I am feeling more and more in tune with this helicopter. I can really tell that my much more frequent flights are hard wiring the reflexes in me. It is very easy to fly and each flight I do quickstops and enter into autos with power recovery. Entering autos from various speeds is a must and I have a lot of "feel" yet to develop in my reflexes. Each flight finds me challenging my reflexes , analyzing what I did right, and most importantly what I did incorrectly. .......................................................Back to some high speed cruising comments. Slower flight around 70 or so , the pedals are basically neutral, the cyclic can be unattended for short periods of time like my video showed, and the collective can be frictioned slightly to allow the left hand to be free within reason. At high speed cruising 90 to 110. , the collective has to be frictioned up more, but my hand pretty well stays there just in case. At these high cruising speeds, lots of collective is being used, and that means quicker rotor rpm decay should the engine go silent. My feet are on the pedals but I just let the pedals float and just basically keep my yaw string straight and let it go from there. The cyclic needs a little constant forward pressure at these higher speeds. I could imagine rigging up a slight elastic device to allow less constant attention to the cyclic. In other words, if you are wanting to get there fast, more hands on attention is required than flying at lower speeds. Its very easy to fly at 100 mph, hands off control is just not done for very long. I friction up my collective at higher speeds, allowing it to hold the pressure, but still allowing me to drop collective should I have to. When I return to slower flight I just release friction so its smoother to operate. So far each flight is making me more and more appreciative to B.J. Schramms excellent design that was the culmination of his lifelong experiences with helicopters. I am totally convinced this is one of the simplest and easiest helicopters to fly, and will fall into a category I call a "tractor". The fleet of Helicycles are for the most part all behaving like tractors. They are readyy to go to the "field" and work for their owner. ......................................................................................I had a very interested Helicycle buyer drive 3 hours yesterday to come and see my Helicycle fly and have a personal pre-flight demonstration, and also to show him how simple this machine is to keep lubed and adjusted. He commented he had no idea how simple this machine actually is to operate mechanically. I believe he will be buying a kit very soon as he was told there are just 6 slots left in the next builders group. Just like gyros are the biggest kept secret in aviation, I believe the Helicycle is another kept secret. I hope to change that a little by just simply posting honestly what I experience. Stan
70 ft wide path, Good for a sikorsky or Huey!
