These are short articles that I have written the may be of
help to some sailplane pilots.
Putting Throttle Control on a Slider Rather than the Stick
Electric glider pilots often prefer to put throttle control on a slider instead of the stick. Here is how to do this while preserving the Butterfly landing finction's control with the stick.
The advanced mixes available in the Futaba 9C software can be put
to good use, even in a simple
“beginner” sailplane
with only rudder and elevator servos. The mixes suggested below can
be
used to improve launches, enhance upwind thermal searches, and
to optimize the efficiency of
turns in difficult lift.
I am programming an RES glider with rudder, elevator, and two
spoiler servos. The servos are
installed in the wing and are
connected with short pushrods. I want the spoilers to be moved
up
when the throttle stick is pulled down. How can I set up the
spoilers so that they are individually
adjustable and so they have
the most possible throw?
How can I set up a three-axis motorized glider using only a
five-channel receiver? I
want Butterfly
on the throttle stick and motor speed on a slider.
How can I set up a three-axis electric motorized glider using only
a five-channel receiver? I
want
Butterfly on the throttle stick for landing, but also want motor
speed on the throttle stick
during launches.
Most of us mechanically adjust the throws of our control surfaces
by trial and error. We pick a
hole on the servo horn and on the
control surface horn and try it out on the model. If it isn’t
right,
we move the linkage to a different hole and then try that. This works
well for simple
things like rudder and elevator, but what about
something more complicated like flap and aileron
control horns
that your are making yourself. These surfaces are typically hinged on
the top of
the wing (ailerons) or the bottom (flaps) and the
question of where to best put the control horn
holes becomes more
complicated. You can calculate the actual resulting change in angle
with
trigonometry, but this is enough trouble that few actually do
it. Here is a practical, low-cost
mechanical solution that I
thought I’d share.
You can use an old personal
computer power supply to run your direct current RC battery charger.
This is useful when you want to charge or cycle a battery pack at
home on the bench. You can usually obtain an “ATX”
type supply and power cord from the computer support person where you
work. They usually have a big cardboard box of these and are
happy to get rid of them. Take these instructions in with you
so he can get you one just like these pictures.