Can't connect my Tiny Trainer

Birdbeard

New member
hey, received 2 tiny trainer starter packages for christmas. Working on plugging everything together but for the life of me I can't find a video that includes the exact pieces that our package came with. The Spektrum DXe, spektrum ar410 and Es9051 servos. Problem is I can't get the plugs to connect to the receiver. They don't fit as far as I can figure. They are too large or maybe just slightly the wrong shape. is this the proper receiver for these parts? or am I not doing something right? Thanks
 

Paracodespoder

Elite member
Yes, it is the proper parts, the servo wires are a very tight fit in spektrum receivers. You could technically sand a little off the sides of the plugs, but just be sure to not take to much off. Good luck in your newfound (I think) hobby! Oh, and welcome to the forums, I’m sure you’ll find it a fun place to be.
 

cranialrectosis

Faster than a speeding face plant!
Mentor
Post pictures. Well lit, high def photos will help us help you.

Heck, start a build thread and film the maiden voyage. We can help with the learning curve and cheer when you fly! :)

Welcome to FliteTest!
 

randyrls

Randy
As Para said; The plugs and receivers are the right ones. The servo connectors will be very tight and can only go in one way. If you look carefully at the servo plugs you will notice a small bevel on one side of the plug. That bevel will match a bevel on the receiver. Sand some off the short sides of the plug until it just fits.

Oh; Make sure the prop is removed from the motor whenever testing connections.
 

Birdbeard

New member
thanks. i did get the servos plugged in and we took the planes for their first flight. And it went as expected...not great, but I figured that would happen. We only broke one propeller. we were able to stay in the air for a few seconds once or twice, but not much luck.

one question as we make repairs tonight-the plane is very nose heavy even with the battery as far back on the power pack as possible and still having even a little velcro to attach. Any thoughts?

oh one other thing. when i switch my transmitter off my propeller goes full throttle and the only way to stop it is to unplug it. Whats that about?
 

Paracodespoder

Elite member
oh one other thing. when i switch my transmitter off my propeller goes full throttle and the only way to stop it is to unplug it. Whats that about?
Failsafe, when the rx and tx lose communication the rx goes to failsafe. It can be reprogrammed to whatever settings for failsafe you want, just look in the manual for it.
 

FDS

Elite member
As noted above never turn your TX off until the battery is out the plane.
With the weight distribution- what battery are you using? I found anything over 750mah sort of size made it much harder to balance despite building mine with the servos a little further back.
Also with smaller packs you can attach them to the bottom of the fuselage under the back of the powerpod if you really can’t get the weight back.
Another thing to look at is how far forward your power pod is mounted, too far out won’t help. Moving it back also means the battery can go further backward.
Before flying again try to make sure it’s almost perfectly balanced on the CG, just a tiny bit nose heavy, as it will fly much better balanced out. Watch the all up weight too, a heavy plane will be harder to fly.
A small weight right at the very tail end is worth considering as a last resort.
Another trick Hai-Lee taught me with the sport wing was to put a 0.5-1mm thick shim under the leading edge of the wing to give you a bit more incidence, which helped on mine, I went the full mm.
 

kdobson83

Well-known member
Do a non powered hand launched glide test into some tall grass. Does it nose dive? If so then it probably is nose heavy. If not, then you may have your control surface a tad off. Try adjusting the trim a little bit to see if it helps. How does it balanced according to your COG marks on the wings? Should be little laser etched marks on the wings about 1/3-1/4 of the way back from the leading edges of the wing. I put a small dab of hot glue on the marks to find them easier. Should be level or just a hair nose heavy. If it balances out this way then your elevator control surface may not be straight or you could have a slight bend in your airframe somewhere.
 
Last edited:

BS projects inc.

Elite member
thanks. i did get the servos plugged in and we took the planes for their first flight. And it went as expected...not great, but I figured that would happen. We only broke one propeller. we were able to stay in the air for a few seconds once or twice, but not much luck.

one question as we make repairs tonight-the plane is very nose heavy even with the battery as far back on the power pack as possible and still having even a little velcro to attach. Any thoughts?

oh one other thing. when i switch my transmitter off my propeller goes full throttle and the only way to stop it is to unplug it. Whats that about?

Answer 1: The tiny trainer is very nose-heavy when built. This is to accommodate for a tendency to make a plane tail heavy that newer builders have, tape some weights on the tail of the plane where it won't interfere with the control surfaces, I recommend right in front of the rudder on the flat section.

Answer 2: The throttle goes on because of the fail-safe. A fail-safe is a program that the receiver runs if it loses contact with the transmitter. It can be programmed for certain channels to go to 100% or 0% so people can do things like deploy a parachute or cut the throttle. Currently yours is set so the throttle goes to 100% when it loses contact with your transmitter (turning it off). I would follow a guide on how to program the fail-safe so you can turn that off, it should be very easy.

Lastly to get a better flight I would first do a glider toss of your plane to make sure that the CG is okay, then when you are ready to fly toss the plane at about a 30 degree angle and give it a little less than 50% throttle, this is enough to keep it in the air but not too much to damage it real bad when crashing. Good luck with learning to fly, it just takes some practice!
 

FDS

Elite member
I put my transmitter on the ground next to me whilst I unplug the battery. I certainly don’t leave it on the lanyard except when flying.
 

FDS

Elite member
Yes, there’s no signal going to the motor to say throttle = zero and as noted above you can have the failsafe in the ESC go off or another fault that could make the prop rotate whilst your hands are up front unplugging the battery pack.
If your TX is on then you have control, if it’s off you don’t, I only trust my own safet to having theTX on and out the way but near to hand whilst I mess with moving parts!
 

randyrls

Randy
Spektrum transmitters often have a "Throttle Cut" switch. The DXe does, (switch 21) so look at the manual to find out how to set it. When you land, flip the switch and the throttle is OFF until you power down. BUT The "ALWAYS turn the receiver off first" is good advice. It is also good advice to remove the prop when testing controls.
 
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Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
We have the same motor run issues here especially with Spectrum users,

You definitely need to learn to setup Failsafe but also you should ensure that your ESC will shutdown and not operate upon loss of signal.

The majority of our "fly-aways" are poorly setup Spectrum sadly.

If your motor goes to full power when the Rx is switched off, FIX IT, or a LoS condition could result in the rapid departure of your plane or even a full power dive into the dirt!.

Make it as safe as possible for everyone!

Have fun!
 
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Kendalf

Well-known member
I'm about to start a couple Tiny Trainer builds alongside my son, and I have one set of ES9051 servos plus another set of a different brand. One question that I can't seem to find a definitive answer for is whether the Tiny Trainer needs servo extension leads? I think this is primarily for when we move up to the sport wing and add servos for ailerons. Just want to know if the ES9051 servo lead is long enough to reach the fuselage from the wing without an extension.
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
I'm about to start a couple Tiny Trainer builds alongside my son, and I have one set of ES9051 servos plus another set of a different brand. One question that I can't seem to find a definitive answer for is whether the Tiny Trainer needs servo extension leads? I think this is primarily for when we move up to the sport wing and add servos for ailerons. Just want to know if the ES9051 servo lead is long enough to reach the fuselage from the wing without an extension.
You will need to add a "Y" harness to connect the ailerons to the Aileron channel so feed the "Y" Harness into the wing centre hole and "Fish out" the socket required to connect the servo. Plug in the servo and then remove all of the slack lead from the wing. Repeat for the other wing servo. Even if the servo leads are a little short you will still have a rather long "Y" harness lead tail sticking out of the wing centre hole to allow for easy connection and removal of the sport wing!

Have Fun!
 
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Kendalf

Well-known member
Thanks for the quick reply! I do have a couple Y harnesses already, so we should be good for our first pair of FT planes!