Basic flight questions about Cessna 182 Skylane

[edgeh2o]

I'm new to RC airplanes. I purchased a Cessna 182 Skylane 4 channel plane from Raiden tech. There's very little documentation. The controller has two joy sticks, the left has control over chan 1 and 2, the right with chan 3 and 4. How should they be configured? That is, should the rudder and elevator be on chan 1 and 2, engine and aileron on channels 3 and 4? Or some other combination?

Thanks
Dan

[aeajr]

How are you doing Dan? Did you get your questions answered?

Have you become the master of the sky?

[edgeh2o]

No, I never got my question answered. Tech support at RaidenTech was useless. They told me to go to a local hobby shop with my questions. I'm very disappointed.

Can you help me?
Thanks
Dan

How are you doing Dan? Did you get your questions answered?

Have you become the master of the sky?

[aeajr]

What Goes on Which Stick?
by Ed Anderson
aeajr on the forums

If you are flying an RTF electric plane, your radio and servos are already set-up for you. However if you are setting up an ARF or finishing a kit, you will be installing your own radio equipment. So, which stuff goes on which stick, and why?

We usually talk about what surface is controlled by what stick. However,
that is not really the right way to look at it.

For a two stick radio, used in mode two format, the standard format in North
America, pitch and roll are on the right stick with roll ALWAYS being your
primary turning control. Yaw and speed control are on the left stick.
Other functions are assigned to switches, buttons, dials, sliders or levers,
if you have them.

If you are in a different part of the world, you may be flying mode 1, 3 or 4 and you should consult your manual or an experienced pilot. The rest of this FAQ will be referencing mode 2 control positions.


Primary Speed control

Since this FAQ was written for electric flyers, we will assume you have an electric motor. On a two stick radio, the speed control is on the left stick and is controlled by the motion that goes toward you to turn the motor off and away from you to give full throttle. For a single stick radio the throttle control is usually on the left side and will be a slide, switch or lever.

Where does the rudder go?

Confusion often exists around where to put the rudder. Depending on the design of your plane, the rudder can play different roles so its placement can change. On a three channel electric plane without ailerons, the rudder is your primary turning surface. It provides both roll and yaw control so it goes on the right stick for roll control, as the primary turning surface. This stick also has pitch control provided by the elevator. The rudder will work with a feature of the wings, called dihedral or polyhedral, help roll or bank the plane when you want to turn.

What if there are ailerons, or elevons?

If this is a 3 channel plane with throttle, aileron and elevator controls only, like a Hitec Sky Scooter, or a flying wing that has elevon controls (combined elevator aileron in one surface), now where do I put things? Think of function rather than surface and you will know immediately. Which surface provides roll control? In this case it is the ailerons, so they go on the right stick with the elevator which provides pitch control.

If this is a 4 channel plane that has ailerons and a rudder, the ailerons are your primary roll control, so they go on the right stick. The rudder moves to the left hand stick to provide yaw control, which helps the ailerons turn the plane smoothly. The rudder, in this configuration, also plays a valuable part during landing when we may wish to redirect the nose of the plane without tipping the wings using the ailerons.


Moving from single stick to dual stick radios

Some people feel it is confusing to move from a single stick radio to a dual stick, radio, but it really isn't. If you think of your radio and your controls it in this manner, there is no confusion moving back and forth between single stick and dual stick radios or between three channel R/E/T panes and A/E/T planes or planes that are A/E/R/T. On a single stick radio, pitch and roll are on the single stick, which happens to be oriented to the right side of the radio. If this is a dual stick radio, pitch and roll are still on the right hand stick. It doesn't matter if it is a rudder/elevator plane or an aileron/elevator plane. Pitch and roll are on the right stick, or the only stick.

Think of your controls this way and there is never a doubt what goes where or which controls to use when you switch between radios and planes.

I hope this was helpful.