Steve Houghton 1 Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Whilst waiting for a bit of a breeze on the slope on Sunday, I asked my fellow fliers if they had a fail safe position set up on their tx? I asked because I recently purchased a Hitec Eclipse and wondered whether I should set up a fail safe. But set it up to do what on the slope? Nobody seemed to know but it was suggested that with a 4 servo wing mouldie, setting crow/butterfly as fail safe may be an option. Or should you set a little rudder and down elevator? Thoughts please. Steve A470oaring.blogspot.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly P Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Having never soared, I don't know, but my thoughts are as follows: Failsafe kicks in when you don;t have signal between Tx and Rx - this means that the range is too large or the signal is blocked/jammed. We ideally want to regain control, and in the event minimise potential damage. I would set a bit of rudder or aileron for a gentle turn. This will change the aspect presented and may help in any signal block situation, it would also eventually bring the model in and potentially help with distance related problems. it should also lead to a gentle steady descent and therefore minimise impact energy.... Just some thoughts. Olly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 I'd have thought that was a potentially lethal combination, Steve! The thought of a sharp nosed glider at something approaching terminal velocity scares the wotsits off me! I'd set full up elevator to stall the model - possibly coupled with airbrakes of some sort. You might want to experiment to find a good combination of up ailerons and crow flaps combined with up elevator which would allow the model to descend semi-stalled but stable - but failsafe is primarily to avoid an uncontrolled fly away situation. Edited By Martin Harris on 30/05/2012 14:20:21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton 1 Posted May 30, 2012 Author Share Posted May 30, 2012 Well most of the time, unless the model is below the ridge of the slope, the model will be blown back towards the slope. I had this happen whilst flying a mouldie. I was walking back a bit further up the slope to prepare for a landing when I lost signal to the model. The model continued for a few seconds traversing the slope before the wind caught it and it came crashing into the pits area, narrowly missing a grands worth of mouldie on the ground. When setting up CROW, generally quite a lot of down elevator has to be dialed in otherwise the model balloons upwards and stalls anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Cantwell Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 the question of glider failsafe has been aired before, and to be honest, i had never given it a thought before, but i will ask Tony Hooper,of LMA fame, see what he says, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slopetrashuk Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 This is an old debate. You must remember that the function of a failsafe is to prevent the model from leaving the area in which it is being flown. Generally - to crash it and stop it flying away. Given this a crash in slow motion is always preferable to a high speed one. The basic minimum function of a failsafe on a glider used to be set to spin. I always set to half Crow is the glider is a multi servo wing. The main reason for this is to provide a clear visual demonstration to the pilot that the model has gone into failsafe. many things must happen on the tx for a model to go to full crow - if it suddenly jumps into it there can be no doubt on the part of the pilot what has happened. Secondly it will slow down. thirdly it will (eventually) come to rest on terra firma or if you are unlucky - something wet and wavy. Crow is also not fussy about the attitude of the model when it goes into failsafe. Full up for example could be very bad on a fast inverted pass! I shall endeavour to remember to feature it in my column. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Houghton 1 Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 Thanks for your comments Andy, I shall look forward to seeing it featured in your column, if you remember Steve A470Soaring.blogspot.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Posted by Slopetrashuk on 01/06/2012 12:25:50: Full up for example could be very bad on a fast inverted pass! A very good point! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Zorzella Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 I'm bringing back an old thread! Have you guys made up your mind in regards to the proper way of setting the failsafe function, when flying on the slope? With the Spektrum receiver I use, there are two failsafe options if the signal is lost: (a) all channels will hold their last command; OR (b) all channels will go to its preset failsafe position; I I'm flying thermals at an open field, I always set all channels to a preset failsafe position in order to avoid a fly away situation. I usually set a bit of rudder, a bit of aileron and a little bit of down elevator for a gentle turn towards the ground. Considering the aspects of flying on a cliff and that the model may fly below the ridge of the slope, perhaps option (a) may be a better option. What do you think? Carlos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Skilbeck Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 The problem with a) is that you could have a fly away, of if the model was diving with a bit of down elevator it would pick up a lot of speed. With b) the model would again pick up speed and come in pretty quick unless you regain control. As a failsafe event is exceptionally rare, I've never had one, I'd go with Slopetrashs recommendations above. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Tee Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 If I remebr correctly recently the "rules" changed in that if your equipment has a fail safe facility it must be set. I can't remember any exceptions, so as above what is the reccomended course of action. John Edited By John Tee on 27/08/2018 20:15:29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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