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Hovering help

Asked by: 3348 views Helicopter

If you make an input with the cyclic and don't count it will it stop? I know this seems like a really novice question and it is but I know not to hold a control input but my question is essentially if your drifting left and only center the cyclic will you still continue drifting left?

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1 Answers



  1. Thomas Vaillencourt on Dec 21, 2013

    This depends on what causes you to drift. Wind, translating tendency, or out of trim cyclic can all contribute to drift. Centering the stick means almost nothing in a hover as you will learn with hovering practice. Constant and extremely tiny and frequent cyclic inputs are required to maintain a stationary position in a hover. Think of it like balancing a broom on your finger tip. As soon as you stop making small corrections it will get away from you. The only difference is the cyclic inputs required will often be more akin to small pressures on the cyclic stick, and often are not noticeable when looking at the cyclic. In most cases if you can see the cyclic movements in the hover, it’s either really gusty, or you’re over controlling the ship. It’s like riding a bike, with practice it will become almost natural before you know it, and you won’t even have to think about it nearly as much to do it well. Good luck!

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