Out of range motor action ?

[John Wagg]

If an electric plane (ESC motor controller) flies out of range does the motor cut.?

I'm getting an electric plane for Christmas  (been a good boy 😇) and just wondering if the motor cuts or keeps going.

At the moment I intend fitting an FRsky S8R stabiliser receiver which, depending on settings, could just fly away on it's own in stabilisation mode even when out of range.

So like any powered plane if the motor cuts it's expected to return to terra-firma. 

It would be nice as a "fail safe mode" if the motor cut and the receiver went into its self stabilisation mode.

The S8R, as far as I'm aware, does not have a safe mode like other standard receivers where you just momentarily press the F/S button to set the controls on signal loss.

Normally I fly IC models so this new fangled electricary stuff is going to tax the little grey cells, What with timers, throttle arming, etc.

Cheers

John

[J D 8]

Any modern TX/RX should have a fail safe mode with the ability to set control surfaces to a pre determind position as well as power down. Any stabliser system should still be active l think.  I use Futaba so do not know the FRsky system.

[J D 8]

To add to the above, the ESC will also cut power if no signal recived for a second or two.

[John Wagg]

JD8, Thanks for the reply. When the plane is completed I suppose all I have to do is switch the Tx off and see the outcome. 🙂

Cheers

John

 

 

[Andy Gates]

Hi John,

 

I can't be 100% certain but both the S8R receivers I have are set up on custom failsafes programmed by my transmitter.

This sets failsafe positions for each of the surfaces individually.

I don't think that the S8R's have a button press receiver failsafe due to the complexity of the receiver and gyro system.

[GrumpyGnome]

I think failsafe for all FrSky stuff is set on the transmitter, and 'stored' on the Rx when binding.  So, for all mine, it's Bind, set up controls, Set Failsafe, Bind......

[John Wagg]

Appreciate the replies Guys thank's.

On all my "normal" Rx's (FRsky etc) I can set the failsafe by first putting the Tx sticks into the failsafe position I want  Usually just throttle closed but you could add flaps or up elevator if practical. Following this just press the receivers F/S button (bind button) for a less than 2 seconds and this sets the fail-safe.

The S8R does have a F/S button but as Andy says it doesn't work when the Rx is set in the stabiliser mode.

So the fail-safe has to be set on the transmitter which is something I haven't needed to do until now. (more little grey cells to exercise 🙄)

The S8R can have the stabiliser mode switched out and so becomes a normal receiver, then perhaps the F/S button may function normally ?

 

A good point JD8, as I didn't expect the ESC to cut the power if the signal is lost. 

 

Edit - just to add that the F/S has to be reset if the receiver is rebound or to cancel the F/S then rebind the receiver.

 

Cheers

John

 

 

 

Edited October 26, 2022 by John Wagg

[MattyB]

Just use the custom failsafe option. This video explains it nicely...

 

 

[Ron Gray]

I fly with FrSky radio gear and set all of my I/C failsafes to cut the motor to ‘tick over’ and all my leccy ones to engine cut. Those with flight controllers (and gps) are set to RTH.

[John Wagg]

Thank you MattyB.

Simples 👍

 

[John Wagg]

2 minutes ago, Ron Gray said:

I fly with FrSky radio gear and set all of my I/C failsafes to cut the motor to ‘tick over’ and all my leccy ones to engine cut. Those with flight controllers (and gps) are set to RTH.

Ron, I don't think the S8R has a return to home function. It's not mentioned in the instructions so I presume there is no GPS sensor in it.

This will be my first serious electric model although I have an electric glider and one of the Volentex mini warbirds. 

Currently I now use a Radiomaster TX16S (Edgetx) as my QX7 has packed in. Most of my receivers are FRsky plus a few equivalents.

Thank you for the reply.

John

[Ron Gray]

No, none of the S series FrSky RXs have a RTH. I am referring to a Flight Controller (Matek 405 or such like) which, when linked to a GPS, can provide various navigation options including a RTH.

[GrumpyGnome]

9 hours ago, Ron Gray said:

I fly with FrSky radio gear and set all of my I/C failsafes to cut the motor to ‘tick over’ and all my leccy ones to engine cut. 

 

Ditto. All other controls at neutral.

[Andy48]

You set the failsafe on the S8R just as you would with any other Frsky gear be it IC or electric. However, it is very unlikely you will ever get a flyaway, one because the range is very good anyway, and secondly because you will get audible warnings that the signal strength is low long before the receiver goes into failsafe. You cannot set the failsafe to switch on stabilisation, indeed there should be no need if the plane is well set up in the first place.

 

Its worth setting the motor to 0% failsafe and add a little rudder % so that the plane will turn and either spiral down or come back into range, though I don't know how effective this would be though as I've never had a plane go out of range.

[Phil Green]

21 hours ago, J D 8 said:

To add to the above, the ESC will also cut power if no signal recived for a second or two.

To clarify, the ESC has no idea whether the transmitter is on or off. All it knows is whether there is a valid throttle channel pulse from the receiver, and that depends entirely on the receiver configuration. Some systems allow you to set the failsafe positions from the transmitter (mine does), some are set via the receiver FS button -but failsafe itself is entirely a receiver function. Consequently the ESCs response to the transmitter being switched off is determined only by the receiver.  Receivers without failsafe generally cease outputting servo pulses on loss of RF signal, which will stop the ESC, not through loss of RF but through the receiver ceasing its throttle channel pulse.  With a failsafe receiver, the ESC NEVER sees a loss of throttle signal and has no clue whether the transmitter is on, off or has failed  👍

Cheers

Phil

Edited October 26, 2022 by Phil Green

[John Wagg]

I watched a plane go out of range about a month ago. (not mine)

Transmitter battery ran out. 🙄 So technically not out of normal range.

Learner guy chancing a last flight. Luckily, plane flew better on its own than when he tried to control it and it landed unhurt. 

 

Edited October 26, 2022 by John Wagg

[PatMc]

2 hours ago, John Wagg said:

I watched a plane go out of range about a month ago. (not mine)

Transmitter battery ran out. 🙄 So technically not out of normal range.

Learner guy chancing a last flight. Luckily, plane flew better on its own than when he tried to control it and it landed unhurt. 

 

The priority of failsafe is for the model to descend quickly without endangering other airspace users not to land the model without it being damaged.

[John Lee]

On 25/10/2022 at 21:40, John Wagg said:

 

Normally I fly IC models so this new fangled electricary stuff is going to tax the little grey cells, What with timers, throttle arming, etc.

Cheers

John

 

It could be worthwhile aquatinting yourself with the specific section of the BMFA Handbook relating to Electric Flight for advice on these topics. Link

[John Wagg]

4 minutes ago, John Lee said:

 

It could be worthwhile aquatinting yourself with the specific section of the BMFA Handbook relating to Electric Flight for advice on these topics. Link

Thanks John for the link. Had a quick read and will digest again properly later. 

The majority of our club fly electric and there is a lot of experience to glean from them.

I've been flying many years on I.C so electric is a new experience for me. I do have some concerns about electric operation, especially around the safe use of Li-Po cells. 

 

Cheers

John

 

 

[John Lee]

Good oh, John. Again the BMFA have a resource in that they publish a Battery Safety Booklet, original published in 2014 & updated 2020. I'm attaching it as a .pdf but for info it's on the BMFA Website: BMFA Homepage>More>Downloads>Handbook, Guidance & Codes of Practice>Battery Safety Booklet. LinkBattery Safety Booklet - June 2014.pdf