Originally Posted by Hance

Amount of channels doesnt really have much to do with it. I have three channel flying wings that wouldn't last ten seconds in a beginners hands. My Stevens Aero Adrenaline Rush is the same way 3 channels and its a handful the entire time its in the air. Jump over to my nitro powered Ultra Stick 60 and it flies as gentle as most trainers but is 7 channels.

How do you possibly need 7ch for an ugly stick?

4 for flight controls, +3 for what?

I think there is a big jump from stable in hands off flight, rudder/elevator/throttle to anything with ailerons. Some of us learned to fly RC with 1ch rudder only planes. Climb out until the .049 ran out of fuel then a rudder only landing approach with a dead engine.

I've built 2ch slope gliders that demanded 100% attention too. That wasn't the point.

0-4 are hands off stable
5-7 are stable aileron trainers
8+ is everything else

Just my opinion.

Carry on

Originally Posted by RHough

How do you possibly need 7ch for an ugly stick?

4 for flight controls, +3 for what?

Ultra Stick not Ugly Stick. The Ultra Sticks have a 4 servo wing so you can do flaps, crow, spoilers, full or half length ailerons etc. You can see the ailerons are split about half way out on the wing in the pics.

edit: If you look at the right wing you can see one aileron is slightly up and the other is flat.


Ultra Stick 60 by Hance1976, on Flickr

Top view of the wing

Ultra Stick 60 by Hance1976, on Flickr

^^ lol he looks srs

Originally Posted by chatch15117

^^ lol he looks srs

Lets just say people rarely do anything that might upset me

Nice plane there Hance! Liking the 'expo is for sissies' tagline, too

On channels, don't get hung up about it. Start with a basic model transmitter and fly what you want within reason. Work your way up to more advanced aircraft and get a computerised radio if you think you want one.

By the time you've mastered the basics with a basic transmitter, you'll actually know what the hell you're doing when trying to program expo, throws and whatever else on a computerised one. For a beginner all that stuff is most likely just going to make you confused... especially if you don't have much help to start flying.

Good to see everyones enjoying the thread.

Cheers - boingk

Originally Posted by Hance

Ultra Stick not Ugly Stick. The Ultra Sticks have a 4 servo wing so you can do flaps, crow, spoilers, full or half length ailerons etc. You can see the ailerons are split about half way out on the wing in the pics.

Ah ... very nice!

My first experience with all of that was on a F3B glider ... using a then cutting edge Airtronics 7ch rig. (1980's)

I can't imagine how much easier it is now with digital servos and truly programmable radios!

R

Originally Posted by RHough

Ah ... very nice!

My first experience with all of that was on a F3B glider ... using a then cutting edge Airtronics 7ch rig. (1980's)

I can't imagine how much easier it is now with digital servos and truly programmable radios!

R

There is a guide online to set all that stuff up for the 9303/9503 makes it pretty easy to do. I use a servo tester when I build so all the servos are centered when they go in the plane. Last thing I do is install the RX and program it. On a seven channel job like the Ultra Sticks I can do it in about 15 minutes. Most of that time is setting up endpoints to make sure nothing is binding.

I use a servo tester when I build so all the servos are centered when they go in the plane. Last thing I do is install the RX and program it.

For those of us without a servo tester (ie me), do this:

1) Connect servos to RX and power up TX.
2) Switch to a new model slot (computerised radios), or select neutral trim (non-computerised radios).
3) Power up RX and bind.
4) All servos will twitch and return to neutral position.
5) Unscrew and recentre servo arms.

There, done. Can't say I have a lot of experience with 7-channel planes (most of mine are 3 or 4ch) but I'd say the underlying theory is the same - centre your servos, have your arms at 90 degrees in neutral position, and make sure you trim mechanically before trimming with your controller.

Cheers - boingk

Originally Posted by boingk

For those of us without a servo tester (ie me), do this:

1) Connect servos to RX and power up TX.
2) Switch to a new model slot (computerised radios), or select neutral trim (non-computerised radios).
3) Power up RX and bind.
4) All servos will twitch and return to neutral position.
5) Unscrew and recentre servo arms.

There, done. Can't say I have a lot of experience with 7-channel planes (most of mine are 3 or 4ch) but I'd say the underlying theory is the same - centre your servos, have your arms at 90 degrees in neutral position, and make sure you trim mechanically before trimming with your controller.

Cheers - boingk

I bought mine on a whim. After having one I will never be without one again. Just plug a nicd receiver pack in and go to town. They are dirt cheap if you order stuff from hobby king https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...idProduct=8296

Thanks for the link, Hance, looks good. Too bad I only made a Hk order the other night

Cheers anyway - boingk

Originally Posted by boingk

For those of us without a servo tester (ie me), do this:

1) Connect servos to RX and power up TX.
2) Switch to a new model slot (computerised radios), or select neutral trim (non-computerised radios).
3) Power up RX and bind.
4) All servos will twitch and return to neutral position.
5) Unscrew and recentre servo arms.

There, done. Can't say I have a lot of experience with 7-channel planes (most of mine are 3 or 4ch) but I'd say the underlying theory is the same - centre your servos, have your arms at 90 degrees in neutral position, and make sure you trim mechanically before trimming with your controller.

Cheers - boingk

Aw shucks ... do that an you miss all the "fun" of using graph paper and the geometry that you learned in grade 8 to figure out what angles you need to get differential aileron throw out of a +/- 30 deg servo when you want 15 deg up and 5 deg down ...

I once built a mechanical mixer that gave reflex flaps with down elev and down flap with up elev. With differential throw so down flap was 3x reflex. Flying slope a bit of down reflexed the TE for the runs between pylons, then pulling up elev in the turns dropped the flaperons to make the turn tighter. Rules at the time required 2ch and 2 servos only ... I used to fly C/L stunt with coupled flaps, so it seemed like a logical thing to do on the slope ship.

Hance would probably have a field day with a C/L combat wing on 3ch ... back in the day a profile C/L stunt kit was cheap, fast and easy to build and had plenty of room in the wing for radio and servos. Convert the flaps to ailerons and you had an insane 3ch plane. And it didn't break the bank when you re-kitted it.

R

Originally Posted by RHough

Hance would probably have a field day with a C/L combat wing on 3ch ... back in the day a profile C/L stunt kit was cheap, fast and easy to build and had plenty of room in the wing for radio and servos. Convert the flaps to ailerons and you had an insane 3ch plane. And it didn't break the bank when you re-kitted it.

R

I am sure I would the idea behind the Stevens aero adrenaline is about the same and they are a blast to fly.

I don't see any ultra micros in the list. They are the slow learner beginners best friend. I would likely never made it far in this hobby at all had it not been for the ultra micros. If I had to learn on the bigger planes, I would have run out of money and patience really quick. I figure to get to where I am now without ultra micros to learn on I would have been out several hundred thousands of dollars

Originally Posted by bobly

I don't see any ultra micros in the list. They are the slow learner beginners best friend. I would likely never made it far in this hobby at all had it not been for the ultra micros. If I had to learn on the bigger planes, I would have run out of money and patience really quick. I figure to get to where I am now without ultra micros to learn on I would have been out several hundred thousands of dollars

Just keep in mind not all the micro's are beginner friendly. The SU26xp, UMX Extra 300, Ultra Micro 4 Site and the UMX Beast are advanced planes. The Vapor on the other hand is probably the best indoor learning plane on the planet. Its ok outside to as long as its dead calm.

Originally Posted by Hance

Just keep in mind not all the micro's are beginner friendly. The SU26xp, UMX Extra 300, Ultra Micro 4 Site and the UMX Beast are advanced planes. The Vapor on the other hand is probably the best indoor learning plane on the planet. Its ok outside to as long as its dead calm.

I sort of understand - my first plane was a SU26xp bought last September, still fly it on a regular basis. Next was a um t28 which I still fly on a regular basis. Lots and lots (hundreds) of crashes on each that would have put larger planes in the garbage bag. The su was way too much right off the bat, but the umt28 was close enough to get me started and go back to the suk. I bought a Champ next, hated it. And yep, had to have a beast when they came out. Beat that one up pretty good also, but even though it looks a bit tough, still flies great like the Suk and umt28. All of them still have all original parts plus a bunch of glue, tape and cf. I don't crash much now, but almost wish I had tried to keep track of the learning experience crashes. I was not a good quick learner. And the big planes seem pretty easy now.