The history and what happened to Single Stick radios?

Let's begin by declaring the gospel...

only ONE manufacturer ever made a single stick radio!

No, I'm not talking about the sloppy fit, bastardized, ignorant, puny attempts with plastics. Teeny tiny short shafts with Mack dump truck rudder knobs and yes, that also includes the PCM SS8AP plastic junk made by Futaba. I'm talking about a REAL single stick! Of course, the only real Single Stick manufacturer was Pro-Line.

A LITTLE HISTORY:
Pro-Line was owned by Nat's Champion, Jim Whitley of Decatur, Al. of "Daddy Rabbit" fame. The superb (for its day) radio was designed by Jim Fosgate who came from Logictrol. You even see a few of them around today and yes, their single stick gimbals are still highly prized by aficionados.

But who really designed this single stick marvelous mechanism? It was another Nat's winner, Ron Chidgey of Pensacola, Fl of "Tiger Tail" fame. Ron was a mechanical engineer who worked for a local Monsanto plant. Ron also owned a company called Southern RC.

Earlier single stick gimbals were hinged on a 1/4" pot shaft and as the housing wore down, they became worrisome to say the least. Chidgey resolved that problem by a double hinged system.

WHAT MADE TWO STICK POPULARITY GROW?
Two stick radios were a bad habit carryover from the days before proportional. With the "bang bang" radios elevator was on one side of the transmitter and aileron on the other. Models were flown by pulsing the spring loaded toggle switches with the thumbs. Therefore, a two stick radio was easier to convert from bang-bang to proportional. Tragically, many flyers looked for an easy method to convert and never left the bad habit.

WHY DID SINGLE STICKS DISAPPEAR OFF THE MARKET?
Three major reasons:

During the late sixties and early seventies, single stick flyers like Jim Kirkland, Ron Chidgey, Don Coleman, Rhett Miller and others on the Gulf Coast were winning everything. However, most radio manufacturers were on the west coast. They too, had some top flyers and most certainly were not interested in building radios to help the Gulf Coast rednecks beat them. Single stick flyers were required to build and install a single stick gimbal in a case and then send it to the manufacturer to have the radio installed.
All the attempts by radio manufacturers at marketing a single sticks were miserable failures. These attempts were simply cheap, quick and dirty modifications of two stick gimbals. Single sticks flyers would double over laughing at these pathetic productions, cuss, and just plain refused to buy such junk.
Manufacturers also looked upon the single stick market as means of higher profits. Therefore, they required the single sticker to buy from a higher priced market and never made an honest attempt to market an entry level single stick radio..

As a result of all of the above, single stick radios soon disappeared from the market.

WELL THEN, WHY BOTHER - WHAT'S THE ADVANTAGE OF SINGLE STICK?
How many heart surgeons do you know that tape a scapel to their thumb when performing surgery? Unless one is double jointed, thumbs simply do not have the dexterity of an elbow, wrist and fingers motion. This might explain why the best two stick flyers now must use such things as trays, longer sticks, stronger springs, exponential, trick switches, maneuver programming, ad nauseum.

For the beginning flyer. all taxing controls must be accomplished left-handed. When the airplane breaks ground he must mentally shift from left to right hand. Now the real potential for disaster begins.
If his airplane is out of trim, such as pulling down and to the right, what's the first thing he has to do to get the airplane in trim? Right...
HE MUST LET GO OF THE DUMB CONTROLLING STICK TO GET TO THE TRIM LEVERS! However, with a properly designed single stick the beginner's ground control is quite logical with the rudder steering knob and throttle under his left thumb and...
if his airplane is not in trim he can maintain control while he sets the trim corrections with his left hand.
From almost 50 years of teaching new flyers I guarantee a new pilot will learn to fly in half the time and most always will become a more proficient flyer. His airplane doesn't hiccup all over the sky because he's pulsing the sticks with his thumbs.

But what about the more advanced flyer? Yes, I flew aerobatic competiton for years and yes, I did win a few contests. Nonetheless, for years it has been argued that single stick flyers cannot add top rudder without disturbing the elevator or aileron controls. Well, with most of the manufacturer's poor attempts at building single sticks, that's true. However, real single stick flyers want HARD, TIGHT, STIFF, springs.
They want to feel a solid bump as they cross neutral elevator while rolling the airplane. With tight springs, it is no problem to add top rudder without moving the elevator or ailerons! With a properly built single stick gimbal the unwanted cross controlling argument becomes totally false.

WHAT'S IN THE FUTURE FOR SINGLE STICK?
Frankly, not much. There simply isn't any demand for a simpler, better system because too many expert flyers have now mastered the two stick systems with gimmickry.
Some claim that Marv Jensen of Jensen Jet Models is now the guru of single stick. Well, maybe. A previous employee of Ron Chidgey showed me a supposed newer ball-bearing gimbal designed by Ron. He had ordered it from Marv Jensen. To be honest, it was un-usable and appeared to have been manufactured with a horseshoe file.
If you want to try and fly single stick, Kraft radio manufactured a Signature Series radio that included a Pro-Line gimbal or you can search for one of the original Pro-Lines.
The Kraft Signature Series always seem to go for high dollar although those radios are really out of date. Other than these two, I have no idea where you could locate a quality single stick gimbal.
With the advent of more modern plastics such as carbon fiber, I keep hoping someone would manufacture a reasonably priced quality gimbal but presently, I have no knowledge of any.

Nonetheless, if you fly now for pleasure like I do, single stick flying is far more relaxing and it'll certainly generate some interesting conversations.

Wanna' have more fun? Tell the 2 stickers that you drive bulldozers with two sticks - airplane flyers only use one! That'll make your day at the field more exciting, guarantee!

Bill Davison
bill@bizwebpage.com