[SvdSinner]

I've been working with my son to help him learn to fly RC-Helis.  We've got a TREX 450 with a flybar, and a Walkera Devo 10 radio that hasn't made its maiden flight yet.  (I've got a bit of piloting experience, have a degree in Aerospace Engineering, and am totally comfortable writing and modifying microcontroller firmware, but this heli is about him, not me.)  I've lightly followed OpenPilot/LibrePilot for years, but not enough to grasps its potential for assisted-flight Helis.)
He has spent plenty of hours on both flight simulators, and R/C Heli simulators, so he's probably skilled enough for a first flight.  (FWIW, his biggest challenge as a 14yo is to stop trying to guess/remember what to do and actually follow checklists.  Everyone of his attempts to fly have been aborted due to mechanical issues, and all but one of them was because he skipped steps putting things back together, or changed things without thinking through the consequences.)

My question is can LibrePilot work to give him an "Easy Mode" on his first few flights, and reduce his likelihood of crashing?   Things like:

• High stabilization gains that would make flying easier.  A video-game-mode if you will
• Have an RTB function or a stop-and-hover function he could enact if he panics
• Use UAV mode for a basic takeoff/hover/land so that he can verify the Heli's functionality before he tries flying
• Any takeoff assistance or landing assistance that would help him.
• Limit the performance of the Heli.  (E.G.  Must stay within 20 degrees of level, airspeed must stay below ____, etc. or the UAV functions will kick in to slow and/or level the heli.
• Be able to reduce any of the above to help him progress to non-assisted flying.
  
• Any other good ideas to help a beginner be successful

I realize that to use LibrePilot, we'd have to upgrade to flybarless.  That is an upgrade I wouldn't mind making -IF- in the end he could have a better beginner experience.  However, I don't want to spend the money and time on upgrades and new electronics if there isn't something tangible he'll get out of it.

If some of these features would be possible, if you could help with the terminology enough that I would have some terms to google for, I should be able to take it from there.

OTOH, if this isn't something LibrePilot would work well for, please let me know.

[karla]

Hi SvdSinner,
I see no one answered you for a long time so I will give you my 10 cent worth of thoughts.
Have been flying Helis since there was only flybars to stabilise them, mainly 450s. Also have kids.
Been having a lot of fun with Openpilot/Librepilot since then.
I think a 450 flybar Heli can be very stable, predictable and nice first platform. Its all analog and mechanical (except for tail gyro) If you add any digital flight controller not just LibrePilot but any, you will complicate matters dramatically. I would not do that. Frankly, can you get your son interested in a Quad its so much easier and lets user do lots of silly mistakes, like kids do.
However, Helis are fantastic because they are so agile, and complex to set up. A rotor blade is an another animal than a propeller. If you can master a 450 FB heli mechanically set up etc than you can enter into the digital flight control space and upgrade.
There is another nice option if you are just hooked on Helis. Buy a cheep 100 size FBL Heli from HobbyKing etc, they can crash 100 times without breaking main-, tail- or feathering shafts. He can do mistakes but still fly. After that take out the 450 and it will be easy for mim to fly. I think crashing is part of this hobby though.
Good luck!

[al]

I actually had started with a flybar 400 class heli which never really worked and I had no real chance to learn anything with this thing.
After trashing the wreckage, I tried quadcopters instead, and yeah, they are so much easier to fly and so much
more robust. And you can play a lot with the stab settings, go from att to rate mode etc., without too much risk.

I have then, recently, started with a 450 flybar heli again, and I must say the training on the quads helped a lot.

Bottom line, my recommendation: Practice a lot on quads, then go heli.

[karla]