I used to think I was a good RC pilot

[Zaxxon]

Until I watched this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzowQtqOM_I

He's 17! The confidence that he has with the rolling harriers and fast rolls so low to the ground are just unbelievable.
Gyro's or not this is possible the best flying display I have seen.

I'm not usually that impressed with the whole 3D scene as I prefer to see an aeroplane fly (not be bullied around by a massive angeine and control surfaces). But I can appreciate that this youung lad has amazing hand eye coordination and a very quick brain to know exactly what that model is about to do at any split second.

[nurburgring1]

Amazing.

[Bungleaio]

Thats some serious skills on the sticks!

[v8will]

Reminds me of a couple of southern Irish kids I watched fly last summer. Their skills flying 3D heli were incredible. Then they brought out a couple of battered Prangsters, unreal is the only word.

I hope to get my boy started young, if he's interested.

[VB]

That's really impressive

I saw this the other day & thought you guys may be interested- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfQZ0MoA6KE

[x5x3]

great skills - but that is not a £100 plane! - what sort of cost?

[v8will]

Alot.

A friend of my father owns a large scale Boeing Stearman model. IIRC the cost was around £10K

[x5x3]

wow - that explains why my £20 rc helicopter does not fly like that!

(and I am nowhere near as skillful as that guy!)

[Globs]

RC planes are fine and that may seem like a lot of skill, but RC Helicopters are a whole different level.

Bert Kammerer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROq0IvgmVBw

Alan Szabo,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO7u_M6zuVU

Tareq Alsaadi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnk6pODCmL8

Curtis Youngblood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxA_mZLYCXY

Even a little flying in a garage and 'landing' on the ceiling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urUaa38AlKQ

Once I learnt how to fly an CP helicopter planes quickly became easy - the challenge simply wasn't there any more.

[Zaxxon]

Globs said:

RC planes are fine and that may seem like a lot of skill, but RC Helicopters are a whole different level.

Bert Kammerer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROq0IvgmVBw

Alan Szabo,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO7u_M6zuVU

Tareq Alsaadi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnk6pODCmL8

Curtis Youngblood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxA_mZLYCXY

Even a little flying in a garage and 'landing' on the ceiling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urUaa38AlKQ

Once I learnt how to fly an CP helicopter planes quickly became easy - the challenge simply wasn't there any more.

Can't stand helicopters, and saying that aeroplane flying at that level is easy in comparison is just a bit dim.

[Globs]

Zaxxon said:

Can't stand helicopters, and saying that aeroplane flying at that level is easy in comparison is just a bit dim.

No, I've flown both and I can tell you that CP helicopters are a world apart in difficulty.
You won't know or believe that because you have never tried - your loss.

I like both and have both BTW, but I can tell you all the skill is in flying the helicopters.

[Zaxxon]

Globs said:

Zaxxon said:

Can't stand helicopters, and saying that aeroplane flying at that level is easy in comparison is just a bit dim.

No, I've flown both and I can tell you that CP helicopters are a world apart in difficulty.
You won't know or believe that because you have never tried - your loss.

I like both and have both BTW, but I can tell you all the skill is in flying the helicopters.

Where did I say that I have not flown helicopters?
I had a Hirobo Shuttle many moons ago, and gave it another go with a Trex 450, yes they do require a lot of skill but they are just pretty naff in my opinion. I could do the usual nose in stuff etc but it was boring, I can manage a lot of the tricks in Pheonix and Aerofly 5 so my understanding is there (just not the balls to do it with £1000 of real model). They don't really fly, you just need to understand which way that fan on top is pointing and what the torque is trying to do.

The videos of seeing a helicopter flick flack all over the sky show that the pilot has amazing skill and ability but it just looks naff, a plastic chicken bone being hurled around by a fan unit. If that's flying then you can keep it, I'll stick to my DLG's and 3 meter thermal gliders with a bit of Yak now and then for the adreneline.

[dr_gn]

Globs said:

Zaxxon said:

Can't stand helicopters, and saying that aeroplane flying at that level is easy in comparison is just a bit dim.

No, I've flown both and I can tell you that CP helicopters are a world apart in difficulty.
You won't know or believe that because you have never tried - your loss.

I like both and have both BTW, but I can tell you all the skill is in flying the helicopters.

They're both co-ordinating 4 basic control inputs, so isn't it a case of - at that level - they would both take a similar amount of skill to do what they do?

I've flown small indoor helis, and found it incredibly difficult initially, but that was becasue I was used to fixed wing models. Soon got used to it though.

[Globs]

dr_gn said:

They're both co-ordinating 4 basic control inputs, so isn't it a case of - at that level - they would both take a similar amount of skill to do what they do?

I've flown small indoor helis, and found it incredibly difficult initially, but that was becasue I was used to fixed wing models. Soon got used to it though.

The additional issues with CP helicopters are:

1. Fundamental instability. Hovering is like balancing a ball-bearing on a sheet of glass.
2. They can fly/slide backwards and sideways, at which point all the control positions rotate.

Your indoor helicopters may have been dual rotor or with a 45degree flybar, the 90 degree FP and collective pitch (CP) helicopters are the ones with all the instability and agility - the difficult ones to fly.
Then when the instability has been mastered it's a case of getting ones head around the orientations - Bert in the video above does some lovely yawing circuits.

With a plane as long as the wings are level or nearly level you know it's flying forwards - get a heli doing that and the front/up could be at any angle and pulling up could make it dart left or right, go up or down or a combination..

It is true however (same as planes) that the larger they are the slower the pilot can afford to be

[dr_gn]

Globs said:

dr_gn said:

They're both co-ordinating 4 basic control inputs, so isn't it a case of - at that level - they would both take a similar amount of skill to do what they do?

I've flown small indoor helis, and found it incredibly difficult initially, but that was becasue I was used to fixed wing models. Soon got used to it though.

The additional issues with CP helicopters are:

1. Fundamental instability. Hovering is like balancing a ball-bearing on a sheet of glass.
2. They can fly/slide backwards and sideways, at which point all the control positions rotate.

Your indoor helicopters may have been dual rotor or with a 45degree flybar, the 90 degree FP and collective pitch (CP) helicopters are the ones with all the instability and agility - the difficult ones to fly.
Then when the instability has been mastered it's a case of getting ones head around the orientations - Bert in the video above does some lovely yawing circuits.

With a plane as long as the wings are level or nearly level you know it's flying forwards - get a heli doing that and the front/up could be at any angle and pulling up could make it dart left or right, go up or down or a combination..

It is true however (same as planes) that the larger they are the slower the pilot can afford to be

I've never really flown powered fixed-wing aerobatics to anything like the degree we're talking about, and only on a flight sim with 3D helicopters. I do fly gliders a lot though. What I would add is that with aerobatic slope soarers (which are not inherently stable), disorientation is a real problem on our slope site, since we have no choice but to fly into the sun. This coupled with inherent instability makes a seemingly easy task very difficult...

I would still say that - at the levels were taling about - either pilot could be taught to fly either model with a high degree of skill.

[rhinochopig]

Zaxxon said:

Until I watched this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzowQtqOM_I

He's 17! The confidence that he has with the rolling harriers and fast rolls so low to the ground are just unbelievable.
Gyro's or not this is possible the best flying display I have seen.

I'm not usually that impressed with the whole 3D scene as I prefer to see an aeroplane fly (not be bullied around by a massive angeine and control surfaces). But I can appreciate that this youung lad has amazing hand eye coordination and a very quick brain to know exactly what that model is about to do at any split second.

I thought he was rubbish, he couldn't even make it fly in a straight line and he nearly hit the ground many times

[hman]

yep, very talented.


The plane has a very low wing loading, massively strong digital servos with huge moving surfaces, a very rearward CofG and very powerful CDI ignition petrol engine.

Dont want to take anything away from him but doing that with a 46 sized 3d plane on s128's and a 20 year old tx is A LOT more difficult.

isnt 3d a bit :yawn: now anyway?

[nigel_bytes]

This is how superman does it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzT-0ywT8Gw&fea...

[x5x3]

hman said:

yep, very talented.


The plane has a very low wing loading, massively strong digital servos with huge moving surfaces, a very rearward CofG and very powerful CDI ignition petrol engine.

Dont want to take anything away from him but doing that with a 46 sized 3d plane on s128's and a 20 year old tx is A LOT more difficult.

isnt 3d a bit :yawn: now anyway?

but that is true for the helis also - they are all full of tech?

seems people did not have these skills 20 years ago because the technology was not there - give me (or any of us) a year to train and the best technology and I am sure I (or any of us) could do similar.

[rhinochopig]

x5x3 said:

but that is true for the helis also - they are all full of tech?

seems people did not have these skills 20 years ago because the technology was not there - give me (or any of us) a year to train and the best technology and I am sure I (or any of us) could do similar.

I couldn't - the amount of superglue on my blade helo stands testimony to that.