crooked stripe

I have been getting advise on mufflers from you folks for my first gas plane and it has been terrific. Now kill switches. I have a switch that turns on and off my ignition plus also hooks to the battery and has a charge plug wired in. Problem Isee is you have to get to the plane once landed to turn the motor off. Should Ihook up a kill switch that is transmitter operated? I purchased one, it has a switch lead, a switch that either turns on or off the power and a micro switch that is servo operated that kills the all power thus shutting down the motor. Am Isuppose to use both switches or do you all have a way that is preferable? Hoping for great answers like Ireceived for the mufflers. Ihope Ireally didn't confuse you. Sometimes Ihave a way of over thinking things. John

Mk23socom

My Feedback: (7)

A lot of fellas I know recommend using an Opti-kill. I don't.. but I DO advise in putting some kind of method of killing your ignition remotely in the event of a broken linkage or a servo freezing. I had this happen recently on a plane and had not yet set up an electrical kill that could be actuated from the transmitter. The plan was to wire in a micro switch and use a small servo to engage(close) and disengage(open) the switch. I simply wired the switch into series with the ground of the battery. I actually wired it in on a 6" extension so it didn't actually get cut into either the switch harness or the battery themselves. One other point is because I wired it in between the switch and battery, I have to make sure the switch is closed so that I can charge the battery.

acerc

My first gasser had a Opto-Kill switch. Never used it. All I use now is the throttle cut and/or choke. My advice is don't overthink this. Our nitro's did not have anything other than throttle kill. So by having the choke I have a secondary kill, both operated via radio. Of course this is IMHO.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

I'm with acerc. I've used optical kill switches, but I have had them go bad and then it was just money down the drain. I like being able to kill the engine from the radio easily. I've used micro switches available from Radio Shack and I've also put a servo mounted to operate the choke on the carb. Either way will easily kill the engine from the radio. IMHO the optical switches are a waste of money.

crooked stripe

I wired in a GP ignition switch harness tonight. I tested many times to make sure everything worked as it should. This puts 3 switches in the plane. 1 is the main radio equipment switch, the second is the charge jack switch and the third is the ignition switch that operates the module. The charge jack switch is mounted inside the plane. I figure when I  get to the field that switch will be turned on before I button up the canopy. This way with the main switch inside, nothing but human error will cause problems. If the first switch is not reset I won't be able to recharge. By the way can someone describe the Opto-kill switch. Thank you all for the info, John

Mk23socom

My Feedback: (7)

http://redwingrc.com/accessories/opt...ill-switch.htm

jetmech05

All my gassers have an optic kill switch.....I have never had a problem.....I always mount them on a foam pad....
An optic kill switch uses a small piece of optic fiber to sense power from the receiver...if the receiver losses power then the ignition cuts off. Keeps you from having an unresponsive run away airplane. Reduces the chance of the ignition system interfering with the system because of the optic fiber. It also is a kill switch, so you have an additional way to kill the motor from your transmitter.
I am in the process of doing a 100 CC Extra. I have chossen to use the smart fly power expander. That uses a long piece of fiber optic to go from the expaner, which sets near the back of the hatch opening, to the optic kill which sets just forward of the wing tube.
IMHO a kill switch is easier and a lot more relieable then a servo operated switch. Loss of power the motor is still running and you lost your servo operated switch.

BarracudaHockey

My Feedback: (11)

Having an optical kill is better than not having one any day. I've got hundreds of flights with RC Excel kill switches in a number of planes and never had a kill switch die. Not that they can't, any electronic device can fail, but its definately not the norm.

opjose

Yup, that's what I do too.

You get double duty out of the TX controlled choke too.

I rig mine up so that TWO switches have to be thrown on the TX to get the choke to activate, so I don't accidentally flip it on while the plane is in the air.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

I used to not have any problems with the same exact switches as well. But recently I have 3 in a row go bad on my so I have kind of soured on them for the moment. Very frustrating to pay ~$20 for something and have it go bad.

Ken

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I do as Ken does, it's really old school but it works. Last winter one of my old students had the optic go bad and it took us a while to trace the problem. I have often just used the radio with a three way switch, High idle for flying, low idle for landing and just sitting on the runway then when I hit the switch it brought the idle down to kill the engine. Sometimes I set up the choke on a switch so it can be killed that way too, hit the switch and close the choke. Last year I had the linkage fall off the throttle though and I had to fly my plane around at full throttle until it ran out of gas. A G-62 will fly a long time on 20 ounces of gas!! My next gasser I will use the optic kill switch but still set up my engine with the three way switch. If you have the optic kill switch then use it. Doesn't hurt to have a back up. I may change my mind too and do like ken, I keep micro switches on hand in my shop. You can plug it into port 5 for retracts.
One thing I always do is make sure the kill switch is on the side and make it so pulled back kills the engine. That way my holder can just give it a slap toward him in case the engine is chewing off some of my favorite parts. If that happens I would have charge of the radio and not be thinking about hitting a switch.

lopflyers

My Feedback: (12)

 I don't have either way to kill the engine on my new gasser. On its second flight ( brand new awesome looking 30cc Sbach) the throttle servo died mid air at half throttle.

opjose