ORIGINAL: RAGII
I had a .61 Evolution sitting on my shelf looking for a plane, and as chance had it, a club member won a DAGO Red and did not really want it, so I am now own a DAGO Red ARF. The question I have is regarding the retracts that come with this plane. They are mechanical, and after discussing this with some club members and they were saying that if the retract binds up for some reason it can quickly drain the battery, which could lead to an unscheduled (and rather abrupt) landing. Is there any way to have a second battery to power the retract servo? I do not really want to change out the retracts.
Thanks,
Rob
(It has been awhile since I posted, what happened to spell check? I could not find the option.)
I have several planes with retracts, mostly mechanical and one air. Sure it can bind up but it's very rare if you set them up right. Been using them for years and also a few WM P-51's. Now i would remove those retracts from the plane and put in some epoxy under the mounting blocks and secure them up better than they are. I do that on all of mine so they don't rip out. Retracts are no more a problem than anything else on a plane. Having an additional electrical system for retracts on a40 size plane is a waste of time, money and effort. Just not needed.
Your putting a Clydesdale before a Radio Flyer here and making a big issue over nothing. IMHO if you do this you will be creating more problems you would not have in the first place by simply setting it up right. Like he said they are not porportional servos and you cannot adjust to fit like an elevator, aileron or throttle.
The adjustment comes from where you attach the rod to the servo arm. Most of the time it's on the outside hole of a standard arm and also where the arm is place on the spline of the servo. Don't attach them both at once. Set one retract up first, get it going right and see how it works and then do the other. Cannot have the rods to long either or they will hit each other when the servo moves