MGLRC

How is the amount of servo torque needed for any given airplane determined ??

davidgeorge212

A lot of times if it is an arf or a kit and you have the instruction manual with it, somewhere in the manual, it will tell you a reccomended torque for each of the surfaces and you can choose your servos based off that.

Lnewqban

Welcome to the RCU forums, MGLRC!

Most of us regular Joe's use whatever size others have used succesfully in similar models or what the manual or designer recommends.

If you are designing your own plane or have no data from others, you could calculate the torque (inch-oz or ft-lb) as explained here or using the on-line calculator:

http://www.geistware.com/rcmodeling/calculators.htm

For higher degrees of speed and accuracy, you will need to check the different brands and models of servo available, considering the increasing price and power demand.

MGLRC

Thanks, Lnewqban, just what I was looking for.

OldScaleGuy

My Feedback: (2)

That is really good information. In the good old days we used one ounce of torque for every square inch of control surface. That will still get you in the ballpark.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

In the good old days I just used whatever I had on hand. Most the time it worked, if the plane was small enough. Back then 48 inch pounds was a pretty good servo. I have seen places like Aeroworks give some huge torque suggestions on some very small planes but I'm thinking they are doing it for 3-D pilots. All of these places also sell servos?
That's a very good site LN posted, I have it in my favorites.