High Alpha Only!

[3dNater]

I actually think about belly in hovering sort of the same way as flying inverted harrier when the plane is going away from you. Push the rudder stick the way you want the tail to move. It is a small difference in the way you think about it but it works for me. So if the canopy is toward me I look at the nose of the plane. If the gear is toward me I look at the tail. Same exact idea as inverted harrier and it really helps me to have them work sort of the same.

 

[Cmala]

I can do inverted harrier and turn that into a hover but then I'm hosed.

My brain suffers a brownout or something. Same thing in hover. If it turns belly in I go all crazy inside and either jam the ailerons to keep it turning to get back around or add throttle and bail or both.

 

[Cmala]

I'm probably thinking about inverted harrier all wrong though. I start a turn with the ailerons and then I know to use opposite rudder to kick it around.

 

[3dNater]

Honestly it still makes me a bit queasy when I get my 70" slick into a belly in hover but my method hasn't failed me yet (knocking on wood). It's like my old band teacher used to say. If you can't nail it every time in practice you have no chance in a performance. For me this is where sim time comes in. I have gotten really comfortable with it on RF to the point where it is second nature. My comfort level is gradually improving with my real planes.

 

[Park_Aviator]

Personally, I just think of it like you're doing rolling harriers... I don't know if that'll make sense to y'all... but, it's what I do...

 

[Cmala]

I need to get the latest version of RF. Back when I used 3.5 the sim just didn't feel real to me so I gave it up. It was like make believe world where I could do anything. The rudder was all powerful and throttle response was instant. Maybe it's time to get back into the sim.

 

[Manta]

I know i need to hit the sim for sure

 

[hone]

I just installed some vortex generators on one of my planes and they really make a difference. I'll take some pics later but they were super easy to install and made the plane feel more locked in and the response more crisp.

 

[Dahly]

I use steer the nose (canopy facing you), move the tail (gear facing you). Very similar to stick under the low wing comments above.

 

[Turnerm]

Biggest tip that helped me for belly in hovering is that "low wing gets the rudder".

I believe that tip came from Scott Stoops' book if I remember correctly. It's out of stock at the moment, but I would strongly suggest picking up a copy once they are back in stock.

+100! Losi told me this early on a d I learned torque rolls quite easily after that.

On Inverted harrier push the rudder where you want the closest part of the plane to go. Joe Smith said this in another thread and I'd heard it before as well. If the plane is coming towards you give rudder to the side that you want the nose to go. When it's going away push the rudder the way you want the tail to go.