FT Storch.. radio setup

[rahulgaba]

Hello folks

I am new here but not new to the hobby .Helis are my addiction, and planes I admire a lot. FT Storch's build videos got me questioning if I really know how to setup a radio for a well flying plane.. Again.. not new to radios .. I have a JR 9503 DSMX radio that i trust..But all planes i have built and crashed till now have been simple setups.. ailerons on Y harness, and may be flaps as another Y harness... and so on..

Josh seemed to want to use two seperate channels for the Ailerons on this Storch to use as flaperons. I honeslty dont know how to setup flaperons.. I know what it means, I see what it will do. But I wish I knew how to do it. NEver to late to learn, hence I need some help .. I have selected wing type "flaperon" in my radio.. was I supposed to do that?

Another thing.. in a stroke of genius I had, while building I had some extra hotglue that go onto the hinge of the elevator, so I thought.. hey I have a heat gun.. you know the rest.. well its not ruined, some foam inside melted, and I caught it quickly enoughh .. but if I wanted to replace just the elevator / rudder on this frame without having to build another new frame, is there a way to do it? how do yall faom builders do that cleanly?

anyway.. Radio question is more important, please let me know how to configure my JR 9503 with working flaperons. and any other tips and trick you know I should use. I am using the third servo horn hole and the recommended holes on the hinge horn on the control surface. what holes would you use?

I have flown planes before like I said, not a total noobie here.. But I realize I dont know all that is out there .. the more I know.. the more I realize I dont know ..

 

[makattack]

Welcome to the forums rahulgaba! Nice to hear you went from heli's to foamies. I had a similar progression, but it was more out of frustration with my inability to fly helis without long and expensive repairs after each flight.

I can't address the programming on your particular TX, because I'm not familiar with it. Hopefully someone else who is sees and can respond.

I will add that generally, having separate channels for ailerons can mean the following:

Pre-requisites:
* You have a receiver that has the extra PWM channels for separate ailerons
* You have a transmitter(TX) that has the extra input switches and output channels to allow switching/selection of flaperon/spoileron/etc modes
* You have a TX that is flexible enough to support dual channel ailerons (generally most programmable/computer radios fit this)

Advantages to dual channel ailerons:
* Can program differential ailerons to alleviate adverse yaw conditions or allow roll maneuvers with less drag
* Can program for spoileron or flaperon or camber for full length ailerons such that aileron servos move in the same direction but also maintain opposite aileron control

Disadvantages:
* More complexity

Generally speaking, dual channel ailerons requires a mix where you take the single input (roll axis input) and mix that to output on two different channels, in a way where how you installed the servos determine whether a channel has to be reversed or not for standard aileron control, and another mix for say, flaperon or spoileron control.

Usually, you assign the flaperon/spoileron function to a switch (e.g. Flaps switch) which will result in either a pre-determined amount of deflection for that surface, while mixed with the aileron function so that you can maintain roll control.

Anyhow, I decided to see if a search of your model and flaperon setup results in any hits, and sure enough, others have done it:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?1553482-9503-help-with-flaperon-set-up

 

[F106DeltaDart]

I can answer the flaperon question. Basically, what the flaperon setup does is give you a seperate output to each aileron. For example, you may have to plug in your right aileron servo to the ail channel, and the left to the flap channel. You may need to switch them if you can't get them moving in the correct directions.

For replacing the elevator/rudder, very careful surgery with a hobby knife is recommended. You can probably it out without too much damage. With a thin, sharp blade running along to foamboard, you should be able to cut the glue joints and pull out the tail feathers. just be sure to cut out the control horns first so that they don't snag when you try to remove the assembly.

Hopefully this made sense, let me know if I wasn't clear and I'll do my best to help you out!

 

[PsyBorg]

You can also use alcohol SPARINGLY to work the glue free. It can however lift the paper as will if you get too much on it but it is very doable with care and time.

 

[nhk750]

Hello folks


Another thing.. in a stroke of genius I had, while building I had some extra hotglue that go onto the hinge of the elevator, so I thought.. hey I have a heat gun.. you know the rest.. well its not ruined, some foam inside melted, and I caught it quickly enoughh .. but if I wanted to replace just the elevator / rudder on this frame without having to build another new frame, is there a way to do it? how do yall faom builders do that cleanly?


I have flown planes before like I said, not a total noobie here.. But I realize I dont know all that is out there .. the more I know.. the more I realize I dont know ..

Just tape the elevator hinge area with packing tape or Dubro blender tape. I have done both and it works fine. you could also cut the elevator free and make a tape hinge if its really bad, that way you can make a clean cut on both surfaces.

 

[rahulgaba]

Alright folks.. I needed to update y'all here.. Flaperons figured out , thanks to posts above.. also now I have flap mix working with elevator ( never have done mixing, so that was a win!! ) and then I looked at the fuse , and saw that the little bridge between two elevator halves completely had melted away so i had a half elevator working. .and I said to myself .. Screw this... OCD kicked in and I took electronics and metal out of the fuselage, and cut it up.. Ordered me a new Storch fuselage , as soon as it came in, I built it, now that I knew what to do....

And this time, no mistakes were made.. I strengthened the elevator bridge with BBQ stick, and maidened the plane yesterday. It is a dream to fly.. trimmed it straight..

Also got someone at the feild to show me how to do aileron / rudder mix, and then this plane was almost a cheating to flying.. LOL I was flying literally with two sticks.. It was awesome!!

slows down beautifully!! love it!! thanks for y'alls help!!