Binding and trim question

[p3arljam]

Hello all im new to the hobby and i just purchased an E Flite Apperntice. After putting it together i noticed that only the elevator worked so i did the binding process and all was fine. I taxied around a little to get familiar with the plane when i was done i unplugged the battery and turned the radio off. When i turned the radio(Spektrum DX5E) back on and plugged the battery back in the same thing happened the only thing that worked was the elevator so i had to bind again my question is do i have to do this everytime?

Next question i noticed the rudder was angled left when i wasnt using the stick so i trimmed it to the right it is now perfectly straight but i have no more trim to the right i am maxed out is there a way to have equal trim play to the right and left?

[JetPlaneFlyer]

You should only have to bind the receiver to the transmitter once. The elevator alone working is very strange. I've got no sensible suggestions other than a faulty receiver or faulty servos (I take it that you do remove the bind plug from the receiver after binding?). it is always worth double checking that all the servo plugs are firmly plugged into the receiver and any extension leads are securely connected. For info it's also good practise to always turn the Tx on first and off last. The airplane should never be powered up without the Tx being turned on (sounds like that's what you were doing anyway).

To centre your trims simply adjust the pushrod that operated the rudder. The clevis on the end of the pushrod can usually be adjusted by screwing it in and out a few turns. If you had a computer radio you would be able to adjust the servo centre position (sub-trim) but the DX5 doesn't have that functionality so you are stuck with doing it the old fashioned way with the pushrod.

[xmech2k]

Regarding centering the rudder, what you should do is turn on only your tx, then seeing as it's trimmed all the way to the right, start clicking it one step at a time to the left. I forgot if the Dx5e has different pitch tone when you reach the center of the trim range and stop there, or you'll have to count how many clicks to get all the way left, then click half way back to the middle.

Once you've centered the tx trim, remove the propellor for safety(hopefully!), then power up the plane so the rudder servo goes to it's center position. NOW you can adjust the clevis at the rudder to center it. Go ahead and center the nose wheel steering while you're at it. Now you should be good to go with plenty of trim available both ways.

Have fun! The Apprentice was my first RC plane, too. I'm up to warbirds and a couple of pretty quick edf jets now, but still enjoy the Apprentice too!

[mclarkson]

That does sound very peculiar. After you unplug and replug it, you've got control over the rudder, but nothing else? It's generally all or nothing and, as JetPlaneFlyer says, you should not have to re-bind the plane.

[p3arljam]

Thanks for the help I'm going to try everything out on Monday I'll let you know the outcome.

[DCDetector]

Instead of re-binding what happens if you just unplug the RX battery and then plug it in again? If you try and plug in the RX/Apprentice battery before the radio has completely initiated you might get partial binding?

As the others have suggested, set your radios rudder trim back to neutral and adjust the clevis/screw it in until the rudder is straight.

PS: love my apprentices

[hayofstacks]

If you have an intermittent signal between the esc and radio, some receivers will kick in a bit of one control surface everytime the battery is plugged in or unpluged, to give you response to the battry being plugged in.