Hobby Eagle A3L Gyro

[Grossman56]

My only problem with that is you had better make darned sure that your gyro is correcting in the right direction otherwise expensive foam is going to be lining your garbage can.
Personally, I use an Amazon Credit card and build up points to get my receivers for free!
I have a number of Lemon 10 channel receivers so if at some point I want to add something more, I can. (besides, the price is right) Now I have more than enough channels so I can run a three position switch and route the gain to the knob on my radio.
Personally, when I was first getting into gyros, I'd do all my preliminary setup by the eyeball method. I'd take off with the gyro off, get altitude then briefly switch the gyro on then off. If the airplane behaved itself, I was good, if it didn't, I had the gyro off, landed and adjusted. I well remember my Pitts not being pleased with the settings I had, but with the switch off, I had the option of going home with a whole airplane.

It's up to you, but a different RX is cheaper than a new airplane and a different RX by the price of a new airplane. Hey, we've all bought things that don't end up being what we need, that's why I have three radios of which one I use unless buddy boxing and a few 6 channel RX's in my spares drawer.

Grossman56

[TNES48]

The A3 Lite is a fairly basic gyro. It only can give you OFF, ON and LOCK. Most planes you wouldn't use LOCK anyway, so that leaves you with ON/OFF. The easy way is to leave it unattached (so don't need an extra channel) and it's just ON all the time. Start with low gain and increase it little by little with each flight till you get it to the point where you're happy with it (just before oscillation) and leave it that way.
Putting the mode switch on the gear channel (typically 2-way switch) might be problematic as you'll have either ON or LOCK (which you could use for landing). If you go with the flaps (3-way switch), then you could have ON and OFF (middle position) but you'll still get LOCK on one of the outer switch positions (not necessarily a good thing, but doable). You could also assign the gear channel to a 3-way switch and use LOCK only for landing, which some people have been known to do. The middle position generally won't do anything with the retracts - they either stay up or stay down. So to turn the gyro OFF, you could move the switch to the middle position from whatever the starting position is if you want the gyro OFF. Whatever option you choose, you should test everything so you know what the gyro does as it relates to what channel you've chosen.

Thank you for the info!

[xviper]

The A3 Lite is a fairly basic gyro. It only can give you OFF, ON and LOCK. Most planes you wouldn't use LOCK anyway, so that leaves you with ON/OFF. The easy way is to leave it unattached (so don't need an extra channel) and it's just ON all the time. Start with low gain and increase it little by little with each flight till you get it to the point where you're happy with it (just before oscillation) and leave it that way.
Putting the mode switch on the gear channel (typically 2-way switch) might be problematic as you'll have either ON or LOCK (which you could use for landing). If you go with the flaps (3-way switch), then you could have ON and OFF (middle position) but you'll still get LOCK on one of the outer switch positions (not necessarily a good thing, but doable). You could also assign the gear channel to a 3-way switch and use LOCK only for landing, which some people have been known to do. The middle position generally won't do anything with the retracts - they either stay up or stay down. So to turn the gyro OFF, you could move the switch to the middle position from whatever the starting position is if you want the gyro OFF. Whatever option you choose, you should test everything so you know what the gyro does as it relates to what channel you've chosen.

[Evan D]

You need extra channels if you want to change modes or sensitivity. You can set it up to be always on and set the sense via the trim pots on the A3L. You could also use a Y to your retracts (or flaps) to change modes or remote sensitivity.

[TNES48]

I was looking at the A3 lite for my Bearcat and FW mustang, but only have a 6ch receiver in each and all channels are being used. I’m assuming I cannot use this gyro without the extra channel correct? Thanks. Also I’m using a Spektrum AR620 if that makes any difference.

[xviper]

So 1st off thanks a lot for your help. Forum position on the toggle is blue which means gyro is on. But 0 and 1 on toggle are Both red. When in blue mode gyro works fine. In both red modes, put nose down elevator goes up and stays up. I still have no off position. I do have the A3 V-2.

OK, good. I think we're finally speaking about the proper product and the correct manual. Your original assessment of red meaning "3D" was likely incorrect. Now that we have that out of the way, then we can conclude that you only have "auto-level" and gyro ON. (Auto-level is where you held the plane nose down and the elevator went up and stayed up.) The only thing at this time that I can think of is for you to double check your servo travel on the channel that you have being controlled by the 3-position switch. It's not giving you the full range of travel. Go into your servo menu and look at servo travel. For the channel that you are using for your modes, you need to see that the full range is from -100 to 0 to +100. I think it's NOT. Adjust the travel so that you have full range. Once you've done that, you should have "red, "no light", blue for the 3 positions. This is assuming you have selected flight mode: "mode-2" (page 3 of the manual). To do this, you must go into the "setting sequence", page 4 of the manual and go to step 7 and select the "red" light to set for mode-2. Exit the sequence set up and you should be good to go.
I realize all these lights can be quite confusing as each phase of the set up has different meanings for each light. You must specify and understand which phase of the set up you are referring to when talking about lights.

[Cactus Bobby]

So 1st off thanks a lot for your help. Forum position on the toggle is blue which means gyro is on. But 0 and 1 on toggle are Both red. When in blue mode gyro works fine. In both red modes, put nose down elevator goes up and stays up. I still have no off position. I do have the A3 V-2.

[xviper]

OK so position 012. That would be red red blue. No off.

That's where I see a conflict. For the A3 V2, blue means normal gyro ON. Did you test the plane by moving it in your hands? Please read the manual that I linked for it. Red means "auto-balance". There is no 3D in an A3 V2.

[Cactus Bobby]

OK so position 012. That would be red red blue. No off.

[Cactus Bobby]

OK, found where I was on the 1st page. Sorry about that period

[xviper]

I also have another problem. I have the A3 V2. I am using the DX9 transmitter and AR8020T Receiver. Using 3 position switch. I only get red red blue. try to go to 0% from 100 and still red red blue. Telling me red is 3-D and blue is gyro. I have no off Position on toggle switch. Getting very familiar how to move around this gyro but still no dice. Help

Please confirm that you are talking about the A3 V2 and NOT the A3 Pro V2. The A3 V2 has NO "3D" mode. The A3 Pro V2 does, but the colors of the lites are different from what you just said. IE, Red is gyro OFF, Green is normal Gyro ON, Blue is LOCK (or 3D) mode. So, you've got OFF, OFF, 3D. Here is the manual for A3 Pro V2:

https://www.hobbyeagle.com/manuals/A3ProV2_User_Manual_v1.1_en.pdf

The A3 and A3 V2 is different. Here's the manual for it:

https://www.hobbyeagle.com/manuals/NewA3_User_Manual_v1.0_en.pdf

Red, red, blue means "auto-balance", "auto-balance", "normal"

Once you've determined which gyro you have, then you can refer to the proper manual.

[Cactus Bobby]

I also have another problem. I have the A3 V2. I am using the DX9 transmitter and AR8020T Receiver. Using 3 position switch. I only get red red blue. try to go to 0% from 100 and still red red blue. Telling me red is 3-D and blue is gyro. I have no off Position on toggle switch. Getting very familiar how to move around this gyro but still no dice. Help

[Grossman56]

I run all my gyros on the same switch, I have one A3 and the rest are A3L's. The 3D mode pot on all the A3L's is turned off so if I accidently hit the switch (which I have yet to do in what 9 years of flying) nothing happens. Position 1 is 3d set at zero, Position 2 is gyro off and Position 3 is gyro on. If I have a spare channel, the pot on the gyro is 100% sport flight and the knob on the radio is assigned to adjust the amount of gyro gain.
As my expo and dual rates are all assigned to one switch (again the same switch for each plane), I have lots of spare switches on my DX8 Gen 1 for throttle kill, control mixes, flaps, gear etc.

Grossman56

[bigron3@gmail.com]

Here is how you can put your gyro on a 2 position switch so it is just ON or OFF....no 3D. I did not want to use a 3 position switch for fear that I might accidentally flip to the 3D position, and that would not be good while flying my F-16 90mm.

Assign a 2-way switch on your radio to the mode channel, and set the end-point (on Spectrum that is "Travel" under servo setup) of the channel to left 100%, right 0%. Now you will have ON or OFF only.

Also, as another note, because the AL3 is only a gyro, and not also a stabilizer, you can face the pins either toward the the front or rear of the plane. :)

I have a dx8g2. If I need a 2 pos switch and only have a 3 pos switch available, I program it: sw pos1 = value a, sw pos2 = value b, and sw pos 3 = value b. That way the switch acts like a 2 pos one with only 2 values.

[flyinghigh]

Hey guys, I have been putting these in my planes tonight. All good except for the plane that has JR digital servos. When I put the gyro inline, they start to chatter and buzz and move a bit. Take out the gyro connect direct to the RX and all is quiet. Is this normal? Safe to fly?

[Tom Smith]

I didn't get to test fly the Fokker EIII yet with the A3L installed but I did take out my Gee Beer Y Super Sportster yesterday with a new A3L installed in it and it worked perfectly. Only weighing 3 pounds ready to fly, the little Gee Bee Y got trashed around quite a bit in the wind. Not any more. That A3L tamed it down to a ***** cat. It is amazing how smooth it flies now. I'm hooked. Just ordered 3 more A3Ls from Motion Hobbies for a few of my other models that are a bit squirrely in the wind.

[Tom Smith]

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

[xviper]

That little Fokker (sorry, couldn’t resist), is not unlike a rudder/elevator sailplane. There is sufficient dihedral in the wing that working the rudder banks the plane just as if you were using ailerons. I have 3 such planes, all of which have gyros on them. Yes, like on yours, rudder is plugged into the aileron port and is controlled by the aileron stick. The gyro is also treated the same way. The rudder (or AIL) in this case, goes from the AIL port of the RX and into the AIL input of the gyro. The gyro’s AIL output goes to the rudder servo. Both TX and gyro are set for “normal wing”. Gyro gain can be put on a knob and increased gradually till there is oscillation.

[Tom Smith]

Took the Gee Bee Sportster out yesterday and man does that thing fly nice. Had my A/R mix mapped to my gear channel so I could turn it on and off in case it interfered with the A3L. Took off with nothing turned on. No A/R mixing and the eagle tree A3L turned all the way off via my rotary knob. Winds were almost nothing. Maybe 2 to 3, occasionally. Otherwise dead calm. Very rare for around here. At first I flipped on the A/R mix and did a few turns to see how it handled. Nice, to say the least. Then I gained a little altitude and started slowly dialing in some stabilizer. No issues at all and I was able to get to the mid point of the rotary knob travel without any oscillations what so ever and the model was absolutely rock solid. Darn, that A3L really works nice. Then, for the heck of it, I turned off the A/R mix. Guess what, it grooved around just as nicely without the mix. Go figure. I am more than pleased with the outcome on this model.
Now I have another question. How would an A3L work on a model with out ailerons? Has anyone tried using one with only a rudder for turning. Reason I ask is I just built and old BUSA kit of the Fokker EIII Eindecker and to keep it all original I did not add ailerons. This old 1982 kit was designed for rudder, elevator, and throttle only. It flies pretty decent but I am wondering if adding an A3L to it would smooth it out some. I plan to fly it at Rhinebeck this September. Any help on how the heck to set it up would be greatly appreciated. I have the rudder control set up on the aileron channel on my DX8g2. Elevator and throttle are in the standard locations on the transmitter. Best regards. Tom

[Tom Smith]

I learned on single channel escapements. Progressed to two channel and thought I was hot stuff. I was so use to landing dead stick, that when I finally got three channels I still waited for the motor to run out of fuel before landing. I was scared to death to land with the prop spinning. I had to force myself to learn how to do it. Then came four channels, but by then I was so use to not having rudder on the left stick I simply used a Y harness to get rudder and aileron combined. It worked. Then came computer radios and mixing was a piece of cake, but old habits are hard to break so I still rely on aileron/rudder mix. I actually can fly ok without that mix, but at my age, why bother. Now if rudder was on foot pedals, there would be no problem. I owned a 1939 Taylorcraft back in the mid 70s. It is windy as all heck here in eastern NC in the spring so my second flight awaits, but I have the mix set up on my gear switch so I can turn it on and off at will and the gain is on my rotary knob so I can ad or subtract stability as needed. Hope to re-fly it this weekend so I'll let ya know how it goes. Thanks. Tom
Here is my Aeronca C3 at Kitty Hawk a few years back on Aviation Day.