bugseigel: Rates? You mean there is something other than high?

Marty:

This really depends on your plane, what it will do, tail moment (hinge-to-hinge), balance, moving surface sizes, and servo torque and linkages.

I will breifly discuss the setups used on stick-boom unlimited competition birds with good servos, plenty of moving surface, and plenty of good old Webra thrust.

Typically, the boom plane is 19.5 to 20" hinge to hinge, and I run about 5.5" ailerons on an offset pull-pull. Others are as small as 4". I run JR 4721 servos on a 6-volt NiCd pack. Pulling about 3amps, so NmHi are not recommended.

There are two setups: One traditionally recognized, and mine. Both work, though depending on the plane, your results may vary.

The first setup is outlined by someone else above. It consists of looping as tight as you can without mix, then add mix to tighten up the loops. This makes a nice, controllable "flying loop".

My setup began out of ignorance, but has resulted in tight loops that this year were the envy of all at the NCFFA nationals. It may not apply to all planes, but it sure works for me. I applied it to multi-year-champion David Grantham's plane this year when he had loop trouble, and it fixed him right up. Yeh, he even beat me with it.

I set up for maximum physical throw on the elevator. It hits my vertical fin post, about 65 degrees or so. This requires a strong servo. My pull-pull hords are set back from the hinge line so some holding torque is preserved at these high throws. The bottom line goes slack in this situation. The plane WILL NOT LOOP at all without mixing, way too much elevator.

Now I start cranking in mix, and eventually get a nice loop. I keep adding mix until the plane "reverses" after about 5 consecutive flips. By this, I mean the inside loop turns into an outside loop. Be ready for this, try it high, and be ready to turn off mixing to get it back down if this happens. Now, back off on the mix about 2-3 percent, and you have it. On my JR radio, I end up with about 100% mixing. However, this percentage will depend on your servos, linkages, etc., so it means nothing that I am at 100%.

This approach requires STRONG flap servos and a strong motor. If the motor sags, the loops will fall off or reverse, so be sure to set it rich!

You are right, the flaps have an opposite effect. However, if the moments are right and the mixing set and the power up, they work together in this fight, and the result is a loop in the length of the plane.

The first approach will safely get decent loops with many types of planes. The second will get you an edge, given a plane.

Let us know what plane you are setting up.