Electric Retract Question
 

Hello,

I have a question that is driving me up a wall, but I'm not sure if this is the correct place to ask it. I just purchased the 55" wingspan FW-190 from Banana Hobby and I'm having problems getting the retracts to work, while everything else in the plane is working fine. The radio I'm using is a Futaba 12Z. I have tried plugging the retracts into every channel in the receiver and they will still not work. I have also tried to assign different switches for the retracts and they still will not work. I have also sent a few emails to Banana Hobby without success. One of their suggestions was to reduce the endpoints on the gear channel to a point between 60 & 80% and that still did not work. Out of desperation, while I was at the flying field last weekend, a friend of mine let me see what would happen if I put one of his Spectrum receivers in the plane and see if the retracts would work with his DX7. You could have knocked me over with a feather when he hit the switch for the retracts and they worked ! ! ! ! !

Does anybody have any ideas why they will not work on my radio? TIA for the help.

David

RE: Electric Retract Question
 

Firstly, if the retracts work correctly with your friend's Spectrum gear then the issue is with the setup on your transmitter. If I recall correctly Futaba has its gear control on channel 5 so plug a spare servo into the Ch 5 socket and operate the gear switch to see if the test servo operates fully from end to end. Your radio is quite a high end model so any problem is likely to be with the switch assignment, inhibit settings and end point adjustments. Might be an idea to try a servo tester to drive the retract signal so you can determin the end point limits manually. As for your Tx, I think you'll need to go back to the manual and start from scratch.

Good luck.

C8

RE: Electric Retract Question
 

Hey C8,

Thanks for the tips, but still no success. I plugged an extra servo into the gear channel in the receiver like you suggested and when I hit the assigned switch, the servo worked like it should have, so I plugged the retracts back into the receiver and nothing happened when I hit the switch. With the 12Z, there is no "inhibit" setting associated with the channel. It is either "on" or "off", and when I flipped the switch, the channel went from on to off like it should. I will go back to the book and see if I did something wrong.

Does anybody else have any ideas?

Thanks,
David

RE: Electric Retract Question
 

Hello Everyone,

I just wanted to upate everyoine on my retract situation. I sent another email to Banana Hobby the other day and I got a response back yesterday evening. They are going to send me another set of retracts for my plane at no cost to me. In the past, I have heard allot of negative talk about Banana Hobby planes and their customer support. All I can say is that I could not be happier with the plane or their customer service.

I will admit that I was skeptical when I purchased the plane and I was already counting on having to buy a more powerful motor. Well, I couldn't stand it any longer, so I flew the plane Friday. I had a friend of mine hand launch it for me and the plane just jumped out of his hands when I hit the throttle and let me tell you, the plane flew AWESOME ! ! ! ! It was very stable in the air for it's size and the fact that it is a foam airplane and it flew like a much larger plane. I let a friend of mine who usually flies 50cc size aerobatic planes fly it and he liked it as much as I did. He also said that even though he had heard horror stories about Banana Hobby, he wouldn't hesitate to buy one himself. So if any of you out there who read this thread is thinking about buying this plane, I would recommend it, you won't be dissappointed.

Thanks again for the help C8.

Regards
David

RE: Electric Retract Question
 

Like cubaneight says, the problem isn't your retracts if they worked with another TX. Might as well figure out what's wrong with your radio set up. Maybe ask Futaba?

RE: Electric Retract Question
 

Increase your endpoint setting, not decrease them as banana Hobbies suggested.
What receiver are you using? If it has high speed mode, make sure it's not set to HS mode.
Pete

RE: Electric Retract Question
 

Gohmer,
I will try the new retracts first. If they don't work, I will ask Futaba.

Pilotpete2,
I have already tried to increase the endpoints and it did not work. I'm using a standard 8 channel 2.4 receiver.

David

RE: Electric Retract Question
 

David, yeah if the retracts worked on the Spektrum, the problem is in your tx/rx set up, but a shot in the dark, at least what I've run into on occasion.
Sometimes the retracts for what ever reason, have to see both sides of the switch so to say before they work. Power everything up, flip the switch, wait a few, flip it back, wait, then flip it again.

I've got some Eflite versions that once in a while have to be shown the way before they'll respond correctly. Like you have to teach them the end points.

And yeah all of the retracts like are in the FW have had to have the end points maxed out to get em to react, not reduced.

Oh something else if you haven't tried already, reverse your gear channel. Just on some odd chance the retracts aren't seeing the signal the right way.

RE: Electric Retract Question
 

Oh Well,

I don't have to worry about my retracts not working any more. I just came back from the flying field after flying it. I lost the communication link between my brain and my fingers (AKA dumb thumb) and the plane crashed.............[:@] It is a total loss........[&o][&o]

Since I lost my job right after I bought it, as soon as I can find another job, I will order another one from Banana Hobby.

David


Moderator, please feel free to delete this thread since it is no longer valid.
Thanks

RE: Electric Retract Question
 

Sorry to hear that. Better luck next time.