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- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS);faqs.481
-
-
-
- _Before_*EVERY*_ flight:_
-
- 1) Start the engine (if applicable) and test the entire throttle range. Run
- it at full throttle with its nose in the air for 15 seconds or so.
-
- 2) Check the receiver flight pack with a voltmeter to ensure enough charge.
-
- 3) Check the control throw direction for all surfaces. It's very easy to
- do a repair or radio adjustment and forget to switch these.
-
- If you can't find an expert that is willing to teach you, it is best to
- start with a 2-3 channel model with a long wingspan and alot of dihedral.
- The ideal thing to start with here would be a 2 channel glider. If you
- MUST start with a powered plane, a 6' foot powered glider, like the Piece
- O' Cake from Dynaflite is a good way to go.
-
- :::::: -- Gliders -- ::::::
-
- A 2-channel (rudder+elevator) polyhedral [see below] glider is just about
- the easiest way to learn to fly, and is highly recommended. Once you can
- handle that you can move up to rudder-elev.-spoiler-flap competition
- ships or (on the slope) rudder-elevator-aileron-spoiler aerobatic ships.
-
- Sailplane plug (aka religious sermon): ... don't think glider flying is
- just "launch, glide back"---It's very easy to get 30+ minute flights and
- about 1000' altitude. Remember, power flying is limited by the size of
- the fuel tank (about 10 minutes) and gliders are limited by the receiver
- batteries (about 2 hrs). And glider flying is *much* more challenging (my
- opinion, of course), while at the same time being easier to learn. And no
- fuel costs, no starting hassles, no cleanup afterwards... Also, many
- cities have ordinances prohibiting model engines, which means the flying
- fields are outside city limits. BUT, since sailplanes don't have those
- nasty, messy smelly things, we can fly in any large enough area!
-
- >Are most gliders hand launched, or do they have a small engine to get
- them up?
-
- Gliders are usually launched by a "hi-start"---a section of rubber with
- about 500' of line. It is hooked to the plane and pulled back---the
- rubber then pulls it up kite-like. (It is NOT like a catapult launch!).
- Launches of heights up to 500' can be obtained on a good day. The launching
- procedure is simple---keep the elevator neutral (for now) and keep it
- flying straight. At the top the glider will just fly off the line. A small
- engine can also be used but it creates a lot of drag which is very
- detrimental to gliding performance. Hi-starts range from around $20 for
- light-weight models to $100 for heavy-duty ones.
-
- Winches are also used---it's very similar to a high-start except that you
- (the pilot) always have control over the line tension so you can usually
- get better launches. It does take more skill, though; as a beginner you
- don't need to worry about winches just yet.
-
- Flying at the slope you just chuck the plane into the wind---that's it!
-
- >How do sailplanes stay up?
-
- Since a sailplane has no engine, it follows that it must always sink
- through the surrounding air. The trick then is to find some air that's
- going up faster than you'll sink through it... and for our purposes,
- there are two kinds of such air:
- ---air heated locally will tend to rise. The heating could be by the
- sun on a parking lot or a bonfire or a .... This is called "thermal
- soaring"---the columns of rising air are called thermals. This needs
- some skill/experience, and mostly involves smooth flying and a good
- idea of how your plane reacts. An easy way is to just follow more
- experienced fliers (some of which are birds) into them.
- ---wind striking a slope will rise to go over it. You just fly in front
- of the slope where the air is going up. With a steady wind this is
- easy to fly in, with challenges provided by aerobatics etc. This is
- called (surprisingly) "slope soaring." Landing is more challenging
- while at the slope unless you have a large field or something at the
- top.
-
- Recommendations:
- Sailplanes:
- 6' or 2m class: (recommended)
- Carl Goldberg Gentle Lady, Dynaflite/Craft-Air Drifter II, Airtronics
- Olympic 650, SIG Riser, Great Planes Spirit, etc. These are all
- polyhedral ships with rudder and elevator controls. All are highly
- recommended.
- Carl Goldberg Sophisticated Lady: basically a souped up Gentle Lady,
- it is in general not recommended---it's heavier and the T-tail
- structure is very easy to break, even on a slightly rough landing.
- 100" or standard class:
- These models fly better but are more cumbersome to launch and transport,
- and are also slightly more expensive. Try Dynaflite/Craft-Air Butterfly,
- Airtronics Olympic II, SIG Riser 100 etc. These are basically scaled up
- versions of the 2m ships above.
-
- Costs:
-
- >What kind of cost am I looking at for a solid training glider or
- >powered plane, with all gear?
-
- $200 is in the ballpark. $120 for a 4-ch radio, $60 for a 2m glider,
- covering and other supplies. ARF Gliders---$100 + radio + supplies.
-
- Powered planes: about $350-400---$120 radio, $70 plane, $120 engine + supplies.
-
- (By "supplies," I mean things like rulers, knives etc.)
-
- >Where can I mail-order stuff from?
-
- Try Tower Hobbies (1 800 637 4989) and Sheldon's (1 800 228 3237) [Inside
- CA, 1 800 822 1688]. Also look in modelling magazines for ads. Try Radio
- Control Modeler, Model Airplane News, Flying Models, Model Aviation.
-
- ================================ End of Part 1 ==============================
- --
- --
- Shamim Mohamed / {uunet,noao,cmcl2..}!arizona!shamim / shamim@cs.arizona.edu
- "Take this cross and garlic; here's a Mezuzah if he's Jewish; a page of the
- Koran if he's a Muslim; and if he's a Zen Buddhist, you're on your own."
- Member of the League for Programming Freedom - write to lpf@uunet.uu.net
- Xref: bloom-picayune.mit.edu rec.models.rc:11697 news.answers:4469
- Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!eff!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!usc!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!cmcl2!arizona!cs.arizona.edu!sham
- From: sham@cs.arizona.edu
- Newsgroups: rec.models.rc,news.answers
- Subject: R/C Flying: FAQ Part 2 of 2/rec.models.rc
- Summary: A Beginner's Guide to Radio Controlled Flying
- Message-ID: <27675@optima.cs.arizona.edu>
- Date: 7 Dec 92 15:00:13 GMT
- Expires: 18 Jan 93 15:00:08 GMT
- References: <27674@optima.cs.arizona.edu>
- Sender: news@cs.arizona.edu
- Reply-To: shamim@cs.arizona.edu
- Followup-To: rec.models.rc
- Organization: Dept. of Computer Science, University of Arizona
- Lines: 305
- Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
- Supersedes: <26084@optima.cs.arizona.edu>
-
- Archive-name: RC-flying-FAQ/part2
- Last-modified: May 13 1992
-
- ============================== Part 2 ========================================
-
- :::::: -- Powered (gas) -- ::::::
-
- Even though "wet" power is called "gas", it's not the same as car
- gasoline. Model fuel is usually a mixture of a lubricant (synthetic or
- castor oil), methanol and nitromethane. The power plants are usually
- called engines, as opposed to electrics, which use motors (see below).
- Engines are available in 2-stroke (louder, cheaper, and more powerful
- for the same displacement) and 4-stroke (a more scale sound, less
- vibration, but more expensive). Engine displacements are usually
- measured in cu. in. the US (A 60 engine = 10cc [actually 0.61 cu. in.]).
-
- Compared to beginner's gliders, powered trainers are more difficult to
- master. This means that everything about instructors and equipment
- checks goes DOUBLE for powered planes. There are many, many ways a
- beginner can make mistakes and destroy a model that he/she has spent
- alot of time and money on. With the typical powered trainer, going it
- alone is foolhardy and will likely end with a destroyed model and a
- very disappointed modeler.
-
- If you can't find an expert that is willing to teach you, it is best to
- start with a 2-3 channel model with a long wingspan and alot of
- dihedral. The ideal thing to start with here would be a 2 channel
- glider. If you must start with a powered plane, a Sig Kadet is one of
- the more docile trainers.
-
- If you have an instructor, but have not flown R/C before, you can start
- with something a bit more advanced. The Great Planes PT-20/40/60 series
- are good. You can build these with ailerons, but due to their large
- dihedral, they can also be flown without ailerons. It won't hurt to
- have them built-in. Even though they will not be very effective, they
- will get you used to using them. Other recommended planes are the
- Midwest Aerostar and the Goldberg Eagle.
-
- If you have an instructor, and have flown R/C gliders, you might want
- to start with something still more advanced, say a Great Planes Trainer
- 20/40/60 or the like. These have a fully symmetrical airfoil and less
- dihedral. They are capable of more in the way of aerobatics, but are
- trickier to fly due to higher speed and less stability.
-
-
- :::::: -- Electric Flight -- ::::::
-
- >I didn't know that you could put an electric motor and batteries
- >in an airplane. Isn't that kind of heavy?
-
- Modern NiCd batteries are pretty amazing. You can charge them in 15
- minutes, take power out of them at up to 50 amps or so, and do it all day.
- That capability is what makes electric flight possible. Electric power can
- be used for any kind of flying---gliders, aerobatics, even racing. It's an
- excellent choice for sport flying.
-
- >What are the advantages and disadvantages of electric flight
- >compared to wet power?
-
- Electric power systems are heavier for a given power output. This means
- that planes must be built lighter, which may be more challenging
- (especially for the beginner). That's really the only significant
- disadvantage. The big advantages are that electrics are quiet and clean.
-
- To me, the biggest advantage of all is that electric flight is unusual and
- interesting.
-
- >What is the best way to get started in electric flight?
-
- That depends on what you want to do and where you're starting from.
-
- If you've never flown RC before, and you want to start with an electric
- plane rather than a pure glider, I recommend an electric glider like the
- Airtronics Eclipse. This will give you the best chance to stay ahead of
- the plane. In the sport/trainer category, I hear a lot of good things
- about the Leisure Amptique.
-
- If you know how to fly RC, you have a lot of choices. The simplest and
- most available electric power systems use six or seven cells. These are
- called "05" systems, and are very similar to the power system of an RC car.
- You can find all sorts of planes in kit or plan form which will work well
- with these systems. Outstanding examples are the aforementioned Eclipse
- and Amptique, old timers such as the Leisure Playboy and Astro Viking, a
- variety of semi-scale kits from Davey Systems, all sorts of gliders, and
- the aerobatic ElectroStreak from Great Planes. Any two-meter glider kit
- can be easily adapted to six or seven cell electric by a moderately
- competent builder. Just stick a motor in the nose, battery under the wing,
- and go.
-
- If you want more performance, good ground handling, or just like larger
- planes, there are larger power systems available, all the way up to systems
- which will handle a 60-sized power plane. The cost and complexity, of
- course, go up with size. Any reasonably well-designed power plane kit or
- plan can be adapted to an appropriately chosen electric power system. The
- first step is to leave out half the wood---all power planes are grossly
- overdesigned. Electric motors generate very little vibration, which helps
- you get away with lighter structures.
-
- >What are the elements of an electric power system?
-
- The power system includes a battery, a motor, a control, and wiring. The
- battery is almost always made up of Sanyo NiCd cells in the appropriate
- number. Motors vary from the simple, cheap "can" type (otherwise known as
- "540" or "550" style), through more sophisticated styles adapted from RC
- car motors, up to the cobalt powerhouses.
-
- Controls can be a simple on-off switch controlled by a servo, a directly
- controlled on-off switch, or a proportional electronic control.
-
- If you are going to fly a glider or old-timer type plane with less than a
- 500-watt motor, think seriously about getting battery packs made of Sanyo
- 900 SCR cells. They are significantly lighter than the more usual 1200 mAH
- (sub-C) cells and give excellent performance.
-
- > What do the various letters used to refer to NiCd cells mean?
-
- A: SC is the basic cell. SC cells will take fast charging and have
- reasonably low internal resistance. SCR cells have lower internal
- resistance and a somewhat flatter discharge curve, that is, they put
- out nearly the same voltage from beginning to end of the discharge.
- SCRs are best for high current drain applications. SCE cells have
- somewhat more capacity for the same physical size, but also have
- higher internal resistance. They are best for low current drain
- use (less than about 10 Amps.) The higher capacity of SCE cells
- will not be realized at high current drains, and they will heat up
- more than SCR cells.
-
-
- Many kits nowadays come with a power system. In most cases, these systems
- are adequate for the application. It won't hurt to try what's there to
- start with, you can always experiment later. If the kit you choose doesn't
- come with a motor, of course, you'll have to choose one. If you are a
- beginner, go with the recommendations of the kit manufacturer. If you are
- an experienced RCer, you probably don't need my help.
-
- For a six- or seven-cell glider or old-timer with a cheap motor, an on-off
- switch is sufficient control. For anything else, you will have much
- greater enjoyment with a proportional throttle. Get a high-rate control,
- they are much more efficient at part throttle. There are several good
- brands out there, but I like Jomar for good controls at good prices.
-
- >What support equipment do I need?
-
- You need a charger of some sort. If you are using six or seven cells, any
- RC car charger will do the job. You don't need peak detecting or any of
- that fancy stuff to start with. For larger packs, there are good
- high-voltage chargers around. Check out Astro Flight and TRC, among
- others. Remember, the biggest enemy of NiCads is heat, so try and keep those
- batteries cool when charging. Expect to pay about $40.
-
- >How are motor sizes specified?
-
- Motors are traditionally specified by a system which attempts to equate
- them to wet engines. There are significant problems with this, but they
- probably aren't of concern to beginners. An "05" motor takes a six or
- seven cell battery and puts out 75 to 120 watts, and so on up to a "60"
- which takes 28 cells and puts out 1200 watts. Incidentally, there are
- about 750 watts in a horsepower.
-
- The actual power output for a given voltage (number of cells) depends on
- the load. Unlike wet engines, electric motors put out more power with more
- load. If you don't like the performance you get from your plane, you can
- try a bigger propellor---up to a point. More power, of course, means less
- run time.
-
- In the ideal world, motors would be specified by the total power they are
- capable of supporting and by the number of cells (or voltage) with which
- that power is produced.
-
- >What's a cobalt motor and why would I want one?
-
- Rare-earth magnets, of which the most common type is samarium cobalt, are
- stronger for a given weight and volume than ferrite magnets. Perhaps an
- even more important reason for getting a cobalt motor is that they also
- have better brushes, bigger shafts, better bearings, are built more
- carefully, and so on. For the serious electric flier, they are worth the
- extra expense.
-
- >Where can I get this stuff?
-
- Electric equipment is somewhat specialized, and most hobby shops aren't yet
- sufficiently enlightened to carry very much. You can use RC car equipment
- for a lot of things (after all, they developed this stuff in the first
- place) and your local hobby shop will have lots of that. If you want to
- get more sophisticated, get the catalogues from Hobby Lobby and Hobby Horn
- (both have ads in all the usual magazines.) Both catalogs contain a lot of
- detailed information that I can't fit in here. Hobby Horn has good prices
- on mainstream stuff. Hobby Lobby sells the lines of several European
- manufacturers, and tends to have higher prices for fancier (or at least
- more unusual) stuff. I haven't dealt with CS Flight Systems on the East
- Coast, but I read good things about them.
-
-
- :::::: -- Some Aerodynamics -- ::::::
-
- The aircraft can rotate around three axes: the fore-and-aft axis (or the
- _roll_ axis); the spanwise (nose-up/nose-down) axis or the _pitch_ axis;
- and the nose-left/nose-right, or _yaw_ axis.
-
- Speed:
-
- The cross-section of the wing has a shape called an _airfoil_. It has the
- property that when it meets the air (usually at some small angle, called
- the _angle_of_attack) it generates an upward force (lift) for a small
- backward force (drag). The amount of lift (and drag) depends on the
- airspeed and a value called the _lift_coefficient_ (and a few other
- things like surface area and density of the air). If the plane is in
- unaccelerated flight, the upward force (approximately equal to the lift)
- is equal in magnitude to the weight of the plane, which is a constant. It
- thus follows that the total lift generated by the wing is always constant
- (at least in unaccelerated flight). [One example of accelerated flight is
- turning---see below]
-
- The above mentioned _coefficient_of_lift_ (abbreviated Cl) depends on the
- angle of attack. Usually, as the A-of-A is increased, Cl increases; to
- keep the lift force constant, speed can decrease. So to fly fast, we
- decrease Cl (and A-of-A); to slow down, increase Cl (and A-of-A). Since
- the wings are fixed, we alter the A-of-A by pitching the entire plane up
- or down. This is done with the elevator. The elevator is thus the speed
- control.
-
- Turning:
-
- To turn a body moving in a straight line, a sideways force must be
- applied to it. For a plane, the best method for generating a force is to
- use the wings. To get them to act sideways, we roll the plane: now part
- of the lift is acting sideways and voila! a turn. To roll the plane, we
- use the ailerons (the movable surfaces at the wingtips). Also, notice
- that now since part of the lift is acting sideways, the lift force in the
- upward direction is reduced; but the upward component of the lift needs
- to be equal to the weight of the plane i.e. we need a little more lift
- from the wings, which we can do by increasing Cl---i.e. by pulling a bit
- of up-elevator. That's why to turn in a plane you push the stick sideways
- in the direction of the turn and then pull back a bit to keep the nose
- level.
-
- What happens if you try to turn with the rudder alone? The application of
- the rudder will cause the aircraft to yaw, and it will continue to travel
- in the same straight line (more or less), skidding. (Think of a car on a
- perfectly slippery road---if you try to turn just by turning the wheel,
- you'll skid but won't turn). So we need a roll to turn.
-
- But most of the trainers we see don't have any ailerons! How do they
- turn? They use a configuration of the wings called _dihedral_ (or, for most
- gliders, _polyhedral_).
-
- Flat Dihedral Polyhedral
- ~-_ _-~
- -------O-------- ~~~----___O___----~~~ ~~~~~~~----O---~~~~~~
-
- ^ ^ ^ ^ ^
- 0 angle between small angle between small angle between 2 wing
- 2 wing panels 2 wing panels panels and also small angle
- within each panel (Gentle Lady)
- OR
- 0 angle between 2 wing panels
- and small angle within each
- panel (Olympic 650)
-
- When we apply rudder (say left rudder) to a plane with dihedral, what
- happens? The plane yaws; the right half of the wing then sees a greater
- angle of attack than than the left half:
-
- / / / / / / <--- airflow direction
- ._______________________.
- |___________|___________|
- left wing right wing
-
- (You can try this out if you don't believe it: take a piece of paper and
- fold it slightly, like dihedral; then look at it end on, but slightly
- off-center, i.e. from the point of view of the approaching airflow. You
- will see that you can see more of the underside of one half than you can
- of the other.) And what does an increased angle of attack do? It
- increases the Cl and the lift generated by that half! So we now have the
- right wing generating more lift and the left less; the result is a roll
- to the left. With polyhedral we get the same effect, only to a larger
- extent.
-
- The Stall:
-
- If you try to fly slower and slower by pulling back on the stick (i.e.
- applying up-elevator) you will reach a point where the plane "falls out
- of the sky" or the stall. What happens is that an airfoil will only
- "work" up to a certain angle of attack. When that angle is exceeded, the
- airflow above the airfoil breaks up and the result is an increase in drag
- and a drastic decrease in lift, so that the wings can no longer support
- the plane. The only remedy is to reduce the A-of-A i.e. to push the nose
- down. This may be a little difficult to do when you see your plane
- falling---the natural tendency is to pull back on the stick, to "hold the
- plane up."
-
- A development of the stall is the spin. Volumes can be written about it,
- and have been; go to the library and check any book on introductory
- aerodynamics.
-
- If you want to know more about Aerodynamics as it applies to Model
- Aircraft (the small Reynolds' number regime, as it is sometimes called)
- check "Model Aircraft Aerodynamics" by Martin Simons.
-
- --
- --
- Shamim Mohamed / {uunet,noao,cmcl2..}!arizona!shamim / shamim@cs.arizona.edu
- "Take this cross and garlic; here's a Mezuzah if he's Jewish; a page of the
- Koran if he's a Muslim; and if he's a Zen Buddhist, you're on your own."
- Member of the League for Programming Freedom - write to lpf@uunet.uu.net
- Xref: bloom-picayune.mit.edu rec.autos:93169 rec.autos.tech:48672 rec.autos.sport:25110 rec.autos.driving:14707 rec.autos.vw:10579 alt.autos.antique:2400 news.answers:4703
- Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!enterpoop.mit.edu!biosci!uwm.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!darwin.sura.net!udel!intercon!psinntp!balltown!welty
- From: welty@cabot.balltown.cma.COM (richard welty)
- Newsgroups: rec.autos,rec.autos.tech,rec.autos.sport,rec.autos.driving,rec.autos.vw,alt.autos.antique,news.answers
- Subject: rec.autos: Welcome to to the new reader
- Keywords: Monthly Posting
- Message-ID: <1992Dec20.050004.28271@cabot.balltown.cma.COM>
- Date: 20 Dec 92 05:00:04 GMT
- Reply-To: welty@balltown.cma.com
- Followup-To: rec.autos
- Organization: New York State Institute for Sebastian Cabot Studies
- Lines: 261
- Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.Edu
-
- Archive-name: rec-autos/part1
-
- [most recent changes, 19 November 1992: description of alt.hotrod -- rpw]
-
- === Welcome to Rec.Autos.* ===
-
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- It is an excellent idea to check the Newsgroups: and Followup-to: lines of
- articles before posting a followup. In particular, be wary of posting to
- misc.test, rec.arts.startrek.*, or talk.bizarre, or any combination of these
- three. The life you save may be your own.
-
- Distribution:
-
- There is a field in the header of any news article which allows you to
- (partially) control where the article goes; it is called the Distribution
- field. It may be very useful for many reasons; it should also serve
- as a reminder that news is a very large and widespread system.
-
- The distribution of rec.autos.* is fairly extensive. As of this writing,
- the Automotive newsgroups are known to reach most of Europe, Australia,
- New Zealand, and some locations in Japan. With this in mind, I offer the
- following hints about use of the Distribution: field in your article
- headers, and on article content.
-
- 1) Please take care not to send for-sale ads about clapped out Ford
- Mavericks in New Jersey to France or California; i doubt that anyone in
- either place will care, except for my girlfriend, who for some strange
- reason likes Mavericks (but only 4-door Mavericks, at that.)
-
- 2) When posting technical questions, please include the market for which
- your car was manufactured. For example, there are a number of differences
- between a European-market Ford Escort and a US-market Escort. Likewise,
- all 1750cc and early 2000cc Alfa Romeos reached the US with Spica Fuel
- injection; European market cars usually got carbs (often Webers). These
- differences can be important to your readers; make your situation clear.
- Failure to do so can lead to pointless flame wars and a significant
- spread of misinformation.
-