Hello again


Well decided to put the escapade together this morning. All has gone well but had a couple questions that I wanted to ask before I go making a mistake.

The nylon strap that holds the two wing halfs together, Is that secured with wood screws or machine screws? I ask because I would assume woon screws but the screws I have left seem small (about size of servo mounting screws)

Another question I had was about duel ailerons. I didnt install them now as I want to keep it really simple for the first few days of flying. But would I benefit from duel ailerons in the very near future? Im thinking flapperons. This is my first plane after the trainer (trainer time ended early but not by me lol)

hmmm another question is also about duel ailerons. It says I can mount the servo horn to the control surface using just supplied phillips wood screws. I thought I had to use backer plates and a nut? This is the real reason i didnt hook them up in the first place.

1 - Wood screws. Just about any size wood screw will work as there is very little strain (if any) on that strap.

2 - There is really no reason to ever need dual aileron servos on a plane of this type. As for Flapperons... Bad idea on ANY airplane. Just use the single servo option and you'll be fine.

You don't have to use a back plate for your control horn on the Escapade. There is a hardwood block set in the ailerons for wood screws to screw into. The only time you need to use a backplate is if the wood is balsa, which is too soft to handle the stresses.

One thing of note on the single servo aileron. you will have to relocate the battery from where the manual calls for it to go. If using a single servo the battery in the shown location will keep the wing from being mounted. It's not a big deal to move the battery though, just thought I would point it out now.

Ken

Thanks for the quick response! I will use those screws for the strap.

As for flapperons, I really just want to use more of my transmitter and thought that be a way LOL. I guess I will just finally set up duel rates to get some use out of it

Once again Thanks!

Ken, Is this true even if I use a flat 6v? I guess I could just check...but going out door for work. Thanks

You would have to check if it fits. I got the info about the battery from another guy in our club. He built his with a single servo and had that issue, but I know he was using a square battery pack. If yours fits good, if not it's easy to move.

Ken

Don't get too anxious to "use more of your transmitter". If anything, more people should use LESS of their transmitter.

Dual rates is another bad idea unless you are flying 3-D. I have seenWAY TOO MANY people who crashed an airplane because they tried to do amaneuver and forgot that they had their low rates on, or they got introuble and didn't have enough control to get out of it.

If you want to use more of your Tx's potential, try adding some Expo.

With Expo, you get the advantage of low control when making small stick movements while you still have full control if you should need it.

I wound up building mine with a AAA 4 battery flat pack and put the battery in the top of the fuse, alongside the throttle rod forward of the servo tray. It doesn't interfere with rod movement and balances well with a Magnum 52FS.

I'll echo what Minnflyer said, you don't need dual aileron servos on this plane. I built mine with single servo and it is more than adequate for what this airframe is capable of and was meant to do! If you haven't already, make sure you check out the Escapade Arf thread for some other tips. Heres a link incase you haven't.

[link]http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8067138/anchors_8067138/mpage_1/key_escapade%252Carf/anchor/tm.htm#8067138[/link]

I used a single servo in my wife's, what the heck it's a very basic plane. You will have to relocate the battery if using a single servo, I put it next to the fuel tank. Keep it simple and light and your going to really like this plane.

Well went to field today, Kinda rushed getting it in the air. Ended like you should expect a rush to end.....crash. Took off, then went left then right then left then right then right into the ground. It was sooo pretty too. I didnt try flying this yet, I had an instructor take it up. There were a number of things that helped cause this. Throws were not set up, balanced perfect...not really, I learned alot today and wont let these mistakes happen again.

sorry to hear about the crash but, ya learn lessons about getting them together and making sure everythings right. Everyone says this plane takes about 4-6 hours to build, between me not having the right pieces and me being super anal since it was my first arf i went over and over it and it took me more like 20 hours to assemble as i went at a very slow pace and rechecked everything. Not saying this is nessicary but thats what i did.

As for set up i did dual ailerons wiht a 6v battery and the plane flies like a bat outta hell. insane roll rate, real crisp snappy response, frankly i love it that way, and i think i got the dumbest ear to ear grin every time its in the air. I also have dual rates that i use for landing but i forget them half the time. but i can still land it on high rates.

Hi, Mike since you mentioned usingexpo instead of dual rates. How much expo should someone use for the typical trainer ie. superstar, tower trainer.

Jim

I'm sorry to hear about your crash. Indeed it is important to check the plane thoroughly before attempting any flight, especially the first flight. I am quite surprised that an instructor would even attempt to fly the plane without assuring himself that the CG was correct. That is just asking to crash the plane. The control throws being wrong also are so easy to check that it surprises me that was not reason for the instructor to refuse to fly. Indeed live and learn. Don't assume your instructor will catch all your mistakes. Go over the plane carefully yourself before any flight.

If he really was an instructor and did not check the the cg, control throws or proper aileron deflection, the crash would have been most likely his fault if he knew it was the first flight. When I fly as an instructor and I feel it was my error, I have offered to repair or replace the airplane.

Well He knew the throws were very large but he is used to it....SO it shouldnt be an issue. I could see if I was flying it I could have troubles. As for the CG. I was heavy on one side so I swapped my battery to the other side hoping it would fix it. In the end this was really my fault, as I should have just been there to tinker, not to fly. Im in the process of fixing up a runway in my back yard to have my own tinker time. Then Ill show up to the field ready to go.

Depends upon the model and the pilot. If you are the type who tends to bang the sticks then low/high rates would be a better solution.

I don't put exponential on trainers (you want to "feel" the same control throw throughout when learning) but a sport model might benefit from 20%. A 3-D model maybe 60%. That's what I have on my Hot Stik.

Better to use low and high rates of 15 or 20% difference. Set the high rates to 100% throws and drop the low rates by 15 to 20%. My Futaba 9C allows me to use low rates without exponential and high rates with exponential. That's generally how I set up my sport models, but I go to as large a throw as I can work out on high rates rather than the recommended high rate. Then, depending how it flies, I'll tone it down with the servo end point/volume. And that, again, is a personal style choice for how you like a model to fly.