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How to Wire an RC Plane With Five Servos

With the RC airplane hobby overrun with Almost Ready to Fly (ARF) kits it seems that RC pilots are losing the ability to wire the servos in a plane. The traditional five servo plane uses one servo for elevator, one for rudder, one for throttle, one for ailerons and the last for retractable landing gear. It is also possible to use two servos for ailerons if your plane does not have retractable landing gear. Wiring your RC plane for five servos is easy and if you have a computerized transmitter you can add features and functionality that will make your plane more fun to fly.

Things You'll Need

Servo "Y" cable (optional)
Servo extension cable (optional)
Four or more channel receiver

Instructions

The Basics
- 1
  Plug the connector from the elevator servo into channel 2 on the receiver. This servo will control the plane's climb and dive rates. Use the servo reverse function on your transmitter if the elevator moves in the opposite direction from what you expect.
- 2
  Plug the connector from the throttle servo into channel 3 of the receiver. When the throttle stick is in the lowest position on the transmitter the carburetor should not be completely closed otherwise your motor will stop running and not idle.
- 3
  Plug the connector from the rudder servo into channel 4 of the receiver. The rudder gives some steering control in the air and aids in steering the plane while taxiing on the ground. Once again make sure the rudder moves in the expected direction when tested with the transmitter.
- 4
  If your plane has retractable landing gear then plug the connector from the retract servo into channel 5 of the receiver. This channel is controlled by a switch on the transmitter; one position engages the landing gear, the other retracts it into the plane for a more realistic look.
Ailerons
- 5
  If your plane uses one servo for the ailerons then plug the connector from that servo into channel 1 on the receiver.
- 6
  If your plane uses two servos for aileron control, one in each wing half, and you have a four channel receiver, plug the connector from the "Y" cable into channel 1 on the receiver. Plug each servo into one arm of the "Y" cable. The servos must move in opposite directions when the aileron stick is moved.
- 7
  Many computerized transmitters allow you to install two aileron servos by using channels 1 and 5. Plug the right wing servo into channel 1 and the left into channel 5. This configuration allows each servo to be trimmed separately.
- 8
  Another option is to plug the right wing servo into channel 1 and the left wing servo into channel 6. This configuration lets you use your ailerons as flaperons. Flaperons mix flap functionality in with ailerons. The ailerons both deflect downward to mimic flaps and move opposite each other for roll control.

Aviation