Hello,

I received a Sig 4*60 (my second plane) for X-mas from my wonderful wife. How should the control rods be attached to the servo arms? I purchased two 4-40 size 30" threaded rods to replace the stock plastic control rods. On my trainer, the control rods went through a hole in a small pivotal cylinder with a set screw on top. Is this setup sufficient to hold for the Sig 4*60, or do others use another approach, such as a z-bend?

Thanks,

Travis

you are descibing what is called an easy connect never use them on a flying surface they are fine for steering or throtle but if the keeper on the bottom comes off or the set screw backs out you might go from being a pilot to a spectator watching a plane go in.z bends are fine on smaller planes if you want something a little better or adjustable put a clevis on it and be done with it.
roy

Bluemax Aren't wives wonderful!! mine got me a Hanger 9 P-51 for christmas. It's great having a wife that is supportive of the hobby. Like roywiglesworth said EZ connectors are a no no for anything except throttle they are too scary and can come loose causing a sure crash. I have a four star 60 arf and I love it it's a great 2nd plane. I used the control rods that come with it, you have the nylon guys for the rudder and elevator and you have to solder clevis' on the aileron links. I have had no trouble with the nylon rods. If you don't want to solder then you can use Z-bends on one end and an adjustable clevis on the other. Same goes for the 30" 4-40 rod, I would solder a clevis on one end and use a screw on clevis on the other. Just make sure to get the part you are soldering hot and melt the solder with the clevis or control rod not the soldering iron. It took me a long time to learn to solder because nobody ever told me that. If you need any specific help with building the 4 * you can send me a private message and I will be more than glad to help you.

As Lookin up says, use solder clevises. You can use the solder clevises that came with the kit and solder them to the servo end of the rods you bought. Z bends work OK, but if you don't make good Z bends, you'll end up with slop in the linkages, and since you spend extra money to buy the steel rods to avoid slop...

Need help soldering? Read this http://webpages.charter.net/rcfu/Hel...echSolder.html

I noticed today that both my local hardware stores had nifty little pencil type propane torches for under ten bucks, so really, there is no excuse not to buy a little torch and learn to solder. You will find that soldering skill comes in really handy as you build more airplanes.

Thanks for your help. Late last night I was wondering whether I could solder a clevis on the servo end of the rod and use a screw on plastic clevis on the tail end, so I am glad to hear confirmation that this will work fine.

One clarification: Are plastic threaded clevises sufficient at the tail end, or should I use metal. If I use metal, is there a problem with metal-on-metal causing interference, or do people just put adhesive on the threads?

Thanks,

Travis

have used DU-BRO heavy duty E-Z connectors for some planes up to 120 size with no problems.They have a metal washer and must be bradded. Have seen other types come loose or off.If it's a small plane or something to fly easy I'll use plastic,other wise I'll use metal,have had plastic flex on planes with lots of stress.

I think a good quality plastic clevis would be fine for the 4 star. The only time I have had problems using metal screw on clevis' was when I put one on a metal carb arm on a magnum .52 four stroke. the vibration caused RF interference and I had no control at anything about half throttle. A metal screw on clevis attached to the plastic control horn at the tail of the plane should cause you no trouble at all. I think you will be fine with either choice.

I generally refrain from using plastic (nylon actually) clevises on anything larger than .40 sized.

But here's the thing of it, I've never had a nylon clevis fail on a model in flight, only when making control adjustments. I have had a metal one fail because the threads stripped out. (Combination of grime in the threads and vibration ground away the threads on both the clevis and the link and resulted in a elevator linkage coming loose in flight. fortunately the elevator jammed in neutral. The landing was a bit harried)

If you do use nylon clevises, invest in a 2-56 tap so you can cut threads part way into the nylon. I have broken nylon clevises by forcing them on to threaded rods with out tapping them first. I think the stress and strain of twisting then onto the links without tapping first shortens their life.

Great Planes sells a nice set of taps with matching drill bits, sized for typical modeling use for a pretty reasonable price. They are repackaged industrial quality taps, and of surprisingly better quality than the hardware store brands.

I didnt know that you shouldnt use quick connectors on control surfaces. I am using them on my SPAD 40 , but I havent flown it yet. Maybe I should change to clevises. Im not too worried about my SPAD crashing though. Its a very tough plane. Is it all right to put a spot of glue or thread lock on a quick connector to keep it from loosening? These connectors seem to be as strong as clevises and make it easy for me to make adjustments at the field.

BlueMax 3 :Like the name Max for some reason! Here comes what I do ! Use your 4-40 rods ,I use Sullivan Golden clevises,(the ones with little clip)First put 4-40 nut on threaded end , then gold clevis, this is surface end. Take a bit & drill threads out of clevis so rod will fit in , adjust rod to length cut & solder on , this is servo end. Center servo & surface , adjust rear clevis , tighten nut up to clevis to lock(stops thread wear in clevis, install lock clips on both ends. The reason I drill threads out is they don`t make a solder one with clip. DuBro now makes a clip one ,but I just don`t like threaded ones at both ends (plastic don`t solder good ). A trick I learned with DuBro ones is just buy 2-56 ones, drill out to fit 4-40, you only need to keep one size ! Every thing is tight thus no noise for radio. I like this on IMAA ships as z bends get big with 4-40 rods . Happy Landings big max 1935