Eric Friend 1

Hi Bridon, As Frank says, with larger models the battery capacity needs to be upped to prevent voltage drop. In my 7 metre 1:3.5 scale glider, I have two 3300maH capacity 4 cell sub-C NiMh packs and I don't suffer any voltage drops even with 10 servos in the wings. I have decent cables for the runs to the servos in the wing and to the rudder and elevator servos at the rear of the fuselage which is 2.4 metres long. I may consider upping to 5 cell packs in the future, but I have no issues with running the glider's system on nominally 4.8 volts, but the voltage at the Futaba receivers is normally around 5.1 volts during flight, as reported by telemetry. However, I am a little wary of upping to 5 cell batteries as a freshly charged battery can be significantly over 6 volts and even though the servos are rated as 6 volt, it makes me wonder how much excess voltage they can take, much like your concerns with the Futaba receiver's input voltage. Enjoy yourself on the slope, it was great to be back on the North Downs today with a very successful maiden flight of one of my 'lockdown' models, a 1.5 metre fully moulded glider which interestingly had a freshly charged 4 cell NiMh AAA pack to power its two servos - it has a very small nose!!!

I must have just missed you at the slope today David. I had a report from the paragliders that you had been there. I'm pleased the maiden went well. I had four flights, two each with the Heron and the Ahi. Nice smooth lift.

I am new to RadioMaster and OpenTX and while searching for on-line help and advice, I came across the link in this thread to Bill Clark's YouTube channel, Triple M Adventures. He has an amazing number of videos neatly categorised into nicely labelled playlists. These cover RadioMaster TX16S, TX12, Open TX, Jumper T16 and Firmware Updates to name just a few. The ones that I have looked at so far have helped me no end and if you have any queries, just post them under the video and you will get an answer the next day! Well worth a look ! https://www.youtube.com/c/triplemadventures/playlists

Thanks for your reply Peter, I'm pleased that my comments were of some help. Yes, I'm dedicated sloper as well and luckily here in Kent I can fly slopes in virtually every wind direction, with our main SW slope being less than 10 miles from my house. Some of the 'slopes' are cliffs and sea walls, but as long as there's wind blowing up and over it, then it will be flyable - Kent has a lot of coast facing the sea in various directions. Yes, I have found that the percentage up aileron is determined by trial and error. I have often encountered situations where on a new model, crow is applied and it's a case of "Oops, I haven't any aileron control", quickly switch back to normal, land, reduce up aileron and try again. My latest little 'lockdown' slope mouldie doesn't have flaps, so it will be a case of up ailerons with up elevator to try and slow it down for landing - should be interesting! I often see Simon Cocker at various events such as aerotow meetings at Middle Wallop, Baldock Tugs and Gliders and Ghost Squadron events at BMFA Buckminister. I also met with Simon at the scale meeting at Long Mynd a couple of years ago. As Simon lives somewhere 'up north', we don't see him on 'our' slopes in Kent and Sussex, however we do have the benefit of being able to fly regularly with David Ashby, now that he has become a sloping convert!

Peter, Regarding losing aileron control when crow is deployed, it sounds to me as though you have too much up aileron. I normally have 10 to 15 degrees up as a maximum when I am at full crow braking and I use that figure for all my gliders from my 1.5 metre sports jobs to my 7 metre scalies. I have crow braking set up on the throttle stick, so that I have precise control of the glide path on the approach to landing. The motor control I have on the left-hand side slider and that arrangement works perfectly for me, as the motor isn't used much, but juggling with the throttle stick is what's needed to achieve accurate landings. BTW Peter, where will you be flying your Flamingo; will it be slope or flat-field? I mainly fly slope, but I am hoping to get to an aerotow meeting or two this year, pandemic rules permitting. Definitely agree with you FlyinBrian. ? I bought Malcom's book when I bought my 14SG a two or three years ago and he completely de-mystifies the whole process of programming the 14SG. Well worth the five pounds and sixty seven pence that it will cost you. As he says in the introduction, you don't need to read the whole book, just dip in for the bits of information that you need. You will never need to look at the Futaba manual that comes with the radio again, and you will definitely thank Malcolm for that. There is also the added benefit that Malcolm frequents a number of forums and it is possible to submit questions to him. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Futaba-14SG-Programming-Fixed-Aircraft-ebook/dp/B00BMM9J7A Also read David Ashby's article on Crow braking in the May 2020 RCM&E.

Yes, I found it difficult to log-in for the first day and I had the same message about my email as you. I eventually was able to get a consistent log-in using my User Name and a new password - Phew! Agreed, make sure you remove the prop! I had an incident last summer when setting up the Heron on the table on the patio and for some reason, (must have been a senior moment ☹️), I decided to create a new model memory with the RX still turned on and as I did that, the motor started up! Luckily the Heron was sitting in one of the Overlander blue foam model stands, so it didn't go anywhere before I was pull the XT60 connector apart. Result, end of the stand hacked away a bit, a prop with shredded trailing edges, a shocked modeller and a salutary lesson learnt - remove the prop when setting up an electric model!

Hi there, Unfortunately you most probably won't be able to use the FrSky receivers with the 16SZ unless you have the receivers upgraded or you may be lucky if your receivers aren't too old and they may have the EU compliant update installed. It may be a case of suck it and see. You may have to budget for a number of new Futaba receivers, although you do get a 'free' one with the 16SZ. ?? I had the same issue when I bought my 14 SG and all was OK with using the FrSky TFR8 receivers, (I have eight of them), until the Tx software was upgraded from V5 to V6 and then the receivers started to 'misbehave', dithering and not centring properly. After bit of investigation it transpired that the receivers needed to be upgraded and a lead and a dongle was required to achieve this. As the lead and dongle were unobtainable, I put the receivers in a drawer and replaced them with Futaba receivers namely FASST, FASSTest and S-FHSS (which are quite reasonably priced) . . . Note: the 16SZ will operate T-FHSS receivers which are also well priced. I did find a very helpful guy on another forum who could do the upgrade for a fiver a receiver, but I have put that on hold for the time being as I seem to keep acquiring Futaba receivers of various protocols from a range of sources. The link to the Scale Soaring UK website is to a thread that I contributed to a couple of years ago when this compatibility, or lack of, issue raised its head. I was quite happy with using the TFR8 receivers, in fact I have a twin Rx set-up in my 5.2 metre MDM-1 Fox glider and I never have any issues with that when using my Robbe Futaba FC-18 with a Futaba plug-in 2.4 Tx module . My flying buddy Simon WS in the Scale Soaring thread, uses FrSky FASST receivers in conjunction with his FX-20 Tx (V5 only), in all of his large gliders without any issues at all. I hope that some of the above ramblings is of assistance. PS - I'm thinking of getting a 16SZ as well as the 14SG hasn't got enough channels for my largest glider.

Hi Simon, I'm pleased that you found the info and signposting of help. Yes, it is frustrating not being able to fly at present, but at least I have had the opportunity to catch up with outstanding repairs on models, so I should have a decent stock of airworthy gliders when we restart. Slope soaring gliders can have a bit of a hard life . . . . or can I blame it on the weather, and not my suspect flying abilities. After 50 years of slope soaring, you'd have thought I would have got the hang of it by now! ???

Good morning Simon, Take a look at the current thread headed Multiplex Heron Setup, you will find lots of relevant and useful information there, some of which I have posted. I have also signposted to David Ashby's very useful article on Crow/butterfly braking in the May 2020 issue of RCM&E starting on page 27. Everything that David says in the article is spot on! (Well he did glean some of his info from the gliding group that he flies with and I am one of that band of regular slopers! ??

Good morning Peter, If you are a subscriber to the digital version, to get to the Digital Archive of the magazine first go to the main RCM&E Home page , then scroll right down to the bottom and under Subscriptions you will find the link to Digital Archive, click on that and you will find all of the issues back to 2007 in digital form. The May 2020 issue is there as I checked it out online last night rather than dig out my printed copy. Easy, peasey!

I found David Ashby's excellent article on crow/butterfly braking (as mentioned in my previous posting), in the May 2020 issue of RCM&E starting on page 27. If you are new to the 'facility' it is definitely worth a read. Even if you are already using crow braking on your gliders, read it as well, as there is some very useful information there and in fact the article is much longer than I recall - well worth a re-read..

Hi Tim, Most modern radios feature enough mixers to cater for multi-surface gliders, it's just a case of deciding which one. You should get plenty of help on this forum, but if you want an even wider range of views, post your question on the BARCS website forum. I mainly fly gliders and I use a Futaba 14SG which has enough channels for the varied types of machines that I fly, from the little Alula to six and seven metre scale jobs. However, I have just purchased a Radiomaster TX12 (for just £51), which can provide up to 16 channels of output and has enough mixers, although I have yet to find out how many as it is my first OpenTx transmitter and I am presently at the bottom of a very steep learning curve! Have fun. regards, Eric

I'm looking forward to it Andy, especially with Manny and Mark heading it up. I was in Mark's shop last year and he was telling me all about E2K and how much fun it is. Many years ago I was going to build a Club 20 racer but never got around to it. I still have a brand new un-run Fox 19 in its box, which was THE engine to use. In the Dover Bloobirds Club in the seventies, we did four-up pylon racing with 60 powered aerobatic jobs which everyone was flying at the time. However after those moments of madness, we calmed down a bit and moved on to four-up slope pylon racing! Still good fun but not so expensive if a mid-air occurred. I'm looking forward to having a go again, hopefully my by-passed heart will be able to stand the excitement!

Hi Andy, I must take the opportunity of thanking you for your involvement in the 'In The Air Tonight' presentations. All of the ones that I have 'attended' have been absolutely excellent. Well done to everyone presenting and contributing. For those readers who haven't attended one so far make sure you do, and also catch up on YouTube, with those that you have missed. Make sure that you watch the Article 16 presentation - in my view it is essential viewing. Next week we have two presentations, an added bonus! Thanks again, Regards, Eric

Hi Peter, I have a Heron and fly it using a Futaba 14SG like you. I have the crow braking on the Throttle stick (channel 3) and the motor on the left-hand side slider. This arrangement works very well for me and it has done for the past couple of years. Most pilots flying power assisted gliders seem to use this arrangement. David Ashby wrote a short article on this subject last year and it is well worth a read. (David , heads-up please on which issue it was in. Thanks) I use the side slider for motor speed, as when launching I climb away at 2/3rd to max motor speed and when at the desired height shut the motor down and start looking for thermals. When landing, I use the throttle stick to adjust glider height and speed in conjunction with the elevator to achieve a spot landing - great fun! I know you said that you prefer throttle on the stick but you will find that flying a powered glider, that you don't use the motor much and you will find it is not possible to control the landing approach accurately enough using either a switch or rotary knob. Most of us flying powered gliders have tried the switch or knob option, but all that I know have ended up putting crow braking on the throttle stick. The benefit of having the crow braking on the throttle stick, is that as you won't have power on during the landing, you use the crow-braking as a throttle, juggling it as necessary to achieve a landing precisely where you want it, preferably at your feet if your field allows it. Most enjoyable and satisfying. Have fun, Regards, Eric