[NSRCA-discussion] Futaba

[Ryan Smith]

I did a rather extensive servo comparison for JR Americas shortly before I left the company, and it’s surprising the applications that some servos are designed and marketed for, and what they’re commonly used for…particularly Futaba servos. Many “car” servos have found their way in pattern planes over the years with clearly good results. 

I wouldn’t limit myself to simply air servos…car servos tend to have a pretty tight deadband and are built to withstand much more abuse than airplane servos. Futaba’s selection of S.Bus servos these days is pretty remarkable!

> On Dec 29, 2015, at 12:37 PM, Scott McHarg via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> wrote:
> 
> Also, I did a little research and you may consider the S9670SV servo.  The dimensions are the same and only $30 from Tower http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXDXFL&P=FR&gclid=Cj0KEQiA-4i0BRCaudDcrrnDi6kBEiQAZSh5f6qJ9lkfjEnOcNvfzSOHgp0cmAdf97xvCSMLuiatDJ8aAks68P8HAQ <http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXDXFL&P=FR&gclid=Cj0KEQiA-4i0BRCaudDcrrnDi6kBEiQAZSh5f6qJ9lkfjEnOcNvfzSOHgp0cmAdf97xvCSMLuiatDJ8aAks68P8HAQ>
> 
> Several of us have been using the BLS551 servos for ailerons.  It says that they're car servos but have been working great in the airplanes. The S9670SV says "car" as well but it may be a possibility for you.
> 
> Scott A. McHarg
> VSCL / CANVASS U.A.S. Research Pilot
> Texas A&M University
> PPL - ASEL
> 
> On Tue, Dec 29, 2015 at 11:20 AM, Scott McHarg <scmcharg at gmail.com <mailto:scmcharg at gmail.com>> wrote:
> Hi Don,
> 
> I have just heard back from Futaba (North America).  The official response is "There's no way that Futaba can make servos to fit every possible application".  Futaba (North America) recognizes exactly what you are saying, however.   I don't know if that means that there is a certain desire for the factory to correct the fact that most servos come in different sizes or if that means they know and aren't going to do much about it as it is difficult from a production standpoint to make new servos and technology fit existing circumstances.
> 
> To help to some extent, I have found something that I don't recall being there on the Futaba website.  Maybe it was and I just missed it.  They have a servo wizard which helps you pick the proper servos for your application and gives you alternatives to the "most popular" servos.  http://www.futabarc.com/servos/servo-wizard.php <http://www.futabarc.com/servos/servo-wizard.php>
> 
> In addition, I will sometimes use Servodatabase to research what's out there and what was out there to compare servos.  For Futaba, the link is http://www.servodatabase.com/servos/futaba <http://www.servodatabase.com/servos/futaba>
> 
> I'm aware that this isn't the answer you were looking for but this is what I found out.  If any of you have Futaba questions, I'd be glad to try to get you an honest and straightforward answer quickly.  Any of the Futaba Team members can help you as well.
> 
> Best Regards,
> Scott
> 
> Scott A. McHarg
> VSCL / CANVASS U.A.S. Research Pilot
> Texas A&M University
> PPL - ASEL
> 
> On Tue, Dec 29, 2015 at 7:08 AM, Don Ramsey via NSRCA-discussion <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org <mailto:nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org>> wrote:
> Can some of you Futaba sponsored pilots tell me what the thought process is at Futaba when they make a line of servos that appear to be for the same purpose, say elevator servos, that don’t fit the same mount?  For instance, the S9650, BLS153, and BLS173HV servo seem to be a line of elevator servos.  If you wanted to upgrade from the 9650 to the 153 it worked.  They discontinued the 153 and appeared to replace with the 173 but that servo will not mount in a model set up for the 153.  It’s too small. Modification necessary?????  So, now, if you are using 9650 servos and want to upgrade, you are out of luck without modifying your plane.
> 
>  
> 
> If your plan was to use BLS153s as backup for the BLS173s (replace both if a change is needed) at a contest you are out of luck.  This is  a problem that Futaba should be made aware.
> 
> 
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