BAD mishap (injury) with prop on electric foamie.

[xviper]

I believe on my DX6 I can assign any switch I like to throttle cut. Doc

You are right. I have both the DX8 and DX6 and I program the 6 with the same switch as on the 8 - top, right side, furthest away. Having in the same place makes for a good habit and routine motion.

[Lon]

Right xviper! same with me. And i have it programed for voice too. Voice gives me a "Danger" warning if not in the throttle cut position. And of course "Throttle cut!" voice alarm, when in cut position.

[doctormike]

Good point, OV10. Doc

[martmichals]

I've noticed that electric props are sharper than say, props on glow or gas aircraft. Is it just me or are electric props sharper?

[fhhuber]

I've noticed that electric props are sharper than say, props on glow or gas aircraft. Is it just me or are electric props sharper?

Yes, no and maybe...

Electric props do not have to be as strong as a glow or gas prop because they don't deal with the cyclic stresses. That's why the APC E series are maybe 30% to 40% lighter for the same size.

But compare the TE or tip of the APC sport glow props to the APC E series and they both can be used as steak knives.

The e-power prop LE is a bit thinner... but not enough to really matter when it comes to how much damage it will do if it tangles with fingers.

We just don't see as many wood props with E-power... but the wood electric props are not as significantly different from the wood glow props (comparing Xoar to Xoar)

[martmichals]

Thx, fhhuber. Great info. It's great that there's always someone with an answer to questions on this forum.

[Grossman56]

Hey Gman,
Am guessing that the switch you are actually referring to is the mix/hold? Taking literally what you had said and you find there are no switches on the bottom of the Tx case. The mix/hold is exactly what I programmed on my DX8 and the same switch(location) on my DX9 which is known as the H switch. Might want to add this logic to the positioning of the switch for on/off. Mine is set so that the cut-on you click the switch towards you and cut-off is pushed away. The rationale is that the switch can be so very easily toggled towards you inadvertently and that is exactly what you don't want happening for taking the throttle cut off. Just a thought for you pilots to consider in your programing of the switch.
Warbird Charlie

Yep, that's the one, I hear what you're saying, but I've had it that way for two years now, and if I change I know, old guy mind will kick in, so its six of one half dozen of the other. Here's what I do....
Position myself behind the wing.
Place or slide the battery in.
Radio on
Switch down, throttle all the way back.
Plug in battery.
Beep Beep Beep, turkey call!!
Twitch (the gyro)
If its one of the birds with retracts, I pick up the plane by reaching up into the fuse by the battery tray and lifting it up by the top part of the fuselage, cycle the retracts.
Hatch back on, positon myself behind the airplane for preflight.
Everything gets checked out.
Lastly, switch on and check the motor, still positioned behind the whirling Attila the Hun up front.
When that battery is plugged in, I never get in front of the plane, or let someone else do so either.
Hey lets all remember the safety rules, now especially with the FAA breathing down our necks.

Grossman56

[wpmay]

Since a switch is pretty easy to toggle inadvertently while handling your TX, you might also want to considering using a dial for the throttle cutoff if your TX allows it. It's pretty hard to move a dial very far unintentionally just by bumping it. That's what I'm using on my Futaba 14SG. The 14SG is set so it won't even turn on without warning you that your motor is set "on".

Bill

[OV10]

wpmay,
I have never really found a suitable use on all my warbirds for that rotary switch and am kicking myself in the butt for not thinking of that.
Now I've got some RE-programming ahead of me to make that my standard method for throttle cut. THANX Bill for the great idea!
Best regards,

[wpmay]

OV10 - the 14SG has two rotary dials. I use one for the motor cutoff that I mentioned and the other is for remote gyro gain (for my gyro equipped planes). It's nice not to have to land to reduce gain if you encounter gyro induced servo chattering.

The idea for using the dial for motor cutoff actually came from a programming guide for the SG that was written by an independent author (which was easier to understand than much of the Futaba Manual!).

Bill

[Grossman56]

yeah that is a good idea, with the exception of two planes, it sits there idle for me as well. When I do use it, its a gain dial fro the gyro. Hmm, have to rethink that as well, thanks for the tip

Grossman56

[XF-15DCC]

Hey XF!

I have the Tactic 650 and I use the switch on the top right as my cut off switch, I'm sure the 850 has the same ability just look in the menu for throttle trigger function.

FOUND IT! Thanks for the heads up Boomer

[apmech1]

I got lucky last season.... I use a wireless buddy box set up. We had just landed my son's 1700 mm p-47 v1 due to its wings seeming like they were bent. I had my son taxi it in. A few other club members were looking it over. I still had my finger holding trainer switch on. I didn't hit my throttle kill switch and I didn't notice that the throttle stick had moved all the way up. My son, out of habit, turned off his tx. Well without a signal coming from buddy transmitter, my radio switched out of trainer mode. That big ol 17" prop went to full throttle! The prop struck the ground and sent blades flying. Luckily no one was injured. But one of the blades hit another member in the leg. Luckily he had his cell phone in his pocket because the blade hit his phone and shattered the screen. Since then i developed a small after landing check list to prevent this in the future.

[wrongroad]

G'day Gang,
This happened at a near by northern New South Wales club about eighteen months ago.
A pilot with a large scale electric powered model [type not mentioned by our governing body] had a bad landing and damaged the model enough to prevent him from a return taxi.
As the pilot went to collect his model, he left the transmitter on the neck strap and that, in turn, still around his neck.
As he lent over to look at the damage, the TX swung out and the throttle was moved fully forward, just as he reached for the front end of the machine.
The motor burst into life and promptly removed his index finger at the knuckle, his middle finger at the first joint, the ring finger at the the top joint and severe cuts all over the hand. As well as slicing off the tip of the thumb. All on the right hand. His left hand was also badly cut when he, by reflex, threw the other hand out trying to fend off the model.
Apparently, he also suffered a very bad cut to the left wrist.
He was flying alone and somehow managed to dial our emergency number 000. It was his good fortune that the operator misunderstood him and thought it to be a full size aircraft emergency and dispatched the rescue helicopter. If the heli had not arrived, there was every chance that the outcome would have been much worse as he had damaged a lot of blood carrying parts and was bleeding badly and was in bad shock when the paramedics get to him. The word to us was that he was not far from being a fatality.
The model airfield was near enough to Brisbane and he was flown straight there to a major hospital and he under went eight hours of surgery.
Things to note.
Always stand behind the prop when arming or disarming the model. I hate the machines that you have have to turn on their back to put the battery in the belly hatch. A must in many models but it gives me cold shivers when I see a modeler balance a model on their knee and try to fit the battery. Put the thing on its back on the ground or at least get someone else to hold it.
Get into the habit of arming and disarming the model at the flight line. Never carry a live model. The prop always gets near you face.
And take the prop off before you do even the most minor of tasks with the battery armed. I almost got chopped like this once. I just wanted to check the landing gear function and I have my gear switch over the throttle so I can just flick it with my middle finger. [pinch grip pilot here]
The model was restrained and upside down when this idiot went to hit the gear switch but hit the throttle as I did so.
The prop hit my face but did not have enough of a swing to get to full power and the auto overload cut off saved me from a face lift.
Some may be cruel enough to suggest that it might have done me a favour but I like my face. It is the same one I have had for fifty three years now.
My club enforces a rule that all models are to be restrained when either starting or arming. We have not had a prop strike at the field for over six years. Trouble is, this leads to complacency and every day without a strike is one day closer to having one.
I see pilots mishandling electric models all the time. At least when a gasser is armed [running], you can hear it ticking over. An armed electric motor sits there like a crocodile, silently waiting to grab the first unsuspecting passer by. Electric motors have their own set of dangers and are not to be messed with.
For such a small unit, they carry a huge punch.
Regards and respect
Daryl

[T.J]

I have a DX6i with a push button for throttle cut. Not to safe. Replace button with switch. Works great. You may loose your warranty but not your fingers.

[xviper]

I have a DX6i with a push button for throttle cut. Not to safe. Replace button with switch. Works great. You may loose your warranty but not your fingers.

Is it possible to do a mix such that when the "throttle hold" switch on, the throttle is ZERO? I recall that the throttle hold, when in helicopter mode, maxes out the throttle so it flies by pitch only, but I thought you could program the engine speed to be whatever you choose in throttle hold.

[fhhuber]

There's throttle hold mode for helis and then there's the misuse of the term referring to a throttle arming switch.
But we have a lot of misuse of terms in the hobby....

for a heli there is usually a 3 position switch with normal, acro (A "V curve" where as pitch moves + or - from 0, throttle increases, allowing inverted flight) and auto-rotate, with auto-rotate being idle (glow power) or 0 (electric) throttle. There may be a governor mode to engage an RPM sensor and automatic system for holding steady RPM as the load varies.

all sorts of stuff that can go on in the heli programming that is not seen in fixed wing models.

Never seen max throttle locked in on a heli because at low pitch that could over-speed the head and throw the blades off.

************

Origin of the safety switch for disabling throttle was people taking the user programming slots and applying them in a manner to force throttle to 0 when a switch was in a selected position. for some radios this took up to 3 programming slots and 2 channels.

A creative person with a little electronic knowledge could install a switch that would bypass the throttle stick and replace it with a pair of resistors forcing the desired value. Not hard at all.

[T.J]

Xviper2, I do not fly helis. I can not answer your question. T J

[xviper]

That's OK, I was just thinking to myself based on what limited experience I had with the DX6i and helicopters. I have a Thunder Tiger Innovator MD500, which is a computer programmed heli and it comes with its own TX. On that one, you use the throttle trim (which is a slider) and you slide that UP to max and this spins the motor to its maximum programmed rpm and you fly it by pitch alone. The motor stays at max rpm for the whole flight. I also have CP helis that I have flown with my old DX6i and as fhhuber said, there are flight modes that, when you switch to a certain position, the motor goes to full rpm and you fly by pitch. It is in this fashion that one can invert the heli (not that I was skilled enough to do it) and the throttle stick becomes the pitch stick. This is the same method that heli pilots use to do the "tick tock" maneuver (again, I was never at that level). With these, you get the heli off the ground and into a hover, then throw the switch to max out the rpm. I was just asking whether or not it was possible to program the DX6i to have ZERO throttle when the HOLD was thrown, no matter what the throttle position is. I don't have a DX6i anymore and I can't remember how it might work. I was thinking that a mix could be done whereby HOLD > throttle = ZERO (or throttle > throttle = ZERO, SW: HOLD). I just don't know. If I had a DX6i in front of me, I'd be able to answer that.

[fhhuber]

The basic way to program it and force it to work on a radio without the feature in its programming options:

Assign mix 1: Throttle to throttle, - 100%, assigned to the switch. (you now always have 50% when that switch is on, regardless of stick position)
Assign a channel to the same switch.
Now mix that channel to throttle at max allowed %, again assign the mix to the switch.
When you have the directions correct, the switch will force the throttle to low

On the Polks TrackerIII, I had to use another user mix and mix the second channel to throttle AGAIN, to get the motor to not spin with the stick at full.

Yes, you used up a channel and can't use it for anything else.

Its obviously easier if all you have to do is select the option from the built in programming functions.