What are considered "cheats?" Exponential? Mixing elevator to flaps? Electronic trims instead of manual linkage adjustment? Model memories?[/QUOTE]



Well said, Charlie.

How about centering springs on your transmitter sticks ? Real Cubs, T-crafts, etc. don't have any centering springs on the controls.

How about aileron and rudder trim ? Few light planes have anything other than elevator trim, and some don't even have that.

Do you have a bobweight in the longitudinal control system of your scale Spitfire or P-51 ? The real ones have it.

How about rigid control surfaces ? On a model, the rudder, elevators & ailerons are held rigidly in place by servos. On a Cub or similar airplane you can grab the surfaces in your hand and move them freely. Does that make a difference on a model ? You better believe it. Making the control surfaces rigid produces an enormous increase in stability. That's why flight test engineers always check stick-fixed and stick-free stability. If you're a purist, you should allow the control surfaces to flop freely, perhaps moving only servo tabs with the radio.

On the other end of the spectrum, how about flying a model of a modern military or commercial jet without gyros ? I think you'd be hard pressed to find a modern jet airplane (full sized) that doesn't have at least a yaw damper. So, if you are flying your super-scale SR-71 without 3-axis rate damping, are you really a purist or are you flying a less than authentic scale model ?

Let's face it. What we call scale models may look like big airplanes in outward shape and color, but they have very little resemblance to their full sized counterpart when it comes to flying characteristics. It can't be helped; when an airplane is scaled down to model size the inescapable changes in mass and inertia cause the model's motions to be far different than the motions of the real airplane. Now, if you really do want your Piper Cub to move more realistically in the sky and feel more realistic to the pilot, a 3-axis rate gyro goes a long way to adding "apparent mass" in the rotational axes.

From a full scale pilot perspective, I get about as much enjoyment out of watching a model warbird fly as I do watching a buffalo chip throwing contest.

Dick