Looking back, I realise this chapter's been too long coming! I wonder why?

However, I don’t suppose my circumstances are very different from many other pilots out there. Without a conscious effort, there’s always a tendency to stagnate. As Andy Ling said, if you fly on your own, or with people at a similar or lower level of experience, you’ll end up practicing your mistakes! No progress and frustration sets in.

Another factor has been the helis I’ve been flying over the years. Xcells are beautiful machines to fly but ARE expensive when things go wrong. The fear of an expensive crash is always going to hold you back! My answer was simple, I got rid of the Xcells and the Logo 10, and bought a Raptor 50 V2. Cheap as chips, ballistic performance with an OS 50 and MP2, a decent set of servos, Futaba 401/9253 combination and a Throttle Jockey. This machine will do anything a 90 powered machine will do and spares are cheap and readily available. At the time of writing (November 2004), this is the machine Jason Kraus has chosen to fly until his own design is ready.

Something else I changed was my flight simulator. I bought Reflex XTR about two months ago and what a nice piece of software it is. Be warned though, it does need a fairly powerful computer to run. Having got it set up on my machine, thanks Rick, I’ve spent a lot of time practicing basic manoeuvres, but again a word of warning. Don’t do long sessions, I’ve found about half an hour at a time is good for me.

Another factor that’s had as much impact as any of the above put together is having a mentor in the shape of Andy Ling! We’ve flown a lot with Andy over the summer and he’s had the time and patience to help with the set up, and fly the manoeuvres I was about to try. There’s no bigger confidence boost than seeing YOUR heli perform before you try yourself. Andy’s also spent time with the “buddy lead” to rescue the situation. Another great comfort blanket, but to date, I think he’s only had to step in a couple of times.

Thanks Andy for all your help and support.

Armed with my new equipment, it was a small step to realise two things. First, the Raptor is cheap to crash, and DESERVES to be crashed. That’s why I sacrificed my Xcells. Second, if I can do it on the sim, I can probably do it in the air. One of the side effects of trying new things is that you become much more aware of the heli’s attitude in the air and recovery flying becomes second nature. You don’t have to think twice about where you place the heli and you find yourself in full control, a step ahead of the heli instead of being half a step behind!

That’s the background, I’m NO expert. But my flying’s come on leaps and bounds this last year. The main change is a “Just do it” attitude, but practice on the sim first!

So, for a bit of technical information and advice, read on if you want!