Controls.
Set Up
Controls Fuselage Radio 1 Engine Undercarriage Wings Linkages Radio 2 Assembly Last Checks And Finally
If you're down at the flying field, do not switch on your transmitter unless you have the frequency peg that you will be transmitting on. If anyone else is using that frequency, let them know that you're checking out a model and let them have use of the peg if and when they wish to fly - it'll be appreciated!
A quick word about the (standard) naming conventions here -
- " Right " means the side of the aircraft on the right hand side when you stand BEHIND the model
- " Left " means the side of the aircraft on the left hand side when you stand BEHIND the model
- " Up " means away from the ground!
- " Down " means towards the ground!
The standard control functions on radio gear are Throttle , Aileron , Elevator and Rudder and they control Thrust , Roll , Pitch and Yaw respectively.
Mode 2 Tranmitter the most common way of controling a plane.
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Move mouse over the sticks to see affect on the Model
Mode 1 Transmitter. Means the Elevator and Throttle are reversed to mode 2
The diagrams above should make it fairly clear exactly what's going on.
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The Throttle is what controls the engine speed. In general terms, more Throttle means increased speed and height. You increase the engine speed by moving the Throttle forward. This opens the carburetor barrel - the hole gets bigger! - more air and fuel get in so the engine speed rises. Pulling the Throttle back closes the carburetor barrel, making the hole smaller, less air and fuel get into the engine and so the engine speed decreases.
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The Roll axis is an imaginary line running along the fuselage from front to rear and " Rolling ", controlled by the Ailerons (the control surfaces on either wing) is when one wing goes down and the other goes up. When you make the aircraft Roll Right with Right Aileron on the transmitter, the Right Aileron goes up (and so dumps lift on the right wing) while the Left Aileron goes down (increasing lift on the left wing). Consequently, the right wing drops and the left wing rises and so the aircraft Rolls Right about the Roll axis. Applying Left Aileron on the transmitter makes the Left Aileron go down and the Right Aileron go up - Roll Left ! The Left and Right Ailerons always move in opposite directions.
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The Pitch axis is another imaginary line, this time running from one wingtip to the other and " Pitching ", controlled by the Elevator (the control surfaces on the horizontal tail plane) is when the nose of the aircraft goes up or down. Obviously, the tail moves in the opposite direction! Applying Up Elevator on the transmitter makes the Elevator (the Elevator is considered to be both the left and right hand sides of the controls) go up. This decreases the lift on the Elevator and so makes the tail drop and the nose rise, pitching the aircraft nose up about the Pitch axis. Down Elevator on the transmitter makes the Elevator go down, increasing lift on the tail and so the aircraft pitches nose down.
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The Yaw axis is the final imaginary line pointing straight up and roughly in the centre of the wing, controlled by the Rudder (the control surface on the vertical tail fin) and " Yawing " is when the nose of the aircraft moves to the left or right. Again obviously, if the nose moves to the left then the tail moves to the right and vice versa. When you apply Right Rudder on the transmitter, the Rudder moves to the right. This has the effect of increasing the side force on the left side of the tail and at the same time decreasing the side force on the right side. The tail moves to the left and the nose moves to the right - a Right Yaw about the Yaw axis. Similarly, Left Rudder on the transmitter makes the Rudder move to the left and the tail moves to the right while the nose moves to the left about the Yaw axis.
Each of the major functions has a Trim Lever which allows you to alter the centred position of each control.
Set Up
Controls Fuselage Radio 1 Engine Undercarriage Wings Linkages Radio 2 Assembly Last Checks And Finally