Manuals:MB Plus:Flying

Tail gyro gain adjustment with transmitter

The tail gyro gain is adjusted by one of the transmitter‘s auxiliary channels. The more servo throw this channel produces, the higher the tail gyro gain will be. Additionally the direction of servo throw determines whether the gyro works in Normal-Rate mode or in HeadingLock mode. The color of the Status-LED indicates the selected mode when MICROBEAST PLUS is ready for operation. Purple indicates Normal-Rate mode and blue indicates HeadingLock mode. Additionally while adjusting the gain or shortly after the first start up, the current amount of gain is displayed by one of the menu LEDs for about 10 seconds. When the gain channel is centered, this will correspond to 0% gain indicated by LED A. In both modes, the maximum adjustable tail gain is 100% and will correspond to LED N. Please note that the actual percentage and sign of servo throw in the transmitter will depend on its brand and/or type.

For the first flight we suggest to start with medium gain not higher than LED G (LED D for 450 size helicopters and smaller) in HeadingLock mode. Low gain will cause the tail rotor control to feel weak and it will stop with overshoots. Increase the gain step by step and you will feel the tail having more and more precise stops, and hold better and better on jerky pitch inputs. If the gain gets too high, the stops will bounce back quickly and wagging will appear in fast forward or backward flight. In this case immediately reduce the gain! For optimum performance set the gain as high as possible, just before the tail rotor starts to wag in fast forward flight.

• Operation without using the auxiliary channel for tail gyro gain is not possible!
• When gain is close to point A (0% gain) the rudder servo will not perform full servo travel as the gyro is switched off. Do not attempt to fly in this condition!

Menu-LED	N	M	L	K	J	I	H	G	F	E	D	C	B	A		B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I	J	K	L	M	N
Gyro gain	100%	96%	88%	80%	72%	64%	56%	48%	40%	32%	24%	16%	8%	0%		8%	16%	24%	32%	40%	48%	56%	64%	72%	80%	88%	96%	100%
Auxiliary channel	-100	-96	-88	-80	-72	-64	-56	-48	-40	-32	-24	-16	-8	0		8	16	24	32	40	48	56	64	72	80	88	96	100
Gyro mode	Normal-Rate mode														HeadingLock mode

In Normal-Rate mode the tail gyro of MICROBEAST PLUS only acts as dampening that decelerates sudden rotations caused by external influences. Slow, constant rotational movements will not be compensated. Thus the tail does not drift in hover due to the main rotor torque, a perfect mechanical adjustment of the tail rotor is essential (see the section to Setup menu point D). But even with perfect mechanical adjustment you will always encounter some drift on the rudder axis due to crosswinds and the pilot has to constantly perform corrections when doing hovering flight. In high-speed flight on the other hand the tail will be aligned in flight direction by the wind, so curves can be flown very dynamically and the pilot doesn‘t have to constantly concentrate on controlling the rudder.

We recommend to use the HeadingLock mode. Here the tail is actively controlled by the gyro system. You will barely feel any external influences. By giving rudder stick input, the pilot only commands the gyro how fast it has to turn the tail. When the stick is in center position the tail gyro will ensure that the tail keeps locked into position by any means. This simplifies the control significantly. In hovering flight the beginner can fully concentrate on the control of cyclic and collective pitch and the advanced pilot can perform 3D - flight maneuvers such as backwards flying quite easily. The only disadvantage of HeadingLock-Mode is that the rudder must be steered by the pilot when flying curves. Otherwise the gyro will try to keep the tail aligned with the initial direction.