Hobby Eagle A3L Gyro

[Konrad]

I see what your referring to now, that's something different! Now I ordered an A3L for the P 40, I'll have to check to see if that was included in the box, don't remember seeing that.

Now, my planes have a ESC/BEC combo, is that good enough Konrad?

Grossman56

Depends on the BEC that is integral with the ESC and the current draw of the servos. As the start and stopping of the servo takes more energy that a straight run it is very easy to over tax most BEC when asking for the servos to see a power command 333 times a second. This is common for digital servos most analog servos only see a frame rate of around 50 times a second. Whenever I use a gyro I like to add a larger one than supplied, if it is an ARF/BNF type model. Or at least add more cooling.

These are two families of ESC with large BECs I like, the Talon and Gecko

http://www.motionrc.com/ztw-gecko-155a-esc-with-8a-sbec/

http://www.castlecreations.com/products/talon.html

As I don't know what you have I can't say one way or the other. Again I wish MotionRC would spec their equipment. I know somebody in the supply chain knows this engineering data.

All the best,
Konrad

[doctormike]

I wanted to put a gyro in my Dynam C-47, but there is no way to place it over the CG and have it accesable, short of taping it to the top. It would fit in the battery compartment, but would be way foreward of the CG. I wonder if it will work properly that way. Doc

[ryramZ]

Hey Doc. Try it out. Leave yourself a way out of course. In our 980mm P-40B vid with gyro I had the gyro way aft of cg it was fine. We also filmed the Mirage 2000 with a gyro placed way forward, that was fine too. I think you'll be fine, just try it out at altitude and start with the gains around 50% and play with it from there.

Regards
Ryan

[Konrad]

What is way forward and what does being too far forward effect?

The optimum location is on the CofG, as secondary acceleration forces won't dampen the sensory input on the gyro in any one axis.

[ryramZ]

You can see in the video that the gyro is directly above the nose gear, definitely not on the cg. Yes, it is recommended that the gyros are placed nearest to the cg as possible. In my case being visible was important. The mirage at speed did exhibit an oscillation, but only at speeds which are pretty quick on that jet. At slow speed and cruise the jet was locked in. The p40B 980 however never exhibited any oscillation and it's a quick ship as well regardless of slow or fast speeds. Also gyro not on cg.

[Konrad]

You can see in the video that the gyro is directly above the nose gear, definitely not on the cg. Yes, it is recommended that the gyros are placed nearest to the cg as possible. In my case being visible was important. The mirage at speed did exhibit an oscillation, but only at speeds which are pretty quick on that jet. At slow speed and cruise the jet was locked in. The p40B 980 however never exhibited any oscillation and it's a quick ship as well regardless of slow or fast speeds. Also gyro not on cg.

Isn't oscillation an indication of too much gain. Usually as a result of a system that is too slow to react to the gyro. Deltas and flying wings in general often have too much static margins of stability at speed forcing you to add down trim as speeds built up. These excessive margins tax the system to respond in sync with the gyro. To address this it is often best to use the fastest servos practical in all gyro applications.

BTW; the only real issue I have with my Mirage 2000 is that the TE is one piece. Freewing should have split the aileron function to separate servos. OK, the wing is a bit too thick.

[doctormike]

Thanks for the input, guys. I'm turning the gain down in my Multiplex Funjet to the point that I really don't need the gyro. Doc

[Konrad]

Most planes have positive aerodynamic stability. So gyros or other flight stabilizing apparatus are not needed.

Now I often find it fun to eliminate some of this aerodynamic stability and augment it with gyros or other sensory control devices.

Back to the Funjet, why did you add the gyro? Why are you effectively removing it and are you removing it on all three axises?

[Capt. Crunch]

I cant believe I waited so long to try these things. They make crosswind landings sooooo much easier! I'm gonna order a few more. Thanks Ryan for the vid for setting up the DX6i.

[Grossman56]

They are handy in a cross wind situation, and hey, you can always switch them off and just use them for crosswind, I just like the way the plane feels with the gyro on.

Grossman56

[Capt. Crunch]

I totally agree with how the plane feels with it. It flies smoother. I also shut down the 3D mode. Ileft it out of the programming so there is no way I can accidentally turn it on.

Have You tried the 3D? What exactly is that? If you put a plane into a knife edge and hit the switch it will hold the plane in that position for u?

[Grossman56]

No, I haven't tried it, even accidentally, I just turned the set screw down to nothing so if I did hit it on, I don't think anything would happen.
There is a gyro model that you can click into 3D as an option. The A3, it also gives you a sort of panic mode option as well, which is why I bought it, when the wife gets flying the Pandora, she has a fail safe. Turn it on and the plane goes to level flight, haven't tried it yet, hmmmm. I just never get into panic mode with the Pandoras.

With the new Mustang, I just have a 610 receiver in it with no gyro as I had some spare rx's laying around after I converted everyone else to 7 channels so I could put a gyro in them. Now, I'm debating whether I want to upgrade her to a 7 channel and use an A3L, or I'm thinking I may try and all in one like the AR 636

http://www.motionrc.com/spektrum-ar636-6-channel-as3x-sport-receiver/

With built in AS3X, just to try something new.
By the time I purchase the seven channel receiver an AR7610 at $89.99 and then an A3L at $23.90, it's more cost effective to go the AR636.
Food for thought, again, I don't know how they perform, but I'm guessing they're pretty good from some of the flight demos with them in other planes

Grossman56

[Grossman56]

Upon further investigation, you need the interface cable to set it up via a cell phone (sorry, don't believe in them) or you PC.
The cable runs $21, so its more expensive than going the 7 channel receiver with an A3L

Grossman56

[doctormike]

Something I learned the hard way... I forgot to level a plane before plugging in. The gyro, of course, thought nose high was level. OOPS! Doc

[Grossman56]

All my taildraggers, which is every plane I own, sit on the runway, then I plug them in, sometimes even the benches aren't very level. I don't raise the tail or anything, it compensates for that.
So, I guess my question is , how did you do that Doc?
Just curious.

Grossman56

[Flyer Phill]

With Hobbyeagle gyros, you only have to level them once and that's during the installation. Once done, re-leveling isn't required. I own 25 aircraft with 24 of them having either a Hobbyeagle Super or Super II gyro. All of them have worked superbly!

[MigPilot47]

Hello everyone, I recently installed the Hobby Eagle A3L in my Dynam F6F Hellcat. I'm really enjoying it and I'm not sure why I haven't dabbled with gyro assisted flight sooner. I guess I'm old school and slow to adapt to new technology.

Anyway, I have a question regarding servo throws and end points when using a gyro. I'm using a DX8 transmitter and Spektrum receiver just for reference. I have the gyro set up on a three position switch with off, normal, and 3d which I'll never use. Currenty I'm taking off in the off position and switching to normal mode for my flight. I've noticed that in the off position my servo throws and endpoints are what I've set up in the transmitter. However, when switching to normal mode my throws and endpoints are at maximum. Is this completely normal and how the gyro is supposed to operate in normal mode? Are the throws reduced in normal mode when the plane is actually in flight? I've been leary to take off in normal mode as I'm unsure of my actual throws.

Thank you for any help that can be sent my way as well as to Captain Ryan for his great reveiws.

[wpmay]

Hello everyone, I recently installed the Hobby Eagle A3L in my Dynam F6F Hellcat. ............... However, when switching to normal mode my throws and endpoints are at maximum. Is this completely normal and how the gyro is supposed to operate in normal mode? Are the throws reduced in normal mode when the plane is actually in flight? I've been leary to take off in normal mode as I'm unsure of my actual throws.

MigPilot47,

The A3-L manual adresses this. Here is the direct quote:

"When the gyro is activated, you might see that the range of movement of the servo become much larger than before when moving the sticks. This is normal but not a problem because a rotation rate set point has been applied to the outputs by the gyro. The sticks are not only used to control the movement of the surface, but also the rotation rate of the plane in that axis. Anyway the controller will not change the settings of dual rate or expo in your transmitter. The settings will always work in any flight mode."

I leave mine set to normal mode all the time and find that it improves takeoffs by helping to counteract single prop torque. Give it a try and let us know what you think.

Bill

[MigPilot47]

Bill, thanks for the reply. I do remember reading your quoted text, I appreciate your translation as I was having trouble deciphering what it really meant. I currently have another A3L on order and should be here tomorrow for another project.

Thanks for the help.

[wpmay]

Bill, thanks for the reply. I do remember reading your quoted text, I appreciate your translation as I was having trouble deciphering what it really meant. I currently have another A3L on order and should be here tomorrow for another project.

Thanks for the help.

I am really a fan of these gyros now and have them in a half a dozen planes (both conventional balsa and foam planes). I use them in "normal" mode full time. I usually fly my sport planes on low rates, and have never felt a difference in the responsiveness of the planes when the gyro was switched on in flight regardless of what the control surfaces did during pre-flight checks. So I believe the Hobby Eagle manual.....you just have to ignore the amount the control surfaces move on the ground and just give the gyro a try at a safe altitude. You should make sure that you have the plane properly trimmed with the gyro off first since the gyro sets what it uses as the neutral positions for the control surfaces when you initially power the plane on the ground. So trim, then land and re-power the plane so the gyro "sees" the new trimmed positions.

It's also obviously essential that the gyro is causing the control surfaces to respond in the proper direction. The easy way to check this is to remember that "the control surface always leads" the movement of the plane. So, if you lift the tail the elevator moves up. If you move the tail to the right the rudder moves right. Right wing up and right aileron goes up etc.

These gyros won't fly the plane for you but they definitely smooth out flight when the wind picks up. They make any plane fly like it's a bigger plane without the physical size and expense. I fly near the SC coast and it's generally breezy and they have really increased my confidence and enjoyment of flying when the wind starts to pick up. Good luck with yours.

Bill