Bbagle1:

Getting your elevator halfs workint in union is frequently difficult due to the manufacturers design locations of the servos ending in different geometry thrust lines, or you simply locate each control horn a little different from the other. I enjoy walls and elevators, things have to be correct to do these with good stability. Bought a extra once because my fliing buddies flew so well. Finished with same engine, servos, battery and CG, mine flew like a dog. Spent weeks getting the thing sorted out. First check, elevator halfs were not even close at full deflection. Have a nice radio, JR 10X. No amount of ATV, servo speed or trying to match servos did much good. Finally cut off the hinges, removed the horns from each side, built a jig to hold each elevator halfs in the exact position and drilled a new control horn machine bolt through both at the same time. Now she flew fair compaired to my buds, but not good enough--screem @#@$. Now i'm mad. So, got out my crutch to hold the airframe in constant location, got a little lazer pointer, set tail direction toward a blank wall, made a X on a post-it note and started to play the the radio adjustments. When your lazer pointer spot you are trying to match is 10-15 feet from the modle, the end result is very fine. The end points were not a real problem to set, bring one side to match the other. Now, getting identical throws at 25-50% of throw becomes a little tough. After several complete charges of TX and RX, was finally able to get the halfs working the same all the way through the throw.

Ok, got it beat, sadly no. The wall was much better, but elevator was hard to control all the way to landing. Ballance was spot on, what could it be? Well, both wings were set correctly within .05 on 1 degree on my smart level, not there. By leveling the entire airplane in my hutch in all directions, things should be the same. Finally, found the right aileron drooped around 3-4% at the tip. Did the heat gun twist and shrink thing to where everything was 0-0, and ran to the field. Sweet, sweetness, for about 45 minutes, then back to goofy. Yep, when checked back home, the aileron had moved back to its original off position. The manufacturer was kind and sold me a new aileron, cut off old, installed new and low were at 0-0 and life was good.

Reality is when we fly 3D, we'r pushing design to its limits. A good stable 3D airframe is possible and there are some very good birds out there. Eyeball just is not good enough anymore. Gotta set ourselves up with good measuring devices. The standard mechanical guages are usually not adequate simply because the end reading is dependant on the angle you are looking at the meeter by, and the low friection quality of the device. ENJOY