southwest737

Hey guys
I have a few questions i would like to ask.
I am a mode 1 flyer and there is only 4 of us in my whole club the rest of the guys (75) are all mode 2. if you are a mode1 flyer or a mode 2 flyer will you please tell me why you fly that way.
Thanks

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

As you have discovered, with mode 1 you are in the minority. Mode 1 came about from old reed fliers that could not make the transition to the new proportional sets any ather way. Its just not a natural way to fly with a right handed person. I guess it just depends on how good you are with your left hand.

FrancisG

I used to be a mode 1 flyer until late 1998. I decided to switch so that I could have my friends fly my planes and they can let me fly theirs as well. I do not regret my decision at all. From what I remember, it was easier to do straighter rolls with Mode 1. But, when flying both precision and 3D, we use all the controls all the time anyway, it does not matter much overall.
- Francis

JohnBuckner

My Feedback: (1)

Yes started with single channel and became mode 1 as a result of the reed sets stuck with it slavishly untill around 94 and decide it much easier and finacially beneficial get with the world (well, at least the US) and change over.

John

Bob_Wilcox

My Feedback: (1)

I started flying multi with reeds (as a kid, that is all I could afford at the time). I have never regretted staying with mode 1 ever since. It worked great for pylon, pattern and now with my jets and helicopters. With jets, I am in very good company since Bob Violett fly's mode 1 as well. You will find that keeping both your hands active and coordinated will keep you ahead. No one wants to fly my planes either!!!

Outside of the US, there are lots of mode 1 pilots! Ever wonder why?

huey-pilot

My Feedback: (17)

I fly full scale helicopters and a full scale Aeronica Champ, since the cyclic or stick control both pitch and bank it seemed natural to use the right transmitter stick for RC airplanes the same way.

Wayne Miller

Hi,

Mode 1 separates the ailerons and elevators.

Since most flying is done with the ailerons and elevators, I found I had more precise control when using my right thumb for one control (ailerons) and the left thumb for the other control (elevator). With Mode 2, I found it harder to achive precise control of a second axis when the stick is a little off center. This is a personal preference.

I can fly Mode 2 and also single stick, but I always return to Mode 1.

Personally I don't care what people fly, as long as they come to the flying field and fly. I think half the fun of the hobby is the friends you make and the learnig of new techniques through the exchange of information.

Fly4Fun,

Wayne Miller

XJet

As others have pointed out, mode 1 probably originated from the days of reed-radios where the sticks were nothing more than a spring-centered switch that could be pushed either side of center and which then drove the servo to its full travel until released.

This meant a whole generation of fliers grew up instinctively using their left thumb for elevators and their right thumb for turn (be it rudder or aileron)

When proportional sets arrived it was only natural that these fliers would continue to use the configuration most familiar to them.

Once dual-axis proportional stick gymbals became the norm, I guess some people decided that model fliers should operate their controls as close to full-size as possible -- hence the roll and pitch controls were moved to a single stick with throttle and yaw on the other.

The reason that mode 1 remains so popular outside the USA is probably down to the cost of radio gear.

My first Futaba 4-channel proportional RC set cost the equivalent of several thousand dollars in today's money and they were like hens-teeth in this part of the world. Those were the days when importing stuff from the USA required that the importer had their own overseas funds and were prepared to pay more than 40% in customs duty.

As a result, lots of people opted for cheaper radios and many of those (like the little plastic Futaba 2-channel sets) used two single-axis sticks. This forced you to fly mode 1 and it was only natural that when transitioning from such a set to a full 4-channel box, the same mode would be retained so as to eliminate the need for retraining one's thumbs.

I fly mode 1 and I like it. As others have pointed out, separating the two primary controls (pitch and roll) means that I never accidentally feed in a little of one when varying the other.

And don't worry about the lack of control using your left thumb -- it's not an issue. A huge number of people drive stick-shift cars on the other side of the road to the US -- which means we have to use our left-hand to change gear. It's not hard and I find that when jumping into a US car that changing gears with my right hand is decidedly awkward.

Horses for courses -- I'm sure Mode 1 fliers have a raft of justifications for their chosen mode, just as Mode 2 (and 3 and 4) users do.

There is no right or wrong -- just whatever makes you happy.

RC_Flyer

Guys, 1:1 aircraft today are all mode 2? I fly mode 2 because it makes the flying much more precise just like the folks do with the 1:1 scale. I think the Wright 1903 Flyer was mode 1 but it didn’t last long.

Forgues Research

My Feedback: (7)

I have been flying for quite some time. Started with mode 2 then in 91, went to mode 1 and loved it. but because I was helping others fly, I went back to mode 2 (big mistake), so now, I just gone back to mode 1 and am not looking back.. My flying is more precise this way.

Roger

fiery

My Feedback: (2)

Almost everyone I meet flies Mode 1.

All sets officially imported into Australia are set up for Mode 1.

I flew in the UK, most of the fliers there that I saw flew Mode 1.

I'd say at least 90 % of "plank' fliers in Australia fly Mode 1.

Mode 2 seems to be a Nth American thing?

I am happy to be contradicted - these are just my observations.

Wayne Miller

Hi,

By the way, I had a very difficult time getting labels and instructions for my Mode 1 JR 8103 in North America. As a result, I put together my own document. If anyone would like a copy, I can send a copy in MS Word.

RCU will not allow me to put attatchements with PM's. So PM me (on bar below) with your email address and I'll forward to anyone who wants one direct.

In the meantime, if anyone comes across a Mode 1 Manula for JR 8103, I'd sure like to get a copy.

Fly4Fun,

Wayne Miller

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

I guess if you want to be with the crowd you should move to Europe or Austrailia

Forgues Research

My Feedback: (7)

As long as one is happy with the mode your with, is what counts. Lets not try and convince people to join a certain group. Live and let live.

Roger

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

If you don't have a strong opinion you are not a very good flier. Its like religion. If you have a strong religion you are convinced everybody that does not agree with you is wrong.

fiery

My Feedback: (2)

troll time!

southwest737

Wow Ya'll answered fast. Usually when you put up a thread it takes like days before anyone talks back. Thanks for all the advise it made me see both sides of the story.

Bax

My Feedback: (11)

I remember reading an article in one of the RC mags a long time ago that NASA, when trying to configure the controls of their spacecraft, surveyed a very large pool of people. Because they needed to create controls to hand-fly a spacecraft, they wanted to find the "best" way to do it.

After a very large amount of testing, including equivalents to the various RC modes, single-stick, too, they went t very conventional controls. The controls now used are not used because they happen to be the optimum, but because most of the astronauts who'll be flying the space craft would come from the ranks of military pilots. The system chosen had a configuratioin that the pilots already knew...one less thing to teach.

NASA's study found out that the actual mode was irrelevant. It only had to have good reasons for the layout, and any model could be taught. It's what you learned that counted. Pilots would train faster if the control layout was close to what they were already used to using.

World-class fliers have used a variety of modes, and who cares? Only the flyer. If the majority of people you fly with used Mode I, the Mode I is the one to learn on. Same with the other modes.

I use Mode II, can crash on Mode I, and have flown single-stick but was never comfortable. I learned to fly a Piper Cub before I flew RC, so Mode II was "logical" for me.

'Nuff said.

bax

Mac_Man_UK

The vast majority of UK fliers are mode 2 with the occasional mode 1 flier. In Ireland, there are pockets of mode 3 and some mode 4 fliers !!

Not sure about the rest of Europe as I have little dealing with them.


[8D]

ini

Bax is right, any mode you learn is best for you. Same applies for the grip, whether you fly with thumbs or have sticks between finger tips.

FWIW, in Northern Europe vast majority of fliers use Mode 2. In my 25 years of flying I have yet to see a Mode 1 TX.
I have understood that there are some Mode 1 fliers in Germany. In my early days in this hobby I thought that Mode 1 was popular in the States, but maybe that was wrong.

There is one good explanation to use Mode 2. For most people it is easier and to control one's writing hand accurately than the other one. As most of us are right hand writers Mode 2 is quite logical. In the beginning you really do not need to control both sticks all the time. When advancing in skills both hand operation becomes a must and advantage to use Mode 2 vanishes.

ini

southwest737

I have never even knew that there was a mode 3 and 4. How are they set up?

dirtybird

My Feedback: (5)

You and Mac_Man_UK have exploded the myth that European fliers use Mode 1.
Historically in the US Proportional control sets were single stick in the beginning (Space Control and Quadraplex were the first commercial units). The reed sets were widely available at the time and were universally mode 1. The better fliers used the reed sets because the early analog proportional sets were unreliable and lacking in servo strength and precise centering. When the digital sets appeared, they were adapted by the most experienced fliers who demanded mode 1. The people that flew the early analog proportional sets were primarily experimenters and not exactly good fliers. Mode 2 developed from the later group when it proved to expensive to make a good single stick. The rudder control was simply moved from the top of the stick to a new left stick. Thus it evolved that the better fliers used mode 1. Mode 2 later moved to the forefront later because most people are right handed.
Mode 1 does have its advantages when doing rolling maneuvers. But even so if you do maneuvers that require rudder inputs you might be better off with mode 2.

Ed_Moorman

My Feedback: (1)

Mode 3 on most radios except Futaba, as I recall, is a left handed mode 2. I fly this way. The aileron and elevator are on the left for use by a southpaw's dominant hand, just the opposite of a mode 2 radio. Mode 4 is a left handed mode 1 with aileron and throttle on the left.

It is not a valid comparison to compare full scale to RC since a different muscle group is used. In full scale, and I am a retired USAF pilot and instructor, you use the shoulder, arm and wrist, the large muscles. RC flying uses the fingers, small muscles, and is more akin to writing than full scale flying.

Many years ago I published a book of RC and during my research, I got to know a human factors PhD. We discussed this exact thing. His opinion was that most people were fairly ambidextrous with the large muscles, but most were not with small muscles, especially under stress. This is probably the reason I never had any trouble flying with a stick in a fighter or trainer.

All that being said, did you know that Chip Hyde is left-handed and flies right? When he told me that, I remember thinking that he would be really good if he flew southpaw!

RC_Flyer

I fly mode 2 as my primary mode but I can also fly mode I and I have done so many times. Because I have flown both modes I can tell you that mode 2 is the best way to go. A few of the many negatives of mode 1 are as follows:

1. Mode 1 flyers have a harder time retrimming in flight because they must stop using one of the primary flight controls, e.g. aileron or elevator to trim.
2. The throttle stick must have a firm click steps between RPM ranges to keep from having engine speed changes during aileron input. This is very problematic on landing when the engine speed should be controlling decent. Some mode 2 flyers like me remove the throttle stick detents completely for a more liner engine speed control.
3. The position of the aileron stick keeps changing every time the throttle is changed. This makes the aileron input more difficult.
4. Coordinating the aileron and elevator for smooth maneuvers is really hard. Try a smooth approach to a landing using mode 1 and you’ll see.

Bottom line, mode 1 is a just left over from the days of the Stone Age reed radios and is mostly used by the old “gray hairs’ :-). Remember if mode 1 was the way to go the 1:1 aircraft would be that way and they aren’t.

XJet

There is a degree of truth to what you say -- but that's why I have my transmitter set up to use cross-trims. This way I can still control the elevator while setting elevator trim and the same goes for ailerons.

I can't agree on this one. I have never had any problems coordinating throttle and ailerons using mode 1. Don't mode 2 fliers ever use the rudder when landing -- surely they're going to have exactly the same problem then. I find myself using the rudder quite a bit on landing -- it's a far more effective way of correcting your heading when you're on the final leg of the approach -- to say nothing of compensating for a slight cross-wind.

Not true I'm afraid. If this were the case, surely it would make the coordination of roll and pitch *far* more difficult with mode 2 where both are on the same stick. How do you stop small corrections to your angle of bank from affecting the amount of elevator you're holding in a turn -- and how do you stop small corrections to the model's pitch from affecting the amount of aileron you're using?

Again this simply isn't the case. It's very easy to coordinate both. Do you have trouble changing gear while steering your car? :-)

Ah, so you're a troll... damn, I've been suckered :-)