Ok, so I have seen some pictures of people who have apparently built several more planes than myself...considering that I have gotten 1 under my belt, that pretty much includes EVERYONE!

here is where I have a problem...how do you guys put the servos in so that they are recessed and just the horn is sticking through the wing?? do you attach them from the underside?? maybe to a reinforced area of the wing...then cover the plane...

I am trying to keep the thing as clean as possible but am not sure how to do this...also, if you do it this way, I assume that the plane is covered with the servos installed...and then the servos are permenantly installed (until a crash or something)

I was thinking about installing the servos to a piece of wood that would function as a hatch that I could have access to in case I wanted to remove the servos...

I am not sure...then I see some other people install servos sideways just inside the wing with just the last few holes on the horn sticking out of the wing...how do you do that???

Thanks in advance for any help...

-John

I have installed my servos in a plywood hatch and then screwed the hatch to blocks in the four corners to make a neat installation.

John:

You already said the answer. Glue hardwood blocks to the inside of the hatch, screw the servos to them with the arm sticking through, or for a cleaner appearance have the pushrod in a slot that allows free movement when connected to the servo arm inside.

Bill.

Yep. You answered your own question. Read your last two paragraphs, grab some wood and play around a little.
Dennis-

Another method, if you have the vertical room to work with, is to install the mounting plate so that only the output shaft and servo wheel are outside the covering. Then, install the servo, without a wheel, and cover right over it. Finally, cut a small X over the top of the output shaft and shrink the covering followed by installing the servo wheel. Looks good and doesn't require 8 screws, 4 for the servo and 4 for the hatch. The only downside is you have to cut the covering if you ever decide to remove the servo.

John

you can mount the servo directly to the hatch either laying on its side which allows only the servo arm to come thru or by cutting the mount directly in the door it can be mounted vertically ,with the top of the servo on the outside of the hatch ,looks much the same as what alot of arfs come with as standard , the ultra stick comes to mind , either way is right and both work well , just determine what you want to see when done .

I use both methods , just make sure for a vertical mount that the wing is thick enough to hold the servo,without hitting the covering on the top side of the wing .

mounting the servo vertically is easier to work with , but on the side is a cleaner look.

Highlander

instead of adding cap strips to two of the ribs, sheet them with balsa sheeting that is the same thickness as the cap strips. Then, add a piece of 1/64" ply to the inside of the sheeting LARGER than the hatch.

Cut out the hatch. plan to make it as large as you can within reason.

Glue braces to the inside across the corners of the opening for the hatch to screw to.

Glue blocks to the inside of the hatch for servo mounts.

Cut a slot in the hatch for the servo arm.

Minn:

What software do you use to make all your nice illustrations?

Bill.

By the way , you need to make sure that your servos work in opposite directions , otherwise you will have flaps instead of ailerons ,LOL point the output of each servo to the wing tips its that simple .

Highlander

Good point Highlander.

Bill, I used Photoshop for that one.

Minn:

Thanks for the response. I have PhotoShop v7, but itlooks like thee's a good bit of difference there yet. Like maybe knowing how to use it.

Just bought AutoCAD LT, hope i'm not sorry in a few weeks.

Bill.

Don't worry about that... if it needs reversed let the radio do it for you.

Wrecker:
This works only if you have the aileron servos on different channels. Otherwise you just reverse your flaps.

Bill.

Bill,
I'm using 5.5, so (as the expression goes), it's not what you got, it's what you can do with it.

For many years before I became "MinnFlyer" on RCU I've been "MinnArtist" on Yahoo. Make sense?

Minn:

As I said "...a good bit of difference there yet. Like maybe knowing how to use it."

Meaning, of course, you know how to use it and I don't.

But I'm going to be more occupied learning AutoCAD than worrying about PhotoShop. For a while, at least.

Bill.

I've got Autocad too, but never learned to use it. I used to run a different cad system, and trying to learn Autocad meant "Un-learning" what I already knew. But that was 10 years ago, and I forgot most of it. Maybe it's time to dust it off and try again.