move to a bigger bird, so I'm staying with the current setup and simply slowing my progression a bit. It finally got away from me last night, and smacked the floor pretty hard, but didn't even pop a link loose. I love this thing already! I'll try and get some video this weekend of me giving it the dumb thumbs treatment.

 

[Rolex]

Enjoy, enjoy.
I have a .46 nitro bird for sale. 55" rotor. I think you're ready to move up.

Get up higher when you're learning. A low hover is the worst place to be due to ground effects from the down wash. A higher altitude also gives you more time to react and also allows you to trim it without fear of going in.

 

[HPIguy]

Enjoy, enjoy.
I have a .46 nitro bird for sale. 55" rotor. I think you're ready to move up.

Get up higher when you're learning. A low hover is the worst place to be due to ground effects from the down wash. A higher altitude also gives you more time to react and also allows you to trim it without fear of going in.

Thanks Rolex. Ha ha, I'm not ready for that just yet I don't think. But that 500 kit you have will be getting tempting in a few months.

Yep, I'm ready to get it outside where it's in open air for sure. No trimming needed though (well, only the tail), the flybarless setup doesn't require it. I honestly believe after watching numerous videos of guys augering these things into everything imaginable, and picking them right up and going again with no damage, that's it's the easiest cheapest way to learn CP helis. I promise you last nights crash on my old 400 would have been blades, feathering shaft, and some of the linkage at least.

 

[Rolex]

Having one that doesn't cost you a fortune after a mishap is the way to go.
I learned on the big nitro, sweating like a pig with my knees clattering.
The 500 was outside yesterday for its initial run up. No fuselage or main rotor blades, but with the raised tail and extended belt. Just the skeleton being wound out to check for balance, gear mesh and tail rotor pitch. Everything checked out. Now I have to due a partial tear down to get it all inside the fuselage.

 

[HPIguy]

Having one that doesn't cost you a fortune after a mishap is the way to go.
I learned on the big nitro, sweating like a pig with my knees clattering.
The 500 was outside yesterday for its initial run up. No fuselage or main rotor blades, but with the raised tail and extended belt. Just the skeleton being wound out to check for balance, gear mesh and tail rotor pitch. Everything checked out. Now I have to due a partial tear down to get it all inside the fuselage.

Exactly Ralph, that's what the 400 would do to me when it spooled up. I never augured it, but came close, and after that it was intimidating to me. The thought of all the time to set it up properly again held me back ( I was working and going to school both at the time, so I didn't have tons of free time). I have a friend who has a field in his backyard they cut for hay, it's nice and tall right now so I'm going to get over the fluffy stuff and let her rip once I get a feel for it. Between this and the Phoenix sim (even though a sim is never completely accurate as there's no risk involved, and real wind is alive as we both know), I think I'll get it down before the cold sets in for winter.

I can't wait to see your 500 when it's finished. That thing is going to be awesome, congrats on being so close.

 

[hamz9561]

One of the things they told me when I bought my mSR was to lift it out of ground effect quickly to avoid the VRS problem.

 

[HPIguy]

One of the things they told me when I bought my mSR was to lift it out of ground effect quickly to avoid the VRS problem.

Yeah, same with the MCP hamz. But, it is possible to get the MCP into it at 6 or 8 feet, I'm not sure why though. Also, if you've been flying an MSR a lot, the flybarless system will bite you if you feed in left aileron like the MSR. You can't give any input until it's in the air or it will not end well from what I've read. Luckily, I did lots of research before buying it, and waited till most of the parts are not backordered and there's a lot of good info on various heli forums about it. Late adopters seem to reap the benefits in the RC world.

This guy demonstrates it very well

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Kz_gOWaR7Y"]Blade MCPX Vortex Ring State Demonstration Video 5 of 5 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Rolex]

Just so you fully understand what's going on in the video, he's using the European version of the radio that has the throttle/rudder on the right. What he's doing would be done on the left stick with our radios.

 

[HPIguy]

Just so you fully understand what's going on in the video, he's using the European version of the radio that has the throttle/rudder on the right. What he's doing would be done on the left stick with our radios.

Yeah, that's the mode 1 setup isn't it Rolex? Funny how that seems so weird to us, but then again, our setup probably seems weird to them too.

 

[Rolex]

Yeah, how screwy. They also drive their RCs on the wrong side of the track.

 

[HPIguy]

Yeah, how screwy. They also drive their RCs on the wrong side of the track.

I bet their Nascar is RTO

 

[beason]

man i want one of those msr's! nice looking bird, and I'm glad to hear blade did it right on this one as well. easy setup!

 

[Rolex]

I bet their Nascar is RTO

None of our drivers know how to turn right.

Several years ago a small hobby shop had just gotten its first little heli and I was asked to try it and demonstrate it for a customer. After realizing that the sticks were backwards from what I was used to, I refused. I just knew that if there were a problem with 'dumb thumb', the next thing I did would also be wrong.

 

[HPIguy]

man i want one of those msr's! nice looking bird, and I'm glad to hear blade did it right on this one as well. easy setup!

beason, the MSR is great, so great I also bought the SR 120. The only problem is when you take them outside, being fixed pitch they don't deal with wind very well since you have no negative pitch to bring it down. I've seen videos of guys flying the MCPx in 15mph winds without problems though. If I can tame the MCP down enough for flying around the apt, I'll probably sell my MSR as a BNF.

None of our drivers know how to turn right.

Several years ago a small hobby shop had just gotten its first little heli and I was asked to try it and demonstrate it for a customer. After realizing that the sticks were backwards from what I was used to, I refused. I just knew that if there were a problem with 'dumb thumb', the next thing I did would also be wrong.

^^ I have a hard enough time with helis as is, no need to make it any harder by rearranging the controls on me.

 

[HPIguy]

I got some toned down radio setting from a heli forum, and set it up on another profile on my 6i (didn't want to mess with the one already set up) last night. Afterward, I flew two complete packs to the timer cutoff with total control and confidence, even in a tiny apartment. I kid you not, it's as stable and more forgiving than my old Blade 400 was when toned down. I even flew it into the living room and practiced landings on the coffee table under a ceiling fan that was on at the time. I think this is the heli that will finally expand my skills and let me progress at a faster pace than a bigger more intimidating heli. Heck, it's so stable and durable, I think I'm gonna try and learn to flip it and get some inverted hovers this weekend in my buddies field in case it goes wrong. Time to get outta the sim, and into real airspace.

EDIT: I think grgabulldog was the first to post this heli, thanks man, this thing is AWESOME!!

 

[HPIguy]

I got it outside today on high rates, about 5-7mph winds. MCP handled it just fine. I flew it around for a pack, then went into idle up. Flew around and got a feel for it, and went all out. I'm happy to say I looped a heli for the first time ever today, twice, and man was it cool. The third loop didn't go as well, I went into the ground, inverted about 90% of the way through. When I got over there, the canopy was thrown off, the main gear was off, the whole rotor head and main shaft was ejected, and the landing gear was off. Here's the crazy part though, nothing looks broken, nothing! My old 400 would have been destroyed and taken a lot of money and time to fix. Look for most of my cars for sale soon, I'm totally addicted to aerial stuff now, and want to try planes.

 

[grgbulldog]

I still havent gotten one! I've been planning on getting one tomorrow for the past week. can't wait to get it in the air.

 

[HPIguy]

I still havent gotten one! I've been planning on getting one tomorrow for the past week. can't wait to get it in the air.

Very cool, you'll love it. I've been busy doing some mods to mine, I'll post up some pics in the next couple of days.