evans@mhuxt.UUCP (crandall) (10/29/84)
<> A few people have asked for a definition of "modes" used in RC flying. Mode I is historically the oldest having descended from the days when reed tone radios were used. You had separate toggles for up elevator, down elevator, right aileron, etc.. People put the aileron functions on the right and the elevator on the left. When proportional radios came along in the early 60s some people went to "real airplane" sticks with aileron and elevator on the right stick while some people put aileron and throttle on the right, elevator and rudder on the left. Mode II was the "real airplane" mode to be followed by single stick - which placed elevator and ailerons on a large stick with a twist for rudder. As mentioned before, very few people use mode I - at least in the US. I under- stand that it is dominant in Europe and Japan. It has the featue of separating the two most critical flight controls and its proponents claim that it allows smoother flying. The world's champion is a mode I flyer and a large percentage of US master class flyers use that mode (not to mention pylon racers). When I borrowed some "stick time" as a kid I found that it was a natural way to fly, despite what you may think. Now that I wish to take up the sport again I would like to go that way again, but finding someone else who flys that way seems non-trivial. How many model airplane folk are out there? Steve Crandall mhuxt!evans ps -- how about some discussion on PCM radios?