Recommended servos?

[brentrob]

What servo's do you recommend for flaps, ailerons, rudder, elevator? Do you recommend ditital or ball bearing? Usually I opt for stronger servos in the flaps etc.

[Miami Mike]

It depends upon how big the plane is, how much room is inside the wing, how big the control surfaces are, how much you'll want them to deflect, how fast the plane goes, whether or not the flaps will hit the grass if they're down during a landing, whether the flaps are controlled by one servo or two, and how difficult they are to dig out and replace.

Anyone want to add to that? :p

[davidjensen]

How much do you want to spend

[nuevo]

your budget and temperament for spending will dictate your constraints. If you are constrained on budget, I recommend at least one digital for the elevator. The very precise centering digitals offer is most noticeable here.

[Gliderguy]

Depends if you feel the need of precision servos for competition or to just putt around the sky. Precision planes usually work best with digitals.

[aeajr]

I have used Hobbico standard servos, Futaba standard servos, Hitec standard servos, GWS minis, naros and picos, Hitec HS-55s, HS-81s, 85s and 125s in my 1M to 3.6M gliders and parkflyers.

I use Hitec more than any of the other brands, probably because I find their designations more understandable. I have not had bad experience with any of these brands.

I had some off brand servos, but was not satisfied with them so I removed them.

I also have a pair of Hitec digital 5125s in the ailerons of one plane. These were given to me. Very nice and very precise.

As I look back, I would say that I would have been better off using the 85s where I used the 125s in my Thermal Dancer and in my 3.6M Ventus 2C. The 125s are thin wing servos, but the two planes where I used them don't really have thin wings, so I had to open the servo holes larger and put spacers under them to fit them properly. The HS-85s would have fit better and have similar torque ratings. They both seem to center fairly well.

The HS-81MGs have served me well in 2 and 3M planes but don't seem to be as precise in centering as the 85s. Going forward, for slope, and 2 meter and above I will probably be using more of the HS-85MGs, which have ball bearings and metal gears.

JR servos, particularly the DS368 digitals, seem to have a great reputation among the competition guys. If you can afford them at $69 each, give them serious consideration. I may try them in the future, but at 2.5 times the cost of the 85MGs, it won't be soon.

I see great wisdom in JonStone's suggestion that the most important place to put the greater precision of a digital would be the elevator. I may follow that advice in the future. I might even consider replacing the HS-85 in my Thermal Dancer with a digital for just this reason. Not that I seen any problem with the 85 at this point.