ORIGINAL: MikeEast
Now, I will tell you why I know this.
I stripped a set of Futaba 9151'sm (plastic geared digital) doing a knife edge loop last year, TWICE. I wanted to get more throw for waterfalls so I went from a 1 1/4" servo arm to a 1 1/2" servo arm. When I did I got what I wanted, BIG throws. 60 degrees plus. But when I would do a knife edge loop, at the bottom in the last quarter where you are pouring the coals to the rudder and correcting with the elevator to maintain course (THWACK) the gears popped on one servo. Sounded like a 22 caliber rifle. Fortunately the elevator half totally stripped and went to neutral and I landed with no problem. But I did not understand the problem, replaced the servo gears and lo and behold a few flights later it happened again. Then the light switch went off. I switched to a 333 in oz Titanium geared servo and that was it, not more problems. Of course this was in a 37% Scale plane, but you need to be sure that you take the appropriate actions for your plane.
hi Mike, great thread. I just wanted to get your thoughts on the whole metal gear, plastic gear thing. The one thing I noticed is that even with the metal geared servos there still is a "shear" gear made of plastic. I understand the reason for this and I believe that gear is designed for the maximum torque of the servo, but is there a servo that truly is all metal geared? I have had several servo fail from simply bumping the control surface against something while moving the plane. Strips the plastic gear. That's frustrating.. What are your thoughts on this.
Bruce