nitrobeast

Hey guys

I am planning on getting a sig 4 star as my second plane. I am also getting the futaba fast system which doesnt come with any servos. What servos from Hitec do you recommend for this plane? I want to get hitec servos because i have used them for lots of years in my cars and always had good results from them.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

I use Airtronics servo's, but the manufacturer doesn't really matter. I would opt for a decent high torque ball bearing servo for the ailerons, elevator, and rudder and a standard servo for the throttle.

OH, I am assuming that this is the 60 size 4*. Is this the 4*40? If so, then perhaps the high torque may not be necessary, but definitely the ball bearing servo's.

Where in NJ are you located?

DS.

nitrobeast

Sorry about that, its the 40. I was looking at

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXDEL9&P=7

I am located in Edison and fly at the Edison Field. Why do you ask?

Rui

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

I was just wondering. I fly at a field about 15 miles west of Atlantic City. The Atlantic County Skyblazers. We actually have two fields, one, Strawberry, is a NJ forestry field (they service their air-tankers at this field), and the other is Riverbend where most of our helicopter folks fly.

I had a four star 40 and loved it. I had an OS 50 with, as I said, standard ball-bearing servo's. 4.8 nicad pack. It flew great. I ended up selling it to someone that really wanted it, kept the engine and servo's, he has yet to fly it. I often wondered how it's performance (aerobatics and handling) would have improved with a 6 volt pack.

DS.

ps. I just eyeballed those servo's on Tower you added the link for. Yeah, those should do just fine. The size of the control surfaces on that four-star are not abusive to servo's so you should be fine with those.

nitrobeast

I am gonna go with a OS .46LA, should pull it fine. I too was looking into the 4.6v but still might get a 6 volt. What sytle battery pack did you use?

Thanks for all the help.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Hi Rui.

Well, I went to radicalrc.com and looked over their battery packs and picked out from there. I generally use NiCd's but lately, I've been using the lighter NiMH packs. I get a good 1200mah 6 volt that charges just fine on my Sirius field charger.

I did find that the OS 46 that I first used on my four star seemed sluggish. I was never really happy with it on the four star so I put the 50 on. It really changed how the plane flew. Great vertical and good aerobatics. I don't know what you are looking for, but the LA should be a good starting point.

I recently got a good deal on a trainer, a Hobbico Super Star RTF, that I picked up for the club. It came with an LA 40 on board and I put that engine on the Super Star. I also had a Macs muffler (all in one) that I used. Man, that is one performing trainer.. ha.. yet the student that flew it a short time ago seemed not to notice that added power. I certainly did.

Anyway, Tower has a pretty good selection on batteries. I opted for the NiMH's for the weight differences on my pattern plane where I use two of them (parallel, each on it's own switch and going to a separate RX channel).

Dick

carrellh

The Hitec HS425BB works well for this type of plane. It has top and bottom ball bearings and costs about $15. There's also a HS322 or HS325 that costs a little less. It has similar specs but only has a ball bearing at the top. Between the two of us, my brother and I probably have between 30 and 40 of the HS425s.

felixone

Slightly off topic, but not very...

The original poster asked about the 4* 40. I am looking to build a 4* 60 as my upgrade plane. What would you recommended as a good torque rating for servos for that size plane?

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Well, if you want to go to hi-torque and stick with hitec.. the 645 seems to be a pretty good bargain at $37.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...&I=LXUZ89&P=ML

As I said earlier, I stick pretty much with Airtronics. They are a tad bit more, but that's just about all I've used, and I have a lot of them in use. All the planes shown in my signature line below are equipped with them. I get great performance and they back them up. I've had one go bad, fortunately I caught it before a flight, so no harm done. Actually, I take that back.. Tower backed it up.. sent me a replacement right away, no questions asked.. never asked for the old one. But, as I said, whatever is your cup of tea.

I do own a few hitec's for my electrics, I must add, and they have given me good performance and they are inexpensive so I don't mind glueing them in the foamies..

Dick.

carrellh

I have a 4*60 ARF. I either used Hitec 425s or Futaba 3004s. I cannot remember which ones were handy, and the plane is in my brother's garage right now. Both servos have around 45 ounces of torque at 4.8 volts, and turn approximately the same speed. The Futaba only has one ball bearing but I'm not sure that matters. Since the 4* series doesn't have giant control surfaces or outrageous travel you really do not need high torque servos. I'm sure there are pilots who would notice, and appreciate, the difference between standard servos and $100 servos. I am not one of those pilots.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Unless the plane is a high-performance or 3-D flier, standard servos are fine for a 40 to 60 size plane.

I certainly would not spend a lot for servos on a 4* or anything in that catagory unless you have bigger plans for those servos in the future

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

I don't really mind paying $30 or so for a servo on a larger plane. Perhaps that's the relative novice in me, but the security of that little extra torque seems to help.

Now there are planes that highly recommend high torque right on the front page of the manual, so with something like that, I would definitely pay a few bucks more.

The Spektrum came with four very nice servo's, looked very much like the JR high torque. I'v used these on my new Seagull Super Star ARF that I am almost finished building. I picked that thing up from Horizon for $89.00 when they were dumping them a few months ago. It recommends high-torque so I am putting in high torque, except for the throttle.

I seem to recall that my Tiger 60 has standard servo's on that plane too, and it flys just fine. I did have some problems with flexing of the elevator conrtol rod when I first got it flying, but a little epoxy on the Sullivan tube fixed that problem. It was not the servo, although our instructor/chief pilot/guru/diety said that it felt like a weak servo at first, but after landing it, I grabbed the elevator and it moved in my hand without the servo moving.. voila..

Anyway, not to belabor a slightly off topic subject... but Minn is absolutely right.

Dick.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Dick, I hate to pay a lot for servos...

I guess that's just the cheap-skate in me

Campgems

I had a 4*60 and over powered it with t Mag 91 four stroke. I used Futaba S3151 digitals all around. Like MinnFLyer said, the standards are fine. You don't really need the speed or torque for something like the 4*60. It you find yourself needing a tad more, put in a 6V battery. I will cut your flight times some, but I've yet to run down a battery at the field. I have a couple planes with the S148 Futabas also. Perty much the same as the S3151's but analog vs digital. The only difference I've realy seen is that they don't "home" as accuratly. It may be that they are well used, but other than that, they function well.

Don

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

I understand, Mike. I guess it's the newness for me to want something that I think is cool or the best for what I am doing. I am slowly learning to use what I have and what is more appropriate. Heck, I don't hover so I don't need all that torque.. ha..

Dick.