Dart373

My Feedback: (2)

Just got my new Futaba 6XAS memory radio. About where should I start for % to mix aileron and rudder ?
I have a .61 Magnum 4 stroke on it. Everything else is futaba and what the kit calls for. nothing extra. Flying off water only, no landing gear.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Start it at 0%. There's no need to coordinate turns with a Seamaster, and you'll find that mixing can make takeoffs difficult.

BTW, I always built mine w/o the landing gear too, but that doesn't mean water only. Try taking off from grass, it's a blast!

Dart373

My Feedback: (2)

Mike, I believe you. Let me start by saying that. Next, why not ??? I was always under the impression that you should coordinate turns... I flew it a bunch before, and did not notice it seeking a wrong coordination before, but I thought I would give it a try... Thanks. Keith

PS, Does the Grass not hurt that monokote ??? SOunds like fun.

JimCasey

My Feedback: (1)

Certainly a Seamaster is flyable without any mixing. Start with zero, and add small amounts if you feel it needs it. My buddy Bob had a 120 size seamaster, and it always had the nose yawed to the high side on his departure turn (left). He probably could have used 25% rudder mixed to aileron. Seamasters have symmetrical airfoils, and the relationship of thrust-line to wing and vertical stab is not much different than a decent pattern ship. You should not need much, and if you mix in too much your inverted maneuvers will suffer.

It might be fun to really tweak in some aileron and elevator mix to rudder so it will do a no-brainer knife edge.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

Ok, let's look at this realistically.

Q: Why does one coordinate a turn?

A: When in a banked turn, the outside wing is moving faster than the inside wing. It then generates more drag (especially with a flat bottom wing), resulting in a slight yaw toward the outer wing. This is called "Adverse Yaw". The bigger the wing, and the less symmetry it has, the greater the Adverse Yaw. This also creates drag on the Fuse, since it is flying slightly sideways.

In a Sailplane, Drag is the enemy. With those large wings, and high-lift airfoils, they are very susceptible to Adverse Yaw, so coordinating a turn will keep you up longer. But staying up is not a problem with a powered plane.

In a Full Scale plane, Adverse Yaw is hardly noticeable from in the cockpit, but there is an instrument that measures it for you. Why correct it? Because while it's hardly noticeable to the eye, it's noticeable to the inner ear which we use as a reference for balance. So without coordinating turns, airplane passengers would be using a lot more airsick bags.

Now let's look at the Seamaster: It has a short, fully symmetrical wing, so Adverse Yaw is kept to a minimum. It has an engine, so a little extra drag isn't going to hurt any flight endurance. And it has no passengers. So there's really NO NEED to coordinate your turns.

Next thing to consider: The Seamaster is a fully aerobatic plane, which means you will probably be doing Aileron Rolls. Why have to switch your mixing on and off during the flight? Why have a switch that you must remember what position it is in when you have better things to think about?

And finally, More often than not (Outside of aerobatics) the thing that the rudder comes in most handy for is UN-coordinating turns, that is, if you are landing in a cross wind, you will want to feed left aileron with right rudder (or vise versa), so the mix will just be fighting against you.

All things considered, with MOST model planes (Seamaster included) it is my opinion that mixing in coordinated turns is just plain foolish. If you really want to use some of your radios features, dial in some Exponential. Now THERE'S a cool feature!

Dart373

My Feedback: (2)

OK. There you have it. I dont do acrobatics. Couldnt care less about it. I like slow flying realistic flight. Thanks.

Happydog

I fly my seamaster with no mixing. Flys great on SALT water. I agree with all above.
Happydog

Dart373

My Feedback: (2)

I hear they fly well off grass too ...............

Carlos Murphy

My Feedback: (72)

I fly mine from black-top and water so my nose wheel is hooked up.
When I go to the lake I remove the steering arm and use the landing gear as a stand, friction holds the nose wheel in place. Start the engine, unplug the gear, drop them on the ground and your ready to to get wet.

deljon

My Feedback: (4)

The best time to fly off of grass is in the morning when the dew is still on.
They fly great off of snow also.

Del Johnson