Can a mode 2 aircraft be flown with a mode 1 transmitter?

[Peter Brownlow]

Please forgive anything which seems to be an obvious gaffe in what follows, but I am new to programmable radio systems and would appreciate any advice that can be offered.

 

In my retirement I've revived my interest in r/c flying after 20 years absence and am very 'rusty'. I fly Mode 2, and my instructor flies Mode 1. So far I've been flying one of his Mode 1 aircraft with his Spektrum NX8 Mode 1 Tx somehow easily buddied wirelessly with my Mode 2 Spektrum DX8, so I can use my Mode 2 Tx with his Mode 1 plane.

 

I've now acquired my own model which uses a Spektrum AR620 receiver and is set up for mode 2 flying.

 

I'm not confident enough yet to fly my model myself, but am wondering whether my instructor can fly somehow my model with me as buddy, as before.

 

Any advice gratefully received.

 

Peter

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

I don't know about spectrum, but you can with Futaba radios,,

[Shaun Walsh]

It should be possible, as the receiver doesn't care about mode 1 or 2 but the transmitter has to be configured so that the throttle and elevator controls are assigned to the correct stick after that the signals that are transmitted should be identical and interpreted the same way by the receiver.

Copied from flite test forum, standard channel assignments on AR620 are:

First slot on the left is Battery port. On older receivers, before they added the bind button, it was the "bind" port, and would be used for people flying with a battery pack instead of using a BEC or battery elimination circuit. From there, going to the right, It's TAERGA - Throttle on port 1, Aileron on port 2, Elevator on port 3, Rudder on port 4, Gear on port 5, AUX1 on port 6. All can be reprogrammed via the computerized programming on almost all of the Spectrum radios, though, so it's possible to have the Rudder on port 2, ailerons on port 5, etc...It's kind of a pain to reprogram, though, so I generally leave it.

[Peter Brownlow]

That's good to hear -thanks!

[kc]

It seems to me that your instructor needs to bind his Tx to your Rx and then you continue using your Tx as the buddy just as before.  

When you no longer need an instructor then you rebind your Rx to your own Tx  AFTER noting control movements used also any expo etc or reversed servos etc.

Edited November 20 by kc

[Peter Brownlow]

Ah, I didn't realise that could be done, so thanks.

[Andy Symons - BMFA]

The aircraft itself isn't either mode 1 or mode 2, the ailerons are ailerons, the elevator is the elevator etc.  The receiver is also neither mode 1 or mode 2.

Only the transmitter is Mode 1 or Mode 2, the aircraft and the receiver doesn't even know whether the transmitter is mode 1 or mode 2 either because it doesn't need to.

The aileron channel on Mode 1 or Mode 2 is the same channel, elevator channel on both modes is still the elevator channel and so on.

[Peter Brownlow]

Thanks for the clarification of terms.

[SIMON CRAGG]

Yes it can. Our club trainer uses mode 1 to 2, and no issues all year!.

[David Davis 2]

I am the only Mode 2 pilot in my club. When training Mode 1 beginners I bind my transmitter to my trainees' models and then bind both transmitters to one another then test that they operate as they should before flight. Make sure that all the control surfaces don't move when you hand over control.

[Peter Brownlow]

That's great news - thanks!

[Lipo Man]

10 hours ago, David Davis 2 said:

I am the only Mode 2 pilot in my club. When training Mode 1 beginners I bind my transmitter to my trainees' models and then bind both transmitters to one another then test that they operate as they should before flight. Make sure that all the control surfaces don't move when you hand over control.

Crikey. I thought the whole world (pretty much) flew mode 2. Every day is a school day!

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

4 minutes ago, Lipo Man said:

Crikey. I thought the whole world (pretty much) flew mode 2. Every day is a school day!

Yes most of us are perfect, although there are a few who aren't,,,😄

[David Davis 2]

3 hours ago, Lipo Man said:

Crikey. I thought the whole world (pretty much) flew mode 2. Every day is a school day!

 

I live in France mate, the weather's better and the houses and wine are cheaper! Most Frenchmen, 85% I've heard, are Mode 1.

[Don Fry]

I also live in France, next to a boat slip to the river. He forgot to mention how many long lean and beautiful  young ladies flaunt about here, all the summer long.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

1 hour ago, David Davis 2 said:

 

I live in France mate, the weather's better and the houses and wine are cheaper! Most Frenchmen, 85% I've heard, are Mode 1.

What do you expect when they drive on the wrong side of the road!  Luckily, somewhat more more than 85% seem to agree to comply with this convention. 

[David Davis 2]

8 hours ago, Martin Harris - Moderator said:

What do you expect when they drive on the wrong side of the road!  Luckily, somewhat more more than 85% seem to agree to comply with this convention. 

 

They drive on the wrong side of the road in Germany too but they mostly fly Mode 2.

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

Locally it's all mode 2, why ?, the club at Nimes fly on an aerodrome, Montpellier clubs were started by real pilots and were coming over with Kraft radios on mode 2, as were; Martigue/Marseille/ Orange /Salon de Provence also with the military bases, our club, well that's my fault, I taught all the new members to fly from 1990 to 2010 when I sold them their gear and taught them to fly.

 

Around the Martigue/Marseille area it's mostly helicopters as they have been building them there for years so all mode 2.

[Don Fry]

Being pedantic Martin, you, on your side of La Manche, only, drive on that side, and some another small to medium nations follow suit.
from the Latin, I am within my rights, comes from the Roman  system of “right of way”, stuff on you right has right of way , and France still follows the tradition, and if my memory serves, do not aircraft and ships, also follow the quaint tradition. 

[Peter Jenkins]

14 hours ago, Don Fry said:

Being pedantic Martin, you, on your side of La Manche, only, drive on that side, and some another small to medium nations follow suit.
from the Latin, I am within my rights, comes from the Roman  system of “right of way”, stuff on you right has right of way , and France still follows the tradition, and if my memory serves, do not aircraft and ships, also follow the quaint tradition. 

I seem to remember that the aeronautical world followed the nautical world and the rule is give way to the traffic on the left.  That's why the captain of a two pilot cockpit is on the left.  Helicopters, for some reason, have the captain sitting on the right but still have to give way to traffic on the left.

[Arthur Harris]

On 21/11/2023 at 16:10, Lipo Man said:

Crikey. I thought the whole world (pretty much) flew mode 2. Every day is a school day!

 

On 21/11/2023 at 16:15, Paul De Tourtoulon said:

Yes most of us are perfect, although there are a few who aren't,,,😄

Mode 2 seems to be the default amongst RTF/ARTF especially the Asian models that supply TXs with their planes, like Volanex etc. It is certainly the most realistic- primary control on one stick, rudder and throttle on the left.

[Peter Jenkins]

2 minutes ago, Arthur Harris said:

 

Mode 2 seems to be the default amongst RTF/ARTF especially the Asian models that supply TXs with their planes, like Volanex etc. It is certainly the most realistic- primary control on one stick, rudder and throttle on the left.

You would think so but wait till you want to fly an axial roll!  With Mode 1, you apply aileron with the right stick and leave that stick alone, while the left stick is used to blend rudder and elevator round the roll.  With Mode 2, you have to hold the aileron application steady (unless you are using full stick with low rate on aileron) then use the elevator while the left stick has to blend in rudder with the elevator movement.  Many's the time that I considered re-training myself to fly Mode 1!  So, don't think Mode 1 has no use!

[GaryWebb]

On 21/11/2023 at 16:10, Lipo Man said:

Crikey. I thought the whole world (pretty much) flew mode 2. Every day is a school day!

 

I'm one of the unfortunate ones that can actually fly both mode 1 & mode 2,, but I can only fly mode 2 on helicopters

Edited Saturday at 02:18 by GaryWebb

[Peter Jenkins]

13 minutes ago, GaryWebb said:

 

I'm one of the unfortunate ones that can actually fly both mode 1 & mode 2,, but I can only fly mode 2 on helicopters

Wow!  Respect!

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

5 hours ago, GaryWebb said:

 

I'm one of the unfortunate ones that can actually fly both mode 1 & mode 2,, but I can only fly mode 2 on helicopters

Same here, I did try Mode 1 on a helicopter, reflexes aren't enough, I didn't break anything,,,