OKAY - so I decided to go ahead and put together these cheap planes i bought - gonna mess around with them before i get into my PZ T-28 since i have them at home. Put them both together and everything looks and works well BUT it seems to me like the elevator doesn't move as much as I thought it would - does it need to or no one of the planes is the F4U Corsair and the other is the AT-6 Texan - all the other surfaces move really well except for the elevator - it may give me 1/4" of visibility when looking parallel to the elevator wing when I pull my ctrl stick down

Originally Posted by SMCLEODVT

OKAY - so I decided to go ahead and put together these cheap planes i bought - gonna mess around with them before i get into my PZ T-28 since i have them at home. Put them both together and everything looks and works well BUT it seems to me like the elevator doesn't move as much as I thought it would - does it need to or no one of the planes is the F4U Corsair and the other is the AT-6 Texan - all the other surfaces move really well except for the elevator - it may give me 1/4" of visibility when looking parallel to the elevator wing when I pull my ctrl stick down

Put the control rod closer to the bottom hole in the control horn for the elevator.... and in a farther away hole in the servo arm itself.

Chuck

Don't just eyeball the throws. Measure them and make sure they are set up per the instructions.

John

For normal flying it really doesn't take much throw at all.
That was one of things that surprised me as well years ago when I started.
Throws are a personal type thing that you kind of have to determine on your own.
Some people like a plane that reacts instantly with very little stick input while others would find that setup difficult to fly without the plane being "twitchy".
Just be careful increasing elevator throw as some planes will snap rather quickly with large amounts of elevator throw.

Happy Flying,

Tim

And watch out for the instruction manual being wrong about the throws. I distinctly remember a certain plane that called for 1 9/16" of aileron travel (in each direction) that I set up exactly as called for.

Needless to say, it was a most horrifying maiden...

Chuck

thanks all - i didnt move the ctrl rod on the servo but i did put it in the bottom hole on the ctrl horn on the elevator and that seemed to work well - guess ill know when i get it in the air...these are the cheap airplanes anyways but i'd definately like to learn off of them

Too much elevator throw on a warbird usually causes a nasty stall... you probably need a lot less than you think. On my 3D planes, I usually set them up with 45 degrees on the elevator, but on other planes, 20 degrees is usually more than enough.

Originally Posted by GD5015

Don't just eyeball the throws. Measure them and make sure they are set up per the instructions.

John

And why not? Eyeballing control throws has never failed me!

Originally Posted by Xpress..

And why not? Eyeballing control throws has never failed me!

Let me get this straight. We are in the Beginner forum, and you're telling a beginner to RC flying to just eyeball the throws???

SMCLEODVT,

Here's a link to a small one page instructional sheet I wrote for beginners that will show you how to measure for all the control surface throws on your plane. Read it, it's easy. If you have questions, feel free to ask away.

How to Measure for Control Surface Throws

Chuck

Thanks for the info, Chuck. I saved your instructions in my "training folder." I was setting up control throws last week and scratching my head. Measure from where? 3/8"", total or only in one direction? Now I know.

Originally Posted by fred_n

Thanks for the info, Chuck. I saved your instructions in my "training folder." I was setting up control throws last week and scratching my head. Measure from where? 3/8"", total or only in one direction? Now I know.

Hi Fred,

You have one too, huh? I have my own folder of "Important stuff to know" that I save when one of my own mentors teaches me something new.

You might want to check out my Blog Page. There's 2 pages of info there that you may or may not find helpful. It's a sort of mish mash of projects, tutorials, builds, etc... Check it out.

Ravings of a lunatic


Chuck

i have also been saving everything that i have brought up or found interesting - thanks for all the info

Originally Posted by SMCLEODVT

i have also been saving everything that i have brought up or found interesting - thanks for all the info

You're very welcome!