Originally Posted by otrcman

I've always wanted to try BarracudaHockey's gain adjusting technique. But my limitation has been that remote gain gyros usually have just one master gain adjust for all three channels. So when turning up the gain in flight, one axis goes into oscillation before the other two. That becomes the limiting gain for the entire installation.

Flying tailwheel type models, I tend to use pretty high gain on the rudder. The reason is that takeoff and landing (where the yaw control problem manifests itself) involves very low airspeeds. So you need large rudder input to maintain control -- high gain. But aileron oscillation often occurs before sufficient rudder gain is reached. That's one of the reasons why I keep using the Hitec gyro; it doesn't have remote gain, but at least I'm able to adjust each axis to a different level.

BH, I've read many of your posts and know that you are far more involved with gyros than I am. Are there any reasonably priced gyros out there that offer remote gain adjustment on the three axes ?

To answer the question of Post #4, I usually start low on all three axes and work my way up one axis at a time. That takes quite a few flights, but each flight can be pretty short. I set up a single two-position switch for RATE and OFF. That keeps me from accidentally getting into Heading Hold. Each flight consists of a preflight gain adjustment, a takeoff and short evaluation of the "feel" of the model at the new gain, and then a climb to altitude and a dive to see if the system breaks into oscillation. Once I reach a satisfactory gain level for one axis I move on to the next. And, by the way, you don't have to keep increasing gain until you break into oscillation. If the system is producing the flying qualities that you want, you can stop right there.

In the case of your Staggerwing model, Matt, yaw control on takeoff is your biggest complaint. So I would experiment with the yaw axis first. You already know the model is flyable once in the air. So you might start around 30% on all three axes and then work your way up from there. You may find that the low gains in roll and pitch are fine right where you started. Even so, explore the speed range for any oscillation in spite of the low gains.

Dick