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E-flite Diamante 5e ARF Assembly Manual
Servo and Control Setup
3D and precision model trim typically go against each other.
What I mean by this is that when pilots set up their new 40%
something, they go straight for the big rates—35, 40, and
sometimes up to 50 degrees of throw. Any thoughts about how
this can affect the servo resolution, and more importantly the
servo power? 99% of scale aerobatic events allow a separate
aircraft for freestyle. Between 80–100% of the results at a scale
aerobatic event comes from the precision elements, known and
unknown sequences, of the event. Please don’t misunderstand
me, I love to watch freestyle flying, and admire the talent of the
pilots that do it well; it’s innovative and has been one of the
main contributors to the growth of giant-scale aerobatic aircraft.
My point is: why not have your free setup, specifically for the
free event, then have a precision setup for known and unknown
sequences. I know for me personally, having a model just for
freestyle will be something I aim to do in the future. Having
said that, a good alternative is to have a more biased precision
control setup, which will no doubt improve your precision flying,
especially if you’re a regular attendee to the scale aerobatic
event. With my Cap, I use 1" horns on all surfaces with the
exception of Rudder which uses 1 ¼". I have 28 degrees on
aileron, 32 degrees on elevator and 35 degrees on rudder. For
me, this is a good compromise for precision and free flying,
“with the bias towards Free”. With 1" horns, and 1 ½" distance
from control hook up, I am getting slightly better that 1-to-1
ratio. More importantly I am getting closer to the maximum
servo power and control geometry available. With 1" horns,
my resolution is better, control slop is reduced, and servo wear
is greatly improved. Another novel bonus is that I don’t need
as many servos per surface. Give it a try next time you set up
your aircraft, you may be surprised, in fact in some cases you
may see no difference in control responsiveness by going to 1”
horns, as with the better geometry you may be reducing your
control blow back. One of the biggest challenges I see pilots
dealing with is surface blow back. With blow back, your snap
exits will be all over the place, both entry and exits. Getting
consistent flying is almost impossible.
Every time your speed changes, you control response will
change. Hmmn, I suspect a few lights just went on. Yep, could it
be the fact that you consistently miss your snap exits is not due
to your skills, but control blow back.
When setting up your servos, make sure you run the numbers,
do the math and figure out just how much power you are
delivering to the surface. All servos are rated at inch ounces,
that is at one inch from the center of the servo. An 8611 is 266
oz/in at 6V. With a 2” horn they are only 133, and around
200 with a 1 ½" horn. Years ago I was able to measure the
forces on my Cap, believe it or not the ailerons required well
over 30 pounds of force to deflect at 100 mph. Now there are
a lot bigger ailerons out there than mine. Please pay attention
to this; it is crucial to consistent flying. If you have to use 1 ½"
horns, or 2" horns, you will need more servos.
