Hey folks,

A few years ago I followed Flight’s instructions on how to install a Habu SAFE receiver in a UMX Pitts, and it allowed me to fly the Pitts with a reasonable degree of control in spite of my lack of skill. The Habu SAFE receiver was mounted vertically in the Habu, so it also had to be mounted vertically in the Pitts, and while it was a bit of extra work, it was most worthwhile to have the use of SAFE.

After the release of the Cessna 182 with SAFE Select a year or two ago, it became obvious its brick could now be mounted horizontally in the Pitts instead of doing the vertical installation with the Habu brick. I just installed another Cessna brick in a second Pitts and thought I would document the procedure for others who may want to do the same.

To remove and replace the Pitts brick, the top half of the fuselage must be removed between the front of the cockpit and about a half inch in front of the tail. This section of fuselage is a separate piece and is held in place by tape only along the horizontal side lines, while a small amount of glue was used on the fore and aft surfaces. An X-Acto knife will cut the tape along the horizontal quite easily along with the vertical tape near the tail section. The vertical joint in front of the cockpit, however, is more awkward, and the knife blade will have to cut through the foam. Cut lines are the same on each side of fuselage; take your time, and it will come away clean.

At this point, you now have access...Continue Reading

Hey Folks,

Last year about this time, Farrider reported his installation of the subject receiver in the Jug in the SAFE thread. This report is responsive to the same interest, but I have tried to add a bit more detailed information and a few pictures for reference. My intention is to add to, not detract from Farrider's work, and I hope it is received in that spirit.

In July or August last summer, I installed an Apprentice SAFE receiver in my Dallas Doll and found it was so easy to fly I immediately wanted to put another Apprentice SAFE receiver in one of my P-47 Thunderbolts. Without a doubt, the Thunderbolt installation is much easier to do than the Dallas Doll since one is able to mount the Apprentice SAFE receiver inside the fuselage rather than on the top of the wing.

There is a lot of room in the Jug fuselage, and with just a very small amount of foam removal, I was able to fasten the receiver flat and rock solid in the same spot where the original receiver had been located. I used double sided tape on the bottom of the receiver and then used hot glue along the bottom edge of the receiver for extra measure. As it turns out, a good quality double-sided tape is solid enough, and I really did not need to add hot glue along the edges. Some Velcro products hold better than others, but none seem to be as solid as good double-sided tape.

After attaching all servo wires to the SAFE receiver and binding the receiver to my DX8, I found the ailerons moved in...Continue Reading

Hey folks,

The Flyzone Seawind is an amphibious seaplane with wing lights, flaps, and retracts, and it has taken to the Apprentice SAFE receiver rather well. While the ailerons do not need to be reversed, the elevator and rudder control surfaces do require reversing to satisfy AS3X and SAFE requirements. See pics below for details on installation.

The first step is to remove the canopy by removing the three screws at the top-rear of same, and then removing the two sets of seats which are held in place by magnets. The fuselage looks really large at first, but there are a whole lot of wires which must be managed, organized, and pushed to the rear once everything is successfully tested.

Knowing the elevator and rudder both needed to be reversed, I chose to do it mechanically rather than use servo reversers. The two servos sat side by side with each arm extending away from other servo. I switched the positions of the two servos and changed the arms on each by 180 degrees. This required adjusting the pushrods and sleeves somewhat to keep a smooth curve to their paths, and they did actually cross each other without problem. Hot glue was used to hold the pushrod sleeves in place as seen on pic.

The only need for a servo reverser was to combine retracts and flaps on the Aux2 Channel so both can be used in a coordinated fashion. A "Y" servo extension cable was plugged into the Aux2 port. The flaps lead was plugged into one of the "Y"...Continue Reading

Hey folks,

The Apprentice SAFE receiver works real well in the Eleven Hobby T-28 Trojan without any need to change direction for any control surfaces. The only need for a servo reverser is when combining retracts and flaps on the Aux2 Channel so both can be used in a coordinated fashion. A "Y" servo extension cable is plugged into the Aux2 port. The flaps lead is plugged into one of the "Y" extensions, then a servo reverser is plugged into the other "Y" extension. The retracts lead is then plugged into the servo reverser. This allows flaps and retracts to work together on the Aux2 Channel.

For the DX8 transmitter, all switches are set to INH, then Trainer is set to Aux1 and F-Mode is set to Gear, and Flaps is set to Aux2. On the Servo Screen, Aux1 and Aux2 are both set to Reverse. This allows the Bind Button to activate the Panic function and the F-Mode switch to select between Beginner, Intermediate, and Experienced Modes. The flaps switch will put the flaps and retracts down in Position 0, both up in Position 2, and the flaps midway Position 1.

Without any need to change any control surface direction, this was a very easy install with plenty of room in the fuselage for the SAFE receiver as seen in pics. Hot glue was used to fasten receiver to fuselage - and remember to point pin ports to rear of plane. While not really SAFE installation related, I found most of my 2200 mAh 3S batteries were a bit too fat for the canopy to close fully, and I had to shave about 1/8 inch off the bottom of the canopy where the battery is located as shown in pics.

Best wishes,
Dave Wile

Hey folks,

After getting an Eleven Hobby T-28 Trojan a few weeks ago, I discovered Banggood did not always have spare props and other spare parts in stock. After attempting to mount a different three-blade prop, I found the Eleven Hobby plane used a three-bolt prop adapter which incorporated a hex nut shape milled into the face of the adapter, and the prop hub had a hex shape socket molded into its rear to fit the hex nut on the adapter. With this proprietary hex nut prop adapter, it pretty much limits one to buying stock props sold by that company only.

In an effort to find a way of using alternative and less expensive prop choices, I bought an E-flite prop adapter with an aluminum spinner and a four-blade plastic hub (Part # EFL8457) for about $10.50 plus shipping at Horizon Hobby. It is made for the E-flite P-47 Razorback and neatly replaces the stock prop adapter. Since it does not have the hex nut hub milling, it allows a large variety of other props to be used instead of the stock prop.

The Dynam 11X7 three-blade prop (DYP-1017) can be a very good and inexpensive choice ($3.60 from AliExpress & includes shipping) for this plane, but it does require a backer/spacer plate behind the prop to give clearance to the cowl. If desired, the 11 inch blades can be trimmed about a half inch to give it a nice bull nose look.

The FMS 10.5X8 four-blade prop from AliExpress is also very inexpensive at $3.64 and includes shipping. This prop looks great...Continue Reading

Hey folks,

I started working on a new Night VisionAire (NVA) with the intent of replacing the existing AR636A SAFE receiver with an Apprentice SAFE receiver. This gets a little complicated by the fact the original receiver is actually mounted upside down in the bottom of the fuselage. In my limited experience, an Apprentice SAFE receiver needs to be mounted right side up and have the servo ports facing the rear. Of course the servo ports come out of the top of the Apprentice SAFE receiver, so that complicates things when considering the top of the receiver must face up while being secured to the bottom of the fuselage. Get it?

My solution for mounting the receiver in its proper orientation was to use a 1/2 inch thick piece of foam for a platform as can be seen in my pics. Without getting any glue on the top face of the receiver, I was able to hot glue the receiver (face up) to the foam platform with a bead of glue all around the sides of the receiver where it touched the foam platform. I had cut the foam platform to fit the fuselage cavity, and I also cut an opening at one end to allow the servo wires to pass through the foam platform.

Before mounting the receiver to the foam platform, I connected all servo, throttle, and bind wires to the Apprentice SAFE receiver, bound my transmitter to the receiver, and proceeded to check all the servo throws to insure they would work properly with AS3X and SAFE. The ailerons were the only control surface which needed to...Continue Reading