What are the six channels in a 6-ch CP heli?

I know the first four are throttle, yaw, elevator, and aileron. The 6th channel is collective pitch. What's #5?

(In particular, what's #5 on a V922? This isn't just a theoretical question. I'm trying to learn how to program a radio to control my new V922.)

Thanks!

It used to be gyro gain before flybarless heads. Now it's nothing.

No wonder I couldn't find it. You're the best, Balr14.

I have often wondered why they needed 6 channels and how it got started. Really, you only have 2 sticks and 4 functions you control in flight. Pitch is simply a function of throttle settings. There are several CP helis (Blade MCPx and Hirobo Quark SG) that only need 4 channels as the onboard flight control board is perfectly capable of handling pitch. In the old days, the transmitter mixed pitch because there was no onboard intelligence. But, that still leaves a lot unanswered. Admittedly, my knowledge doesn't go back more than about 10 years.

A buddy of mine has a big beautiful scale Agusta A-109. Mechanics are a Raptor 50 (?) converted to electric. This was "before" eCCPM so the swash mixing is done mechanically. The servo layout, mixing arms/plates, etc., is truly a fascinating piece of engineering. And I thought eCCPM and a flybarred head was complicated. In his case he still uses Ch.5 for a tail gyro because he has an early FBL controller that was only a 2-axis gyro.

Technology in our toys is truly amazing.

hmm, cool info !! I was going to ask the same question, but i guess "juststartingrc" beat me to it ! Good post !

Another question if I am....the swash plate has 3 gyros, umm...all working together i assume, right ? Anyways, who controls how much each servo has to travel...? is it transmitter, receiver, or gyro ? What is gyro for anyways...does it only prevent you from drifting around if you have winds...?

Originally Posted by Flying Pitcher

hmm, cool info !! I was going to ask the same question, but i guess "juststartingrc" beat me to it ! Good post !

Another question if I am....the swash plate has 3 gyros, umm...all working together i assume, right ? Anyways, who controls how much each servo has to travel...? is it transmitter, receiver, or gyro ? What is gyro for anyways...does it only prevent you from drifting around if you have winds...?

Most swashplates have three servos. One is "aileron", one "elevator", and one "pitch". In the case of my flybarred helis, the mixing is done in the radio. I tell the radio I have a 3-servo, 120-degree swashplate and the radio does the rest. Flybarless (FBL) helis need a FBL controller and the mixing is done in the controller, not in the radio.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the servos working together on a swashplate is called CCPM, or Cyclic Collective Pitch Mixing. The three servos work together to move the swashplate for both Cyclic (aileron/elevator) and Collective Pitch (pitch of the blades). Make sense?

huh, nice thx ! fbl helis have a controller in the receiver ?? cos I have only receiver and gyro.

Originally Posted by Flying Pitcher

huh, nice thx ! fbl helis have a controller in the receiver ?? cos I have only receiver and gyro.

Larger FBL helis will have a FBL controller that sits between the receiver and servos. It's a separate unit. Smaller FBL helis like the Blade line from Horizon will have the receiver and FBL controller as one unit.

The gyro is misnamed in a flybarless heli. It's really a flight controller with a 3 axis gyro built-in. Depending on which flight controller you bought, it could also contain accelerometers, barometer, magnetometer, GPS and other sensors. But, that can get rather expensive and you will wish you had more than 6 channels before long.

Originally Posted by Balr14

.......it could also contain accelerometers, barometer, magnetometer, GPS and other sensors. But, that can get rather expensive and you will wish you had more than 6 channels before long.

oooh....i feel good now !!