is there a way to use the parts from a rc car for steering and throttle on an electric rc plane?? im low on funds and wanna get my plane in the air!!

steal the stearing and throttle servo, battery maybe? thats about all you can do (maybe the fuel tank if you mod it alittle but they are usually to small (the car ones)
this is asumbing you actually have a decent rc car like a traxxas or something similer, not a cheap walmart thing which has servos integreated making them worthless for you

thanks for reply! ..ok but the steering and throttle servo will work though? im new to all of this..

It all depends on if the car equipment meets the requirements for your airplane servos. I can tell you that if they aren't right and you try make it work, you'll likely cost yourself more than a couple of servos.

ok its worth a try to me. im gonna try it on a spad to start with to see if it will work that way if it diffs it i wont be out to much.. thanks for the replies they are helping me out alot in under standing!

just look at the car servos you have and compare them to the plane servos you have (or need to get)
if you just post a pic of the car servos and the car reciever with the servo ends showing in the picture ill tell you if it will work or not
or just post a link of the car

You'll be out a lot if you get the plane up high and a servo dies and you lose the plane. Not to mention the safety reliability.

ok i dont remember what the car is exactly my nephew has it at his house. but as soon as i get it i will post pics.

Is your radio on 2.4ghz or 75mhz. If it is on 75mhz, it is ileagal to use for aircraft. 2.4ghz is OK

Don

Thanks, Don, for pointing that out to those that may suggest it.

As you did, Don, I was reading through this thread, I realized that someone was suggesting using the car radio for the airborne system, which, as you said, if it's 2.4GHz, that's one thing, but not 75 MHz, for sure.

The other point is what transmitter is the OP going to use on this? Certainly not one of those ground gizmo's with a wheel on the side and a trigger for the throttle.

As far as the linkage is concerned, well, for the throttle, it's a straight wire from the servo to the throttle arm, not rocket science and not something that needs an elaborate setup with bell cranks and so on. And for steering, I am going to presume the OP is talking about the nose-wheel, although the OP did say electric.. if it IS the nose wheel, again, it's a straight piece of wire from the rudder servo to the nosewheel. Again, not rocket science.

CGr.

first what is OP?? and thank you for that info on the 2.4GHz and the 75MHz... but what is the deal with the 75MHz that it cant be used?? like i said im extremely new to flying!

you cant use your car radio, you maybe able to use the servos the (mosdt car servos are just as good if not better than plane servos) that depends on the car you have though so please post of all the car stuff and ill let you know what you can use and what you cant

OP = Original Poster, IEyou

When Radio control was in it's infancy, IE tube radios and only a single channel that controlled a rubber escapement for rudder control, it was all on the ham frequencies. Sometime around early 60's, Citizen band radios came about and it was a wild free for all as guys had them in their cars, the truckers really liked them to keep track of the Smokey's. and later with the illegal power amps, it was the "free Long Distance telephone that every one got to listen to" RC planes were on the same frequency, IE 27mhz AM. Soon, the Citizen Band was a free for all and the planes didn't fare very well. A new band was set aside for RC use, actually two bands.

When the FCC sat aside frequency's for RC use, they designated the 72mhz band for aircraft only and 75mhz for surface (cars, boats, Robots, etc) When 2.4ghz was authorized a few years back, there were enough band width and with the designof the equipment on the band that frequency control on the flight line wasn't and issue anymore. There are other bands, IE a few channels set aside in one ham band for use by Ham Radio operators.

I'm open to correction and or new information that I didn't post. I was just and interested bystander for many of those years.

Don

thanks campgems!! i didnt know all of that. so what your saying is if someone would use the 75MHz for an rc plane there would be some problems if they got busted... how would they know you were using it?? thanks again

For one thing, aircraft radio systems for aircraft even look different than the 75 MHz car radios. They have a pair of sticks, one on the right and one on the left. Depending on what "mode" you are on, the right stick has aileron and elevator, the left stick has throttle and rudder.

Most car radios have two channels.. steering and throttle. The steering is on the rotating knob and the throttle and braking are on the trigger.

It is obvious, just by looking at them, that the radios are different. Many flying clubs have very strict frequency control for operating 72 MHz radio systems. One pin for each frequency. So, if someone wants to fly on, say channel 42, he/she would grab that pin, put their AMA card or club card, in the slot where the pin came from, and then go fly. If someone else has channel 42 and wants to fly, they need to first obtain the pin BEFORE turning on their transmitter. If it's being used, it shows that person that channel 42 is in use.

They, clubs, check to make sure that the members are aware of what frequencies are in use and that they are using aircraft authorized frequencies only. It's in their best interest to do so. The FCC does check from time to time.

Other than that, it is on the honor of the operator that he/she is using the right frequency for the operation in progress, ie. aircraft = 72 MHz, or cars = 75 MHz, and so on.

CGr.

It's not so much that you'd get caught as much as there is generally no frequency control for cars. So anyone operating an rc car within 3 miles of you could shoot you down, whereas you'll know if there are planes flying near you. That's the reason for separating the frequencies. The much bigger issue is the style of the radios. It would be a real pain to fly an airplane using a typical trigger type car radio. As a beginner, you'll have enough pains already without having to be saddled with a transmitter that's not made to make flying easier. If you need to save money, search for "transmitter" in the Buy and Sell forum and pick up an older computerized 6 channel with a receiver for around $40. They go even lower if they are non-computer 4 channel units, but you don't get the conveniences of the computer programming.

IMO - patience and using the correct gear for the given application will see you on the right path, and save you money in the long run from pointless crashes caused my questionable gear.
It took me 6 months to get my nitro heli airborne from when I originally brought the kit, still flying a year later without a single 'glitch' or incident as I decided to get good electronic and motor gear, which has paid off in the long run.
Would I wait again on a 'like' project if required - hell yes!