Since I purchased G3, I've gotten more solid stick time in than the sum of all my actual flights during 2005 (only 11 of them).

I find that the right stick on my Futaba 7CAP, with its self centering feature common to most radios, is tough to control with accuracy. When rolling out of a steep turn, the airplane will climb and I'll have to give it down elevator, and I find that as I pass through the neutral position and the risistance changes, the flight path is choppy. Same thing happens when turning final and doing the nuance stick movements required to put the plane where I want it.

The included G3 interlink has a smoother break and allows me (at least during the learning process where I am) to fly a more uniform flight path.

It seems that ideally, the stick wouldn't have a break but would have uniform resistance across its whole range of motion. That would be nice.

I'm not sure about futaba, but on most radios (and I suspect futaba is no different), the stick tension is adjustable.

Edit:

As is stick height, which may also be causing you some grief. If the stick is too tall, then you can have problems at neutral (assuming you are a thumb's only flyer) because that is where the stick will be "tallest." Try shortening your stick height, and, if that fails, try alleviating some of the stick tension.

n Another thing to check would be if you have mixing set in ie aileron / elev. rudder / elev etc these could be giving you a problem if installed -- or maybe you need one of the mixes. Also check your expo settings they may be set wrong for you. This is why someone in another post said they prefer students to only have standard radios, they can't fool with the goody switches. I agree but think the computers are great if the new students would just leave them in standard mode. Hope you figure it out. ENJOY !!! RED

Another possibility would be to switch to Mode One, this separates aileron and elevator. The stick combination is RIGHT STICK: Throttle and Aileron, LEFT STICK: Elevator and Rudder. Oh, I forget, this not like REAL AIRPLANES! Like Mode 2 is!?!?

I understand this is not likely to happen. However, Mode One is a real possibility with much to offer and something to think about, if your club even has a mode 1 flyer left in it!

Yes, that is the reason for my handle!

Is "Stick Break" the proper term for what the original poster describes? I've never heard of this term.

I am not sure if "stickbreak" is right or not. What I am referring to, however, is the resistance of the stick. At this stage in my training, it seems that my movements would be smoother and more precise if the stick didn't center itself. If it had light and constant restiance through its whole range of motion rather than the constant force of the internal springs trying to center the stick.

Bryris, I understood what you're refurring to. If the spring tension and stick length are adjustable on your Futaba 7CAP, I would recommend adjusting both, so they give you a similar "feel" to your G3 simulator.

However, I thought the G3 allowed you to use your real transmitter to fly the simulator. If this is true, why arn't you doing so. This would eliminate the transition from one, to the other.

bryris - I fly with my stick tensions as high as I can get them. I haven't replaced the springs with higher tension ones yet but am considering it. I PERSONALLY like the self-centering action. It certainly makes it easier to fly "hands-off" at times. An accidental stick movement is quickly self corrected. Accidental elev input when all you want is aileron is also reduced and vice versa. If you find your plane flying inconsistently when the stick is "self-centered" I would suspect sloppy linkages/hinges.

Greetings from South Carolina Bryris

First thing that I would suggest is that you have someone that is a Instructor properly trim your G3 settings for training purposes.

Next try holding your stick with your thumb and forefinger, as you make any movements, all it takes is slight movements from the center. Just like when you are flying your trainer, all it takes is slight movements.

The resistance of the spring tension should be the same no matter where you hold the stick.

The accuracy comes from practice of doing any maneuver over an over until it becomes second nature.

When you speak of rolling out of a steep turn, the airplane will climb and you have to give it down elevator, 1st of all when you make a turn it is best to hold slight back pressure on the elevator while turning so that you keep the airplane from loosing altitude. If the airplane climbs then the airplane is either out of trim or we are applying too much back pressure on the elevator or the wind is causing this to happen.

Same thing on final approach, our airplane / and or G3 has to be properly trimmed for hands off level flight and our stick inputs have to be slight.

I hope this makes sense, it sounds to me like your G3 is not trimmed and you have to chase what inputs you give your radio therefore the settings are too sensitive and can be adjusted more to suit your stick movements.

I was gonna say that.[8D]

I'll bet that your flying with your thumb on top of the stick. Am I right?

You don't get a very good perception of where the stick is in relation to the center point. The center point is where it always wants to spring back to --in the middle. With your thumb on the top of the stick, it's hard to tell how far away from the center point you are.

Thats why your choppy. No perception of where the center point of the stick is.

Put your index finger in front of the stick and your thumb behind the stick. Pinch it.

That will help a lot.

I fly with my thumb on the top of the sticks without any problems. You can do it either way, depends on what works best for the individual. What I see Bryris stating is there is a significant differance in the spring tension between his simulator and his transmitter. So, I think he simply needs to make the spring tension on both the same.

However, doesn't the Great Planes G-3 simulator allow the use of your own transmitter, instead of the provided simulator controller? If this is the case, why would you not use your transmitter, so that there will be no differance between the feel of the simulator and actual flying?

Yes, the G3 controller will accept a buddy-box cord from your own Tx and it then acts as a connection for your Tx to the pc. It works excellent. And would be the best thing for a beginner trying to learn how to fly since switch locations always feel somewhat different from Tx to Tx. No need to deal with those differences.

BTW, reducing the stick tension of your Tx won't help you, it'll hurt you. I've seen a number of students who were awful until they/we increased the spring force on their sticks. They had no idea where the stick was, nor where neutral was. After they discovered what they were missing, they instantly settled down. For one thing, they had a chance to feel just how much stick they were putting into each command to the model. With less feel, they had less understanding of what they were actually asking the model to do.

darock is right. I find the extra tension very helpful. The tension also increases slightly as you move away from center and the spring stretches.
I also fly with thumb on top of stick with no problem. I teach both methods to my students and let them find the method that works best for them. It varies. We even have one guy in our club who flies with slight down trim all of the time. He wants to hold up elev all of the time for some unknown reason. [sm=bananahead.gif] His flying suffers from this but we can't talk him out of it. Usually lands on nose wheel first and bounces to a stop

The self-centering may seem to make a perfect simulator landing harder to do, but when you're flying a plane that's a couple hundred yards away (and your eyes don't automatically move with the plane as they migh on the simulator), it's very helpful to know how to ceter your controls. Depending on the plane's attitude, there may be no way to visually tell whether the plane is turning or not and very little to tell you what direction it's going in... that is not a situation in which you want to be unable to know whether you're giving it right, left, or nothing.

Reducing tension may reduce his ability to control his airplane, or it may improve it. You never know until you try. That's the whole reason why it's ADJUSTABLE! Some like it as tight as possible. Personally, I learned with the factory setting, and so it doesn't bother me. Everyone is different. I suspect that if I flew with Bruce's radio, I'd have a tough time until I reduced the tension some. You never know where the tension is set on his radio. So, reducing it some may actually help. You can't set at your computer and say it will hurt. Just like I can't say it will help. All we can do is give suggestions, and let him try them and see what happens. You're trying to squelch a suggestion that just might help him--you never know.

And, flying with thumbs and forefingers doesn't necessarily give you better control either. I fly with just thumbs, and do quite well, thank you. It can be done either way. I don't tell people you have to use just thumbs, so others shouldn't tell them that they have to use forefingers. Let them learn their own way--whatever feels natural, and in the end, they'll be a better pilot.

When I'm flying with my students, I am naturally flying and holding their radios while they have the "student" buddy box. Therefore I am exposed to a wide variety of stick settings both in tension and in length. I NEVER tell my students where to set there sticks but I do make sure they know that they are adjustable and how to do it. I also tell them some of the effects it MAY show them or may not. We're all different and fly different. I just try to make sure the students are comfortable as possible with the transmitter, they are nervous enough.

I agree with Bruce here. I show my students the different ways of using the transmitter. I show them using 2 fingers to control the stick, and just using a thumb. By the way, I use my thumbs and think that I do just fine while I'm flying. I let them try with a neck strap and without, that's why I carry extra neckstraps in my radio case. I show them how to adjust the tension on their radio sticks too. But with all of that in mind, I try to discourage them from making adjustments until after they have soloed. Why? Because most students have enough things on their minds to worry about without trying to fool around with spring tensions on their transmitter sticks. Any besides, they won't even be using their own transmitter as long as they are still on a buddy box. I just like to make sure they know what's available to them after they finish training. It's almost like everything else in this hobby, after they have learned to fly they will learn on their own what/how they want to do. Some will like 3D and some will not, some will like precision aerobatics some will not, some will like sail planes and some will not, etc... They just have to try it and see what they like, same thing with stick tensions too.

That's my 2 cents worth

Ken

I've flown a transmitter without any spring tension on the right stick, no springs left in it actually. (was modifed for a pan/tilt camera and I just needed to put a trainer up in the air on that freq for a quick flight...)

anyway, it is VERY, VERY difficult to fly without centering, and very tiring. you are constantly fighting it, basically the same fatigue you get from flying a very twitch heli. as others mentioned try adjusting tension, probably increasing it, and make sure your plane is well trimmed. you should let go of the sticks and it should either continue on exactly as is or slowly self correct, depending on the plane.

I fly with my thumbs also but let the student decide what is best for them. Sounds like Bryris just needs to practice and get comfortable with what he has ( if an instructor doesn't see something wrong with his gear ). We all have had students that didn't like the way their plane was handeling, then when we check it there is nothing wrong-- just not used to the set up.
I had a student this week that kept complaning that the plane wouldn't fly straight, it always wanted to go right. I told him to let go of the controls, ( I didn't release the switch ) it flew straight as an arrow, when he started flying again it wanted to go right. Ended up HE was puting pressure to the right without knowing it. Just a matter of getting used to your equipment. ENJOY !!! RED