David Ramsden Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 Hi there. I've never used servos in wings before and would like a recommendation please. I've heard of people replacing nylon geared wing servos with metal geared ones. How important are metal gears? The model is a 54" span balsa aerobatic slope soarer and each servo would be connected to a 2x22" aileron. I'm looking at a choice between S3115 (nylon gears, £18 each) and S3155 (metal gears £36 each or S3150 at £40). There's also the tiny S3114 (nylon gears £16) would they be okay?. Thanks! David Edited By David Ramsden on 19/10/2020 21:31:46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 Good to see you ditching that sliding servo tray at last... You need to tell us the max thickness of the wing; that is the starting point for selecting wing servos. Also why limit yourself to Futaba? Lots of good (IMO better) options out there from the likes of Hitec, KST, MKS etc. When I used 3150s on a slope plank they seemed to develop gear play rather quickly, even for an MG servo. Personally on something like that a simple analogue micro (assuming it will fit and the model isn't a DS mouldie!) would do the job - the Karbonite geared HS65HB from Hitec are affordable, reliable and should have plenty of torque for that application. Yes the gears are slightly more vulnerable to being stripped, but they take longer to wear than a low cost MG and are easily and cheaply replaced. I also like the cheap as chips Towerpro MG16R - not the most accurate out there (they do overshoot a tad) but great torque, digital and very robust for slope use. If you are prepared to spend more then the KSTs would be my choice - lots of options at Hyperflight including the excellent DS135MG on special, but the torque specs are probably a bit OTT for your application. Edited By MattyB on 19/10/2020 21:58:48 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ramsden Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 Thanks MattyB. Excuse my ignorance but I know nothing about mixing makes. Can I use ANY make of servo with my Futaba Tx/Rx? Do they all have identical plugs? I assume nylon gears are not recommended for this type of application? The TowerPro MG16R sound great value. I like the sound of "very robust". I'm at the design stage so I can fit in anything up to about 11mm thick, slightly more if it's less than 42mm long. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted October 19, 2020 Share Posted October 19, 2020 Yep, you can use any make of servo - if not the likes of KST and MKS would be in trouble, they don't make TXs! The plugs will most likely (but not always) be JR style - identical in all respects other than the absence of the slight flange on one side of the plug outer that characterises Futaba. They will still fit fine in your RX, though. As per above recommendations nylon gears are not generally recommended for slope wing servos, though I'd make an exception for the Hitec Karbonite gears which are a fair bit tougher. Having said that I've probably stripped more servos on door frames than I have at the slope so maybe it doesn't matter as much as we think... EDIT - As you need 11mm only the KSTs of the above choices will fit. You could look at the slim wing Coronas on HK, but they can be hot and miss on quality. Personally I'd go with the KSTs, at £24 each they are excellent value for top level accuracy. Edited By MattyB on 19/10/2020 22:29:18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Ramsden Posted October 19, 2020 Author Share Posted October 19, 2020 Okay great. I think I'll get 2 KST DS135MG's for the wings and two TowerPro MG16R's for the fuselage and see how I get on with them - they are a lot lighter and even cheaper than the standard Futaba S3001's I've been buying. Once again you've been a great help. Thank you. David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyB Posted October 20, 2020 Share Posted October 20, 2020 Posted by David Ramsden on 19/10/2020 22:54:01: Okay great. I think I'll get 2 KST DS135MG's for the wings and two TowerPro MG16R's for the fuselage and see how I get on with them - they are a lot lighter and even cheaper than the standard Futaba S3001's I've been buying. Once again you've been a great help. Thank you. David NP, happy to help. Let us know how it goes! PS - Hyperflight sell servo frames for those servos; they make fitting them in moulded models super easy though if it's built up it's not much harder to make your own. Edited By MattyB on 20/10/2020 12:00:40 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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