Vertical descent

After some weeks of successful fast forward flights outdoors, today I have been trying to perform some decent vertical descents from 25 m, but every time I decrease rpm to start a descent, I almost loose control. My Pic is FP, with tuning blades. Is this normal ? A friend of mine with a Hornet FP is in the same trouble every time he tries a vertical descent. Can I solve this trouble with the CP kit ?

it normal and that's why FP sux compared to CP in that aspect.

Yes thats normal, you see when you decrease rpm you also lose some control. Remember that the blades control the heli and if they arnt moving very fast you don't get much control.

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NJJ061801

[This message has been edited by Jon h (edited 12-02-2001).]

[Erez]

There is also the fact that you descend in your own rotor wash, which is dangerous in a real heli too.

I could be wrong about this, but I think the "cut blades mod" will get faster blade movement thus better control.

Regards,

Born2net.

If you descend vertically in still air you must only have a low rate of descent. Otherwise you fly into a condition called vortex ring. This is where the air recirculates around the blade till it loses all lift and likewise control.
Gravity takes effect immediately!!

Try descending while in FF flight. Push the elevator stick forward and reduce RPM only by 30% or so. The piccolo will dive nicely and still be controllable. Then, before it hits the ground, increase RPM to the max and pull the elevator back for a nice "flare" and transition into hover.

[pgoelz]

I also independantly "discovered" this phenomenum with my Raptor. It can be so severe that you have to go to full collective to stop a descent if you happen to get it just "right".

But the real problem with the Piccolo is more likely what Jon said.... to descend you have to reduce head speed on a FP heli, and this also robs you of a good amount of cyclic control effectiveness. The cut rotor mod does help this quite a bit since the head speed is higher overall.



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Paul Goelz
pgoelz (at) eaglequest (dot) com
AF010 brushless motor, 8 cell NiMh, collective pitch modification
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