Many sport pilots fly in clubs or parks where there are no 3D experts to guide them. They simply don't know how to get started. That's what happened to me. There was no one to help me, so I had to do it myself. Hopefully, I can save a few of you from making some of the mistakes I did.
Those of you who are sport flying the Extra SHP are ideally situated to effortlessly move into 3D. Simply put 3D Hobby Shop's setup on the plane and you are flying 3D the next day. Certainly you can learn 3D on other planes, but there isn't a better one for that than the SHP,
IMHO,
but of course.
Those of you sport flying the Extra SHP are probably pretty comfortable with her by now, and have surely upped your game as a result. So it's time to take your game to the next level:
3D
For those who haven't read our Extra Sport report, you can find it here:
A SPORT PILOTS GUIDE TO 3D
3D flying is sweeping through the RC industry at an astonishing rate. You can hardly open an RC magazine without seeing something about 3D this or 3D that. Almost every advertisement shows some sort of aerobatic plane hovering around, and most videos in reviews feature lots and lots of hovering and alpha flight. Any aliens in far away galaxies intercepting our radio signals must think that this is the way all RC airplanes fly.
There is little doubt that 3D flying has caused an explosive growth in the RC industry. I was baffled as to why all this slow flying around seemed to appeal to so many people......until I gave it a try. Now, after flying a bit of 3D, I can see it ...3D is fun and addicting....very addicting. 3D is more than just about hovering around. It may have been this way in the beginning, but 3D is rapidly evolving into an all encompassing discipline. It can be a slow, graceful sport, or it can be blindingly fast and incredibly violent. When it is both of these, 3D is an awesome spectacle.
3D is, however, very, very different, from the way you set the airplane up to the way you think about and understand what the plane is doing. 3D isn't just thumbing the airplane around. You have to understand how the dynamics of post stall flight work, or you aren't going to be able to get anywhere except maybe into the ground. More than anything, 3D is a science, a new science that is just in it's infancy. It is rather exciting to be part of it and to watch, if not help, it progress along.
Lots of sport fliers would like to make the transition into 3D and give it a try, but they don't know how. In my case, I was the only one in my club, and without any decent help, I couldn't figure it out. I was very nearly ready to become discouraged and give up. I can see this happening to a lot of guys, so I thought a handy little primer might be useful.
WHAT IS 3D?
Well, if you read the magazines, everything is 3D. It's a little bit of an all-encompassing and generic term that could mean just about anything, isn't it? We've seen pylon racers advertised as "the ultimate 3D machine," so we have been misled a time or two. The term "3D" has been overused and abused as a marketing buzz word so much that it hardly means anything anymore except someone just might be shining us on.
For me, though, the purpose of 3D has always been the same. 3D is about getting the very most out of the airplane and yourself. 3D is not any different from what many of us have been doing all along in years of sport flying, but technology has opened that envelope up considerably. So, going to 3D was simply a natural progression for me, and it will also be that way for anyone else who wants to push their own personal limits, and maybe even redefine a few boundaries along the way.
Let's take a little snippet from page 176 of Scott Stoop's book "Mastering Radio Controlled Flight." It says "During 3D flight, however, the wing is often in a partially or fully stalled condition..........." and "Traditional flight is primarily wing borne, and 3D flight is a combination of thrust and wing borne flight."
Flying on thrust alone would include hovering, because there is no actual forward airspeed except what is coming off the propeller. Flying with a combination of lift from the wing and propeller, you will achieve maneuvers like the harrier. If there is any doubt about whether or not you are in 3D flight, cut the power and see what happens. If the plane falls out of the air, you
were in 3D flight.
It's all a lot more complex that that, but this is not intended to be a textbook or a step-by-step guide how to do each maneuver. We already have one of those and it's Scott Stoop's book. I believe that reading this book is the essential first move of learning 3D flight. I still refer to it when I am having trouble or want to tighten up a maneuver. Scott's book will greatly shorten your learning curve, and probably save you quite a few airplanes.
It is also worth noting that there is nothing like a simulator to condition your orientation and reflexes. You can fly and crash, and fly and crash, and it doesn't cost a dime past the price of the sim itself. To this day I still fly my sim about an hour every day, just to sharpen myself up and get the crashing out of my system. In fact, I just wore out a gimbal on my sim transmitter.
Scott insists that a good mastery of conventional aerobatics is essential before venturing into 3D, and since this is the way I learned, I think that's a good start. I was extremely comfortable sport flying before I began 3D flying, and this certainly helps when the plane gets into unusual attitudes, stalled, or otherwise in trouble. You need to know how to recover before you venture into anything really tricky.
So, your first steps are to get Scott's book and put what you learn into practice, first on the simulator, and then at the field. This report is about the learning process more than anything. There are many different ways to do it, but this is just my experience.
Since it is all about the flying, we will get into that first, and after that we can discuss equipment and setup.
FLYING
Personally I got into 3D by accident, so I started differently from a lot of guys. I bought an Extra SHP because I liked the look of the plane, but once I started to explore her capabilities, a few 3D moves crept into my routine and I liked it. Most of what we are going to talk about here relates directly to the SHP, but the basics of 3D flight will be the same no matter what 3D plane you choose (though I doubt you will find one that is more stable). However, since I learned 3D on the SHP, we will approach the learning process from this angle. I really can't tell you how to learn 3D with other kinds of planes because I didn't do it that way. Like hundreds of other guys, I learned with the SHP.
Altitude: The Perfect learning Aid
First, whenever you try any kind of new maneuver, use a bit of altitude to give yourself a break. We don't want to trash your shiny, brand new 3D ship on the first day, do we? Try it up way high the first few times to make sure you understand what the plane is doing, and how it's going to come out. Once you get comfortable like that you can move it closer to the ground. You ain't gonna be a Quique the first day, so use some altitude and give yourself a break.
Adjusting To The Setup
A 3D plane will fly completely different from what most sport pilots are used to. Mostly, though, it's all good. 3D planes have an enormous amount of control authority, so once you get used to that you will be able to do all sorts of outrageous stunts lower and slower than you have ever done them before. If nothing else, you will find that you can do your previous routine lower, slower, and closer and easier because the plane is much more capable. Even if you never fly true 3D, a 3D plane is so much more agile than a sport plane that you will definitely up your game.
Of course, from there you will use this capability to try new things, which will naturally lead you right into post stall 3D antics. Mostly on the first few days, though, you will just want to fly the plane and do maneuvers you are used to while you are learning how the new plane flies. Do your rolls and loops and spins and immelman turns, and maybe your spins and stall turns. Get completely comfortable with the plane and then you can try some new stuff.
Oh, yeah, work on your stalls and recovering from them. That's going to become rather useful sooner than you think.
You want to be comfortable and confident with the plane before you try something new, especially something as foreign as 3D. Some 3D maneuvers are not that dissimilar to maneuvers that sport pilots have already done, so those are good ones to try first.
Blender: The Perfect First Maneuver
I think the best way to start the first day of learning 3D is to try 3D moves that are not that far removed from conventional aerobatics. The first thing a new 3D pilot is going to need is some instant gratification /success. You probably won't learn how to hover on the first day, so let's shoot for something attainable.
Since you now have a good grounding in basic aerobatics, the best thing to do is try a 3D move that isn't completely foreign. For me, since I was comfortable doing rolls and spins, a blender was the logical place to start. A blender is a violent and spectacular move, and it's not that hard. It is simply a matter of rolling the airplane while diving straight down, then throwing her into an outside snap roll the same direction, and then centering the ailerons. You have probably already done all of these things before, but never put them together, and now you have a plane that is agile enough to make this move happen.
The plane will go from a diving set of rolls right into a violent inverted flat spin, and her downward progress will dramatically slow to just about nothing. This ends up looking like the plane is spinning around on it's back in a kitchen blender, so you can see where the maneuver gets it's name.
You'll have the blender figured out after two or three attempts, but I suggest you try it up high for awhile (and definitely on the simulator) until you have the stick sequence perfectly memorized and can recover gracefully. Then you can start sneaking up on the ground and going lower and lower until you either scare yourself or drive it into the dirt. Yes, I've done both.
OK, now that you have done your first blender, you're on your way to becoming a 3D pilot! You will still probably feel very awkward flying the 3D setup, but this just takes time to get used to. This is why I like the idea of first sport flying the Extra SHP for a bit. You learn how the plane handles in the conventional way you are familiar with, and you learn to trust the plane. Then, you go
together into 3D. This is much better than starting 3D will an all new and unfamiliar plane. There is no plane I have trusted so instantly and so completely as the Extra SHP, so I don't think there is a better plane to start with. Certainly it's going to feel a bit odd when you put all that throw and all that expo in it, but trust the plane.
Wall
Another easy one is "the wall." Here you cut the power, wait for her to slow a bit, and then jam in and hold full up elevator. It will take few times to get it right, but the plane will rotate hard or her pitch axis and point straight up without gaining a lot of altitude. The plane will be sliding along with her entire bottom side presented to the direction of travel, and since that is a lot of drag, the plane will stop just about like it has run into a brick wall, an effect that presumably earned this maneuver it's name. Now, be ready to get on the power because this bleeds speed off so fast that it can surprise you the first few times.
Because of the way the speed just vanishes, "the wall" is a very effective, if maybe a little violent, way to enter post stall flight. From here you can go into a hover, torque roll, or a myriad of other post stall maneuvers, provided that you know how. For now, though, just practice getting her to pitch up into "the wall," and use a liberal amount of power to fly out of it. This will teach you the plane's pitch capabilities, and the speeds at which you need to do "the wall" to get the best effect.
Essentially, you are rotating the plane so hard that the entire thing stalls instantly, so you don't have to worry about tip stall. Some guys seem to have the most trouble adapting to the extra capacity 3D planes have for pitch changes, so the wall is a good way to get used to that.
Parachute
A "parachute" is a really good one that isn't that hard. You just cut the power, dive it, and then yank in, and hold, full up elevator. The plane will rotate hard and just about stop.....in effect, the entire plane turns itself into a parachute.
Mostly, the first day is going to be about feeling out the plane and the weird new 3D setup. Blenders and parachutes are spectacular maneuvers that have a surprise ending. Both look like you are going to drive the plane straight into the ground, so they are fun to throw at the unsuspecting. Believe me, your sport flying buddies at the field are going to be impressed, and probably shocked when you come out of nowhere with these showstoppers.
Taking The Plane Home In One Piece After The first Day
These are maneuvers you can be comfortable doing just about right away. You are going to want some success the first day so as to be encouraged. You aren't going to learn 3D in a day, but you can learn some of it the first day. You want to go home with the plane in one piece, and looking forward to learning some more the next time out. You want to shoot for something you can achieve the first day while you are getting used to the new setup.
What you don't want is to spend all day falling out of a hover, getting frustrated and giving up. Don't get focused on the hover. I know that is what you see in every 3D video, and every picture in every RC magazine, but 3D is more than just about the hover. I know everyone at the field is going to be yelling "hover it, hover it....." but forget that. The hover is about the most difficult 3D move you are going to come across, and it still gives me fits. You will get it, but you first need to work on some other things to build a good foundation of skills.
Moving Into Post Stall Flight
This could be the most
important paragraph in this entire report: Scott insists the building block of 3D flight is the straight line harrier flight and harrier turns. In fact, this is what Scott covers first in the 3D section of his book. I worked on harriers for a bit, but they aren't as entertaining to do as some of the other moves, so I largely ignored harrier flight until recently. I've been working on harriers a few minutes of each flight, and this has taught me so much about how the plane operates at and past the stall that my flying in general has improved dramatically in just a few weekends. Harrier flight teaches you how the plane behaves in 3D flight, and that is why it is so important to work on.
Here's the Doc workin' that harrier:
It will take a little time for you to understand what the plane feels like when it is in vectored or partially vectored flight, such as in the harrier. A harrier is still forward flight, so for the sport pilot learning 3D, it is not a completely foreign skill. With a 3D capable plane, it is just a matter of getting the nose up there and keeping it up there. Of course you are going to porpoise up and down and not get it right for awhile, but eventually you'll find the right combination of elevator and throttle to get the plane to maintain a harrier. If you get into trouble, it's still forward flight and a stall, something sport pilots had better already have a grip on when they progress to 3D.
It is almost like drivng a car really fast on a dirt road and sliding it around corners on purpose. The plane feels loose, and it does feel like you are sliding it around. The thing is, the plane is loose and sliding, but it's going where you want it to go because you are controlling a normally out of control condition.
In conventional flight, we are used to slowing the plane down and when the controls become mushy we know it's about to stall. This is bad, and you need to lower the nose or put some power to it, provided you don't want to crash, that is. Years of doing it this way makes it very difficult to transition into the stall, and then deliberately fly the plane into this condition even deeper. At first, it just feels wrong, because a conventional plane is just going to fall out of the air, but a 3D plane dives into it's element...post stall flight.
The plane is now kept in the air by a combination of the thrust of the propeller holding the plane up, and partial lift from the airframe. The key though, is control, which is done entirely by blowing air over the control surfaces with the propeller. Essentially, and this is that part that makes it happen, you are flying the plane primarilly with the throttle.
You can see how working on harrier with the SHP will stimulate your brain to understand what the plane is doing. 3D is such a cerebal way of flying that you can't just thumb the plane around. You have to think about what you are doing, understand what the airplane is doing and why, and then stay ahead of the whole thing.
Cool, eh?
So, now you've got a good start, and it's up to you to push yourself and learn the rest. This project was just to ease the pain of starting 3D. There is plenty of advice here and other forums on how to do each individual maneuver, but Scott's book is still the best way to learn how to do it right.
So, quickly reviewing,
(1.) Read Scott's book.
(2.) Start with conventional maneuvers and get comfortable with the new setup.
(3.) Work on harrier flight.
From there, your 3D flight will mostly fall into place all on it's own, but you've got to do the grunt work and practice that harrier flight. My best advise on any new maneuver is to study it first in Scott's book, then work on it in the simulator. From there, try it in the air with a decent amount of altitude. Certainly get it right, but also make sure you have screwed it up a few times so you know what that looks like too, and learn how to recover. Then you can creep up on the ground.
Again, this is not meant to be a blow-by-blow how-to tutorial on doing each 3D maneuver. This is just to get you started. From here you progress by reading Scott's book, these forums, and seeking advice from the 3D experts in your club. Fly your simulator every chance you get, try all the crazy stuff on it, and do your crashing there. Then, go to the field and put it all into play.
EQUIPMENT
Airframe
Of course, you aren't going to learn how to do 3D on a basic trainer, or even a conventional sport plane. They simply are not suited for it. Some sport planes will do limited 3D, but I can't think of one that will do it all. A 3D plane is different in that it has to have huge control surfaces so you have control authority with very little air moving over the plane. Also, weight is crucial when you are flying at or near the stall, so 3D planes tend to be as light as they can be made. Sometimes this makes them a little fragile for high speed flying or violent tumbling, but that's changing with lightweight mass production techniques and excellent engineering on the airframes.
Lots of guy learn on foamy airplanes that are cheap to assemble and easy to repair. This is probably the best route, but I've been flying built up wood airplanes for 50 years, that's what I like, and that's the road we are going down in this report.
Extra SHP, the perfect 3D trainer
Many of you may remember our Sport flying The 3D Hobby Shop Extra SHP report. Those of you who went that route are in great shape, because I believe that is the best plane for making the jump. If you have sport flown the Extra SHP and are comfortable with it, it is a very simple matter to change the set up and start learning 3D with a plane you already have a lot of confidence with. You guys are in good shape, and all you'll need is a set of 3D Hobby Shop's phenolic extended servo arms. You're
ready to rock.
The Extra SHP is undoubtedly the 3D trainer of choice on RC Groups, and maybe the most popular 3D airplane of all time. There are a lot of reasons for this popularity, which begins with her flight qualities. If there is a 3D, or even a sport plane, that is as forgiving of mistakes as the SHP, I have yet to fly that plane. It is a combination of light weight and proper engineering, plus Scott Stoop's excellent airfoil that makes the SHP fly light, floaty, and yet still agile and precise to fly. I have never before seen all of these qualities all in one airplane, but the SHP is a very special plane indeed.
As a 3D trainer, and later a full blown, world class 3D airship, the Extra SHP's most important attribute is her sublime stability. If you have seen the video in the Extra Sport report, you will already know that you can get away with things flying the SHP that would put other planes straight into the ground. In the video, you can see me drag the SHP around at slow speed with the elevator locked in full up, yet she won't snap out, she won't wobble about, or freak out and spin into the ground........she just flies. This is the kind of stability you are going to need for flying into and out of the stall, and for flying around completely stalled and hanging on the propeller.
Proper engineering also has the SHP strong where it needs to be, yet light where it doesn't. I have never heard a story of an SHP's structure failing in the air, and yet she is still a very light weight plane considering her big 47" span. I beat my personal SHP mercilessly in full throttle, terminal velocity blenders and horizontal tumbles, and after 300 flights even the wing fits on the tube so tight that it is hard to get it off. No matter how much I abuse this plane she hasn't even loosened up.
The robust little SHP also takes a shot pretty well. This is no little foamy, so hitting the ground hard is going to hurt it, but not so much as most other balsa planes. Most of the time when I have fallen out of a hover and crashed, the damage has been minimal, but you can actually total one if you drive it in hard enough. There is a delicate balance here between being light enough and strong enough, and of course, that is always a compromise. The SHP hits this compromise just right because she flies beautifully, holds up to whatever you throw at her in the air, and she also survives medium impacts really well. I have wrecked mine pretty good three times and the worst damage she suffered was a broken fin, which I was able to buy a replacement for. She also survived a mid air collision with another plane which was vaporized, and yet she didn't get even a scratch on her.
So, in the Extra SHP you have a light weight, but strong, gentle, yet agile and precise airplane that acts predictably and forgives most of your mistakes. I can't think of a better platform to learn on. While the SHP has all of these attributes, she is still capable of hanging in there with almost any other 3D plane on the market, so this is a plane that you will never outgrow. You just keep growing with it.
Power System
Since most of the time the plane will be held up by simply the thrust off the propeller, you are going to need an outrageous power system. Electrics are very well suited for 3D because they deliver nothing but instant, gut wrenching torque. A nitro motor needs a little time to rev up into it's power band, but an electric delivers 100% of it's torque instantly on demand.
There are a lot of good electric systems available, but we have had the most outrageous success with the Extreme Flight Torque motors and Airboss Elite ESCs. It just so happens that the Torque 2118 and Airboss Elite 45 is the recommended package for the Extra SHP, so those of you who have gone that route are already on very solid footing equipment wise. Those who bought the Motrolfly 2815 motor used in the Extra Sport report are still in good shape because ours still delivers good power and runs beautifully.
The Torque, however, is better suited for 4s (14.8 volt, 4 Cell) operation, so if you are starting from scratch, thats a better option. Initially 3 cells will be enough for learning 3D, but later you will want 4s because you can do a lot of interesting and crazy things with an over powered airplane.
It is also worth noting that the Airboss Elite ESC just works. You don't have to program anything and once you get the deans plug soldered on there isn't much to do. Just plug it in. Also of great benefit here is that the Airboss will handle up to 5s operation. If you make the move to 4s, all you do is change the battery and prop, keep your amp draw around 40-32 amps, and everything in the power system will run smooth, cool and reliably, with plenty of gut wrenching torque..
On the newer Airboss Elite 45s and 60s, no reprogramming necessary because the ESC self-detects how many cells you are running and adjusts the low voltage cutoff (LVC) accordingly. The LVC is a power-down type of cutoff, meaning that when you run your lipos down to their minimun rated voltage, power will drop off enough for you to notice and land. You've still got enough time to set up a landing approach, and you've got enough power too. The thing isn't going to just shut down and wreck your plane, so this is a nice feature.
Another nice thing about this is you can't accidentially run youyr lipos down too low and burn them up. My experience is that running them too low is the best way to fry a lipo battery (other than overcharging it), and new Airboss won't let you do that.
Convention wisdom is that 3 cells is enough to learn basic 3D with. Some guys have mastered 3D, but still prefer the lighter 3s setup. It's all a personal choice kind of thing. For 3 cell operation on the Torque 2818, I used an APC 13.6/5E propeller. This worked well, though some guys will run a 14/7. The larger prop will give you more thrust for hovering and other maneuvers where you need air moving over stalled control surfaces, but it does drive the amp draw and heat up there. If you are going to fly the motor hard and use lots of throttle, it is probably best to stay away from that prop until you have learned to 3D with better throttle management.
We didn't experiment with 3s operation much in 3D flight. I preferred to have more punch out power for when I get into trouble, which is a lot. For this we run an APC 11.5/5 prop, and you can see that isn't a lot of diameter to get the air flowing on the outer part of the control surfaces. 3D is more difficult with the smaller prop offering reduced vectored thrust over the controls. For this reason it is better to learn 3D on 3 cell operation and the bigger diameter prop, and then move to 4s once you have mastered the basics.
Most important is to get a power system that runs cool and reliably. The Extreme Flight Torque Motors and Airboss Elite ESCs are recommended for the Extra SHP for precisely those reasons. I have never had a problem with with either of these units unless it was something stupid that I did myself.....like over propping and overheating the system. Check your amp draw, and keep it below 45.......and your Extreme Flight power system should give you outstanding performance and run forever.
SETUP
The simplest way to go about it is not to let all this setup information confuse you. Just follow the directions, and as you learn and grow, you will know enough to make subtle changes until the airplane is set up the way you like it. The funny thing is, I have been all over the map with setup, and now that I am getting a pretty decent grip on flying 3D, I ended up right back at what the directions were calling for.
Scott and Ben have done an enormous amount of testing on every plane that 3D Hobby Shop releases. On top of that, immensely qualified guys like "Bone Doc", "Numbskull ," "Feathermerchant" and "Get real" do hours and hours of beta testing before the planes actually go into production. Every 3D Hobby Shop plane is put forwards and backwards through the wringer before any of us even know that particular model exists. The setup is figured out well in advance, and those people are a hell of a lot smarter about these things than we are.
So, the best advice is to just follow the directions. If you fly the plane and some of it doesn't work for you, by the time you have progressed to 3D you already know how to adjust the plane so you can get the most out of it, but in the end you will probably go right back to the instructions.
Control Throw
It doesn't get much more simple than following the directions that come with the Extra SHP.
However, it seems that there is a really good formula here. The directions call for 45 degrees up and down of elevator movement, and the same for the rudder, only that is left and right. Aileron set up is 28 degrees up and 28 degrees of down, and this seems just about right for all the 3D Hobby Shop 3D planes. You need the elevator movement for hard pitch rotations in maneuvers like walls, parachutes and blenders. The big rudder travel comes in handy for hovering and harrier flight, plus slow speed knife edge flight.
Low/Precision Rates (in degrees and inches) and Corresponding Exponential
Aileron 15 degrees .75 30% Expo
Elevator 13 degrees 1.25 30% Expo
Rudder 45 degrees 3.5 75% Expo
High/3D Rates (in degrees and inches) and Corresponding Exponential
Aileron 28 degrees 1.25 75% Expo
Elevator 45 degrees 3 85% Expo
Rudder 45 degrees 3.5 75% Expo
This is a lot of movement for someone who is used to sport flying, so the best advice is to set the plane up like this on high rate, and follow the instructions on low rate set up. Start off on low rate, because it pretty much feels like a really good sport plane, and get used to it like this. Once you are comfortable with this, get some altitude, flip it to high rate, and get the feel for it. As you become accustomed to this new feel, you can get lower and lower as your confidence increases.
From here, everyone is different, so if you can't handle this much throw, you can dial the plane into whatever your needs are. Personally, in the beginning, I found the aileron rate too much for me to keep up with, so I dialed it back with the end point controls until I got used to it, and now I'm at the full 28 degrees. Some guys have trouble with a twitchy elevator setup, so you can reduce that as well, and then dial more in as you become comfortable. But, remember..........you are going to need that travel for the advanced 3D maneuvers, so you are really better off using the full setup and flipping to low rates for take off and landing.
However, if you just can't handle that much throw, you gotta do what you gotta do. Just be aware that to do the full 3D routine, all that throw is necessary, so try not to deviate from the instructions any more than you have to.
Center of Gravity (CG)
As far as CG, this will differ greatly from plane to plane, but on the Extra SHP the directions call for 3.25 - 3.75 measured at the wing root. For the first few flights, it is probably better to go with the 3.25" figure. The plane will be more stable this way, but remember, you don't exactly want a stable plane for 3D, or at least you don't want it to be too stable. In the beginning a forward CG will make the plane behave a little better for the newbie, and when you are comfortable and want the plane to be more agile, you just slide the battery back a 1/4" or so at a time until you like it. Most guys who have flown the SHP for awhile slide the battery all the way back until it is up against the wing tube, and so have I. Even like this the SHP is still extremely forgiving, but it is certainly more agile this way.
Exponential
Exponential control is a way of desensitizing the airplane at the center of the control stick movement, but still allowing massive deflection at the extremes. As far as amounts of expo, the instructions are a good place to start. I have found that as I became more used to the 3D set up and feel of exponential that I wanted less. Once you become 3D proficient, you will be confident enough to simply manhandle the plane around, and it is easier to do that if you aren't moving your thumbs to the extremes. Still, in the beginning, all this throw is a lot for a sport pilot to handle, so big expo number keep the plane more like what he is used to while making smaller stick movements. It does take some time to get used to the throw and the expo, so in the beginning, large amounts of expo keep the plane tame enough that it won't surprise you.
Here is what the SHP instructions call for:
High/3D Rates (in degrees and inches) and Corresponding Exponential
Aileron 28 degrees 1.25 75% Expo
Elevator 45 degrees 3 85% Expo
Rudder 45 degrees 3.5 75% Expo
For low rates and general sport flying, I have always found that 30% is just right, but again, that is just my preference.
OUT TAKES
NAIL
3D has been a long, strange trip for me, but it has definitely taught me a lot about aerodynamics, and about flying. So far, nothing in 50 years of aeromodelling has been as challenging and rewarding as flying 3D. I hope the rest of you get a chance to experience it like I have.
SPECIAL THANKS