Have you ever wondered just how big the R/C market is? I mean in world terms. If someone of the size and significance of Futaba, for example, can invest in producing new, or revamped, radios at fairly regular intervals there must be something worthwhile in it for them. Perhaps we should point out here that one of Futaba's many lines is the production of those flourescent displays that are used in radios, videos, etc.
If this is the case, it is very curious that they don't seem to be very interested in what the customer actually wants. Perhaps they don't need to be! It is probably wrong here to pick on Futaba, since that same sort of thing can be said about all manufacturers of R/C equipment. For some time now, all of the top helicopter radios have featured a graphical display of the pitch and throttle curves - separately. Any helicopter flyer will tell you that the most important single thing about any model helicopter is the pitch/throttle relationship, so why can't we see both curves together? It can't be that difficult to arrange when all of the information is already there.
Once we get away from the top sets, things become rapidly worse. Is there anybody out there who really can visualise a percentage? If point A is set to x% and point C is set to y%, what should point B be set to? Yes, of course, this is all in the interests of keeping the price down isn't it, so why don't we have cheap sets?
These remarks are a more or less direct result of examining the latest Futaba offereing, the Field Force 8. That's the name it has become generally known by, although Futaba refer to it by a string of numbers. I have a suspicion that there are people in anoraks who collect Futaba type numbers. Perhaps someone publishes little books for Futaba spotters.
The FF8 has some quite remarkable features. You can select which switch you would like to start the stopwatch, but the throttle hold switch is immoveably set in the wrong place. You can change the mode by simply telling the computer what you want, but the manual insists that changing the throttle stick from one side to the other 'is a job for Futaba'. This isn't even true! Investigation revealed that the throttle position is chosen by a plastic plate that immobilises the throttle spring and adds a ratchet. All you have to do is move the plate to the appropriate stick. Fine, but you are then stuck with a very coarse ratchet action. Wait a minute, what's this? A smooth ratchet arm hidden away in the box. Wonderful, we now have a much less coarse ratchet (despite the manual). Didn't their research tell them that helicopter flyers like a friction device? Better yet, an ADJUSTABLE friction device. Well of course their research told them that. After all, they do produce the 9Z in two versions, the 9ZAP and the 9ZHP (where's me little book?). The ONLY difference between these two sets is that one has a ratchet on the throttle and one has a friction device (not adjustable).
Having mentioned the mighty 9Z, this was the first set to include the rapidly becoming fashionable - but totally useless - digital trims. In the 9 series they do have the virtue that you can have a different trim setting with every flight condition and they have a large trim display which actually gives you a numerical value for the trim, together with a reminder of a previous trim position. In the case of the FF8, however, all you get is a tiny row of dots on the display with the current trim position being indicated by a missing dot! Perhaps we could coin a new phrase here - negative indication. This all represents a new first in modern radio technology. Not only can you not feel where the trims are, but you can't see where they are either.
The FF8 has another innovation. It is supplied with all the airbourne equipment packed in a plastic box and the transmitter cradled in two expanded foam mouldings. Nothing is said in the manual but it eventually becomes clear that the plastic box is meant to house the transmitter once everything else is housed in the model. I say 'eventually' because the first impression is that the box is not big enough. In fact, it is JUST big enough to take the transmitter in one particular position. Well, it might keep the dust off, but it will do s*d all else. You might be better off using the original foam cradle.
Programming is a masterpiece of just how much can be done with a minimum number of buttons and the smallest possible display. It took me a whole evening to decide how to switch the transmitter to 'heli' mode and I'm not sure that I could do it again.
One nice thing that I can say about both the 9Z and the FF8 is that they balance nicely in the hand with the aerial extended. Their main rivals JR have never got this one right, despite pioneering the ergonomic case. All JR sets balance with the aerial sticking up in the air - they are even worse with a neckstrap - while Futaba sets balance with the aerial down, which is much more comfortable.
Nonetheless, the vast majority of heli pilots seem to prefer JR because they are much more user friendly. If only JR would adopt the sort of switch flexibility that Futaba have on the 9Z it would be no contest.
The real problem with JR, of course, is that they still absolutely believe that no-one in the world flies Mode 2. All Mode 2 JR sets are converted from Mode 1 and it shows. This is despite the fact that one of their cheaper sets actually lets you set the mode that you want. Sorry, did I say 'cheaper'? Of course, I mean 'budget'. 'Cheaper' is a relative term, only. 'Cheap' has no meaning at all.