Technical question for the FW gurus

Hi group I'm flying a homebrew swept-forward wing similar to the foamie 'XBow' and 'Bird-o-prey' series. Except mine is balsa and CF. The plane is very 'labor intensive' to fly, particularly in the pitch axis. I think it would benefit form a gyro on the elevator channel. And herein lies the problem. It uses an onboard mixer (Graupner GR-3020) for elevon mixing, and a Hitec 555 Rx. I want to put the gyro (Ikarus IK-0615 Micro Gyro) on the elevator channel, between the Rx and Mixer, and don't see any reason why it shouldn't work. I asked Hobby Lobby's tech deartment, and they said no it wouldn't. So I'm just looking for second opinions (as many as possible) before investing in 70 bucks in the gyro. Thanks in advance for any advice. Bill (oc)

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Reply to
Bill Sheppard
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Could you not setup exponential on the elevator channel first that will desensitize the control around neutral. Failing that I don't know much about the Ikarus gyro but make sure you get one designed for plane use as some of the cheaper heli ones are heading lock only which will guarantee a crash for you.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Dugan

You didn't say much about how it's behaving, but if it's pitch sensitive, why not try moving the CG forward a touch before resorting to a gyro? Also, try to use a little expo in the pitch axis as been suggested before.

Morris

Reply to
Morris Lee

Chris wrote,

Actually the radio has no expo capability. A gyro in the elevator channel, between the Rx and elevon Mixer, *should* work, seems like. The gyro's action should register correctly on both elevons, unless there is some obscure reason why it won't. But before plunking down $70 for the gyro, I just wanted to seek greater wisdom than my own.

The Ikarus Microgyro is a no frills single axis jobbie strictly for planes.

Thanks Bill(oc)

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Reply to
Bill Sheppard

OK then, do expo the old fashioned way... offset the servo horn at it's neutral position by a tooth, re-adjust the control linkage so the flying surface is at the correct neutral position and try it.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Dugan

Chris wrote,

Actually this aircraft would not benefit from expo. Being a swept-forward flying wing (as opposed to a 'normal' FW), it is very short coupled in pitch. The problem arises from an old coot (me) striving for a juvenile 'kool' look. I've temporarily added extended tail booms and a horizontal tailplane to tame the beast in pitch, but it detracts from the tailless 'kool' factor. I want to keep it tailless, and am certain it would benefit from a pitch gyro on the elevator channel. The swept-forward wing uses full length elevons, with aileron/elevator mixing done with an onboard mixer. I want to plug the gyro into the receiver's elevator port so it is in the elevator channel between Rx and Mixer. I *assume* the gyro's action will then correctly register on the elevons. Other people said it won't work, but I can't understand why it won't. And that's why I'm here humbly seeking greater wisdom on "why it won't work". Many thanks Bill(oc)

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Reply to
Bill Sheppard

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