HOW TO: Top 10 ARF Assembly Tips - Model Airplane News

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Maximum Control
10 Easy Radio Setups by John Reid From the November issue of Model Airplane News Computerized radios have changed the way we control and set up our models. They allow us to fine-tune our planes to suit our flying abilities, and when you open such a radios manual, youll read about an abundance of functions. Even entry-level computer radios offer an array of user-selectable programs and mixes. But which computer radio is right for you? We selected our top 10 features; they will enhance every pilots flying abilities and allow his plane, regardless of its type, to fly better.

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1. DUAL RATES Dual rates allow you to set different control authority for the same amount of stick movement. Computer radio systems offer one to five rates. For example, if your radio offers three rates, you could set the low rate for 50-percent servo travel to fly smoothly at high speeds without too much control authority; the mid rate will give you a little more control authority (about 75-percent servo travel) for landings and aerobatics; and the high rate could be set for 100-percent servo travel for high-alpha maneuvers and extreme 3D aerobatics. This is where youll need all the deflection you can get from those control surfaces. 2. EXPONENTIAL Exponential is often used with dual rates, and it gives a softer feel at center stick. This is especially useful when the rates are set high because extreme throws will make the control sticks very sensitive. The slightest movement at center stick will cause the plane to react and to fly a somewhat erratic path. Exponential allows little, if any, servo movement at center stick, but it will increase exponentially until 100 percent of the control-surface movement is reached at full stick travel. 3. TRAVEL ADJUSTMENT Also referred to as adjustable travel volume (ATV) and endpoint adjust (EPA), this function allows you to adjust a servos total travel in both directions. You can use this adjustment to set the maximum control throws that you need for flying. Just be careful not to set so much servo travel that it binds by trying to move the control surface beyond its physical limitations. Travel adjustment also allows you to set more throw in one direction than in the other. This is useful when you need more control authority in one directionfor example, having more down-elevator than up-elevator to achieve symmetrical inside and outside loops.

Program Mixing
Program mixing can really improve an airplanes performance

http://www.modelairplanenews.com/ma/HOW_TO/Maximum_control.asp

16/2/2007

HOW TO: Top 10 ARF Assembly Tips - Model Airplane News

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because it allows you to have one transmitter control movement affect the response of two or more channels on the receiver. Depending on the radio, you can set the mixer up to respond to a control stick, a rotary knob, a sliding lever, or a toggle switch. Mixers are generally used to correct the flight characteristics you dont want and improve the ones you do want. Use them to make your plane fly exactly as you want it to. Program mixers work by mixing two or more receiver channels for one control movement on the transmitter. The master channel is the input channel, and the slave channel is the one affected by the mixer. How much slave-channel movement you have can be adjusted and specified by the mixer program. Among the most common mixes are: 4. FLAPERONS This function is used with separate aileron servos (one in each wing panel) to control both ailerons so that they work together, in opposite directions. The ailerons can be independently adjusted for travel, direction and servo speed. Flaperons can also be used to allow strip ailerons to be used as flaps. Strip ailerons can also be deployed upward to give spoileron control to help with high-alpha maneuvers and at slow speeds for spot landings.
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16/2/2007