Is there a rule of thumb for the distance that the elevator should travel up and down?

Not really but for standard reasons I think it should travel both ways to a 35 degree angle. Most planes you buy give this info in the directons.

Most of my planes have 3/8" or 1/2" for both up/down listed. I like to have a bit more so I usually just set them for 1/2" up/down. 3D planes usually have higher throws than this, but you are not supposed to fly these at high speeds. I built some planes from plans that didn't bother to list the rates. I just used the 1/2" for both up and down and this setting has worked well. [8D]

Thanks rc. I bought a trainer for my sisters boys at Christmas and noticed the elevator was to have a half inch travel up and down. A friend got me started in building coroplast planes and just after lifting off at times the planes want to climb way to much. I checked my elevator and there is close to an inch of travel both ways. I adjusted the travel tonight down to a half inch. Im hopeing this makes for a tamer take off. A friend that is helping me to learn to fly said this last coro plane I built seemed elevator senseative at take off. Other then that it flys well. Im hopeing the half inch travel helps on take off.

Fastsky I will buy into that. The ailerons were the same way so I cut back the travel on them also tonight. I might fly it tomorrow if its not to cold. This coro is built to be a starter but it does some wild loops and spins and Im thinking, hopeing thats just because way to much travel in the elevator and ailerons.

can you guys show me a pic of the elevator ?

Another thing you can do is adjust the connection of the clevis and the control hor for sensitve or less sensitive movement.

Actually, you could have 90degrees of travel its how you use it that makes it good or bad. For starting out though its best to have some one take it up and trim it out ... if the plane climbs at half throttle, its usually a trim issue, not elevator travel,,,,now if it makes a stalling loop or tries to turn in its own length,,,that might be a travel issue,,, I know my Kadet would climb at full throttle to infinity... Its good to have it if ya need it but be mindful that its there,,,You might explore Expodiental as well,,,,gives a softer(or sharper) response on the controls,,,,,sure helped me when it came to landing,,,,took the twitchiness out ...just tryin to help

It flys well when trimmed. The only prob is on take off and sometimes thats ok but with that much travel in the elevator my thinking is if you dont get your thumb off the elevator enough or soon enough it tries to shoot up to much. I may be wrong, Im new to this but its sure a blast.

If it will fly, lift off with the half inch I cut it back to I think I would rather try that while Im learning rather then haveing the inch of travel it had. It trimes out good no climbing or rolling. I just dident expect a starter to do aileron rolls and loops like a sport plane and I think it does some of that on account of all the travel in the elevator and ailerons. I turned some screws in the back of the radio to reduce the travel. rc I have pics of the whole plane but not a good shot of the elevator.

'an inch of travel' only applies to one specific plane, so it isn't very useful as a measurement. (as planes have different size control surfaces.) an inch of travel for my stinger 1.20 is about how much I use for trim!! degrees are MUCH more useful a tool, and as someone else mentioned, about 35 degrees is a decent amount for most planes out there. more in my opinion is always better, you can dial it back with expo. for a beginner you want it set up so it is nearly impossible to snap it, full back elevator shouldn't usually snap, if you have that much control get rid of some.

HL, some planes will take off by them selves when they have gained enough runway speed. If your plane will do that then don't bother adding in elevator until the plane is higher up. You can test this if you have a good sized runway(500 feet or more). Start your takeoff at the very end of the runway. Throttle up to full and steer it down the runway. If the plane hasen't left the ground on its own by the middle of the runway, then its time to start adding up elevator to take off. Planes with a short fuselage, say 36" to 40" will respond much quicker to the elevator than longer planes with say a 50" fuselage. In this case about all you can do is get more experience so that you learn how to have a lighter touch on the elevator. If the cg is a touch on the tail heavy side, then this will also make the elevator appear to be too sensitive. I built some spads as an experiment. I made the elevators quite large and gave them 1 1/2" throws. The takeoffs never bothered me and I could land really slow and flair the plane nicely. I went back to balsa though, for me its easier to make planes look good. [8D]

Today I did my first ROG from standing in what would be the pilots box. I was a little nervous but managed to do it twice with ease.

The point I'm trying to make is trainer airplanes are very easy to ROG do to the way the main wing is constructed. When I was doing the ROG, just like I read in every instruction book , the wheels looked light on the ground and thats when I applied up elevator.

Normally I hold the elevator about 10-15 degrees up before giving the throttle full power. I didnt even give the throttle full power for both ROGs. I would'nt worry about over sticking the elevator but aileron and tail is easy to over stick.

I'm curious to know what kind of servos gives you 90 degrees of travel ?