Ground School - Mikado V-Bar/V-Stabi Setup Guide for Dummies

I have had about 200 flights with the Mikado V-Bar/V-Stabi on my Logo 600, based on that experience and the numerous times I've help others setup their V-Bar, I hope that this will be one of the quickest guide to setup V-Bar/V-Stabi 4.0 on your RC Helicopter.

1. Make sure you are using at least version 4.0 (upgrade at the Mikado Store if not)
   
2. Install VBar/VStabi V4.0 software on your PC (Laptop is preferred so you can tweak V-Bar at the flying field)
   
3. Take a look at the V-Bar presets for different helicopters, choose the one that matches yours as close as possible.
4. Make sure your servos for cyclics and tail are equivalent specifications to the ones shown in the V-Bar preset you choose.
5. Install V-Bar and Servos on your Heli (See Vbar Sensor Mounting Video - Right-Click and Save As to download)
   
6. Load the preset you chose for your heli in Step 3.
7. Use Subtrim on your Radio to zero out the TX Calibration in the Setup section of the VStabi Software.
8. Make sure mechanically things are as neutral as possible. This normally means leveling your swash and making sure that blade pitch is 0 degrees when the servo horns are at the middle of their total travel. i.e. at neutral)
   
9. Do Rudder Adjustments to make sure Rudder gets as much deflection both ways without binding.
   
10. Check that swash moves the right way with aileron and elevator controls. (Reverse servos accordingly)
    
11. Level your swash and check that swash moves right way with collective inputs.
    
12. Check that swash  moves the right way when you tilt the heli back and forth, right and left. (Vbar should move the swash to oppose your tilt)
13. Maiden your VBar-ed heli.
14. Do the Auto-Trim thingy (See: Vbar Auto Trim Flight Video - Right-Click and Save As to download)
    
15. Want more elevator and/or aileron control (i.e. flip/roll faster)? Increase Agility setting (Under Main Rotor)
16. Want more punch on the Collective? Increase Collective setting (note that for most values, you may enter a value higher than the slider allows - simply type in the number you want. However understand that too high values could crash your heli, so increase a little at a time and within reasonable bounds)
17. Tail not holding tight enough? Increase Gyro Gain (Under Tail Rotor) by 2 each time until Tail starts to oscillate quickly during forward flight (faster flight is better for testing).
    
18. Heli feels unstable? Increase Gyro Gain (Under Main Rotor) by 2 each time until Main Rotor starts to oscillate quickly during forward flight (faster flight is better for testing).
19. Set your rudder rotation speed (i.e. piro rate) with your transmitters Dual-Rate/AFR setting. (Make it less than 100% accordingly)
20. For any issues or more details, search the offical vstabi/vbar forums here - http://www.vstabi.de/ and the wiki here - http://vstabi.de/wiki/index.php?title=Hauptseite - The setup videos at http://www.vstabi.de/V4/index_e.html really help too!
    

VBar Auto Trimming For The Impatient
Step 14 mentions the Auto Trim Thingy. Here's a quick and dirty 10 step VBar Autotrim Guide

It's A Beautiful World
I personally think that flybarless is a great technology that will help many pilots enjoy the hobby/sport more, simply because it's kinda easier to setup (once you get the hang of it - no more tinkering with paddles, flybars and seesaws!) and easier to learn inverted flight on (Inverted, flybarless helis are way more stable that most helis with flybars)

Ease Into Flybarless
If you are from the flybar camp trying out flybarless, do understand that it feels different and you'll need time to get used to it before enjoying the benefits of flybarless. Some comment that take-offs and landings are more tricky on flybarless - and I agree! However, you'll find that your stall turns and loops go way higher than ever before cause there's less drag without the flybar.

Less Pitch Gauge Fiddling
One last thing, if you're from the flybar camp, note that your pitch gauge has a lesser role to play with flybar-less systems. The measurement for cyclic pitch is not a good measurement of how fast your cyclics will be, cause the flybar-less gyro controls cyclic speed. Instead, just use the pitch gauge to ensure that the pitch is equal for both up and down pitch and to measure how much collective pitch you have.

That's all for this Vbar/Vstabi guide. For some more thoughts on flybarless that a look at -  Ground School - Flybarless - Good for Beginners, Not So Good For Advanced Flyers

Remember to enjoy each flight and take care!