Electric Vulcan setup help please!

[Beanfeast]

Hi all

I've been interested in electric flying for a long time, and played with smaller rtf models for a while which is good fun.

I'm now ready to move onto bigger things and have just bought a 2nd hand Vulcan with the premise it flies really well and is pretty stable and forgiving for a beginner! What I didn't get was the actual setup instructions.

It came with a Dynam receiver and transmitter, which I've got working apart from getting the ailerons to move in the same direction together for up and down motion. I've fitted a servo Y cable on the plane to the receiver aileron connector, which means the ailerons work correctly for turning.

Is there something I'm missing for controlling pitch? The plane doesn't have a rudder.

Thanks 👍

[Shaun Walsh]

Posted by Joe Freeland on 17/05/2020 18:55:20:

Hi all

I've been interested in electric flying for a long time, and played with smaller rtf models for a while which is good fun.

I'm now ready to move onto bigger things and have just bought a 2nd hand Vulcan with the premise it flies really well and is pretty stable and forgiving for a beginner! What I didn't get was the actual setup instructions.

It came with a Dynam receiver and transmitter, which I've got working apart from getting the ailerons to move in the same direction together for up and down motion. I've fitted a servo Y cable on the plane to the receiver aileron connector, which means the ailerons work correctly for turning.

Is there something I'm missing for controlling pitch? The plane doesn't have a rudder.

Thanks 👍

You need to remove the y cable and assign each servo to a separate channel, usually one to the aileron channel and the other to an aux channel, the transmitter then needs to be set up for elevon mixing. Not sure how you do this for a dynam transmitter, you may need to Google it.

[Allan Bennett]

For combined elevator/aileron operation ("elevon" ) each aileron must be connected to a separate channel from the receiver -- not to a Y-lead to a single channel. You then have to program the transmitter so that the two surfaces move opposite ways (for aileron) when you move the left/right stick, and move the same way (for elevator) when you move the up/down stick. I'm afraid I can't help you with that, for I'm not familiar with Dynam equipment. Check the transmitter instructions and/or menus to find if there's a pre-programmed 'elevon' option.

Edited By Allan Bennett on 17/05/2020 20:07:48

[Chris Walby]

Hi, Can only speak for Spektrum which has a standard mix (two actually) for Elevron type models. So I just select that mode and the TX sorts out the elevator and aileron mix all in one go.

How big is the Vulcan and is it tractor, pusher or EDF?

I was given a very overweight Vulcan which is quite underpowered hence it takes a very powerful bungee to get it of the ground. Dave one of the club instructors flies it and it takes a lot of sky up because if you turn tight it just washes speed off, but it looks and flies super scale!

Mine has Elevrons and flaps, but Dave prefers to operate them all as Elverons .

If you can keep the weight down then it should be quite easy to fly.

Good luck and keep us all posted on your progress..

[Frank Skilbeck]

Which Dynam transmitter is it, The Detrum Gavins have elevon mixing (it might be called delta) and you'd plug the servos into the elevator and aileron channels.

[Beanfeast]

Hi all, well I didn't expect so many replies so quickly - thanks for those! I'll do my best to answer everything.

Firstly my Vulcan stats: Wingtip to wingtip is 115cm, nose to tail 102cm - and it weighs all in at 925g. How does that sound?

The motor is an Overlander Thumper V2 with a 2200mAH battery. I'm told I rarely need to use full power as the plane glides well on minimum and can be thrown for takeoff without any power to begin with.

It's got a Dynam 7 channel receiver and 4 channel transmitter. I can't find anywhere a model name for the transmitter, it just says Dynam 4 ch and it just has the 4 reverse switches on the lower front and 1 protector switch on the top right.

Setting up - you're right of course, the Y cable just means the ailerons work together to turn the plane and not alter pitch. However if I plug the wing servos into the receiver ELEV & AILE slots, the only way they work as they should is by moving the transmitter RH stick diagonally. i.e. top left to bottom right controls pitch, top right to bottom left controls direction.

I have no idea how or if this transmitter can be programmed to work correctly, I've not been able to find anything online and when I bought the plane I was advised I 'might' have to buy a Spectrum setup instead - this isn't the same transmitter the plane has been flown with previously.

[Beanfeast]

And just to add a pic of my Vulcan...

[KiwiKid]

Hi Joe, firstly it looks like your transmitter is mode 2. Is that what you are used to?

Secondly, delta configurations can take a bit of fiddling with. The parameters are the positioning of the servo leads on the RX and the positioning of the servo reversers (which you appear to have on the front of your TX). This obviously gives a variety of combos. Try switching things around and you will hopefully come across the correct combo. As mentioned, you also have to have the correct wing type (delta) selected on the TX.

Here's a link to a thread that shows some pics and a vid of your Vulcan type in operation (in the middle of the page): **LINK**

 

Edited By KiwiKid on 18/05/2020 03:48:25

[Shaun Walsh]

https://www.elitemodelsonline.co.uk/More/Radio-Equipment/Radio-Accessories/Servo-Slows-and-Reversers/30869-/VTail-Mixer-Unit

Think you will need one of these.

[Frank Skilbeck]

It doesn't look like that plane has flown with that transmitter, I guess the seller substituted it.

Also while the Vulcan might fly quite well, it will have no self righting capability, so saying it is forgiving to a beginner is stretching it a bit. Having said that many years ago after a few buddy box sessions with a normal trainer my lad got on great solo with a Wildthing delta glider, but every landing was a crash for a while! but that was the beauty of the Wildthing it was nigh on indestructable, still got mine and after let slope newbies have a go with it.

But if you are comfortable with your rtf planes in all attitudes and have some suitable long grass to test fly over then you may be OK. Are you comfortable trimming your rtf models.

[Beanfeast]

Yes. mode 2 is what I'm used to. I've tried all combinations of reverse switches and receiver connections, but it just won't work as needed. The receiver and transmitter I was given weren't the same that have flown the plane before so I'm just trying to work with what I have.

The V tail mixer is now ringing bells. I had a Multiplex Pico Jet many years ago, it never flew truly well - in hindsight I think it was under-powered and the aileron sections not big enough, and the battery too heavy - but that required a mixer. I'd forgotten all about that!

The small RTF's I've been flying have an option to disable the gyro, which I do from time to time when the wind is minimal and I've been able to keep it flying well. But because they are so small and light, they get pushed around so easily and the gyro is needed to help with that.

I've now ordered a v tail mixer and a couple of spare prop's, give it a couple of days to arrive and in the meantime I can join the BMFA and CAA.

Thanks for all your help!

[GrumpyGnome]

+1 for it not really being a 'beginner' model.

I remember the PicoJet - mine flew very well as long as i launched it successfully!

GG

[Frank Skilbeck]

Joe, that's another option, some of the 3 axis gyros have inbuilt Delta/V Tail mixing, so if you wanted a gyro to help stabilise the model you could go that way. A CC3D flight controller running Libre Pilot would do the same and you could even set up a safe mode on it but not sure how you'd trigger it from a 4 channel radio though.