Ok I know this topic gets beat to death on a regular basis. However I'm NOT looking for opinions over which one is best.

The reason for the poll is I'm writing an un-biased thumb vs. pinch article for our club newsletter. Polls in the past polled the general R/C population and those results consistently come out pretty even between the two.

So the reason for this poll in this forum is to see if the results are the same for those that fly competition.

I’ll also welcome any insight that may help with the article.

Thanks for participating.

I will be posting the same poll in the Pattern section.

Hmm.....hard question.

I fly pinch on my helis, thumbs on my planes

I didn't even realize I was doing it till someone that spots for me a lot asked me about it.

Actually neither one of the two ways is better than the other from a control stand point. It is all a matter of personal preferance from the pilots comfort level. Its simply...one way feels better to a pilot than the other.
People try to read too much into things at times with massave amounts of ego and over complication!

You missed one option,

I fly thumbs on the throttle/rudder and pinch the right.

Well since this is the IMAC form choose the option that applies to airplanes.

Just trying to keep it simple. If you anaylize it there are several other options that could be added to the mix.

I fly thumb and forefinger because I learned to fly on single stick transmitters. There is no best way, only the way that work for the individual.

I do this as well, and this is the first time I've run into someone else who does it.

I also use a neckstrap which really helps me keep the TX stable.

I end up pulling my neck off when I use a neck strap. No matter how long I make it, I still end up pulling on the transmitter when I fly and end up looking like a hunch back when I land.

Sounds like you probably bend the sticks a bit over time as well?

Neck straps are certainly not for everyone.

Just like your style holding the sticks, or where you put your other fingers on the transmitter, or which finger you use on which switch, or how you program, how much expo, rate switches (all together, or on each control) and all that good stuff.

I don't think any of it has a better or worse, just preferences.

I pinch with my heli's and fly thumbs with my planes and then to make things even more interesting prefer to fly fly Mode 2 with my heli's and Mode 3 with my planes.

I do this too. I dunno, for some reason I just can't pinch the left stick at all, it's just not comfortable. But it's made all the difference in my flying by pinching the right.

I do both. Thumbs on take off and aerobatic flight.

Pinch on landing or touch and go both hands.
I can blimp the throttle and finely handle elevator/aileron controls pinching, when it counts most, near the ground.

I use both methods depending on what kind of flying I am doing.

For more precise maneuvers I use the pinch method and for yankin and bankin I use the thumb method. I takeoff and land using the pinch method also.

dang im confuse.....what do you call pinch? i know thumbs means, i fly thumbs and finger.

<brif hold="" you=""></brif>If you hold the sticks between your thumb and your finger thats "pinch" I use thumbs when I hold the transmiter andpinch when aI use a tray,which mi do most of the time Dave

how about the guy that has no hands?

I fly um, neither.  I have my thumbs on top of the sticks and my index fingers curled around the top of the sticks, it feels most natural for me.  I "push up" on the sticks with my thumbs and pull down with my index fingers, that just makes the planes motions and my motions feel more natural.  Does anyone else do anything similar?

Yup. That's exactly how I fly.

I am thumbs,, faster reaction for helis and such..

Me, I just love to pinch!!!!

Sonny
aka
jet22b

I'm somewhere in this camp. Pseudo-pinch. I wear a neck strap but still primarily hold the radio in my left with thumb on throttle/rudder (mode 2). My right is mostly thumb but I "cover" with curled index. Probably to prevent thumb slip-off.

My rates and mix switches I assign to the right and the left is the low-idle, kill, gear, flaps - all the landing type controls.

I have a friend that lost his arm in a car accident. He fabricated a false arm that has his TX mounted on it. He flies with his left hand only Pinky on the Throttle rudder and index on the Aileron Elevator. Really impressive and nice to see him continue with the hobby.

There was a guy at our field that was born missing a lower arm,,it was amazing how well he fly with one hand and his stub,,, Helis too

Right stick = pinch
Left stick = thumb

(that makes 3 of us ???)


Back in the days when slotcars were a big thing, they discovered that guys who worked the throttle with just their thumb weren't as fast as guys who used their index finger on the throttle. At first the index-finger guys took heat for "affecting a look". After awhile that vanished because they were the ones who won all the time. Others picked it up and started winning all the time too. Everybody picked it up and everybody was winning again. The index finger was more accurate, faster, and had more "reach".