picked up a blade msr today

[broken_civic]

it's kicking my ass. i don't seem to comprehend the way these fly yet. i have flown a blade mcx for a long time and i'm pretty decent at flying it. i can fly it through the hallways, land it on pretty much any 12"x12" surface i want. i usually use the forward pitch and spin the tail to turn the blade mcx. the msr is completely different, i find myself using the sideways tabs to try to keep it straight up more than the forward or backward tabs, it seems every time i go forward and try to turn it goes straight when it pitches into the turn... i know there is a key to this, what is it? do you use more throttle when steering to lift it out of the turn? do you use the sideways joystick going into a turn?

 

[HPIguy]

Ok, I'm not sure I comprehend what you're saying with tabs? If by the sideways joystick, you mean the right stick, then that's called the cyclic, and the left stick is throttle and rudder or in the case of a heli, the tail. The blade flys a little more like a CP heli, in that you have to fly it, and not just guide it around like the MCX. Since you're just starting out, try this.

1. Start by standing to the side, flying it back and forth in front of you using nothing but forward / back, and the rudder / tail. Fly it forward, stop, spin it around with the tail and fly it back. Repeat back and forth, so you get used to the controls when transitioning from looking at it form the left or right.

2. Once you've got that down, try this. Do the same thing, but a little faster, and instead of stopping, pull up (back on the cyclic stick) slightly and spin the tail around at the same time, similar to a stall turn.

3. Once you've got that, you can add in banking left and right for faster sweeping turns in bigger areas. Start the turn by banking left or right, this will make the heli want to slip towards the ground, so you'll have to pull up a little and maybe feed in a little throttle as well, and steering the nose around all at the same time.

I hope this helps, and congrats on the MSR, I love mine. Good luck, take it slow, and practice, practice, practice.

 

[broken_civic]

i don't know what all the controls are called. but if the heli is hovering you can go 4 directions, backwards, forwards, left, and right.

on top of that you have throttle and tail spin...

with that being said, the left and right are what i end up using to try leveling the heli out. i try to fly it like the mcx with a little forward action then spinning the tail to steer it. it just pretty much turns the tail and flys sideways the same direction it was going lol

 

[HPIguy]

i don't know what all the controls are called. but if the heli is hovering you can go 4 directions, backwards, forwards, left, and right.

on top of that you have throttle and tail spin...

with that being said, the left and right are what i end up using to try leveling the heli out. i try to fly it like the mcx with a little forward action then spinning the tail to steer it. it just pretty much turns the tail and flys sideways the same direction it was going lol

Yes, I'm aware you didn't know what they're called, that's why I gave you the names. The right stick is referred to as the cyclic control, it controls the rotor head, and you can tilt it any direction in a 360 degree range. The left stick is the throttle and tail rotor, there is no collective since this is a fixed pitch heli.

As stated, the MSR behaves more like a collective pitch heli in that once a force (stick movement for example) causes it to travel in a given direction, you have to counter that movement or it will keep going for bit before it comes to a stop. A full on CP heli will just keep going period. Keep in mind that once you feed in a counter movement on the radio, the heli will sometimes want to pendulum, unless you counter that movement. Sound complicated yet? Aren't helis fun? To put it simply though, if you are flying forward and want to do a u turn, you have to pull back on the right stick (cyclic) to scrub off forward speed, then kick the tail around. The key is, you only want to pull back enough to scrub off speed, if you keep pulling back then when you kick the tail around it will slip into the ground like you describe. It all has to timed together correctly though, and it's all small stick movements.

Since you're starting out with the MSR, try this. Get the heli into a stable hover about 6' off the ground, tail in towards you so no controls are reversed. Make sure you have plenty of room, and nothing close to you. Now start moving the heli around using nothing but the cyclic control (cyclic), and get used to how it takes a second movement to counter that and stop it from drifting that direction. As I said above, take your time, it's a bigger step than most people think, or E Flite makes it out to be.

 

[broken_civic]

ok, thank you for all the advice, i'll be sure to give it a shot. and you're rite. it's not as easy as the folks at the hobby store said it would be...

told them i was good with the mcx, i could pretty much fly it anywhere i wanted. the msr is pretty complicating though, i'll eventually get it though. i usually do.

 

[broken_civic]

how good are the novus cp's ? i found one for sale used on craigslist local.


i would also like to ask a question about collective pitch helicopters. when going into a inverted flight, do you have to flip a switch or push a button to switch the pitch of the blades or does it do it on it's own?

 

[HPIguy]

how good are the novus cp's ? i found one for sale used on craigslist local.


i would also like to ask a question about collective pitch helicopters. when going into a inverted flight, do you have to flip a switch or push a button to switch the pitch of the blades or does it do it on it's own?

Don't take this the wrong way, but 8 days ago you were having trouble flying a self stabilizing fixed pitch MSR. I can tell you with certainty that the Novus will be a money pit for you if you buy it. With collective pitch helicopters, the general rule is, the bigger they are, the more stable they are. Those little Novus helis are very sensitive to control inputs, and twitchy because of their size. CP helis are tough to get the hang of, I've been doing helis for five years, still don't have it down cold yet. Part of it is that I don't put the time into it, the other is that one good crash, and it's not the money that sucks, it's all the time involved in getting a CP heli properly set up.

If you really want a CP heli, wait for the new E Flite MCPx that will be out in about a month. That would be a good starter CP heli. But I can't stress this enough, it is still a CP heli, and will still fly like one. Personally, I think you need more stick time before being worried about going inverted. What are you Maverick now?

 

[broken_civic]

Don't take this the wrong way, but 8 days ago you were having trouble flying a self stabilizing fixed pitch MSR. I can tell you with certainty that the Novus will be a money pit for you if you buy it. With collective pitch helicopters, the general rule is, the bigger they are, the more stable they are. Those little Novus helis are very sensitive to control inputs, and twitchy because of their size. CP helis are tough to get the hang of, I've been doing helis for five years, still don't have it down cold yet. Part of it is that I don't put the time into it, the other is that one good crash, and it's not the money that sucks, it's all the time involved in getting a CP heli properly set up.

If you really want a CP heli, wait for the new E Flite MCPx that will be out in about a month. That would be a good starter CP heli. But I can't stress this enough, it is still a CP heli, and will still fly like one. Personally, I think you need more stick time before being worried about going inverted. What are you Maverick now?

i've had a lot of practice with the msr, i am getting better. i just happened to see this novice cp in the box on craigslist for 100 bucks. i seen them at the hobby store for 250 or something like that. ebay has them for 220. even if i needed more practice with the msr before i went to the cp i would still be saving money in the long run.....

also, i've been reading some info on the novus cp, and why is it that several threads say that flying a cp heli is easier than flying a fixed pitch heli because they handle better?

i tell you one thing though, flying the msr has damn near made me a pro at the mcx, i can fly it in very tight spaces, 2feetx2 feet under tables, under chairs, land it on ceiling fan blades, fly it behind the couch in that space.... places i never though it would go lol

 

[Rolex]

Inverted flight can not be done on a heli without collective pitch control.
For that you need to to flip a switch to "Throttle Hold" where it goes to high RPM, and the center of the throttle stick is the neutral position. Raise it above center and the heli rises. Pull it below center and you are in negative pitch...ie, the heli pushes DOWN. Inverted, you need negative collective to keep the heli up.
You've got a long way to go before you can even THINK of trying that.

 

[broken_civic]

nobody gonna tell me if this novus cp is a good deal and if i should pick it up?

 

[HPIguy]

i've had a lot of practice with the msr, i am getting better. i just happened to see this novice cp in the box on craigslist for 100 bucks. i seen them at the hobby store for 250 or something like that. ebay has them for 220. even if i needed more practice with the msr before i went to the cp i would still be saving money in the long run.....

also, i've been reading some info on the novus cp, and why is it that several threads say that flying a cp heli is easier than flying a fixed pitch heli because they handle better?

i tell you one thing though, flying the msr has damn near made me a pro at the mcx, i can fly it in very tight spaces, 2feetx2 feet under tables, under chairs, land it on ceiling fan blades, fly it behind the couch in that space.... places i never though it would go lol

Yes, it's a pretty good deal. I don't have any first hand experience with the novus line, but first thing I would check is if my LHS carries common replacement parts (i.e. blades, blade grips, spindles, main shafts, etc). Keep in mind what you're reading is most likely comparing outdoor helis. In that environment, a CP heli will deal with wind and altitude changes much better, other than that, all other things being equal (i.e. 90 degree flybar, etc) they will fly mostly the same. They do not "handle" better though, my Honey Bee FP v2 feels the same on a calm day as my Blade SR cp heli I just sold. They will both bite you if make a mistake. The difference is, the honey bee can usually be picked up and flown again, with the SR that never happens, EVER.

After some more stick time with the MSR, the MCX will begin to feel boring to you, and you'll be doing those same things with the MSR. In anticipation of the MCP, I've been flying my MSR on the long throw swash balls, and on high rates indoors.

My advice to you is to buy a Honey Bee FP v2, they're less than $100, big enough for outdoor flying on calm days, and if you can fly it successfully, you can pretty much fly anything if you take the time and steps to learn a new bird. If you decide to go this route, make sure you get the V2, the frame and landing gear are much stronger.

http://www.xheli.com/eskyfp.html

 

[Rolex]

I can't. I've never owned one and I'm not familiar with them. They might be fine. Go to www.helifreak.com and look around.

 

[broken_civic]

thank you both, rolex, thanks for the site, i'm browsing around on there now....

i think my lipo's are already going bad or the 5 in one unit on the msr is going bad, it just wants to spin sometimes, it's got a new tailshaft/motor. everything looks fine, there is one battery it will fly fine with for about 2 minutes then it starts spinning... the tail fin is snapped on and the dot is lined up, it's not moving around. it will sometimes take off fine and fly fine for a second, then it starts goofing up and spinning in circles, i have to almost use complete left spin to keep it straight. or visa vera, i can't remember which side it's spinning too.

the mcx on the other hand will fly with all the batteries, so i'm not sure if it's the lipo's or 5 in one unit.

 

[HPIguy]

If the MCX flys fine with all the packs, then by default, you've eliminated the batteries themselves. Sounds like a 5 in 1 issue, but don't hold me to it, research it so you don't buy the wrong part. I hear the 5 in 1's are pricey too.

 

[broken_civic]

If the MCX flys fine with all the packs, then by default, you've eliminated the batteries themselves. Sounds like a 5 in 1 issue, but don't hold me to it, research it so you don't buy the wrong part. I hear the 5 in 1's are pricey too.

yea but it did this before with only one lipo. i could change it and it would fix it. my mcx did the same thing with one of the lipo's a long time ago, the other worked fine. i stored that lipo and quit using it then charged it again and the mcx started flying fine with it. a lipo is cheaper than a 5 in one. so we'll just have to see.

 

[broken_civic]

msr is fixed it the plug was coming out of the receiver for the tail rotor. it wasn't all the way out but was close.