Tail pitch slider travel

[Funflyer]

I can't seem to find any information in previous threads so I'll ask my potentially silly question. This is on the 500, but I don't think it matters.

Should you set up the tail for maximum pitch slider travel in both directions? The manual says the linkage should be at 90 degrees at mid stick, but when I do that it biases it towards the tail case. I'm using the 401 gyro so when I set the limit pot I stopped just before the slider started binding at the tail case. That left me with about a 5mm gap at the opposite end of the shaft. Is that ok, or do I need to center the tail pitch slider on the tail shaft? The last thing I want is lack of tail authority on the maiden...

[Team-MAYHEM]

lengthen your tail pushrod 1-2 turns and redo your limits. This should center your pitch slider at mid stick.

....or some like to set up the pushrod length with the gyro in rate mode (with a little gain, say 25-30%) so that it hovers straight with very little stick input. Then set your limits. The end result of doing it this way will give you something like you have now, with one side having a gap. This is okay. I setup my 401 this way, it gives me the best results...but, its 6 one way, half-a-dozen the other...your choice.

You should have plenty of tail authority either way.

[Funflyer]

Thanks, I'll go with the Mikado recommendation for now.

[billyd]

Remember that the tail has to work against the torque of the main blades in one direction and with the torque in the other. So depending on how the engineers designed the tail, you may or may not want an equal gap. The best way is to use the rate mode method mentioned earlier in this thread, which puts the tail at the true center from a standpoint of rotation of the tail and is helicopter independant. This way at center stick you are at the center servo which will yield the best servo resolution.

That being said with Vstabi, there is no rate mode that I am aware of so I simply put the servo arm and the pitch arm at right angles to the tail pushrod and it works well.