Need help.
12-21-2003, 06:29 PM
#1
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Need help.
I'm new to flying, i'm currently learning using an aerobird but i'm wanting to move on to other airplanes. I was wondering what would be a decent all around controller in the 150-250$ range would be I want to be able to fly different types of airplanes with different types of parts I suppose i'm new and still learning how things work as far as the electronics go. Any suggestions/help?
12-21-2003, 09:39 PM
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RE: Need help.
Two Fifty!?!?
P.I.M.P., you've got quite a budget. That's quite enough to get you an awesome computer radio (Mid-range to mid-high range)
How bout a 6XAS (229) I want one, and I feel bad about buying a $149 6YG.
Or if U wanna go JR,(Please Don't!) JR XP662?!? I think it's $249. BUT I personally like Futaba better. It actually mainly depends on what people at your club use. I went JR temproarily, bit it was impossible for me to get trained
If u wanna go Airtornics (Please Don't!), please don't! ?It's practically impossible to get trained unless you dish out $40 for a VG400 Buddy Box along with your Airtronics Radio.
P.I.M.P., you've got quite a budget. That's quite enough to get you an awesome computer radio (Mid-range to mid-high range)
How bout a 6XAS (229) I want one, and I feel bad about buying a $149 6YG.
Or if U wanna go JR,(Please Don't!) JR XP662?!? I think it's $249. BUT I personally like Futaba better. It actually mainly depends on what people at your club use. I went JR temproarily, bit it was impossible for me to get trained
If u wanna go Airtornics (Please Don't!), please don't! ?It's practically impossible to get trained unless you dish out $40 for a VG400 Buddy Box along with your Airtronics Radio.
12-22-2003, 12:07 AM
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RE: Need help.
Well lets say 150-200$ 250$ is a bit much. As far as companies go I don't know whats good or bad, pro's and con's what not.
I just want somthing thats decent and is kinda like universal works with most products. I was talking to this guy who's hobby shop I goto and he pointed out this one controller its onsale for 169$ but I don't know what kind it is. Next time i'm there i'll look at the brand and the specs and come back and post it and see what you guys have to say about it.
I just want somthing thats decent and is kinda like universal works with most products. I was talking to this guy who's hobby shop I goto and he pointed out this one controller its onsale for 169$ but I don't know what kind it is. Next time i'm there i'll look at the brand and the specs and come back and post it and see what you guys have to say about it.
12-24-2003, 03:42 PM
#6
RE: Need help.
Hey! I started on an Aerobird too. Love it and still fly it often. Now I have 8 planes. This hobby is just too much fun!
Which radio should I buy. All new flyers ask this question.
How many channels do I need? You will get many opinions.
And, you will get a debate on whether you need a standard radio or a computer
radio and what mixes come with each. What does that mean?
First it is important to realize that you should be able to fly any plane on 4
channels. That is enough to control rudder, elevator, ailerons and throttle.
With that you can fly an indoor plane, an electric park flyer or a giant high
powered plane.
Since none of us can be sure what we are going to be flying 2 years from now, you want to buy as much flexabiliy as you can afford. For under $250, you can get some great radios.
However, with more channels you gain flexibility. For example, you can put
two servos on the ailerons and control them individually. You can operate
moveable landing gear. And, when it comes to gliders/sailplanes you are
likely to do more surface mixing than on power planes, so if you into
sailplanes and plan to fly full house sailplanes, you typically want more than
4 channels so you can do that fancy surface mixing. The club wizards
recommended at least 7 channels for full house sailplanes.
Here is a typical channel breakdown. These apply to electrics, glo and
gliders.
Rudder - 1
Elevator - 1
Ailerons - 1 or 2
Spoilers/Flaps - 1 or 2
Motor/tow hook/landing gear - 1
That makes 5 or 7.
Could you use 9? Sure, if you have the money?
How about 12? Sure, if you have the money?
I am not pushing a given number of channels, just trying to help establish
what they are used for. In my opinion, most sport flyers will be well served
with a 5 channel computer radio and be able to do what they need to do for
years. Bump it up to 7 channels and you have about all you need to fly almost
any sport plane without feeling you are short channels. If your plane has
bomb doors, fires rockets, ejects pilots, and stuff like that, 12 might not be
enough.
If you can swing the price of a Hitec Focus 5X, I would make that your lowest level target radio. The Hitec Eclipse 7 would be ideal, in my opinion.
Why the computer radio vs standard. Here is a more specific illustration of the value
of computer radios.
There is about a $45 difference between the Hitec Laser 4 standard and the
Hitec Flash 5X computer radios. What do you get for the extra money?
Channel 5, the retract channel. Now you can fly a plane with retracts.
That's cool, but perhaps not all that important to you.
Mixing is the real value here. Let's do a targeted discussion on mixing.
Let's focus on aileron mixing only.
You are flying your 4 channel glo or electric plane. You use R/E/T/A - rudder,
elevator, throttle and ailerons.
Standard 4 channel flies that fine. No issues at all.
Now, put it on a Flash 5X or many other computer radios that have at least 5
channels.
Put in two servos for the ailerons and assign them to different channels.
Under normal flight conditions the ailerons work exactly as before, but using
two servos; No difference.
You are coming in for a landing. You turn on final approach to the runway and
line up for the center line. If you had flaps, here is where you would use
them, but your plane does not have flaps.
You level up the wings. At this point, you flip a switch on the flash 5X and
your ailerons just became flaps. You can still use the same stick and you can
still use the ailerons to bank/steer the plane, but they are both turned down
now
so you will get a different aileron response than normal..
This is the flapperon mix. You now have the ability to come in much slower
which gives you a much softer more controlled landing. Flaps lower the stall
speed so you can fly at much slower speeds without stalling. Very useful!
That is surface mixing and that is what a computer radio can do for you.
Getting the idea?
Gliders. same idea - focus on ailerons.
Your next glider has ailerons. You can do the flaps as above, but you can
also flip that switch and make them spoilers.
Spoilers spoil the lift of the wing and help you bring the plane down in a
level flight path for a slide in on the belly landing. Without spoilers, if
your glider has too much energy and you are committed to landing, you
have to put the nose down which can result in a hard landing, or "glide it
out", if you have the room,
until it comes to a rest and then take the long walk. You can't hit the gas
and go around again, you have to come down somewhere. Spoilers make it easer
to control where.
Gliders have such efficient high lift wings and such light wing loading it can
be hard to get them down, especially in gusty conditions. Really! You have
to see it and feel it to understand. It is amazing!
I have one glider that has ailerons but no flaps or spoilers. I will be
setting up flapperons AND spoilerons on that plane, if my Hitec Prism 7X will
allow me to set up both, and will use which ever is most appropriate for that
landing situation.
That is what you get for your $45. You get flaps and spoilers on planes that
don't have them and you can turn them on and off at will.
There are a lot more mixes. A lot, but hopefully you can relate to this
example.
This was a little long, but I hope it provides some useful guidance. Ask more questions if you need more info.
Which radio should I buy. All new flyers ask this question.
How many channels do I need? You will get many opinions.
And, you will get a debate on whether you need a standard radio or a computer
radio and what mixes come with each. What does that mean?
First it is important to realize that you should be able to fly any plane on 4
channels. That is enough to control rudder, elevator, ailerons and throttle.
With that you can fly an indoor plane, an electric park flyer or a giant high
powered plane.
Since none of us can be sure what we are going to be flying 2 years from now, you want to buy as much flexabiliy as you can afford. For under $250, you can get some great radios.
However, with more channels you gain flexibility. For example, you can put
two servos on the ailerons and control them individually. You can operate
moveable landing gear. And, when it comes to gliders/sailplanes you are
likely to do more surface mixing than on power planes, so if you into
sailplanes and plan to fly full house sailplanes, you typically want more than
4 channels so you can do that fancy surface mixing. The club wizards
recommended at least 7 channels for full house sailplanes.
Here is a typical channel breakdown. These apply to electrics, glo and
gliders.
Rudder - 1
Elevator - 1
Ailerons - 1 or 2
Spoilers/Flaps - 1 or 2
Motor/tow hook/landing gear - 1
That makes 5 or 7.
Could you use 9? Sure, if you have the money?
How about 12? Sure, if you have the money?
I am not pushing a given number of channels, just trying to help establish
what they are used for. In my opinion, most sport flyers will be well served
with a 5 channel computer radio and be able to do what they need to do for
years. Bump it up to 7 channels and you have about all you need to fly almost
any sport plane without feeling you are short channels. If your plane has
bomb doors, fires rockets, ejects pilots, and stuff like that, 12 might not be
enough.
If you can swing the price of a Hitec Focus 5X, I would make that your lowest level target radio. The Hitec Eclipse 7 would be ideal, in my opinion.
Why the computer radio vs standard. Here is a more specific illustration of the value
of computer radios.
There is about a $45 difference between the Hitec Laser 4 standard and the
Hitec Flash 5X computer radios. What do you get for the extra money?
Channel 5, the retract channel. Now you can fly a plane with retracts.
That's cool, but perhaps not all that important to you.
Mixing is the real value here. Let's do a targeted discussion on mixing.
Let's focus on aileron mixing only.
You are flying your 4 channel glo or electric plane. You use R/E/T/A - rudder,
elevator, throttle and ailerons.
Standard 4 channel flies that fine. No issues at all.
Now, put it on a Flash 5X or many other computer radios that have at least 5
channels.
Put in two servos for the ailerons and assign them to different channels.
Under normal flight conditions the ailerons work exactly as before, but using
two servos; No difference.
You are coming in for a landing. You turn on final approach to the runway and
line up for the center line. If you had flaps, here is where you would use
them, but your plane does not have flaps.
You level up the wings. At this point, you flip a switch on the flash 5X and
your ailerons just became flaps. You can still use the same stick and you can
still use the ailerons to bank/steer the plane, but they are both turned down
now
so you will get a different aileron response than normal..
This is the flapperon mix. You now have the ability to come in much slower
which gives you a much softer more controlled landing. Flaps lower the stall
speed so you can fly at much slower speeds without stalling. Very useful!
That is surface mixing and that is what a computer radio can do for you.
Getting the idea?
Gliders. same idea - focus on ailerons.
Your next glider has ailerons. You can do the flaps as above, but you can
also flip that switch and make them spoilers.
Spoilers spoil the lift of the wing and help you bring the plane down in a
level flight path for a slide in on the belly landing. Without spoilers, if
your glider has too much energy and you are committed to landing, you
have to put the nose down which can result in a hard landing, or "glide it
out", if you have the room,
until it comes to a rest and then take the long walk. You can't hit the gas
and go around again, you have to come down somewhere. Spoilers make it easer
to control where.
Gliders have such efficient high lift wings and such light wing loading it can
be hard to get them down, especially in gusty conditions. Really! You have
to see it and feel it to understand. It is amazing!
I have one glider that has ailerons but no flaps or spoilers. I will be
setting up flapperons AND spoilerons on that plane, if my Hitec Prism 7X will
allow me to set up both, and will use which ever is most appropriate for that
landing situation.
That is what you get for your $45. You get flaps and spoilers on planes that
don't have them and you can turn them on and off at will.
There are a lot more mixes. A lot, but hopefully you can relate to this
example.
This was a little long, but I hope it provides some useful guidance. Ask more questions if you need more info.
