Atom 500 What Expo are people using?

[mpolzin]

I am new as of Jan 1st. Love my Atom 500 after trashing my Blade SR then a Blade 400. I joined a flying club where a member recommended the Atom with V-bar (Great). One of my questions is how much Expo are people using on Rudder, Ail and Elev?

I have a DX8 with 3 D/R settings. I have 100% on all 3 and low at 20% expo, mid at 10% expo and High at 0% expo. I have been flying with 10% expo and am doing OK. Just did my first loop outdoors. I just don't have the guts to try all the stuff I can do on Pheonix. I think I am at 12 or 13 deg of pitch at 100% on the v-bar.

[Daniel880516]

0 expo since day one of flying my mcpx, and all my current machines. I heard adding a little bit of expo makes the heli feels more locked in, but I have always preferred 0 expo.

[sly the dogman]

Futaba Fasst 7C
I have both on Elevater & Aileron for now : D/R 60% and -35% Expo
Rudder : D/R 75% and -35%

[b0lders]

15% Expo on aileron and elev 10% on tail Im really not a fan of large expo values on my helis You end up with very fine control around the centre and very quick control with the sticks towards the end of their range but you loose any progressive feel through the stick range and very poor control when you want to pitch or roll at a medium rate.

[belcom]

Pros use somewhere around 20% - 30% for cyclic and 5% - 15% on tail. But expo is really a personal preference. I like it around 20% on cyclic and 10% on the tail. What it does for me is prevent overshooting especially if you fly hard and fast. It is good to have it a little numb around center.

[mpolzin]

Thanks for the help everyone. I now am trying D/R at 30%, 20% and 10%. I just have 2 quick packs at 20% and it seams OK.

[TallPaul]

If I'm practicing hovering or backwards flight in a small box area (good thing to practice even after you move on) a higher expo seems to work well 25 to 35 cyclic.

In FFF with loops and rolls - I really like a much more responsive stick 10 - 15.

My tail is never over 15 in any flight patterns while my elevator always needs more than my cyclic (is this normal?).

[skunkworx]

I use a pretty wide range, but it's always suited to the individual heli. On my MCPX, I use around 60%. For the 6HV I think I'm on 25% or 30%. The Atom I'm on 20% to 25%, Fusion 50 was at like 15%, Raptor 90 at 45%.

A lot of it really depends on how edgey the heli feels and how quickly it responds to small or medium inputs. Since full inputs don't make a difference, I judge it by the hovering feel. Some helis are slow to react but get away from you quickly. Others are quick to react but are slow on the whole range. Just depends on the amount of air they can push or their size (R90 and MCPX as an example). Some are inherently more stable (Fusion) and some I like to have as semi-ballistic with good hovering control (Atom and 6HV). In any event, you almost can't use too much EXPO as I've had some helis as high as 85% when teaching new students, but the heli becomes complete mud at that point and is hard for even me to fly (but it usually keeps the student from blatantly thumbing into the ground if they freak out).

As to the tail, I've never liked anything above 10%, but it does keep the jerky tail movement down to a minimum while learning (same with cyclic movements if you use a lot of EXPO). I wouldn't use anything more than about 20% as an absolute maximum, even for a complete newb. I usually settle on about 2%-3% for my harder 3D models and around 5%-7% for the sport fliers. I really should put it on negative EXPO or use D/R, but I've never been too comfortable flipping switches in flight (I have a bad enough time with stunt and T/H mode switches!).

[sly the dogman]

This is just a reminder that on Futaba, minus (-) is plus (+), compared to other Tx's.

[chopstick]

I use only expo (25%) on aileron and elevator. On tail nothing.
I just like it this way.

[Wiebe_nl]

I use 20% expo on aileron and elevator. 30% expo on the rudder.