Those pushbuttons on the side of the plane. It seems obvious that they arm or enable the motor to start. My button came off (bad nut/thread assembly made the button push into the inside, plus AC glue does not stick to the fuselage material.), I fiddled with it, and now it's two solder coated bare leads. So, is the button "normally off", needing press and release for a momentary on? Or is it the other way around. Or is it normally off with a press to make it steadily On? I need to know so i can fly it with bare wires, and also so I can get the right replacement button.

Thank you!,

Roger

What brand/model of plane are you talking about ( please provide URL link )?

Push button???

Not familiar with... at least as it relates to RC planes??

It seems to me that the push butto is a On-Off switch to power the system.

Check the broken switch.
If it makes a "click", then it is On-Off.
No "click" would indicate it is a contact switch; but that will imply some kind of relay is used, which is improbable for simple circuits.

This one is rated for 10 A and is available from radio Shack:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2062519

Ya know... I think a Firebird that I had years ago had a pushbutton to arm switch.......

Hi, and thank you for your suggestion. This is a Skyhawk http://www.raidentech.com/3skyharereco.html

The pushbutton is located right beside the sliding on-off switch. I disconnect the battery when I'm done, but I still turn the switch to off.

There is an ultra-micro pushbutton near the on-off switch, which rattled loose and then came apart. While I was fiddling with it, a wire came off of it, so I made two bare ends. CA glue won't stick to the slick body and wing plastic. I hope to find my Gorilla Glue to use for a try, and I'll use the foam cement to see if that works.

Roger

Hmmmm...I can imagine how a non-click momentary switch works. But you're right if the pushbutton were purposed to carry continuous current. Mine never clicked, but I had to press it to get the prop to respond to my radio. This might be a simple question, but i don't want to arrogantly overlook some purpose I can't figure out on my own. The sliding on-off switch is right beside the momentary pushbotton.

Thank you for writing,

Roger

Please explain what you mean by "two bare ends" and what you plan to do with these wires. This sounds like an accident in the making.

There should never be two, or any number for that matter, bare wires anywhere in the model. They should be securely attached to something, be it by solder, or a screw termination, or something.

From what I can make of your post, CA'ing two wires or Gorilla glue two bare wires will not work.. period.

The best thing you can do is find a replacement switch and wire it up properly. Anything in the plane is prone to vibration and, of course, the effects of vibration, which means it will come undone, come loose.. and cause the plane to come down.. meaning a crash, which simply is not good either for the plane or for anyone or anything that happens to be under it when it comes down.

CGr.

I believe the momentary switch is used for channel selection.... to teach the RX the transmitter's channel.

As CGRetired stated, you should replace the switch.... these are relatively easy to find slider switches.

I wasn' planning on using the glue for making electrical connections. I probably should have mentioned that. I'm betting that it's a micro momentary on pushbutton switch. I will ask the factory to make sure, then solder in another micro sized momentary on pushbutton to he ends of the two wires.
It's like playing poker.

Roger

Ok.. you had us going for a minute there.. No harm - no foul. I just wanted to be sure you weren't setting yourself up for a disaster. We can only comprehend what we read, and often, we find that folks will actually do something like that. Wphew..

CGr.

Vibration is the biggest enemy of switches (and all other electronics) in an RC plane. Glow is worse than electric but beware either way.

I have seen (and had) these push to arm ESCs on a few cheaper electric planes. It is to arm the motor after power up. I got tired of it on one, and just twisted the 2 wires together. The only downside was as soon as the plane comes on the motor can spin if the throttle is above idle, not a good idea for a plane with too much power.

Good, I can believe that explanation. Being such a beginner, I like the arm/disarm feature. It helps me do last-minute checks before I fly.

Roger

Why the cheaper planes? Do they assume that guys with expensive planes are better operators? Personally, I like the switch.

Roger

More experienced RC'rs avoid adding potential failure points to their costly planes.

Novices tend to expect things like switches to turn a plane's power system on ( a bad idea ), not realizing the problems and dangers.

As a result this type of thing is usually found in the less expensive planes typically purchased by beginners.

The first time I purchased a small electric plane I was put off by the lack of a switch... now I know better.

This is so very true. We preach that minimizing points of failure is the way to go. The more you add "stuff" to the model, there more there is to go wrong and cause problems. The worse place to have a failure is in the power system, from the battery to the motor (if electric power) or from the battery to the receiver.. if glow or gas. You just don't want to lose power to a receiver during flight.. period.

So, we say that less is always best. There are exceptions, but not in the beginners phase.

CGr.

Got it. I'm going to remove the arming switch. It didn't even have the quality to take the nut on the back to tighten it down. From what I see, There is no need for that switch. Besides, I have a habit of going over all the points of motorized objects before I turn them on, gleaned from 35 years of contracting under my own license. If a board is out of place on a chop saw, it can easily explode and damage your hands and face.

Beginners get hurt, and when I started at about the age25 I hurt myself several times. Now I have a short finger and a healthy feat of power tools, and a 25 year record of not hurting mysels, like stepping backward off a roof.

Roger