Sport JTEC RADIOWAVE 26% Pitts Model 12

Idaho huh, yup could be July before y'all thaw out.
Doc

Doc said:

Idaho huh, yup could be July before y'all thaw out.
Doc

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This year...perhaps. Typically we have nearly year round flying if you can brave a little chilly weather for a few weeks. We normally have very mild winters. Not so much this year.

Mild winters and Idaho sounds like an oxymoron to me, I lived in Houston Texas for near 35 years,,,now those are mild winters lol Only saw snow on the ground twice and 24 hours later there was not a trace of it, sooner than that really.
Doc

Hey Rob....if you used the Y for your elevators, you could have 4 separate aileron chanels and then be able to program things like "crow ".

Just thinking out loud. I had a blast with crow on my Beast.

Pistolera said:

Hey Rob....if you used the Y for your elevators, you could have 4 separate aileron chanels and then be able to program things like "crow ".

Just thinking out loud. I had a blast with crow on my Beast.

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I was wanting to do some really off the wall things like adding "crow" as you suggested. But I just really don't like the "Y" setup. I really don't know why. Heck, until the elaborate radio systems came along, that is all we knew huh! For personal likes, I would probably split the rudders before I split the elevators. The only reason I put the two rudder servos on separate channels, is on my larger planes, the fine tuning is so much better than running them off one channel. But then again, this little guy really don't need it like the big ones. So that is definitely an option I may consider. In the meantime, I remembered that even though a person may only have a 6, 7, 8 or 9 channel rx., the Smart Fly Power Expander Micro 12 is just like the other boards. When the batteries are plugged in, the "entire" board...or in this case, the Micro is powered up. All 12 channels. (I had forgotten that fact) The individual channels of the rx., receive the "signal" from the jumpers between the rx. and the SF. Soooo, I split the two top aileron servos and put them on their own channels. The bottom aileron servos are (at present)
"Y'd". Giving me the ability to fine tune the top aileron servos. Bottoms will be nearly as close for tuning. But won't have the option of crow as you mentioned. My wiring so far is: Ch. 1 is top left aileron, Ch. 2, left elevator, Ch. 3 will be throttle....(still yet to be installed), Ch. 4 is left rudder. Ch. 5 is top right aileron, 6 for right elevator and 7 is for right rudder. Channel 8 is devoted to activated ignition, 9 for bottom ailerons. As for power source for the ignition module, I plugged the power source lead for the Opto Kill into a spare unused port on the SF Micro. Set up this way, the Opto Kill gets the same voltage that is plugged into the Smart Fly, which by the way will be the same supplied voltage to the servos direct from the flight packs. The rx, however is maintained to a dedicated uninterrupted 5.0 volts from the circuitry of the SF Micro. I think this is the biggest reason I like using the SF products. "IF" in an extreme case (Like on my big Yak for example) I put a lot of load on the flight packs in an extreme 3D maneuver or fly the plane hard...there is little to no chance of a brown out on the rx. because no matter what, the rx. "NEVER" loses its dedicated 5.0 volts from the SF. Usually I run on my big birds a separate battery for the ignition circuit. And twin Fromeco LiIon 5200 packs. But on the Pitts, I am going to run the ignition straight from the Smart Fly and probably use twin Pulse 3600 mah Lipos. I really can't foresee the need for anything more than this for a good days flying. I really feel this is a pretty solid setup with the least amount of possible failure links to weaken. And at the same time, a fairly redundant system. The only possible failure that I can give a thought to would be the single on/off switch. But being a SF product, I feel very confidant it will be just like the rest of their electronic equipment.

Now if I split the rudder servos and "Y" them, I will have the extra channel available for splitting the lower aileron servos. This is probably what I will end up doing. Thank you Earle for reminding me of this cool little possibility.

I now have most of the wiring, (except for any changes I make and the throttle servo) done. I also got the wiring for the RC Excel ignition module completed and mounted.

A few photos of todays progress.


I am going to attempt getting the "go-go" servo installed and wired tomorrow. I will probably also "Y" the rudder servos and split the bottom aileron servos. I need to still assemble and mount the "hall" sensor on the "dub". Finish cleaning up the ignition wiring....(looms and such). Install the control horns on the control surfaces, finish mounting the canopy to the hatch, mount landing gear, wheels, tail gear, drill the Falcon 24x10 and mount it.... Hmm, lets see...Oh yeah, get that damn top and bottom wing trim done. LOL.

So it is getting close. Not too many hours left and she'll be ready to mash the gas and go!!!

Thank you again Earle for your awesome suggestion. If something "HAS" to be "Y'd", I would rather it be the rudder than the ailerons.

Why two rudder servos on an airplane this size?

Jetpainter said:

Why two rudder servos on an airplane this size?

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I was getting ready to ask the same question

Jetpainter said:

Why two rudder servos on an airplane this size?

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Well it's actually funny you should ask that. As I was posting last night, I was thinking there is no reason to have two rudder servos. Especially since one 7954 is more than enough grunt for this plane. So last night after posting the progress, I made a decision to eliminate one rudder servo. Which in turn solves a couple of issues. One, I will save about 4 oz. of weight, (roughly) between the servo, linkage and extension. Maybe more...will weigh those when removed. Second issue resolved would be I will then have my extra aileron channel I need. Less programming, less to go wrong, I will have full fine tuneability on all servos and....I can get rid of that "Y" on the lower ailerons. I know guys, I'm anal about some things.

Good decision. One of those was plenty rudder power on my DA120 Beast.

Rob,

Sorry I am just catching up with the setup. One rudder servo will be fine if it has god torque. If you run out of port you can use a matchbox or Futaba MA10 . you get additional ports plus they allow you to reverse direction of the servo's and control the throw to match servos

just a thought. Also watch your throws, go easy to start as it will not require max deflection

Al