Throttle mixing is something that can really improve your flying experience, but most people don't do it. Let's say you have a plane that flies great but has a few flaws, like with our Retro Pioneer which takes a nose dive whenever you chop the throttle. Well, throttle mixing can correct this issue!
You may be thinking that throttle mixing is the same as trimming, but it's not. If you trimmed out a nose heavy plane on a glide your plane would then porpoise up every time you gave it throttle. Throttle mixing allows you to setup the adjustment to the elevator only when the throttle is chopped, so when you throttle up, the elevator would return back to it's original trim and allow the plane to fly correctly.
Throttle mixing can also be setup to correct issues like involuntary banking caused from engine torque, which was the case with our E-flite Carbon-Z Scimitar.
You can also create compound mixes, tying your throttle to ailerons, rudders and elevators to effect multiple control adjustments at once. But at that point you may just want to go back and check the balance and basic setup of your RC plane.
The problem with our Pioneer seems to be thrust angle issue, because everything about the plane flew great but when you chop the throttle, the air into the engine isn't pulling in that direction and plane suddenly wants to "take a dirt nap" (nose dive). So, we need to make a mix, we need the elevator automatically compensate low throttle. So when the throttles chopped it will have a little bit of up-trim in it giving our plane a nice glide-slope and making it an all-around great flyer.
With our computerized DX-8 we are going to dial in our mix. A quick tip, put this mix on a switch so if you don't like it you can switch back to the original setup. While making your mix adjustment, watch the plane to be sure the control surfaces are doing the movement you want. After your mix is setup, take your plane up a few mistakes high and switch on your new mix and see how it handles.
Links to some of the items mentioned in this episode:
The Retro Series - Pioneer 1020mm EPO (PNF)
E-flite Carbon-Z Scimitar
The Spektrum DX8
Balancing Your Plane
Balancing Props
