Do you know if i can put flaperons on my superstar? I'll be using a futaba 6exa radio

It is possible to put flapperons on any aircraft with ailerons. You will need a servo for each wing and activate the function from the transmitter.

EXCAP232

All you are doing is programming your radio to make the ailerons behave like flaps when you use the elevator . when you move the elevator up, the ailerons should go down. Make sure that your end point adjustments are accurate,if the flaps don,t move an equal amount you could be in for an interesting flight. Flaperons will open up your flight envelope, and they even saved a plane for me once when the elevator servo went out.

combatpig,
Flaperons have nothing to do with elevator. What you're describing sounds more like you were using spoilerons, but with elevators instead of separate surfaces on the wings.

ICE,
Yes, separate servos in each wing are required, but then it's a simple matter of plugging one servo into channel 1 (Aileron channel), and the other servo into channel 6. You then use the "Flaperon function to "mix" the two channels. That way, they will behave as ailerons normally do when moving the right hand stick back and forth, but will both drop down using the "flap" Knob on your 6EXA.

I think you have a flap knob anyway. I have the 6 XAS which does. But anyway, if not a knob then a 3 way switch.
Dennis-

Well Dennis beat me into clarifying the issue between flaperons and spoilerons. [&:]

On a futaba T6XA ---- (elevator -> flap coupling) 2->6 : (Transmitter level)
Input to transmitter channel 2 affects receiver output channels 2 and 6

Unlike the flaperons this is only good for 3D applications

You guys are wrong . The flaperon function is spelled out in black and white in my FUTABA manual. Flaperons are a variable airfoil control sceme that work in conjunction with the elevator to basically tighten up your loops. A spoileron or for that matter a spoiler anything is used for dumping speed and are not coupled to the elevator. Coupling the FLAPS tothe ELEVATOR was first done by controlline stunt guys to execute square corners on inside and outside loops, but this control sceme never had a cute name to go with it until RC guys blended this control sceme into their aileron equipped ships. If I'm wrong, I'll have to send an emergency memo over to the PROFILE BROTHERHOOD and tell all 400 of them to drop everything so that they can reprogram their planes for SPOILERON CONTROL! Where is that SPOILERON SWITCH at anyway?

It is also explained the same way in the JR and Hitec manuals and is indeed noted as Flaperons. A 3 postion switch is used to activate the flapperons. Center postion is off and the other postion is noted as landing mode. This is where I use a spoileron setting as I can add up flaps moving up(spoilerons) and elevator trim (up also) to kill the lift for elevator maneuvers.

Just for your reference, the 6exa does lots of pre-mixed stuff. I used the Flapperon mixing of the 6exa on my UltraSport.

When you set the flapperon mixing, it automatically reduces the normal aileron travel to 60% of the servo travel. This leaves 40% available for extended flaps. I found this confusing for a while because I set my aileron travels before I switched on the flapperon mixing.

So, if you want to go with flapperons, you have to know before you set all your control linkages. Set the radio to flapperon mixing, set the high/low rate ailerons, then see what happens when you play with the twist knob at the top.

My opinion of the actual twist knob is "marginal". I found that it was too easy to bump it, causing the flaps to deploy. I was never quite sure where they were in flight, so I disabled them until I got to know the plane better (and before I add more variables to it's behaviour).

gus

P.S. For the record, I now fly with a Y harness for ailerons. No mixing at all.

Flaperons are Flap and Aileron mixing. What you're talking about is elevator/flap mixing which doesn't have a name other than elevator/flap mixing that I know of.

The Futaba manuals have a lot of errors in them. I never noticed this in my futaba manuals, but what you're saying flaperon is, is wrong.

BTW. These type of mixes can be achieved mechanically if someone is so inclined. Used to be the only way to do it. One servo hooked to both controls and the other servo moved the the servo tray that both servos were mounted in.

Right. Flaperons = Flap, ailerons. Where exactly does elevator enter into it.
What you're describing should be referred to as Flapevator, because Elevon is already used.

By the way, Flaperons have been around a long time, long before anyone wanted to do 3D.

Now as a caveat, we often times mix some elevator in with our flaps to prevent the plane from "ballooning" when flaps are applied. But as has been mentioned, Flap to Elevator mixing is completely separate from the Flaperon function.
Dennis-

You guys are correct when you break the[colloquial] term down to it's purest meaning, but the term FLAPERON I believe was coined by the crowd who run them with a coupled elevator. I have run flaperons experimentally uncoupled and they have no usefull application for the planes that I fly.

I'm with CafeenMan and DBCherry on this one. It drives me nuts when people misuse terms and then insist that they are correct.

Flaperons are available to facilitate the use of a flap function on aircraft that aren't equipped with seperate flaps and ailerons. Therefore there probably isn't a full scale equivalent to refer to.
Flaperons are just deployed in the same circumstances where you would normally use flaps. If as a result of using the flaps a trim change is required, then you can mix in some elevator to correct this. JR simply refers to this as elevator to flap mixing. There is a three position switch on the XP8103 to enable this and is labelled as such.

I believe 'Flaperons' is where both ailerons drop to work as flaps and 'spoilerons' is where both ailerons are raised to work as spoilers. I will stand by this definition without a shadow of a doubt unless someone can prove it wrong from a recognized source. No, a Futaba manual doesn't count...

Found this via Ask Jeeves:

flaperon

SYLLABICATION: flap·er·on
PRONUNCIATION: flp-rn
NOUN: A control surface on an aircraft wing functioning both as a flap and as an aileron.
ETYMOLOGY: flap + (ail)eron.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.


This one is interesting, showing a full scale implementation but no mention of elevators... [link=http://www.tpub.com/air/9-7.htm]Flaperons[/link]

Recognized source? How about the American Heritage Dictionary?

SYLLABICATION: flap·er·on
PRONUNCIATION: flp-rn
NOUN: A control surface on an aircraft wing functioning both as a flap and as an aileron.
ETYMOLOGY: flap + (ail)eron.

How's that guys?

TIGGERINVA! Howdy! I just looked in my WEBSTERS" and also checked my TIME-LIFE aviation encyclopia and FLAPERON is not even a word, the term only exists in the minds of those who fly toy airplanes. It drives me nuts when people over react to such trivial junk. If it bothers you this much, you have one heck of a huge crusade facing you, because I'm not the only person who expects to see the elevator coupled when I switch to flaperon mode. I'll bet your dictionary lists AINT as a word also.

Snap! Found it before you
I think it kind of proves the point, although that other resource I found requires some figuring out but still eliminates the elevators....

Yup, I first looked at the www.m-w.com site for it but didn't find a reference...
Unforunately, not every dictionary or reference book has every word in it, otherwise research would be very easy wouldn't it?

Look at my 2nd link, it contains details of all sorts of full scale control mechinisms. You'll find that flaperons definitely exist in the 'real' world....

A lot of you are going to be disappointed then.

It sounds to me like it's a term defined differently in your circle. No big deal.

Maybe we should settle this once and for all. I'm going to check my American Heritage dictionary...

Well, tiggerniva, great minds thing alike I guess.

TIGGERINVA! You hit the nail on the head. ICEMAN!! If you are still there, sorry about jamming up your post. I think that having your flaperons setup so that the elevator moves .opposite to the flap travel will enhance your overall flying experience. Start out conservatively , and make sure that your flaps are at a neutral position, it's easy to crash a plane if your flap knob is tweaked out of position. You should check flap neutral before each flight. Have fun!

Just a warning to all. Flaps change the drag, and lift of the aiplane's wing. It also changes the theoretical center of lift of the wing. Bascially, a balanced plane has the CG at or near the CofLift. Flaps change the CofLift, thus, IF the CofLift stays in front of the CG, then the plane will want to nose up ("baloon"), then the correct elevator input is to push forward to keep level. If the CofLift moves behind the CG then the nose will want to go over, and the correct elevator response is to pull back to keep level. There is no "right" answer to what to do without experiencing the behaviour of your own particular plane.

Further, there is not necessarily a linear relationship between the degree of flaps, and the elevator response required.

Basically, when using flaps, be even more on the ball.

gus

I guess the Airforce TO (technical order) for the F-4E phantom has been using a word that doesnt exist for a long time. [sm=rolleyes.gif]

Here is a link from American Heritage Dictionary, Aeronautics section, Flaperon;

[link=http://www.bartleby.com/61/67/F0166750.html]FLAPERON[/link]

IceMan, now that everyone has argued back and forth on whether FLAPERON is truly a word, if you'll take a look at page 14 of the manual for the 6EXA it will tell you exactly what you have to do to set up flaperons on any plane that uses dual servos for the ailerons. Now, looking at the manual for the Superstar (assuming you are talking about the Hobbico Superstar ARF), that only uses a single center servo, therefore the answer to your initial question is no, you cannot set this plane up for flaperons.

I'll bet the F4-E has the elevator coupled to make this control sceme work .

Sorry guys I only get to get on a computer when im at my dads or at school and i haven't been here in a while! Well I know that flaperons don't have anything to do with elevators<that ive seen> Unless its a delta wing type thing. Also I like it when you guys go back and forth cuz eventually the person who is wrong will admit it and i will know for sure what it is. As my dad says "In football fight are good somtimes" He used to be a coach.