Hovering, I think I might have cracked it!!

[Raven_Morpheus]

Hello

 

Something that has kind of eluded me, since I bought the Huey module last December, is hovering, and more to the point coming to an LZ at speed and then getting into a hover. I usually can hover a little just above ground although it generally happens in conjunction with turning and moving forwards to transition to forward flight...

 

...but tonight I think I finally cracked it!

 

I started out (at Batumi) with trying some low level hovering (after I'd set it down again to reset my trim a little because I kept going backwards and again to turn on the radar altimeter that I forgot!), and ended up using the "box" made by the red and white lines on the ground as a sort of "stay within this area" kind of thing, and it went OK but the helo did get away from me at one point and I moved backwards out of the area, but I did manage to get it back in. Then I decided to see if I could climb straight up, like you see professional real world pilots doing. That went better than I imagined it would, I expected to shoot off in a random direction at speed (because that's what usually happens), but I actually climbed up instead.

 

I tried to transition to forward flight at just above 300 (ft or m?), couldn't quite do it because at the same time I was trying to return my rudder to centre without resetting trim, to avoid the usual extreme nose up that happens when I do, but finally managed to get that done. Oh the joys of using a stick with a twist rudder!

 

Then I flew past the end of the runway, turned around (and gained height, I've not yet learned how to do a banked turn without gaining or losing height!!) and tried to bleed off speed, whilst not ascending too much and whilst trying not to drop out of the sky due to VRS. And I actually managed to do just that, although it wasn't pretty.

 

I then descended (again not in the competent of ways) and carried on with low level hovering until I decided to put the helo down next to the Mi-8's on the ground at Batumi.

 

I'm very pleased with what I achieved in the 10 minutes I was flying, and I hope it's not just one of those late night things where everything comes together and you can never repeat it.

 

Although I still don't know how Huey pilots (assuming this sim is as real as it can be) virtual or real hover on the spot without moving a mm, like you see them doing!!

 

Would appreciate feedback on the vid, what was I doing wrong, what could I have done better etc.

 

Youtube vid -

Edited November 11, 2014 by Raven_Morpheus

[kontiuka]

first feedback. insert vid.:)

[ricktoberfest]

Didn't watch videos, but don't reset trim in flight. Re trim many times but never reset. Trim reset is actually not real, it's added for convenience of sim pilots

[Raven_Morpheus]

first feedback. insert vid.:)

 

 

Yeah, not sure why that's not working. Changed it to a link.

[Sceptre]

I fix for you

 

[Rabbit_]

Nice video. First of all, even real Huey pilots are not hovering on spot without moving a bit. For me, the most important thing is the reference point during hover. Not something in the distance, but something You can refer to, while hovering. Some bush, antenna, vehicle or something. Focus on that spot and it will tell You exactly what direction is the machine moving. I agree it's damn difficult and I'm not good at it as well. My first problem was to decelerate smoothly to zero speed without zig-zaging the space over the landing spot and without changing the altitude. For example....I found out, that (IMO) it's much easier to stop to hover from a right turn. It naturally slows You down, You have a nice view on the landing spot and while increasing the collective, there isn't that dramatic left yaw effect like when You trying to slow down from a straight flight. Of course You have to compensate with left rudder a lot, but it doesn't throw You off balance that much. Then I started to learn to compensate gently from straight flight. I think UH-1 is mostly about patience and slow approach. In Mi-8, You can kill the collective, kick the nose up and stop very quickly. When I tried Mi-8 again, after flying a few hours in Huey, I felt like the best helicopter pilot on the world. :-D

Mi-8 is heavy and easy to control for me, UH-1 will always be a bitch. It's light, no stabilisation system and just very hard to control. I wish You luck with this machine. :-)

[One1way]

Looking good !

Try to make smaller and insted more control inputs when you hovering and flying slower. Have you set the curve for the cyclic ? There is some good Youtube clips that helps alot. GL and have fun !

[hideki2]

Hey! First of all save some Money for pedals. Fro me they made huge difference, you simply have one less thing to do with your hand. Ch pro pedals are cheap used, and Work great with helicopters if you mod them just a Little (I will make an video tutorial soon). Second importand thing esspecially if you are using twisting handle is to relax your hand! Dont hold the stick like you are about to die, it makes flying much more difficult. Just relax your muscles.

 

Watch out for birds:P

[Huckle]

[SnowTiger]

@Wilcox - Do you have any specific Links to videos that show setting up Curves for Cyclic ?

 

I'm thinking this might be at least part of the solution for me to master hovering. At least I'm hoping so !!!

I have been putting countless hours of hover practice without any real great improvements.

I even bought new CH Rudder Pedals this week. While they are an improvement, I still have only hooked up to Cargo twice now (out of prob 50 tries).

[Devrim]

Saying nothing on video. Probably we all experienced it what you did in video. Main key is flying, flying and flying (I mean exercising).

 

But, rudder pedal is an important tool for Huey and Mi-8. If you plan to buy one, don't make mistake what I did. :) Stop flying Huey, get a rudder and continue to studies. Otherwise you'll have to re-program your reflexes over again, but it can be accomplished in very short time though.

 

Congrats and I wish you success on that machine. You'll be happy. :)

[hideki2]

Stop flying Huey, get a rudder and continue to studies. Otherwise you'll have to re-program your reflexes over again

 

Well your brain will sure hate idea of using your legs at first, but its no reason to stop flying now :smilewink: For me, when I changed from twisty handle to pedals, my legs constantly were choosing opposite direction of what I meant:huh:

[Paradox]

Well your brain will sure hate idea of using your legs at first, but its no reason to stop flying now :smilewink: For me, when I changed from twisty handle to pedals, my legs constantly were choosing opposite direction of what I meant:huh:

 

Mine as well for whatever reason but I soon got over it.

[Yurgon]

+1 for rudder pedals.

 

Other than that, it's practice, practice and more practice.

 

And like Huckle said, keep at it until it "clicks". It happened to me and I've read and heard many stories of both sim- and RL-pilots who had the same experience. Instead of a gradual learning curve, there usually just comes a point in time when you feel like "OMG, I'm good at it!", and that's just an amazing feeling. :)

 

That said, your flying looks really good already, I think you're on the right track. :thumbup:

[SFC Tako]

Good shit :thumbup:

(and I might just get some pedals myself)

[Raven_Morpheus]

Yes I do have pedals, Saitek Pro Flight ones.

 

Because I sit on my bed however (due to lack of space and also for convenience (it's easier than setting up a foldup chair and re-arranging my room)) I haven't been able to get my pedals in a position where I feel comfortable using them, yet. The position I sit in with them attached to the wooden rig I built to sit on, which lies on top of my bed facing my monitor (which is a TV and is alongside my bed on a monitor arm), so that the pedals don't move, has me sitting with my legs bent at a bad angle for me - I feel like I'm a woman giving birth!!

 

I plan on building wooden wedges, one to go under each side of the base of the pedals to make the faces of the pedals almost vertical and also move them a couple of inches further back away from me and see if that's any better but I haven't had the opportunity to build those yet and try it out.

 

So until I do I'm stuck with the twist axis on my Saitek X52 Pro. And yes I've played around with the curves.

Edited November 13, 2014 by Raven_Morpheus

[tommytank]

Rudder pedals AND a good stick. Twist rudder is useless because there's always interaction with the roll/pitch.

I thought I flew OK, until I replaced my X52pro with a CH Fighterstick - suddenly a massive improvement in my hovering stability!