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How Good We've Got It ....
Page 1 of 1
How Good We've Got It ....
Kim Wed Mar 05, 2014 5:49 am
A few days ago, I was visiting Tailwinds Hobby Shop in Cape Girardeau, watching the new owner fly a tiny Quad-Copter around the stacks of model airplane boxes in his store.
Parked on his counter, the Quad had a footprint of about the size of a pack of sugar, and watching it dart about the place, I couldn't help but remember disparately chasing my Sterling Minnie Mambo as it flew away with the non-responding 1960's vintage Citizenship Escapement that was SUPPOSED to allow me to steer it! I had a lot of mowed lawns invested in that cranky assemblage of electronic whiznits and wires and didn't want to lose it!
I always managed to retrieve the plane and it's fickle radio gear, with most of any damage being limited to what my fourteen-year-old body recieved in my hot pursuit through briars and cockleburrs and barbwire. Luckily, we healed fast in those days, and when the radio DID work, it was magic...recharging my willingness to risk another flight, AND another punishing foot-chase.
We can now buy a flying machine that obeys our will right out of the box, and by-pass all the glueing and painting and fiddling and dreaming that the old dogs put us through....and think nothing of it. So, just to put things in perspective, I thought I'd post this page from a copy of Model Airplane News---April 1958, that illustrates for you youngsters what guys were willing to go through back in the day JUST to have control---somewhat----of a free flying radio controlled airplane.
Parked on his counter, the Quad had a footprint of about the size of a pack of sugar, and watching it dart about the place, I couldn't help but remember disparately chasing my Sterling Minnie Mambo as it flew away with the non-responding 1960's vintage Citizenship Escapement that was SUPPOSED to allow me to steer it! I had a lot of mowed lawns invested in that cranky assemblage of electronic whiznits and wires and didn't want to lose it!
I always managed to retrieve the plane and it's fickle radio gear, with most of any damage being limited to what my fourteen-year-old body recieved in my hot pursuit through briars and cockleburrs and barbwire. Luckily, we healed fast in those days, and when the radio DID work, it was magic...recharging my willingness to risk another flight, AND another punishing foot-chase.
We can now buy a flying machine that obeys our will right out of the box, and by-pass all the glueing and painting and fiddling and dreaming that the old dogs put us through....and think nothing of it. So, just to put things in perspective, I thought I'd post this page from a copy of Model Airplane News---April 1958, that illustrates for you youngsters what guys were willing to go through back in the day JUST to have control---somewhat----of a free flying radio controlled airplane.
Last edited by Kim on Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:34 am; edited 1 time in total
Kim- Top Poster
Posts : 8625
Join date : 2011-09-06
Location : South East Missouri
Re: How Good We've Got It ....
SuperDave Wed Mar 05, 2014 9:26 am
Well stated Kim!
The nostalgia bug has bitten you as it has me.
SD
The nostalgia bug has bitten you as it has me.
SD
SuperDave- Rest In Peace
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Join date : 2011-08-13
Location : Washington (state)
Re: How Good We've Got It ....
roddie Wed Mar 05, 2014 10:10 am
With all the RTF RC models out there... it leaves little to the imagination.. less and less modelers are developing designing/building/balancing/finishing skills. The radio components available "now"... permit the aero-modeler to be very creative, if he/she puts their mind to it.
The most exciting current advances in modern radio gear in my opinion, are SLT radios, nano servos and featherweight LiFe receiver battery packs! I've always loved the idea of Cox engines powering small RC airplanes.
A Cox reed-valve engine can be effectively throttled... and the size of the model can now be designed small enough to have some real fun with! There are countless scale-model plans/kits designed for rubber-band power, that can be beefed-up to withstand Cox engine power by using carbon-fiber rods and spruce sticks judiciously. Less receiver battery/servo weight permits running a larger fuel tank..
Kim, you could scale-down a throttled Cox reedie powered "micro-Kadet" (Mud-Dabber III) with "full-house" controls and a 1 oz. Sullivan tank, and fly it around for probably 15-20 minutes.. PLUS... land it whenever you want to...!
The most exciting current advances in modern radio gear in my opinion, are SLT radios, nano servos and featherweight LiFe receiver battery packs! I've always loved the idea of Cox engines powering small RC airplanes.
A Cox reed-valve engine can be effectively throttled... and the size of the model can now be designed small enough to have some real fun with! There are countless scale-model plans/kits designed for rubber-band power, that can be beefed-up to withstand Cox engine power by using carbon-fiber rods and spruce sticks judiciously. Less receiver battery/servo weight permits running a larger fuel tank..
Kim, you could scale-down a throttled Cox reedie powered "micro-Kadet" (Mud-Dabber III) with "full-house" controls and a 1 oz. Sullivan tank, and fly it around for probably 15-20 minutes.. PLUS... land it whenever you want to...!
roddie- Top Poster
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Re: How Good We've Got It ....
SuperDave Fri Mar 07, 2014 10:05 am
Roddie:
My experience with a Fly-Zone "Albatros" (14" span, EP foamie) was anything but satisfactory. Small does NOT equate to being "easy to fly".
As a previously successful RC pilot on larger EP foamie planes I found this one difficult to manage because it moved so fast and was so affected by the slighted wind. One would need to be "quick on the sticks" to avoid a crash and crash I did high up in an alder tree.
The "Albatros" was retrieved, had minor repairs and has sat in it's shipping container since.
More to my liking is my Fly-Zone "Super Cub" EP foamie with 48' span.
SD
My experience with a Fly-Zone "Albatros" (14" span, EP foamie) was anything but satisfactory. Small does NOT equate to being "easy to fly".
As a previously successful RC pilot on larger EP foamie planes I found this one difficult to manage because it moved so fast and was so affected by the slighted wind. One would need to be "quick on the sticks" to avoid a crash and crash I did high up in an alder tree.
The "Albatros" was retrieved, had minor repairs and has sat in it's shipping container since.
More to my liking is my Fly-Zone "Super Cub" EP foamie with 48' span.
SD
SuperDave- Rest In Peace
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Join date : 2011-08-13
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Re: How Good We've Got It ....
roddie Fri Mar 07, 2014 11:50 am
SuperDave wrote:Roddie:
My experience with a Fly-Zone "Albatros" (14" span, EP foamie) was anything but satisfactory. Small does NOT equate to being "easy to fly".
As a previously successful RC pilot on larger EP foamie planes I found this one difficult to manage because it moved so fast and was so affected by the slighted wind. One would need to be "quick on the sticks" to avoid a crash and crash I did high up in an alder tree.
The "Albatros" was retrieved, had minor repairs and has sat in it's shipping container since.
More to my liking is my Fly-Zone "Super Cub" EP foamie with 48' span.
SD
Dave, I had similar experience with a Fly-Zone "Fokker DR-1" that I did not initially attempt to fly.. being an inexperienced RC pilot. One day I brought it outside to see how the ground-handling would be on our paved cul-de-sac. Forget about ground-handling... I couldn't get it to go straight. My anxiousness got the best of me after about 30 minutes, and I tried full-power to get airborne.. I just wanted to R.O.G. for a short distance.. then land. This attempt ended the session with a "roll" after having achieved about 6 feet of altitude.. and broke the top wing from it's struts when it hit the pavement. The damage is minimal, but it went back into it's box (like yours..) and has been sitting ever since.
The DR-1 is one of my favorite aircraft.. and I never should have attempted flying an RC model of one, until I had at least some time on a trainer, and the recommended succession of slightly harder to fly designs, before attempting a short-coupled little tail-dragger.
I was very lucky I didn't smash it!
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Re: How Good We've Got It ....
SuperDave Fri Mar 07, 2014 12:08 pm
Roddie:
A very paralell experice I'd say somewhat like flying small vs. large C/L planes.
Small does NOT equate to easy, quite the contrary! But from such experience we learn!
SD
A very paralell experice I'd say somewhat like flying small vs. large C/L planes.
Small does NOT equate to easy, quite the contrary! But from such experience we learn!
SD
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Re: How Good We've Got It ....
balogh Fri Mar 07, 2014 2:53 pm
My experience is that Small is not only beautiful but very easy to fly....sorry to contradict you. In the field normally I am the last to pack up my stuff (typically COX 010, 020 and 051 powered R/C planes) when large R/C plane fliers have already given up and landed their planes in strong winds. A COX 010 powered Roaring 20 (see my video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1k8YTLegTo is stable enough to actually float in one place when turned against very strong headwind. And they are much less vulnerable and prone to crash. Even if crashed, easy to repair. And fly 15 minutes on 1/3 oz fuel.
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Re: How Good We've Got It ....
ian1954 Fri Mar 07, 2014 2:59 pm
I have now flown many small RC planes and they can be difficult as they do fly fast. I did find though (the hard way) to tame the controls and reduce the throws made flying much easier.
The slightest breeze made them all the more difficult. I have found though that the introduction of the AS3X receiver assisted greatly with this and helped the small models behave more like their larger cousins.
Not perfect but better.
The slightest breeze made them all the more difficult. I have found though that the introduction of the AS3X receiver assisted greatly with this and helped the small models behave more like their larger cousins.
Not perfect but better.
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Re: How Good We've Got It ....
ian1954 Fri Mar 07, 2014 3:07 pm
balogh wrote:My experience is that Small is not only beautiful but very easy to fly....sorry to contradict you. In the field normally I am the last to pack up my stuff (typically COX 010, 020 and 051 powered R/C planes) when large R/C plane fliers have already given up and landed their planes in strong winds. A COX 010 powered Roaring 20 (see my video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1k8YTLegTo is stable enough to actually float in one place when turned against very strong headwind. And they are much less vulnerable and prone to crash. Even if crashed, easy to repair. And fly 15 minutes on 1/3 oz fuel.
I liked the video and that is a superb model. You are quite correct in your contradiction but the model you are flying is heavier and has more power than the Fokker Triplane picture above. The Triplane will turn and loop in almost its own length with a rapid response to the controls. Very disconcerting for a beginner.
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Re: How Good We've Got It ....
balogh Fri Mar 07, 2014 3:20 pm
Well, the Roaring 20 is a light one powered by a TD010, the smallest IC engine for RC flight. I also wandered into electric flying like with this P-40 foamie...again, without boasting, I found it very stable despite the low-wing design.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_t6kmfxf7E
Trouble is:
1. It is not noisy and greasy enough like anything powered by a COX so I am not so interested in it as in any COX powered R/C plane
2. It flies only 5 minutes on a battery and needs 30 or so minutes to recharge from a car battery...too much dependence on gadgets..a nitro plane is up for 10-15 minutes on 2oz fule and after refuelling you can start it all over again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_t6kmfxf7E
Trouble is:
1. It is not noisy and greasy enough like anything powered by a COX so I am not so interested in it as in any COX powered R/C plane
2. It flies only 5 minutes on a battery and needs 30 or so minutes to recharge from a car battery...too much dependence on gadgets..a nitro plane is up for 10-15 minutes on 2oz fule and after refuelling you can start it all over again.
balogh- Top Poster
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Re: How Good We've Got It ....
ian1954 Fri Mar 07, 2014 3:42 pm
It is still a matter of size, weight and power.
This model is fast. jittery and easily blown off course. I like flying it but it has to be flat calm.
It only weighs 2 oz with the battery installed.
This model is fast. jittery and easily blown off course. I like flying it but it has to be flat calm.
It only weighs 2 oz with the battery installed.
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Join date : 2011-11-16
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