Just a few questions about differenct aspects of r/c sailing…
1)is there a way to ‘ratchet’ the trigger on a pistol grip radio? (so it does not self-center?)
2)anyone out there sail the Robbe “windstar”? is it any good as a beginner IOM? they are selling them locally here for $199.00 and was just curious about its performance compared to the more pricey boats. is it possible to convert that to a US1M?
3)i have a Soling one meter and i have heard about the stress the keel’s weight can put on the hull. currently i have a pvc stand i made which lets the keel rest on the floor and the hull just leans up on the pvc pipes. will this cause any stress damage in the future?
4)i am about to start building the Micro Magic by Graupner and was curios to know if anyone out there with the MM has routed their antenna differently. i would also be very appreciative of any advice given on the building of this little model.
So many questions… Thanks in advance for any information.
Taking off the spring and the leaver (save both for future use) removes the self centering, now it depends on the model, if there is room to make some kind of ratchet.
The windstar is a nice beginners boat, fast and sailed correctly it will even get on the plane!
The one that I saw planing was handled by a skilled pilot, who sailed it almost stock, with minor adjustments as replacing the stay-lines with non-stretching material.
Can’t help you there.
Here in the Netherlands there are currently some 1200 MM sold and build, 1050 have a registration number, some builders have the antenna glued inside the hull, as the manual says, others have it up the back-stay, to prevent signal loss when heeling extremely, it’s your choice.
With some googling you should be able to find a lot of info on the MM, atleast here in Europe there’s a huge fleet (and clubs/websites) of these fast little critters.
Some pistol grip trigger fingers do not center evenly.Usually in is thottle and out is brake and there is more throttle movement than brake. This dosent matter if you use the TF(trigger finger) for the sail because you remove the springs. BUT, there is not much travel on the TF and it makes positioning of the sail more difficult. I use it the other way. TF for rudder and Knob for sails. The knob has more travel and you can file the stops for even more. On my Airtronics I had to modify the TF so that it did center properly. Not that easy of a task. On my Futaba the TF centered properly so it was no problem. Using it this way means you can sail one handed (thumb for sail- finger for rudder which is handy for sailing through lunch.
All this said I beleive that there is only a handful of people that use Pistol Grip controls. I have brought the subject up on both forums with luke-warm reactions. If you want someone to test your boat for you, you are in trouble because he will be confused with the controls. I prefer the PG but most people use Sticks.
Back to yor original question. Once you remove the springs and self-centering mechanism(tape the parts to the inside of the control so you don’t lose them) you can stiffen up the travel by pushing a piece of paper into the bushing. I’ve done this and it has lasted for two years now. If I can be any more help just ask.
Don
