OrangeRX 3-Axis Flight Stabilizer

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

FF I can't see any way to program this one for different model layouts.

The bare board one has programming links which enable setting of different model types.

[Pete B]

Yes, the I86AP covers normal, elevon and V-Tail configurations. I've been flying mine on the West Wings Fournier and it works, calming down the twitchiness quite well. I haven't yet started playing with the gain though.....

Pete

[JayCee]

Yep mine is all ready to go just waiting for a break in the weather,

JC

[JayCee]

Well it does what it says on the tin!

Tried out my HK Axis Stabliiser today, not a very sicenctific approach as the plane I tried it in I hadn't flown before.

The plane, a Precision Aerobatics Katana MD was acquired a year ago but because it is very light weight, 30oz and because our strip is on the Surrey Downs and invariably windy it was never flown.

However, it seemed the ideal plane to test out the Axis, if that could be flown with a 15mph+ cross wind then it was obviously doing something right.

Well I'm not a great pilot but I managed four flights with very little problem in conditions that normally I wouldn't fly anything that light.

i wouldn't say it was able to hold the plane perfectly level on a slow cross wind landing, but that was more to do with the speed approaching stall speed. Inverted flight was a dream being held level with no down elevator, basic aerobatics (I can only do basic aerobatics) were well controlled.

Looking forward to getting a bit more adventurous with gain controls and throwing around a bit more.

For $15.00 it's a steal

JC

[C Norton]

Mine has just arrived and about to fit it into my VMAR RF4. HK are out of stock again but if any of you are REALLY desperate you could buy from this guy, bearing in mind they're about a tenner from HK..... :RTQ:GB:1123&clk_rvr_id=375326549501">Here

 

Edited By C Norton on 14/08/2012 17:44:00

Edited By C Norton on 14/08/2012 17:44:59

[C Norton]

Sorry, not sure what happened with the link there, I followed the instructions to the letter! :RTQ:GB:1123&clk_rvr_id=375326549501">Try again

[Terry Walters]

Posted by C Norton on 14/08/2012 17:39:09:

Mine has just arrived and about to fit it into my VMAR RF4. HK are out of stock again but if any of you are REALLY desperate you could buy from this guy, bearing in mind they're about a tenner from HK.....

Hi Chris,

I've just been trying to fit it to my VMAR RF4 as it's the most twitchy of my fleet! Got the rudder working the right way, Elevator seems to be ok but only very small movements and the right aileron - nothing yet.

Will persevere later this evening as i want to try it tomorrow am at the strip.

Let us know how you get on.

Terry

[C Norton]

I will indeed. Reading on various forums someone suggests mounting the stabiliser rigidly in the model, not even on foam, so I don't know if that makes a difference? Also, of course, it has to face the right way and that isn't at all clear from casual inspection of the unit!

[Erfolg]

Me to!

It will take a little time for me to get started, as at the moment I am busy.

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

I've flown mine this evening with er.. "interesting" results.

1st, importantly, it was proved that these things need tweaking to the model.

2nd, start with gain quite low giving a bit of, but not much movement when the model is moved about quite hard. (Gain can subsequently be increased bit by bit).

OK, I've flown this model with the I86AP stabiliser and that one just made everything smoother. Smooth on a calm day and ironed out the bumps on a windy one.

This Orange one however was not such a clear cut improvement.

First launch saw the wings flapping up and down ten to the dozen, it was over correcting and then trying to correct for it's over correction and going all over the place. A cut off of throttle saw it settle down and a very careful circuit was flown to a landing.

With the gain turned right back to almost doing nothing, a second launch was tried, this time some definite pitching was evident, over correction again but not as bad as the ailerons had been. so gain was backed off on that too. It was pretty fiddly to find a setting between having no effect at all, and where the setting was too much.

The third go was pretty good, it was a good flight with plenty of smooth aeros. Big loops, chandelles, reversals, stall turns and low passes. Some trimming was necessary as the unit had thrown the trims when it was installed but things were pretty good. I think it was smoothing out the bumps, but tonights bumps weren't huge so it's quite hard to tell.
My impression though was that there was still over correction sometimes on ailerons. It was almost as if there was a regular but very small aileron glitch.

However a post above has made me wonder, do I have it mounted securely enough. I have it on a flat ply plate, but only mounted with velcro and then not a huge piece. I wonder if the weight of the case means it moves about a bit more than the bare board one?

I feel more trials coming on, but of course I'm not going to get out to fly much in the next couple of weeks, other commitments for a while.

[Pete B]

Hot off the press and admittedly not the most scientific of comparisons, I dug out an in-flight video taken on my West Wings Fournier RF4D last year and knitted in some video taken from the same model today, fitted with the bare board i86AP.

Weather conditions were probably more blustery in the 'before' sequence but it certainly gives some indication as to how much it has calmed down a model which was twitchy at the best of times:

For information, I've mounted mine on Velcro at the rear of the cockpit. The rudder and elevator gain are as found, about 50% and I've increased the aileron to about 60%.

I think the video tends to support Chris's finding about the i86AP calming everything down. Could enhance some scale models, yes?

Pete

[JayCee]

I agree with Chris

The gain controls are overly sensitive with minute adjustments required to get the throws just right.

Originaly I mounted mine on hook and loop but found the movement was causing problems, just touching the unit was enough to see control services moving, I now have it fitted on a small ply board with double sided tape

For some reason it does appear to alter the trims quite significantly so I wonder weather the unit will ever be able to be supplied with a ON-OFF switch via the Tx.

In addition to reverse the surface throws I had to reverse the servo at the Tx as well as on the Axis so switching it on and off mid flight would spell disaster .

Early days, hopefully as this thread grows more information will be gained. Unfortunatly in my neck off the woods weather forecast is unsettled yet again so probably no flying for a few days.

JC

[NigelH]

If you life depends on one go to the link posted below by Pete.

I came across this vendor the other day when looking for something else.  I'll give him a miss.

 

Edited By NigelH on 15/08/2012 08:51:17

[NigelH]

I've edited the above post several times and although thr URL is clean enough and I've used the proper 'insert URL' function, it simply will not display properly.

 

Edited By NigelH on 15/08/2012 08:38:10

[Pete B]

There you go - or not, as the case may be, looking at that price!

Copy the URL. In your post, highlight the text that you want to use as the link, click on the link button and paste the URL, click OK and that's it.........

If you are already doing that - I can't help any further......

Pete

[NigelH]

Thanks. That's what I did several times so I may as well delete the above link.

[Pete B]

Marginally off-topic but there's a spanner in the works on Ebay, methinks. The BIN price is now £2000.99!

Pete

[NigelH]

Maybe there's more demand than expected ?

[Fun Flyer]

I just noticed that the HK site now has the manual for the FY-20A here. I don't know how comparable they are.

[Erfolg]

I am getting the gyro advert, not a manual from the link.

[NigelH]

It''s on the files tab, but here

[Fun Flyer]

Sorry, I should have said where it was. I thought the files tab would stay open. Should have checked of course.

[Steve Hargreaves - Moderator]

Just getting back on topic.....

I've not tried one of these but I do think a very firm fixing is a must.....velco can be a bit wobbly & I guess it relys on the sudden 'g' forces to "activate" it very thin double sided tape would be the way forward IMHO...

I've found that the tape used for attaching car body trim is very good.....thin & as sticky as a very, very sticky thing.....different widths available but like this

If you wanted to be able to swap between models quickly might you be able to build a base that you could cable tie it to...?

[Chris Bott - Moderator]

Hi Steve you'r absolutely right. Looking at mine again it is a bit wobbly on the velcro. I can just imagine that moving from side to side when the model doesn't, thus setting up the little issues I had last night.

The bare board type is wide and low so probably didn't wobble much at all, whlie the cased version does have some mass some distance away from the velcro, so probably does.

It's a nice ply horisontal floor in the Alliance so I must be able to cable tie directly to that if I can get the ends of the ties right round. Otherwise a second piece with ties already in place can be glued on top.

Must try to get some more releasable cable ties. A velcro strap might work? I'd like a system that allows swapping between models to allow more testing

[JayCee]

Yes Steve I mentioned the fixing method in my post, I first tried hook and loop (Velcro ) but just touching the Axis was enough to move the control surfaces.

i was able to install a small ply platform just to the rear of the Rx and fix with double sided tape which so far has proved successful

JC