can someone explain to me in layman terms about exponential and how to set it new to flying and fly only on low rates mostly,not sure exactly how to set so never messed with.i know i could probably use high rates more if i new how to set i have a futaba 6exas radio

exponential technically is a setting you can program to make your inputs less sensitive near center. It pretty much slows the rate of the servo to a determined point then after it quickly moves as it reaches the end of the throw. So if you have really large throws, the plane will be very very twitchy to fly and by adding expo you will soften it up. It kinda hard to explain without a graph. But you can see what happens on the ground when you start adding it. With a futaba 6ex the exponential setting will be a negative number. Usually sport planes you could prob use -30% through -50% on high rates and with 3d planes you could easily max the expo out as you can achieve really insane throws.

I hoped this helped, or did I totally confuse you?

Without expo, if you move the stick 1/4, the control surface (CS) moves 1/4

Move the stick 1/2, the CS moves 1/2 ETC

But with expo, you can bend that straight line to a curve.

The actual amount of movement will vary depending on the amount of expo you dial in, but to give you an idea, it can be set so that:

When you move the stick 1/4, the CS moves 1/16

Move the stick 1/2 and the CS moves 3/16

Move the stick 3/4 and the CS moves 1/2

Move the stick all the way and the CS moves all the way

If you are a new flyer on a trainer, do not use expo just yet. Instead, set up your plane with limited control response, and learn how to fly it that way. It's fine to learn about expo, but first, learn to fly. I can't think of any basic trainer that has a need for expo if it has been competently set up in the first place.

no its ot a trainerits just a stick i learned to fly with a spad and now have a balsa,but still not comfy on high rates and wondered if expo could help but wasnt sure how to use tks

The thing with expo that most people don't understand at first is the higher percentage you use, the less sensitive the plane is around neutral. I always start with about 65% on ailerons. I fly a lot of planes with 45 degrees of aileron movement, but they are as easy to fly as a trainer unless I go over near full stick.

That being said, most beginners tend to out grow their trainers and unconsciously learn to put in full throw to get the roll rate they want. When they go to a more sensitive plane they can over control even though they use expo because full stick is still full stick. Look at the drawing Dave attached. The higher the expo percentage, the deeper the curve it, but it still gets to full travel at full stick.

It usually takes 3 to 6 flights to get used to a lot of control throw and expo. I twisted a buddy's arm for a year to get him to try it. Now he won't use anything else.

I prefer expo over dual rates just for that fact.full throw is still full throw when needed

Cameron,

In case you didn't know. Use negative numbers when you input exponential into your Futaba radio. Using positive numbers will make the airplane more sensative to control input. By the way other radios (like JR's) are opposite of Futaba.

Fly safe and have fun!!
David