Soften the Center
 

Seems I've developed a habit of BUmping into elevator when rolling my airplane.....Will Expo soften the center of the sticks to help eliminate this......I fly JR PCM 10......THanks

RE: Soften the Center
 

I have never tried this, but the guy who told me said it worked for him. Put a rubber band around the transmitter from left to right so that when you inadvertly try to put in elevator you can feel the resistance of the rubber band. Remove it when you have trained those clumsy fingers. Most transmitters have a built in tension spring that may be adjustable to increase the tension.

RE: Soften the Center
 

On a JR positive expo values will soften the sticks around center... I suggest that you start with 40% on both elevator and aileron. If the plane is sluggish you can switch to high rates, land and lower the value 10% or so until you find the right setting for you... You could start at 20% and work your way up too...

Stiffer spings can also help and there are stiffer replacement springs available from JR. I got mine from Radio South -- for my Futaba 9Z WCII :D

RE: Soften the Center
 

I got the Radio South springs too, and love them. I can "feel the difference" with them.

:)

-Ben

RE: Soften the Center
 

Question on going stiffer on the springs for the sticks - since the cross coupling of the sticks can go either way (move elev and inadvertantly get ail or move ail and also get elev...) is there any basis for chosing which one of the two to make stiffer relative to the other??? Do you simply make them both stiffer??

RE: Soften the Center
 

How do you "stiff" guys fly rolling circles ?

You need to hold aileron constantly deflected the same amount for the whole duration (long time). In addition, you gradually and smoothly move the elevator up and down small amounts without altering the aileron input. Seems really hard, if you have to fight the springs in addition to the airplane.

P.

RE: Soften the Center
 

BillJ; This might seem like a dumb question but since you recognize the fact that you have developed a habit which leads to results you do not like, why not simply work at breaking the habit rather than trying other things to try and cover for it?:eek:

RE: Soften the Center
 

Pilots I've flown with (better than me) have a flight mode set up in their radio specifically for rollers and slow rolls. The aileron travel is dialed way back. That way they just hold the aileron stick against the stop and work the rudder and elevator.

RE: Soften the Center
 

When I fly rollers, I hold the stick. I fly a 10X with the springs as TIGHT as I can get them!!! When I do a slow roll, I seem to find myself inputting some elevator, therefore making my roll go off track... But just a bit more time working on the slow roll, and I'll have it made in the like wade!!! I use-ta-could do them really well, then I switched airplanes!!!

Another thing, do you fly with thumbs, or index finger and thumb?? I fly index finger and thumb. I feel that it makes you more precise in your stick control. I've tried thumbs, and I feel that I'm all over the place.....

Chris~

RE: Soften the Center
 

My opinion is that you should have control harmony. I like to have the controls throws adjusted so that the movement about each axis is an equal amount for a given stick throw. Likewise, the sticks should feel the same regardless of the axis. The result is that a given stick pressure will result in the same given movement of the aircraft regardless of the control axis.

-Ben