ballport

There seems to be very little information out there on how to program the Hitec Eclipse 7 for Rudder/Elevator/Spoiler sailplanes. The manual is virtually no help.

I'd like to start a discussion. There must be others out there who are interested.


I finally, after much trial and error and a few tips from Hitec and forums, got my RES AVA sailplane to work, but there might be better set ups.

I'd like to share my set up for anyone who is struggling to get their RES to work at all, and encourage anyone with better set ups to share.

I'll post again soon with my set up.


Thanks to all who might post their set ups.

Thermals,
Bruce

papermache

My Feedback: (35)

Bruce,

Maybe I'm showing my age or something, but I can't for the life of me figure out what there would be to program about an RES plane. I mean, it's about as basic as you can get - up, down, left, right, spoiler up, spoiler down. What's to program? I can see it with a full-house plane with flaps, ailerons, v-tail and all the combos you can do with those, but for RES? Kind of overkill from my point of view.

papermache

SoarLA45

Well maybe he wants to regulate percentage of flap motion or program his radio so that when he pushes hi stick from neutral the flaps go down and when he pulls his stick thy go up?

papermache

My Feedback: (35)

RES is rudder-elevator-spoiler. no flaps.

papermache

SoarLA45

Oops big mistake... Pardon my ignorance.

OzMo

My Feedback: (3)

Hi,
On the RES planes with center spoiler a lot of elevator mixing is VERY nice for level flight on aproach as the spoiler can blank out the elevator some.[8D] OR so I hear from those poor beggars that have to fly Avas and Bubble Dancers and the like

ballport

Thanks for all your replies.

Surprisingly there is no reference to an RES set up in the Eclipse 7 manual.


A competition Rudder/Elevator/Spoiler sailplane needs to be set up as follows (subject or course to individual preference):

Rudder and elevator on right stick.

Expo on Rudder and Elevator.

Spoiler on left throttle stick.

Up Elevator mixed to Spoiler deployment.

Three pre-set elevator trim positions-Launch/Land, Thermal, Speed.


The Hitec Eclipse 7 has Acro, Glider and Helicopter modes. So far I've only tried Glider, which has two sub modes: 2WING (one flaperon on each side) and 4WING (one flap and one aileron on each side). Nothing for no flaps or ailerons but with a single spoiler.

About the only way I'm getting it to work is to use the 4WING set up and plug the rudder into channel 1 (the right aileron) the spoiler into channel 6 (the right flap) and use the Crow mix which raises both ailerons and lowers both flaps simultaneously from the throttle stick. Somehow turning the VR-1 knob fully counter-clockwise inhibits the rudder (right aileron) from moving with application of Crow from the throttle stick, so only the spoiler (right flap) operates. The Crow set up also provides for mixing in elevator compensation. Also the Gear switch must be pulled back (toward the pilot) to allow elevator compensation to work.

BTW: When the manual says a switch is to be "back" it means away from the pilot and "forward" means toward the pilot. Seems backward to me. I use the opposite in discussions and checklists.

Yikes!

The trim pre-sets are another story. The manual discusses this at length, but both the manual and the logic must have been designed by a crazy person. I finally was able to set three different elevator trim positions, operated by the three position Flight Mode switch, enabled or disabled with the flight conditions switch, but don't ask me how.


Maybe one could use Acro (power plane) mode, put the spoiler on the throttle channel and mix it to the elevator for compensation, but I haven't tried it.


Comments?

Bruce

flight2000

I see you're talking about ONE servo for spoilers.

I've modified a GP Fling 2mts with two spoilers. I've used two servos for the spoilers. I don't want to use an "Y" since I cannot have subtrims on each servo for fine tunning its movement.

I couldn't setup under Glid, I'll try Acro mode. I want to use throttle for spoiler, r & e on right stick.

My gear is Eclipse, R, E, S, all HS55, Electron Rx.

flight2000

Good point. I think that oriental designers must work for the occidental world too. I guess in Orient when you mean "Up" is related to "Left", otherwise I don't get the logic of put the buttons swapped.
I have little time with the Eclipse yet, so I'm not very familiar with it. But if I want to navigate to some menu, I must think "upside down" to get to where I want to, same thing for Increase o Decrease data. See the enclosed picture to figure what I mean. Lucky us, Left and Right are where supposed to.

SoarLA45

To use flaps on only one servo you use a large horn and connect the two wires or rods to one side...

ballport

Remember, this thread is for RES on the Hitec Eclipse 7.

flight2000

Sure, but think that is the complexity of the programming of the Eclipse wich difficults to set the spoilers.

jollyroger

My Feedback: (6)

I'm building a DJ Aerotech Chrysalis which has 2 spoilers operated by two servos. This could pose a problem trying to program the Eclipse.
One answer is to buy an Airtronics RD8000. These radios are known for their glider applications and I know many who swear by them. They are not expensive but have excellent glider programing capabilities. Either that or a JR 9303.
I also have a Flash 5 which has glider setups. Maybe I should consult the manual.

flight2000

IĀ“ve set spoilers on #3 mixed with #5 under Acro Mode. I canĀ“t EPA on #5, looks like if its attached to a mix it canĀ“t be trimmed. Sub-trims worked fine. I guess I can set a new mix to add a little Elevator when spoilers are raised.

#7 and Gear switches still work and I ought to be careful no to touch this when airborne since both opens the right spoiler.