Electric - Throttle stick up, plane goes fast. Throttle stick down, plane goes slow.
Flaps - Throttle stick up, plane goes fast. Throttle stick down, plane goes slow.

What's backwards about that?

Jim

Originally Posted by Kenny Sharp

My flaps are the same way... down stick is off.
This is because I come from an electric background, not a glider background.

I think the conventional way sailplanes pilots do it, is completely backwards.

Stick positions - Mode 2

Right Stick - Pitch and Roll - regardless of surface used to produce these

Left Stick - Speed and Yaw - Regardless as to how this is produced.

For an electric aircraft, high speed is full forward and stop is full back
For glider - Cruise is full forward and stop is full back

Glider use is complely constent with how the throttle is used on power planes.

Flaps closed - cruise - left stick full forward
Flaps fully deployed - full breaking effect - left stick full back - stop

If the sort of logical arguments in the last three posts really meant anything then I suppose we'd all be pushing our elevator sticks up to make our planes pitch up , but the reality is that one convention is as good as the other, except that:

1. It may be easier to reach the left-side switches while controlling the rudder if the flap stick is in the up position.
    
2. On an XP8103, the throttle trim tab only affects the throttle/spoiler setting over the bottom half of its range. This is because it's meant to adjust the idle of an engine or to turn it off completely, but not affect the full-throttle position. This works out okay for a flap stick programmed the conventional way, but when programmed my way the throttle trim tab can cause critical changes in the flap trim when accidentally bumped. Since I've never owned a slimer model anyway, on my XP8103 radios I drilled holes and added small screws that lock the throttle trim tabs in their center positions.

When I started in RC it was with gliders and I did not have anyone around to teach me the accepted ways things were done. So when it came time to set up the spoilers on my plane I put them on the throttle stick, seemed logical. The manual stated that in sailplane mode, channel 1, (JR radio) was for spoilers and in my mind the stick down equated to spoilers down and stick up equated to spoilers up. There were no sailplane pilots around to tell me I was doing it backwards. So when it came time to setup my first sailplane with flaps my logic stayed the same, throttle down equaled no deployment and throttle up equaled full deployment. Seemed logical at the time.

Once I became aware I was doing it backwards I tried to switch things around to the commonly accepted way of doing it but it never seemed right. Oh well I guess I am old enough that I am starting to be stuck in some of my ways. I switched them back a few month later and have been happily deploying flaps and spoilers the wrong way ever since. I am careful to point out to new aspiring soaring pilots the error of my ways so they do not follow me down the backwards path. Hmmm, backwards...... maybe it's a sign that I should fly canards.

Wayne

Whatever works for you is fine. The only time you have an issue is when you hand the radio to someone else.

BTW, I had not thought of the benefit of having the left stick forward in relation to reaching switches but that would be an added benefit. I also find I can move the rudder around more easily without accidentially deploying flaps when the stik is all the way forward.

Originally Posted by GliderJim

Electric - Throttle stick up, plane goes fast. Throttle stick down, plane goes slow.
Flaps - Throttle stick up, plane goes fast. Throttle stick down, plane goes slow.

What's backwards about that?

Jim

Flaps don't mean slow or fast to me.... they are engaged or they are not engaged.

Originally Posted by Kenny Sharp

Flaps don't mean slow or fast to me.... they are engaged or they are not engaged.

Nothing wrong with that logic either. Just pointing out that there was more than one way to look at it.

Had I had a sailplane with spoilers before I had a sailplane with flaps, I might have programmed my flaps the same way you do. Stick up - spoilers up makes sense to me. As it stands, I don't yet have any sailplanes with spoilers so I haven't had to worry about that yet.

Jim

I think it should be a law that everybody has to do it the same way I do.

We'll I've been guilty of that logic too!

hey guys i never thought id get this much response.for the time being as i cant get miami mikes way to work for me i do it all mechanical. two twist knobs for camber ,crow,reflux, or just flaps or flaperon effect.sure keeps me busy thow.letts faceit if im stupid enough to not be able to program the radio like mike says i desirve the exercise tryin to keep up with everything.its a riot!!you should tryit.the guys that invented all that radio had a great sence of humor.im just glad im not flyin jets or heilys.thnks for the help.bob(and entertainment)






















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