servos for ww1 biplane
 

I am reviving a beautifully built bristol scout and I am the type that likely does overkill on servos.in this case the ailerons are hitec 225 bb and the rudder is a hitec 605bb and the elevator a hitec 700hb.I am assumed he flew it with the os 1.20 on the mount.I am a little quezzy about the tail servos and was going to bump them to 755 mg or simply a 645 mg
i would appreciate anyones recommendation or opinions.

Hi Cloudancer. You sure don't see many Bristol Scouts at the field! Please post a pic if you can. Sounds like a great model. Can you give us an idea of the size? I have a BASU 1/6 Thomas Morse Scout (5 1/2 lbs) and used the same servos in the wing (one on each aileron of coarse). They work fine, and are hidden in the wing. I didn't want to do all that work to make her look scale(ish) and then have servos flappin' in the breeze. Anything bigger, and I'm with you. Go big! I used standard 3004s on the rest of mine.

I think in general on 1/4 scale WW1 and smaller they go slow enough, and have so little force on the control surfaces compared to faster planes.. that a good reliable servo will work.. I like the Hitec 645 for overkill.. Although I have some 12 dollar metal geared servos that have never let me down also..

A friend of mine said back in the days when Byron warbirds were tearing around at 20 plus pounds and 80-90 mph hour almost everyone used a standard plastic geared servo on 4.8 volts without problem.. Excluding the flaps of course.

645MG servos! Been using them for a long time with no issues. overkill perhaps for your application but one less thing to worry about.

John

What scale is it? I usually use 1/4 scale servos for the elevator and rudder if its around 1/4 or 1/5th scale because of the large surfaces. Nothing wrong with a little overkill there. The 225s in the ailerons might be a bit on the light side if your going to do some aerobatic flying with it.

the 225s are mg and i did have a 645 available and left the hitec 700 in for the rudder. whats driving me crazy is rigging for the wings.it also requires a set of rigging to be run from the inner wing struts to the fusealge.I am trying figure a simple way to connect and unconnect as i have to do this at the field,the other wires are already done but i am having to replace several.I was getting fishing tackle at gander mtn and thought i could use swivels to connect to the planes fuse near the cowl.all the wires do is ensure the wings dont go backwards.once i get this stuff done i all thats left is to re mount the os 120 and install a new gas tank. i will proudly show a pic soon and if anyone has suggestions about the rigging by all means help.lolI would love to tote this to my old home in rhinebeck ny .I also know theres a ww1 fly in near lakeland in the spreing.

Possibly just use solder on clevices?

I don't know how scale you are looking to be.

On my 1/3 pup I didn't actually use cable, I just soldered clevices on the ends of piano wire.. it is SUPER rigid when put together. I also use the trick of special holding foam racks that hold both left and right wings together when off the plane,
... Its a great way to save hassle if the wings are split from the fuse.

Hi
I had a 1/3 busa sopwith for several years it flew on the standard JR servos(5kg torque I think at 6v) since then ive built a 1/3 GTM fokker dr1 flown on standard servos again (but rudder did strip so upgraded it) and bought a friends 1/3 Camel which actually had those towerpro 15kg metal geared jobs. (Reviews of these say vibration will eventually kill them as the wires inside are not secured - I looked and it was true - whipped them out)


My two penneth on WW1 biplanes being flown in a scale powered manner ( i.e. your not sticking a 150cc petrol engine into a 1/3 sopwith pup and prop hanging etc )

I always use 6v batteries (for the extra torque it gives on the servos) and I use two 6v batteries each with seperate switch (so one fails the other is failsafe)

These days, I worry unless the servos have a minimum of 6kg of torque at 6v. So to be 'safe' i go for Hitec HS645MG High Torque, Metal Gear (9kg torque at 6v) More expensive but if I sell the model the servos stay with me for the next one.

I think its a good investment to go with the HitecHS645 or futaba equivalents. Almost certainly overkill but worth it for the peace of mind.

How big is it? 1/4 scale? Those servos will be fine. In fact they look like sensible choices. I wouldn't worry about it, unless they are configured badly with rates turned down.

My pup had metal clevises on the wires and simple plate fixing points with holes (you can get both from Mick Reeves or DB Sport & scale in the UK )
See db sport and scale rigging accessories click here
for mick reeves click here (go to bottom of the page)
Takes about 15 mins to rig/derig. (you soon get practiced at it)
I have seen a quick release method by DB Sport & Scale which look really good, bought some but have not used them yet. (rigging anchor tensioning parts)
mick reeves do their own version of quick release etc. Have a browse on both websites, lots of useful stuff !