Futaba T18MZ
SETTING UP A GLIDER
One of the more di;cult planes I have to set up is my now-vintage
Blackhawk F3B sailplane. ;e reason for this is that the ailerons
have limited upward travel which makes it a bit of a chore to
program some radios for the crow, or butterfly landing mode. While
there is plenty of travel
for normal flight, when
activating the butterfly
mode, it would attempt to
move the surface past the
upper endpoint adjustment,
and if I programmed out
the bind, I had very limited
aileron movement, which
is not a desirable condition.
I had none of these issues
with the T18MZ. In fact, the
basics were set up within
minutes with the preprogrammed glider
functions, which include butterfly mixing,
camber mixes, aileron di;erential and
much more. Endpoints were maintained
by default, and with the customizable
flight modes, I was able to set up one
especially for landing that would override
the di;erential throw and increase the
downward aileron travel, greatly increasing
low speed roll authority. Another great Above: If it doesn’t look like the plane on the ground, don’t select enter. Picture matching makes it almost impossible to choose the wrong plane. Right: Setting up a gilder is o easy it can be done at the flying field.
feature is that the flight modes can be prioritized, so I set my
landing mode to take priority when selected. ;e current flight
mode is always displayed on the screen, and since they can be
custom labeled, you’re never left guessing which one is active. To
go yet another step further, record the name of the mode with the
built-in microphone and it
will call out when you switch
modes— great when your
plane is specked out in a
thermal and you don’t want
to look away.
type of switch at that location; say for
example, a momentary instead of a multi-position. On either side, there are two sliders, one at the ends, and one just inside the
ends that is accessible from both the front
and rear of the case. Lastly, here are three
dial knobs near the top center of the transmitter, two of which can be pressed flush.
Everything has a very positive engagement
and the center points are easily detectible,
be it detent or audio tone.
Silky-smooth gimbals have adjustable
tension and even the side angle can be
adjusted to the users liking. On the throttle,
the ratchet can be adjusted or even elimi-
nated without the need to disassemble
the case, great for helis. Trimming is done
via six digital trims that are assignable to
whatever channel you like. I did say that
this radio is customizable, didn’t I?
this is not only the most feature- rich radio
I have ever laid my hands on, but also one
of the most intuitive ones as well, thanks
to the large and easy-to-read LCD interface.
There are three basic menus for all of the
programming features: system, linkage and
model. All are easily accessible via the huge
touchscreen LCD screen or a set of buttons
Programming
Whenever I get a new radio, I always like
to check out how easy it is to navigate the
programming menus without needing to
reference the manual. Without a doubt,
Lights, camera, action!
Having a beautiful, backlit 6” full-color HVGA screen (640x240 pixles) makes it possible to not
only display crisp text and discernible graph lines within the programming menus, but also
clearly show a picture of the model currently selected. ;e picture can be added as a file via
any of the data transfer methods, or…wait for it…the built-in camera.;at’s right; the T18MZ
actually has a camera on the back side of the case. Of course, the .03 megapixel lens isn’t
meant to take shots that you’ll post on your favorite networking site, but it is perfect for the
158x80 pixel thumbnails used on the home screen.
Just in case you get bored flying your plane and are looking for some entertainment, there
is a music player available that will play audio files from either the external memory slot or
those transferred to the internal memory. If you want to keeps the tunes to yourself, there is a
headphone jack at the rear of the radio case.
;e camera lens is on the rear center of the case
and displays what it sees on the screen, so you
can properly frame the model before you take the
snapshot.
can properly frame the model before you take the
