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TYPICAL 4-CHANNEL TRANSMITTER The photo at right shows a typical 4-channel Mode-II transmitter and its various controls. Fore-and-aft movement on the right control stick operates the model's elevator, side-to-side movement of the stick controls the ailerons. In other words, when you pull the right stick towards you, the model will go up. Push the stick forward and the model goes down. Push it to the left and the model will roll left; right and the model rolls right.

The left control stick operates in a similar fashion. Side-to-side movement controls the model's rudder and normally also controls the nosewheel or tailwheel for steering the model on the ground. Fore-and-aft movement of the left stick operates the model's throttle. You'll notice that for the ailerons, elevator, and rudder, the control sticks are spring loaded to return to center, while the throttle stick is not. Instead, it has a series of ratchet "clicks" that enables you to set the throttle speed anywhere in its range and it will stay where you put it.

The photos and diagrams below illustrate how the control surfaces react to certain control inputs. When flying, full deflection of the sticks (as shown in the photos) is seldom necessary, except when doing stunts.

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transmitter trim levers
The two trim levers in this photo are for the elevator (vertical and the ailerons (horizontal). Notice that the aileron trim lever is at full "left" trim and the trim lever for the elevator is at full "down" trim. All of the other photos show the trim levers in "neutral" (centered).
The trim levers work in the same direction as the control sticks, but they only move the servo a slight amount compared to the control stick. This allows you to make small adjustments to the deflection of the control surfaces to "trim" the model to fly hands-off straight and level. For example, if the model wants to roll to the left slightly in flight, with no inputs on the controls, simply feed in a bit of right aileron trim until the ship flies level. If it wants to climb slightly when you take your thumb off the stick, trim in a little down elevator by moving the elevator trim lever slightly forward. By carefully adjusting the trim levers, an R/C pilot can make his model fly straight and level all by itself.

FLYING A 3-CHANNEL AIRPLANE WITH A 4-CHANNEL TRANSMITTER: With a typical 4-channel model, the ailerons are the primary control used to turn the model in flight. All turns are initiated by using the ailerons to put the model into a bank and ended by using opposite aileron to get the wings back to level. However, as we explained earlierrsome of the best R/C models on the market are designed to fly with only 3-channels (elevator, rudder, and throttle) or even 2-channels (elevator and rudder). In those cases the rudder is the primary control used to turn the model in flight.

If you are going to fly a 2 or 3-channel model airplane with a 4-channel radio (very common), it is always best to plug the rudder servo into the receiver slot normally used for the ailerons. This enables the rudder to be controlled by the aileron stick on the transmitter. That way, regardless of how many channels your model has, the right stick is always used to make the turns. If your right hand becomes trained to do the turning, it will be very easy to transition between the different types of models without any difficulty.

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