Thanks. We don't touch down while running the pattern just yet. I attempt to bring it to a stop over the helipad at about a 5ft hover, and then we depart for another go-around from there. Ha, the other reason is, we haven't really started the part where I try to do the actual landing. You've got to have hovering down pretty well before you try and actually set it down. It's same story with taking off. I know it seems like it would be easy, but hovering is probably the hardest thing to learn. A lot of has to do with where you look.
When you're trying to bring it to a hover, initially, instinct would have you looking down at the ground right in front/below you, but that's exactly what you DON'T want to do. What you want to do is have your eyes way out on the horizon. That's what I'm trying to fight through right now. When you see me bucking in that video, it's because my eyes have gone down. When I recovered, I basically forced myself to lock onto that tan hanger in the distance, and things got back under control pretty quickly. Your hands follow your eyes, so if you look down, you're going to screw up the cyclic (stick in your right hand.)
The other big thing is that, with most activities, your balance point is under you...like when you ride a bike. In a helicopter, your balance point is the rotor disk above your head. That's pretty hard to get used to.
I'm 32.