I'm just getting into ALES, so this is a newbie question. I stuck a motor into the nose of my old Supra. The question is, do I control the motor with the throttle stick (which I also use for flaps), or should it be set to one of the Aux switches on the Tx. The latter may not be possible, because most esc's require playing with the throttle stick to get them armed. However, it would be the simplest solution if it could be made to work, because then I wouldn't have any confilicts to deal with between the flaps and motor when landing. I'm sure there must be a way, with a switch, to have flaps only and no motor control with the throttle stick for landing. I'm not sure how to do this. What so most of you guys do? Any help is appreciated. I have a JR 9503.

Thanks,
George

George,

There are differing opinions about running the motor from a switch or making your flap stick do double duty as a throttle stick too. It can be made to work either way, but I prefer to use a switch for motor and leave the flap stick for landing control - the same as on all my string launched sailplanes. A spring loaded switch or momentary push button switch would be preferred, but even a simple on-off switch can be used.

Programming the controller isn't really a problem. If you're using a Castle controller, most people connect it with a USB cable to a computer to take advantage of all of the programming options. They also have a field programming card that can be used too. If you happen to have a controller that can only be "stick" programmed, you can temporarily plug the controller into one of your flap channels to adjust the programming, then reconnect it to an aux channel to be operated with a switch in flight.

Good luck,
Lenny

See my post here please:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...6&postcount=12

Originally Posted by Lenny970

.....Programming the controller isn't really a problem. If you're using a Castle controller, most people connect it with a USB cable to a computer to take advantage of all of the programming options.......

If you have a Castle ESC and have Castle Link this is easy. The way I have my sailplanes is to set the brake to hard so the motor don't free wheel then set the brake ramp to slow to prevent spin off. I set the motor throttle response to slow to prevent spin off when powering up. All my sailplane motors are on the gear switch for off/on function and also all have a CAM switch to shut off at selected altitude. There is no proportional "throttle" with this set up so ESC ramping is needed even more. Throttle stick is used for spoilers or flaps.

It's mostly a function of personal preference.

That said, I like to start my motor with the LAUNCH MODE switch. This allows me to set all of the trims and render my camber adjustment inert so I do not have to worry too much about accidentally rolling in a bit of camber and having the plane "take off" on me on launch.

Happy Landings,

Don

First of all, take the prop off BEFORE you start to mess with the throttle settings...

i put the motor on the right slider. flaps on motor control. this is on a 9303, on my evo 9 i use one of the sliders on the front. doing both motor and flaps on the motor stick seemed confusing to me. expecially when in trouble.

I guess I actually use flight modes because I was heavy into heli's for awhile Once I made the switch to a full house setup it wasn't hard to start using automatically and I've had no issues.

Flight mode operated by 3-position switch on top left of my 9303 heli transmitter:

FM N (Launch): The MOT function programming selects motor operation via throttle stick only in this mode.

FM 2 (cruise): In itself has 3 modes operated by Aux 2 switch on front:
Mode 0 (speed): reflex (adjusted by left slider)
Mode 1 (normal)
Mode 2 (thermal): camber (adjusted by left slider)
** and throttle stick does nothing

FM 3 (land): Throttle stick operates crow only

I should add that I accidentally had the gear switch disabling throttle in one position and I left it that way as a double (but sometimes embarrassing) safety. Once I'm holding the model after connecting the battery the Flight mode switch is set to 2 ( no throttle), the gear switch is set to off-throttle and my thumb holds the throttle stick down

Cheers!
Glen

Originally Posted by gpeden

FM N (Launch): The MOT function programming selects motor operation via throttle stick only in this mode.

FM 2 (cruise): In itself has 3 modes operated by Aux 2 switch on front:
Mode 0 (speed): reflex (adjusted by left slider)
Mode 1 (normal)
Mode 2 (thermal): camber (adjusted by left slider)
** and throttle stick does nothing

FM 3 (land): Throttle stick operates crow only

Sounds basically good. However, most F3J pilots do not use separate land flight mode, crow stick is active all the time. In the heat of a competition, simplicity is usually wins.

In stead of land mode, you could have thermal 2 with little more camber and control response adjusted for floating. No flaperon etc... Using sliders for camber adjustment is not very precise. Also trims go nicely with flight modes.

My recommendation (assuming a right-handed pilot) is that the motor should be controlled by a switch on the top right of the transmitter.

From a "safety systems" perspective, I suggest:
- that an ALES model should always be hand-launched before the motor is started (there is something about a big propeller spinning near a pilots head that gives me the willies).
- and that the motor on an ALES model should never be started untill the pilot has both hands on the transmitter.

Gudmund

Do what makes the most sense to you, you are, after all, the pilot/owner. Ask 10 people what to do, you'll get 10 answers.