Hey guys I am glad everyone seems to be liking there De Ja Vu´s I know Pete is chomping at the bit to get his going and Ricks back up is about a week from being finished. I have read all the comments and the only thing that confuses me a little are some of the ones about the split rudder. I think Scott mentioned more switch flipping and Dick has commented on the weight savings. I think it is time to address both of these just a little.

1. More switch flipping. This I really do not understand but please correct me if I am wrong. To do a stall turn don´t most of us go to a high rate Rudder. Thats one switch to flip equal to if you have a split rudder. Also if I am not mistaken to do a snap roll don´t most of us flip to a snap condition. That too is equal with the split rudder. So as far as I can see its exactley the same.

2. The weight issue. I have weighed both the split rudder (Approx 65 grams for both, the Single Approx 75grams) so the split is actually 10 grams lighter because it is built up verses the foam. Now for the servos, the two 9650´s weigh approx 28 grams each for a total of 56 grams. The lightest rudder servo I know of is the 9151 at approx the same weight most other are 15 to 20 grams heavier.
So at this point we have equal servo weight and a lighter rudder. The only difference is the extensions. Also without needing a rudder servo mount in the fuse you can easily remove another 10 grams of servo tray weight. So all in all its equal.

Now the advantages. With a single rudder on a plane with SFG´s you will need to run a very high amount of expo and a very low amount of travel for normal flight. Probably somewhere around 65% expo and 30% travel. At those setting your servo, as good as they are today will have horrible resolution. With the split rudder, the one that moves will have about 45% expo and be around 75% on the AFR. This is where the servos were disigned to work at there optimum according to people I have spoken to like Steve Helms.

That in itself is the only reason we use the split rudder. Its not a gimic, its to optimize our $2000 radios and $100+ servos.

Hope this clears things up a little.

Chip