Turbine Radio Setup – Jet Programming Explained

When informal modelers see a turbine-powered jet, they see a hodgepodge of wires and gas traces working throughout and suppose “Wow! I might by no means determine all that out.” The fact about it’s that it isn’t all that difficult when you perceive what all the pieces does and the way it matches into the massive image and contributes to the outcome, your jet within the air. This article will assist demystify the distinctive steps to configure your radio system to function a fuel turbine engine.

Programming for a turbine jet isn’t vastly totally different than another mannequin. You want to use your charges and exponential throw so that you just’re snug flying your mannequin, whether or not it’s a turbine coach like a Turbinator or a giant scale F-18. Where programming a turbine jet differs is principally in establishing the throttle since you now not have direct throttle management such as you do with a combustion engine or electrical motor.

A BIT OF BACKGROUND
Turbine engines are managed by an Electronic Control Unit, or ECU. The ECU is the brains of the outfit and is often a separate field concerning the dimension of a receiver. Plugged into the ECU is the ECU battery that’s both a 3-cell LiFe or LiPo that gives energy for the gas pump and starter motor. Also related to the ECU is a management output to the gas pump, an output to the turbine itself, and a servo connection to the throttle channel port of the receiver. There can be a connection supplied for the Ground Support Unit (GSU), a small display screen that lets you view and alter turbine parameters, and optionally a telemetry output to supply knowledge to the radio system similar to turbine standing, rpm, voltage, gas movement and so forth.

The ECU put in in my CARF Rebel Hot controls all aspects of the turbine operation together with shutting it down if it looses sign or has a gas problem.

Controlling the gas pump permits the ECU so as to add gas to the motor because the throttle stick is superior and cut back it because the throttle is retarded. This is fastidiously managed by the ECU through parameters like acceleration delay and deceleration delay. If you have been to jam the throttle stick absolutely ahead and the pump voltage precisely adopted the throttle stick, it’s probably that you’d dump a lot uncooked gas into the engine that it will put out the flame and drown the motor. Similarly, in case you diminished it too shortly and the pump responded immediately it will starve the motor of gas and shut the motor off. Given that useless stick landings with a turbine jet are an journey many jet pilots want to keep away from, we let the ECU handle the gas movement to the engine.

RADIO SETUP
All turbine engines that I’ve expertise with, which incorporates Jet Cat, Kingtech, Swiwin, and Jet Central, require you to do a course of recognized by varied names however might be universally known as “Learn RC.” There are three factors that the ECU must be taught with respect to the radio system: Full Throttle, Idle, and turbine Shutoff. Pilots of electric-ducted-fan fashions might be aware of calibrating a pace management to the throttle stick on the radio, it is a related scenario with an extra parameter.

Those three positions are managed by a mix of the throttle stick and throttle trim. The shut off place is low throttle stick and full down trim. Idle is full down stick and throttle trim superior to most. Full throttle in fact is full up throttle stick. With most radio techniques the default for the throttle trim is that it solely impacts the decrease half of the throttle stick throw and has no impact over half throttle. Some radios this require this limitation to be outlined within the trim setup display screen, verify your documentation and servo monitor.

All generators have a sequence that must be achieved to calibrate the ECU to the throttle channel in your specific radio system. A Kingtech contact display screen GSU is proven right here.

Activating the Learn RC perform on the GSU will trigger the system to ask for the three respective factors and at every level it’ll measure the heartbeat width of the throttle sign and when the consumer signifies they’ve the specified stick/trim configuration they press a button to put it aside and transfer on.

Sound easy sufficient? It actually is however there’s some superior options of our radios we are able to use to make our life simpler. More on that later.

PREFLIGHT STEPS
Now that our ECU is aware of the throttle configuration, after we are able to go fly, we undergo the next steps. First, with the throttle and trim each down the GSU or telemetry unit ought to point out that the turbine is in Shutoff standing. Advance the trim to full up trim and the standing ought to change to READY. That means all the pieces is obvious to start out the engine. Advancing the throttle follow full for a second or two and bringing it again to idle tells the ECU to provoke the beginning sequence.

VSpeak module telemetry sends the info that may be displayed on the GSU to quite a lot of radio techniques. This instance is what is accessible from the Swiwin generators on my PowerBox Core radio.

From that time on, the GSU is in charge of spinning up the motor, lighting the glow plug or ignitor, advancing the gas pump voltage and verifying that sure temperature and rpm parameters are met as the beginning proceeds by every stage. I ought to notice at this level that the consumer can abort the beginning sequence at any time and shut down the gas by decreasing the trim to full down. If the ECU detects any points like failure to mild off, low RPM, too excessive an exhaust fuel temperature, air bubbles within the gas provide or something that doesn’t match precisely the parameters for a clear, protected begin, the ECU will instantly shut issues down and throw and error code telling you the rationale for the abort. (Tech notice: whereas we coated the frequent startup sequence some generators have their very own process, all the time learn and comply with the producer’s directions.)

If all the pieces goes because it ought to the standing will change to Running and the consumer will assume management of the throttle once more. At this level the motor is working and your throttle stick is lively, however it’s essential to keep in mind that you’re requesting a sure energy setting of the ECU with the throttle stick, the ECU determines the gas movement required to fulfill that request and adjusts the pump voltage accordingly whereas monitoring the rpm and temperature and making minute changes as required.

Advanced Programming
Now that we’ve acquired the fundamentals out of the best way it’s time to acknowledge that jet pilots are sometimes superior radio customers, and we wish to get essentially the most out of our funding. The first superior setting we have to take a look at is throttle trim step. Most laptop radios permit us to regulate how course or tremendous and adjustment the trims have an effect on the assorted surfaces. My Spektrum NX10 at default trim step of 5 (0 by 10) takes about 50 clicks of trim to go from Shutoff to Ready (you possibly can maintain the trim button, however it nonetheless takes a few seconds to go from low to excessive trim). Advancing the trim step to 10 and it takes about 20 clicks. Better, however you possibly can choose Trim Type and alter that to a two- or three-position change. Now to arm the turbine I solely have to provide one click on (two-position) or, and that is my choice, two clicks (three-position) to go from Shutoff to Ready.

The Spektrum AirWare exhibits you can set your trim step to quite a lot of issues together with make it a 2 or 3-position change to shortly arm and shut down your turbine.

Nose wheel steering combine created that disables steering when the gear is retracted, permits setting the throw and expo individually from the rudder, and lets you trim it on the fly.

Using the 2 click on methodology has a number of benefits. You can arm the motor virtually immediately and extra importantly you possibly can shut it down instantly. Using the three-position provides you almost instantaneous management but permits you one click on of buffer, so that you don’t activate one or the opposite route by mistake and is the very best of each worlds and what I train when working with new turbine pilots. An different to that is that some radios mean you can transfer the throttle trim off the trim tab utterly and assign it to a toggle change. Assigning trim to a toggle is a standard apply of turbine helicopter pilots.

The secret’s to search out what works greatest for you as a result of the power to close down the turbine shortly in case of a fireplace or imminent crash, with out the necessity to fumble round in your radio, can prevent severe harm and cash.

NOSE-WHEEL STEERING
Most jets have some issues in frequent and a kind of is the presence of a nostril wheel is each steerable and retractable. I’m going to show you a trick that provides you remoted management of your nosewheel steering impartial of the rudder and permits you trim it with out the necessity to enter a menu. Various radios accomplish this utilizing barely totally different terminology however permit you the same performance. I’ll describe the method utilizing the extraordinarily fashionable Spektrum radios, however the course of might be tailored to radios from most producers.

First, create a combination from the rudder channel to the nostril wheel steering servo. There are linear, or 1-to-1 mixes and curve mixes. I take advantage of a curve combine and use the factors on the curve to regulate the expo on the nostril steering as a result of nostril wheel steering might be extremely efficient. Set the combo to be activated by a change and make that change the gear change such that the steering is lively when the gear is down. This facilities the steering and shuts off the servo whereas the gear is retracted saving each the receiver battery shifting a servo that’s contributing nothing throughout flight and retains the nostril wheel from banging forwards and backwards within the gear nicely, presumably stopping mechanical harm.

The final step is to assign the enter for the steering servo to LTRM or RTRM, the small trimmers on the face of most transmitters that usually go unused. This step provides you the power to exactly trim the nostril wheel steering throughout taxi assessments with out the necessity to enter the transmitter programming menu to regulate the sub-trim. I’ve seen the steering assigned to a rotary knob and whereas that works the knob might be disturbed when altering fashions and even dealing with the transmitter, so it’s not the perfect answer.

Text & photographs by Andrew Griffith