VBar Auto Trimming For The Impatient

Here's a quick and dirty 10 step VBar Autotrim Guide:

1. Check the Autotrim Activate box in the VStabi 4.0 Software
2. Turn on Transmitter and set Collective Stick to Full Up
   
3. Turn on your Heli (Make sure you have Throttle Hold on to prevent your heli from spooling up!!)
4. After the initial power-up twitch, your blades will pitch up and down twice to confirm that the VBar is in Autotrim mode.
5. Set Collective Stick to Middle (Do not bring it any further down - Down Collective signals to the VBar that you have completed the Autotrim and turns off Autotrim)
6. Put your heli out in the flying field and ready for take off (Make sure that there is little or no wind for accurate Autotrimming)
7. Spool up (Turn off Throttle Hold) and take-off into a nice hover at Eye Level (Any lower and ground effect could throw off your autotrim.) Your headspeed during autotrimming should be what you normally fly at.
8. Keep your heli in a hover at the same spot and altitude for at least 60 seconds. Try not to input any drastic stick movements during this time, keep it smooth with as little stick movements as possible. Have a few seconds (2 to 4 seconds each time should be enough) here and there during your flight where you do not move the sticks at all and let the heli drift a little.
   
9. Gently land. Once the heli spools down, set Collective to Full Down to signal to the VBar that your autotrim flight has ended. Power off your Heli.
   
10. Connect VBar to your PC/Laptop, load up VStabi 4.0 Software and confirm that the Traffic Light in Autotrim has turned Green and uncheck Activate box. You'll have to do it again if it's a red or yellow light. Congrats! You have completed Auto-Trimming of your VBar!

Note that you'll have to get your heli's CG right at your main shaft for the Auto-Trimming to work well.

As usual if things does not work right the 1st time, try again, but double checking that you have all the steps nailed each time your try. Once you're done, you'll be rewarded a very nice flying flybarless heli!

Best Hard 3D Flight on a Flybarless 90-sized Nitro Yet!

Test 1

Test 2

Alan Szabo Jr does his flybarless magic on a Trex 700 in Taiwan...

Some details on his setup:
Align 91HZ Engine
Align 90 Pipe
Align DS610 Cyclic Servos
Align DS650 Tail Servo
Align 690D Blades

Looks like the Align Flybarless and the Curtis Youngblood Total G are the Flybarless systems to watch out this coming year!

Flybarless for beginners? Nice, but you might need help...

I can only speak about Mikado Vbar/VStabi and Gyrobot (both I have used or personally know people using extensively)

For Flying
Flybarless is better at:

1. Inverted flying
2. Flying in strong winds
3. Flying high speeds
4. Flipping and rolling
5. More power/flight time (more efficient by at least 10%)

(Assuming you have a properly installed flybarless system) Flybarless is better cause it's definitely more stable that a heli with flybar and tends to roll and flip on axis better (i.e. doesn't drift away as much).

For Crash Repairs and Heli Maintenance
Flybarless saves time and money because you don't need to (remove), buy and tune:

1. Flybar
2. Flybar paddles
3. Flybar seesaw
4. 2 more pairs of linkages that connect your blades to the flybar system.

I hate adjusting linkages!!! Flybar heads has 6 linkages, flybarless has only 2 - yay!

For Installation and Testing:
Flybarless systems are easy, but only if you like working with electronics (and maybe PCs/Laptops) to set it up. You'll also have to have a sound understanding of these:

1. Gyros and Gyro Sensors
2. The Swashpate and how it affects your blades in flight

The new Mikado Vbar Homepage has a whole bunch of great videos to show you all you need. I made a Quick 20 Step Guide for Dummies here.

Less Time Repairing, More Time Flying
After the ground jumps up and grabs my heli (the only reason why I crash :P), on my Logo 600, it takes only 5 mins to setup the linkages and head again, for my Klone 50 with flybar, it can take 30 minutes or more (depending how much I have to wrestle with the bent flybar that can't come out) So if you're a busy guy with cash to invest in a Vbar or Gyrobot, it kinda makes sense...

The Piro Question
Some people (including me!) have noted that flybarless systems feels harder to nail pirouetting maneuvers (e.g. Piro Flips) But since I switched to VBar V4.0, it seems alright now. I have seen others that were on the flybar get on VBar 4.0 and perform piro loops, flips and tic-tocs - no problemo.

Make Your Heli Fly - The Way You Want It
Flybarless systems make it easier to tweak and tune the cyclic response and collective pitch of you heli. Make your collectively really pop or have a blazing fast roll rate. On the other hand, you can make it as gentle as a baby's ass (ok, bad analogy), simply adjust the numbers on the screen! For flybar heads, you have to adjust mixing ratios (mechanically) and try different types of costly paddles - bleah!

A New Hope
Since 2009, with the Mikado VBar V4.0, and Gyrobot, Flybarless systems are much easier to setup. With the VBar, you'll have to like to use a PC/Laptop to set it up (and you can save different setups to a file for backup or share with others). The Gyrobot comes with it's own programming box, so in that sense it's easier to setup and (PC setup is optional).

Summary
For most beginners (heli geniuses excluded), get a dude that knows how to setup and fly flybarless systems to help you. For the pros and experienced guys, it's exciting to try flybarless, for it is a whole new experience...

For additional notes on the battle between Flybar and Flybarless you can take a look at this and here for more of my notes on flybarless.

Hope this helps!