Subject: ??Hobby Lobby RDS CLONE?? Guys. . .no way is what is shown in the Hobby Lobby catalog as item CH901 a "RDS clone". It appeared on the market many years ago as the "Swingee". ACE R/C once stocked them as did Tower, but discontinued them. There is no similarity between the RDS and the Swingee in installation, mechanics or operation. The Swingee requires an output arm on a servo, a pushrod and a "Swivel Link" type fitting on its threaded arm. I fussed with them in my "BUZZBAT" sloper (March, 1986 MA), in the thermal ships "ATRIX" (Dec. '86 MA) and "KEETAH" (June '89 RCM. ) I have a lot of experience with them, all bad. After buying about 40 pair, I gave up in total frustration. One good thing about them. . . .they were singularly responsible for making me want to find a better way. They do not provide enough throw, even linked for maximum deflection. Given the thin wings we use, there is no vertical space to use a long output arm on the servo. Most are too stiff or too sloppy and vary within an opposing pair. You get slop or bind. If you get what seems a good matched pair, they quickly wear and get sloppy. Being about 1/4" thick at the hingeline, they are too bulky to mount firmly in thin sailplane wings. They should be screw-mounted on at least a 1/8" base to hold them firmly. Any glue, particularly CA, can easily wick-join moving parts. If glued in, joints can easily break and there is no access to try to firmly reglue. The rear section that deflects the surface is beveled toward its rear edge. Trying to fabricate a beveled slot within a flap or aileron to fit it is essentially impossible. I could never get one to fit well. Further, there is a section of the thing that is always exposed in a thin surface and looks ugly. The RDS overcomes all these limitations. Full information is on the website below. It took almost 10 years of development from initial concept to production of the couplers. With them it is easy to do a custom RDS installation. You are missing so much if you are not using them to help eliminate slop, drag, noise and clutter. Besides the website, a manual is available that gives the details. There are eighteen 8-1/2 x 11 pages of pics, drawings and text. $5.95 postpaid from me at the address below. HARLEY MICHAELIS, LSF 023, 26 S. Roosevelt, Walla Walla, Wa 99362 RDS website http://www.proptwisters.org/rds2/ RCSE-List facilities provided by Model Airplane News. Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
