Wolfpackin

Any reason not to do this if my pitch and throttle curves match up at half stick?

Example:

Normal Mode
T=0-50-85-92.5-100
P=40-45-50-75-100

Idle-up
T=100-92.5-85-92.5-100
P=0-25-50-75-100

Seems like it would be OK to switch over before lifting.
What say you?

cactus hopper

Never thought about trying it. Will your ESC arm at half throttle?

Wolfpackin

It will not.
But I was thinking more along the lines of powering up in normal mode (left stick down), throttling up to half stick, then switching to idle up and then adding power to lift.

cactus hopper

Have you seen some of the videos on youtube where the heli is just sitting there spooling up and then all of the sudden it takes off like a rocket straight up. I think that's probably how they do that.

gnd2

That's what I do. Reaching for switches while hovering makes me nervous so I usually set down to switch flight mode or gyro mode. As long as there isn't a big difference in RPM when you switch it should be fine.

heliaction

also do the same, no problem at all.

VinceHerman

I do both. Some times I switch to idle up in the air. Some times on the ground. It is all about how close the two curves are at the point of switching. I have had things so close that in the air you could not see the heli move as I switched back and forth. But then later in the same flight, as the batter pack voltage changed, I was hovering at a different point on the curve and switching in the air would make the heli twitch slightly.
Mostly I get it close and don't worry about it.

Wolfpackin

That's why I asked, too much of a beginner to switch in flight.
I have my curves set up exactly like the example I posted in my OP.

Thanks, just wanted to make sure there wasn't a good reason not to do it that way.

Skarn

I think most of the experienced pilots do it that way. At least from everything I've read and what I was told, that's the "normal" way to do it....get it to 1/2 stick and switch to idle up.

There was a post a couple days ago about a guy that was getting ready to do 3d....he flipped it upside down....wooops! He forgot to idle up! He said he will never lift off again without being in idle up.

Skarn

choppersrule

I flip to idle-up on the ground. And you're right Skarn the experienced pilots flip to idle-up on the ground. You'll see alot of videos that show them, going inverted right after lift. Watch this vid of Szabo. You can hear when he goes to idle up, but ya have to listen close, because the rpms are so close to the normal mode at half throttle. These guys have there helis set up to perfection, other wise they'd never be able to fly like they do and make it look so easy.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DpIsIWYaVzI

Dave / Choppersrule
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BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

I just flip it into idle up at bottom stick and let soft start spin it up as I'm moving the stick up to half.

choppersrule

Andy,

You just had to put that twist in there, didn't ya. Soft start, who would of thunk that! My concern is with the noobies and some intermidiate flyers that don't have soft-start ESC's. Alot(most) of the RTF's that are on this wonderful forum don't have 'em.

Take care my friend and God Bless,
Dave / Choppersrule
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RaceCraftRC

hmmmm than I won't add to the confusion................

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

It's not for everyone!

Heck my buddy doesn't even set up normal mode, he flips it to idle up to take off and throttle hold to land.

redvtr1000

I can go both ways but I generally prefer to pop into a hover and then flip the switch. Something to watch out for though, Ground Resonance.

I've noticed this in my raptor. If I flip to idle up on the ground or land in idle up and take a while to spool down, vibrations can be transmitted from the landing gear to the rotating assembly, could cause some shimmies and shakes. No big deal, you just wouldn't want to leave it spinning on the ground if it starts with that mess, power up and get off the ground or power down.

osterizer

I'll generally use normal to take off and land. Taking off, I'll switch to idle-up on the climbout. If you're using a Futaba 9C or higher, it has a delay parameter for the flight mode that you can use to make the transition gradual over a few seconds; if you have a significant difference in throttle curves it's a very nice feature.

Once I plug in the battery, I switch on throttle hold in case I inadvertently move the throttle lever while I'm moving it to the takeoff spot. Spin up is just moving the throttle lever to just below mid for a smidge of negative, then switch off throttle hold and let the ESC crank it up (yes, requires soft start).

RaceCraftRC

I don't leave the ground unless its in idle up . ( I got caught inverted with no negative collective only like 50 people at the field never happen in the back yard by myself)

osterizer

Never had that happen to me IRL, but it's probably like the two types of pilots- those who have crashed and those who are going to.