I use my thumbs,however i was informed that useing your thumbs will put to much stress on the gimble's and wear out the pots,
Well i was flying my extra 260 one day and it went straight up then straight down smak. total distruction engine and all.
I sent in my trans.and receiver in for a check up.It was the Elevator pot that failed, so form your own oppinion.From now on i send in my transmitter once a year and have the pots replaced, after all it's a lot cheaper then a plane and engine,etc.

sorry i posted this in the wrong place and i dont know how to remove it.

this area is fine for this thread.... i fly the way i feel comfortable... im a thumber, so is andrew jesky, and qui que somenzini [8D]

Will using your fingers prevent "dumb thumb syndrome"??

I use my thumbs as well. The only gimbal problem I ever had was from some one stepping on my radio.
I would recomend NOT doing THAT[:@]

I'm a thumber all the way.. credit that to the Dual Shock controllers on my Playstation systems as I physically matured but failed to grow up in my heart.. I also do not put any down pressure on the sticks so I wont ever see a problem there.. nice, light touch..

Thumbs up for thumbs

I fly with my thumbs..had my 9 Cap for years never had a radio failure.......
Everything I read, thumbs or the pinch, is just a choice of the flyer

This is the first time I have ever heard that about wearing out the pot by using the thumb. I have been using a 9-C sense they forst came out, that's a lot of years and nothing in the radio has ever worn out. I'm a pinch person but don't know if that has anything to do with it or not??

Gene: My instructor was (is) a big Pattern person. He drilled into me that "real pattern pilots fly the pinch method". I don't quite know what to say about that. I seem to fly a combination of both, but mostly pinch method. My thumb hurts when I put it on top of those castle type stick knobs. [:@]

CGr

I file my "castles" away half way until they don't hurt my thumbs.

That is a good tip, Penuts, but I believe that my Futaba radios have couplings between the sticks and the pots.
That eliminates any vertical pressure from being transmitted to the pots.

I may be wrong, but I believe that each stick mechanism has its own bearings and centering springs and all they do is twisting the knobs of those pots.
At least I never had a problem with the posts of my transmitters.

I used to hear things like that all the time. Then I noticed one day at an event that Quique Somenzini flies thumbs only.

That resolved the argument for me in that it's whatever you feel more comfortable with. Quique does pure magic in the air with an airplane, and he does it with his thumbs only.

Thumbs guy here.


Pete

Yup.

I heard the same thing. As I said, I fly with both. That's what I am comfortable with.

CGr

pinch guy here, I started with thumbs. Pinch gives me more control or at least I think it does . Agree the the others, whatever is comfortable for you.

I am a thumb guy. I can fly smoother pinching, but can't move the stick fast enough to 3D. I would also suggest a good neck strap to everybody. Your hands are so much more relaxed when you don't have to completely support the TX.

david

As has been said above, the method that feels more comfortable to you is the one to use.

Regardless of how you hold the sticks, you cannot damage the stick pots by flying with thumbs. The stick assemblies are just not made that way.

My advanced instructor was also a pattern pilot, he was a thumbs guy. When I asked him about it he just said to use whatever worked for me. From day one I was a pincher. My thumbs are so short and fat I couldn't use just thumbs if I wanted to. It just doesn't feel right and I can't do it anyway. I do tend to add in some right aileron when I'm pulling straight back so I have gotten into letting off the thumb pressure and thinking about pulling straight back with my index finger when I do vertical movements. As just a sport pilot it's not a big deal but I do like to start and finish a loop in the same spot.

Well i guess my pots just wore out then.Helpless feeling when your plane goes straight up then straight down due to a pot failing.But it did.

Hi,
Sometimes I have a student do the pinch method. This can help them relax a bit and does seem to reduce over controling some what.
Proprioception is basically knowing where you body parts are. ( don't think about it to hard you'll get a cramp) The two finger method could help improve this. Some fliers may have a bit of decreased sensation( elderly, diabetics, arthritics, etc) the pinch method could help a lot in these cases.

Gray Beard, I don't know what TX you use, but try incresing the stick pressure if you can. I use a 9C or 10C depending ,and I found myself increasing the roll rate when doing rolling circle. Adding pressure to the aile stick helped a bunch.

david

Penuts.....electrical items fail.....I am an avionics guy if things electrical didn't fail I'd get kinda hungry.......Sorry you lost your aircraft.....but i think your a victum of just dumb luck

i know its not on topic, but i had the aileron spring break on me (inside tx)while flying, i almost crashed.... it's funny how when the stick doesnt return to center/neutral how hairy things can get

Sorry Penuts, I imagine it feels like suddenly loosing the brakes in a car.

Can you give us some tips about things that you did or did not to that transmitter that may have accelerated the process of that pot going bad?

Age, dust, vibration, heat, regular check service, etc.

My instructor was a pincher. He said you have more control and will be more precise using two fingers. His analogy was, "Ever see any one thread a needle with a thumb?" Well I flew pinch style for years. Then when I got the "New" Dave Brown simulator and stated putting in hours of practice I found the thumb style to me more natural and more precise for me than pinching. I don't know if it's the geometry of my hands or if it's from the brain nerve connections established during 1,000's of hours of video games as a kid using my thumbs.

actually i didn't do anything that would aggravate the pot problem, i would assume it just wore out like any other electrical device.
I just posted this thread after somebody told me that thumber's put more pressure on the gimble and wear's out the pot, and then it happens to me ,but i guess the way they are made thats not true.And it gave no warning what so ever just went out.
And i will not mention the brand name,i dont want to start another thread bashing brands. lol. But in the future im going to send my transmitter in at least every 1 to 1 1/2 years to have the pots replaced, and tuneup.