Two servo or Y lead for your ailerons ?

[Rocker]

I have always used a Y lead for ailerons but most flyers in my club go for the 2 servo in separate channels with a mix .So is there any pro and cons with 2 servo and a mix or stick with a Y lead plugged straight into the aileron port on your receiver ?

[Allan Bennett]

Once you've gone for two separate servos, rather than one in the middle with pushrods actuating the ailerons, you might as well connect them to two separate channels.  Then you have the advantage of being able to program them as flapperons if you wish.  Disadvantage is it might mean you have to jump from a 4-channel receiver to a 6-channel, and you need to program the extra channel.

[GrumpyGnome]

I try for separate ailerons wherever possible as it gives more flexibility...... flaperons, spoilerons, ability to match servos with slightly different specs/performance.

 

Only disadvantages, as stated, you're using an extra channel and may need some mixing, although I think some sets will have a menu option for dual aileron servos.

 

Add separate flaps as well for even more flexibility (my TimberX and Ultrastick). Deffo lots of mixing needed!

 

But, at the end if the day, if y-leads do what you want, stick with them. 

[Robin Colbourne]

You've also got the advantage that if the connector from the Y-lead to the receiver fails or pulls out, you've lost both ailerons, whereas if you use two separate channels you still have partial aileron control.
With two separate leads you have less resistance in each aileron lead, although the effect is probably minimal.
Finally, you can centre each aileron individually on a computer set.

[Wookman]

Two servos and two channels will also offer the chance to adjust the aileron differential. 

[Jon H]

I use a y lead as its simple and it works. Its also one less wire to connect up. 

 

I rarely use differential aileron now as i can compensate with rudder if i need to. The one model i have with differential only has one servo for ailerons anyway so the diff it set up mechanically. 

 

Unless you need flaperons, airbrakes etc then i wouldnt worry. 

[Cuban8]

If you've got enough channels spare for seperate aileron drives, go ahead (you paid for them, might as well use them) - if not use a Y lead. TBH, most models are fine on Y leads for ailerons - a few advantages/disadvantages either way, nothing to get worked up over TBH.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Phil Green]

1 hour ago, Jon H said:

I rarely use differential aileron now as i can compensate with rudder if i need to.

Depends on the type of model - on a glider you wouldnt want to correct downgoing-aileron drag with more drag from the rudder  :)

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

1 hour ago, Phil Green said:

Depends on the type of model - on a glider you wouldnt want to correct downgoing-aileron drag with more drag from the rudder  :)

Mechanical differential on my models,  some with  Y leads some not,,

defiantly not on my gliders, flaps, air-brake and butterfly ( crocodile for some )

[Jon H]

2 hours ago, Phil Green said:

Depends on the type of model - on a glider you wouldnt want to correct downgoing-aileron drag with more drag from the rudder  :)

 

I flew full size gliders for a while at uni and you always needed a boot of rudder to cancel the adverse yaw.

[MattyB]

33 minutes ago, Paul De Tourtoulon said:

Mechanical differential on my models,  some with  Y leads some not,,

defiantly not on my gliders, flaps, air-brake and butterfly ( crocodile for some )

I think youmeant. crow brakes, not crocodile! Though I like the phrase you have inadvertently christened there - hit the crocodile brakes man we are on landing approach!!! 

Edited September 1 by MattyB

[MattyB]

5 hours ago, Rocker said:

I have always used a Y lead for ailerons but most flyers in my club go for the 2 servo in separate channels with a mix .So is there any pro and cons with 2 servo and a mix or stick with a Y lead plugged straight into the aileron port on your receiver ?

The obvious answer is you can tweak aileron diff via the software at the field, though you still need sound mechanical linkage geometry if you don’t want put resolution or a potentially sloppy linkage., so you still need to setup the linkage rin the right ballparkfor mechanical diff too. Personally I just love the increased control you have over setup from the Tx side when  using dual servos.

[Robin Colbourne]

4 hours ago, MattyB said:

I think youmeant. crow brakes, not crocodile! Though I like the phrase you have inadvertently christened there - hit the crocodile brakes man we are on landing approach!!! 

I was about to ask what crocodile brakes are.  I assumed they were so fierce they would put you in swamp in the blink of an eye.

[GrumpyGnome]

A much snappier response than crow.......

[Learner]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGnome said:

A much snappier response than crow.......

A bit of expo will take the bite out of it.

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

Ok Ok,,, but I do remember an RC radio that had Crocodile mix, I googled it and videos ( in french) came up, too long to watch.

[Robert Welford]

Back to the original question: I would never use a Y-lead for ailerons. Separate channel functions allows you to finely tune the throws on each aileron - essential for tuning any aircraft capable of aerobatics. Simple to do with Multiplex and Jeti.

 

The other advantage is redundancy. The ailerons are independent and will allow some control if one servo circuit goes AWOL. 

[Neddy]

I do a simple soldering job and join the two leads together connected to a single lead into the receiver. This saves space inside the fuselage.

[Engine Doctor]

13 hours ago, Neddy said:

I do a simple soldering job and join the two leads together connected to a single lead into the receiver. This saves space inside the fuselage.

Hi Neddy  . Yes AKA  a  "Y" lead.

 

Using Y lead or separate channels all depends on model . Why over complicate a simple model when  the KISS principle is likely to be most reliable. If its a simple high wing trainer that doesn't suffer from adverse yaw, and most trainers are built to not have adverse yaw issues  then a Y lead if perfectly fine. If on the other hand its a large , expensive or complicated model then OK go for the separate servos on different channels etc .

I recently spoke to a novice flyer who had visited a model shop and been told his Y lead installation in his foam  trainer was dangerous and Old school ? What a load of tosh .To make matters worse he only hade a 5 ch Rx so was now thinking about forking out for another Rx . The only issue with the model was a bad set up and once sorted it flew fine 

The advice was given by a flyer of jet turbine models , a totally different kettle of fish . 

Lets not complicate a system if it works well especially in a basic model.

[Martin Harris - Moderator]

While I normally advocate separate channels for most, if not all of the reasons mentioned above, if it’s not possible for some reason, many beginners - and perhaps some more experienced model flyers brought up on modern radios - may be unaware that a measure of differential can be incorporated by linkage geometry. 
 

As an example, using a multi armed horn or drilling a disc appropriately so that the upgoing surface’s arm is positioned past 90 degrees to the horn linkage will give more upgoing and less downgoing movements. 
 

But in these days of almost universal computer transmitters, this is rather a poke and hope token gesture which is so much easier with two aileron channels. 
 

I have experienced two occasions where having separate channels has meant that I could land a model with an aileron failure. One was a wiring problem and the other a servo failure. While it could be argued that a problem was twice as likely to have occurred, this still leaves me with an average chance of having a failure on one of the models - and with my typical luck…both!

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

One way for those beginners who don't understand.

[Frank Skilbeck]

While I tend not to use Y leads where possible, I do have several planes with a single aileron servo 😜

[Nigel R]

On 01/09/2024 at 08:29, Rocker said:

I have always used a Y lead for ailerons but most flyers in my club go for the 2 servo in separate channels with a mix .So is there any pro and cons with 2 servo and a mix or stick with a Y lead plugged straight into the aileron port on your receiver ?

If I'm using two servos I'd use two independent RX channels - no point not... unless I'm stuck with an RX without enough channels.

 

That said... Anything I build myself I usually fit a single standard servo, torque rods and strip ailerons. Differential (if needed) is easily possible via offset servo horn - as Paul's post shows. Old school? Sure, but, works, hidden linkage, looks tidy, happy with end result.

 

On a fun fly or 3d type, you may very well need the two channels for elevator/flaperon mix. On something larger/faster/pricier you probably want redundancy. Something ARTF is probably built with holes for two servos.

 

Horses for courses.

[leccyflyer]

Having accumulated a lot of models in the past thirty years I'd have to say that it's very variable and that, whilst it was once much more commonplace to have a single central aileron servo, it has become increasingly common, with the availability of much more cost-effective servos to have two aileron servos. Initially that would have been accomplished by virtue of a Y lead, due to the prevalence of simple transmitters, that has come to be replaced by having servos on separate channels, permitting more advanced programming and a greater degree of redundancy.

 

Just out of interest a quick calculation on my model log is consistent with this progress through time - 14% of my models having no aileron servos, 28% having one central aileron servo and 58% having two aileron servos. It would be interesting to see the relative proportions 10 and 20 years ago, but those data would take some further tracking down, as would the spilt of Y leads vs separate channels.

Edited September 9 by leccyflyer
typo

[Nigel R]

Fitting dual servos for ailerons became commonplace in the 1990s, I would say. I remember at the time (20g size micro servos were still pricey) I used two standard size servos, probably S148 or JR 507, in several 40 or 60 class airframes.

 

Before that, historically, I think central single servo with bellcranks and barn door ailerons were de rigeur for good while (1960's?) before torque rods and strip ailerons became common (70's?).

 

These days of blow moulded foamies and near disposable price electronics, its simply too easy to dig out a hole in the foam and hot glue a 9g sub micro servo in place.