Mode 1 or 2?

[Yorkman]

i guess if no-one tells you any different....

i remember 'piloting' a Falke motor glider at about 15 and pushing the rudder pedals as if they were the steering front axle of my go-kart ...got the instructor's attention...

[Mark Lubbock]

Hi Yorkman,

I did that too on my first flying lesson-it still feels wrong to push 'right for right'-as you say go-karts (& bikes) steer opposite & to me, at least, more intuitive.

[Lee Burke]

Back in 1909 when De Havilland was building his first aircraft he used the "intuitive" push the right hand bar to go left method of rigging, later he discovered that almost everyone else had it the other way round and he was obliged to change his system.  It took him a good while to get used to it too.

[Mark Lubbock]

I'm in good company then!!!

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Yorkman]

i may be wrong here, but didn't the very early 'wright flyer' type things have a system where you pushed down on the relevant pedal to warp and therefore lower the wing on that side? And the wheel on the stick was connected to the rudder? That could be the start of 'right pedal, right turn'

And also very early 'mode1'

[gangster]

Hi

I had a little chuckle with the question " Had this been asked or discussed before"

 You bet it has been argued on flying fields, pubs, magazines, web forums since well before the Wright brothers were even born.

As you can see from the debate it inspired (always does) there is no answer to it.

I fly mode one, cos that is the way I was taught, and at one time I was the only one in the club on mode 1 .

My advice is stick to whatever you learnt on, you will gather from the above there is no answer to the question. 

 I must admit I love the old mode 2 chestnut that it emulates the real thing. Certainly it does, provided you sit on your plane with the TX in front of you

Good on you for raising it again we love this debate, always will

[Kelly]

I think mode 2 will become the norm due to the Playstation generation and the flight simmers. The flight sims on the Playstation ,X-box etc have the aileron/elevator on the same stick or pad control. The PC control sticks/yokes emulate the real thing.

I did learn to fly mode 1 some 30+years ago but on my recent return to model flying I found myself automatically able to fly mode 2 and doubt very much if I could fly mode 1 now. This is due to flight simming and having 3 boys who love the Playstation ( 4 if you include me ).

Which ever way you fly enjoy

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Hmm, Good point that Kelvin

[Kelly]

Hi David

Flew the 109 last saturday  2 flights,no pics, no video but it flew .

[Kelly]

In mode 2  .

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Mode 2 , the only way to fly

Well done mate, good to see you've got there with the model. What's on the building board?

[Kelly]

Well, I have to finish the P-40 but a local club member told me it would be unlikely that  I would  be allowed to fly it without my A cert , so no rush to finish.

GWS Focke Wulf 190, got my bits starting to put it together soon .

Sorry guys for being a bit off thread .

[Martin McIntosh]

Have posted similar elsewhere, but mode one was the natural progression from reed outfits. I can spot a mode two flier from a mile off trying to do a level eight point roll. Beats me how they manage it at all. Why are most southern fliers mode two and midlands upwards predominately mode one? Even the obscure Aussies, I believe,  fly the more natural mode for a model. Think about it. It uses both sides of your brain for the primary controls  and you cannot affect pitch with an aileron input so you can `flick the stick` for point rolls. I have flown full size a few times and an aileron/elevator joystick seems perfectly natural but then you also have your feet to operate the rudder. Tried mode two once on a fun fly and was thankful to get down in one piece in the long grass!

[Cpt Biggles]

Hi all,

Mode one because it’s the best forgets the rest.

Interesting observation regarding the midlands generally flying mode one I learnt to fly in Nottingham but in a club of about 100 there was only a handful of mode one flyer's (4) and they were manly competition flyers. I was taught by a competition flyer and he could fly a house brick if the engine was big enough on mode one obviously

I have flown mode 2 but like others on this thread I do not comfortable with a mode that feels wrong handed to me.

Must admit to starting RC in the early 1970's so that must make me dinosaur.

I am currently in two clubs in north Norfolk UK and in one club I am the only mode 1 flyer, but in the other club there are a good number of mode 1 ‘s
Mostly youngsters ie: under thirty (that’s young for this hobby)

regards to all even mode 2's

[Martin McIntosh]

Hi Biggles, most of my flying in the 70`s was at the Sutton Coldfield site at Fradley near Lichfield and I cannot recall anyone who flew other than mode 1 out of a membership of 100+. Mind you, a lot of us were competion fliers. Remember, Wolfgang Matt and Hanno Prettner fly mode 1, both world champions.

[Pete Rieden]

Martin McIntosh wrote (see)

Remember, Wolfgang Matt and Hanno Prettner fly mode 1, both world champions.

Well yes, but only in one of the lesser events (some kind of circus act IIRC - not proper flying). In the premier event you'll find the race pilots are mostly mode II fliers...

More seriously - I've flown both. I learned on mode 2 and was happy with that. When I started flying pattern (what is now called FAI-F3A) in the early 80s I was advised to try mode I as it was suggested that it was easier to keep a constant roll rate if the ailerons were on a different stick to the elevator & rudder. I flew this way for a year, and they were right - for pattern flying it was probably better. But even at that time I only flew the pattern models on mode 1, and my sport models, gliders and helis were flown on mode II. I got bored with pattern flying after 18 months (something to do with being cinstantly distracted by the grass growing on the airfield) and dropped mode I for a while.

Then in the late 80s I took up proper flying, and in the first few races I tried flying mode I again. This was partly because I had convinced myself that I flew more precisely in mode I, but mainly because the best race pilot of the day (Barrie Lever) flew mode I and I thought he must have a reason. But it didn't feel as comfortable largely because a neckstrap can be a serious liability in pylon and mode II was easier to hold the Tx withour one, so I switched back to mode II. My times improved, not that this proves anything at all. Possibly the biggest benefit was when I switched to the Phelan (High compression, run rich) engine setup, because this requires an in-flight mixture control. It is quite easy to use an IFM with mode II, but much more difficult with mode I, so for me mode II was the best choice. 

But having flown both for extended periods (and indeed having often taken mode I and Mode II models to the field on the same day, because I'm a masochist) I would say that in my experience there is nothing to choose between them. For certain specialist applications one might have a slight edge, but for general flying there ain't much in it.

PDR

[Trevor Meakin]

This is a very interesting debate , and one I did not even consider until below happened.

 

 

I am Just getting back into the Hobby again and not flown for xxYrs , ( not telling you folks how old I am ) I brushed off my old heli ( Mode 2 ) not flown it yet , doing full strip down first just to ensure al lis good . Until then I have now decided to give Fixed wing a go again ..Having got shut of my T180 years ago, Which I flew Mode 2 , a new model is required , I am still looking around at the moment . Not looking for aerobatics , just a steady  few circuits around the field , my main interest is scale .

 

I decided to give my Old Model club a look up on the tinterweb thingy ,as I knew that by now Heli's was a seperate club.

I wanted to see where the flying field had moved to plus how much it was going to cost me to join ..Reading Infromation on their Web Site  , I was astonished to read they Fly Mode 1 Only ...( not Mostly - but ONLY !! ) amazing as this is the old club  I learned to fly many years back in Mode 2 ..but more importantly does this mean I have to learn to fly Mode 1  else I cannot Join ???

 

Not asked them yet , but wondered if anyone else had come across this sort of ruling ..

 

Cheers

 

Trev.

 

[David Ashby - Moderator]

I wanted to see where the flying field had moved to plus how much it was going to cost me to join ..Reading Infromation on their Web Site  , I was astonished to read they Fly Mode 1 Only ...( not Mostly - but ONLY !! ) amazing as this is the old club  I learned to fly many years back in Mode 2 ..but more importantly does this mean I have to learn to fly Mode 1  else I cannot Join ???

 

 Can't imagine in a million years that you'd have to fall in line Trevor although you're not going to be receiving much help from the club instructors I guess?

[001]

I have only ever flown Mode 2 because that's how I was taught darn sarth. I notice that there are more mode 1 flyers in the Midlands and North, why? Does anyone know?

 

Going back to the question of the Wright Brothers first Flyer, the wing warping was connected to a harness around the pilot's waist or hips. Try replicating that with your FF6 and buddy lead in public.   

[John Privett]

I've always understood Mode1 vs. Mode 2 to be a regional thing. 

 

However I learnt to fly in the NE, now fly in the SE,  and can't think of more than two people I've ever flown with anywhere who fly Mode 1.  And one of those flew fixed-wing and helis on different modes!  Can't recall which way round - I think it was Mode 2 on the heli.

 

[iawnski]

and what about mode 4 ,i no a lot of modellers(in our club) who fly this mode including myself, no probs what so ever, had a go at changeing ,ok at first, but the first hint of any trouble and  wow ,im going back to mode 4 every one to himself its what u feel good with eh timbo

[John Privett]

Must admit,  I had to look up what Mode 4 was!   That's like Model 2, but ailerons and rudder swapped over?

 

As you say - whatever you feel good with!  I read a magazine editorial some years ago, I think by David Boddington.  He reckoned in the course of many years flying and helping beginners he'd seen and flown most documented modes - plus one or two undocumented ones!  Some he felt might have been easier to fly by turning the transmitter upside-down and tucking the aerial under his arm...