Radio contolled aircraft

I've been interested in radio controlled models ever since I was a kid, and Dad and I would go and watch the airplanes at Wanstead Flats in East London. Then many years later I saw a RC helicopter and this just hit me as the best type of model of all. A couple of years ago my interest was really captured when I saw a micro electric heli featured on the TV programme Model Mania. At last, in March of 2005 I got my own - a Century Hummingbird V3!

I thought I was prepared for the difficulties to be faced in learning to fly this thing - WRONG! In spite of several hours practise I just seemed to be getting nowhere. I was on the verge of chucking the towel in when I discovered the Dragonfly XRB. This heli uses a double main rotor system which may look a bit odd but provides stability that makes learning to fly a snip compared to the Hummingbird. After some practise with this machine I was finally able to get the Hummingbird airborne too.

It wasn't long though before I was looking for a larger heli. So now I added a 30-class glow engine Hirobo Shuttle to my little fleet:

Surprisingly, a larger and apparently more complex machine like this is actually easier to fly than a little electric heli: size and power confer greater stability. This proved great fun, but the problem quickly arose of where to fly. I had no easy access to a local club and a glow model like this is just not suitable for a small fields or the park. So I added another model to my fleet.This was the ARK X400. This is a high quality 400 class electric:

Unfortunately this model seemed to give me nothing but trouble - I just couldn't get along with it all, and to this day I still haven't really figured out why. In the three months or so I had this machine I got only a couple of decent flights with it. The best was a sunny afternoon in the park:

By this stageI had invested in a RC flight simulator (Great Planes G3), which was great fun. I found it particulary good for airplanes (which are vastly easier to fly than helis), so I decided to have a go with fixed wing. I obtained a cheapish almost-ready-to-fly (ARTF) 4 channel foam construction Cessna from Art-Tech:

This was a pretty cool looking semi-scale, albeit with rather cheap radio gear. After a bit more practise on the sim I took her to a small local field to try my luck. A firm hand launch got the plane into the air but as soon as I attempted to make a turn she simply nosedived into the ground, was written off and a few days later went on eBay for spares or repair! So far I was not making great progress!

I decided to return to helicopters and realising that my best efforts had happened on the Shuttle I reconsidered the situation here. Unfortunately although I had by now had the Shuttle for a few months she had only actually been out half a dozen times. For me the problem was really lack of a suitable flying site plus a dislike of all the paraphenalia associated with glow power: noise, smell, realtively involved start up procedure and the need to lug a hefty flight box around.

Soon a solution dawned on me: a large heli, but electric power. I looked at some commercially available setups, but the ones I liked were way out of my price range.

Then after a bit of research on the Web I discovered that it was possible to covert a glow powered machine to electric power (EP). Not a particularly easy or cheap project but the the best option for me I thought. So a few weeks (and several hundred quid) later my Shuttle was packing a Kontronik Tango motor with Jazz speed controller powered by a home made 20 cell NiMh battery pack.

The maiden flight of this new machine was a pretty nerve wracking affair but to my great delight she took off beautifully! When I get time I plan to add some details on how I did the conversion as there is not a great deal of info on the Web. The EP Shuttle is now definitely the pride of my fleet. Soon I plan to switch to lithium polymer batteries and dress her in a Hughes 500E scale fuselage.

By this stage my treasured little Hummingbird had developed some probems which a change of motor and battery pack didn't cure so off she went to eBay as spares or repair. The onset of Autumn and the need to keep practising prompted me to look around for another indoor micro heli. After a disastrous dalliance with a Walkera Dragonfly 22A I bought a little fixed pitch Ripmax Sabre. A very nice little heli with a rotten transmitter (Tx).

[PIC]

Unfortunately I could not get get my Sanwa RD6000 Tx to work with this machine so I have soldiered on with the cheap one and this is proving to be a very useful practise heli. And despite the poor qualityof the Tx I was lucky enough have an interface cable which connected this to my PC and allows me to use the excellent free flight sim FMS (this allowed me to sell on my copy of G3, a high end commercial sim, to gather some readies to help pay for the Shuttle EP conversion). Interestingly I find FMS far better for helis that G3.

Well, at this point I decided to go back and have another go at fixed wing. I really enjoy building stuff and started looking round for a small EP trainer in kit form. I found just the job in the of the Dipstick, a 30" span high wing model (from the miniature aircraft factory) on 3 channels which runs off a 300-400 class motor. I had a ball building this little plane and was very pleased with the finish:

ER1-N as she is designated (my daughters' name is Erin) is powered by a Lightpeed 480 brushed motor and Jeti 110 speed controller (ESC) with BEC . Power is supplied by a Tornado 7.4V 850mAh LiPo and control uses two mini 9g servos. A tiny GWS 4ch Rx is onboard too.

Her maiden flight was not a great success - maiden crash would be more accurate really. Following repairs her second flight was only a slight improvement. I just about about managed a full 360 circuit when the main wing suddenly snapped in mid air and she quickly developed all the aerodynamic capability of small house brick! But the third time out was great fun - she was airborne for several minutes until she deided to try and perch in a tree! The great thing about this little plane though is that she is very easy to repair, and the latest fix up has incorporated some important improvements so hopefully the next time up will see even more progress.

November 2005: Well that's the history of my little fleet so far. What next? Searching for an upgrade to ER1-N I discoverd the Fizza (May issue of RCM&E, theres a website too: www.fizza.co.uk where this plane can be got in kit form). This is a 4 ch shoulder-wing design, and is one of the coolest looking small electric planes I've seen. It should represent a very suitable step up form ER1-N. The kit is ordered, along with a Typhoon 6/20 brushless motor, Tsunami 10A ESC and a 11.1V 1600mAh LiPo. Watch this space!

And in the longer term:

HELICOPTERS: no new additions to the fleet are planned. The Sabre is fine for indoor practise, and the EP Shuttle, well she is just the DBs. My wonderful and endlessly indulgent wife is playing Santa this Xmas and this will mean LiPo batteries, the Hughes 500E scale fuselage and a Futaba GY401 heading hold gyro. With the addition of some high intensity blue strobing LEDs this should prove to be some machine. And I have a lot of heli practise in front of me!!

FIXED WING: as well as being easier to fly and cheaper both to start up and repair I have a couple of projects in mind after the Fizza. First I plan to go for something larger. Probably a biplane with a span of around 48" at 600 class EP and with undercarriage so I can learn to take off and land on grass. Secondly I'd like to try my hand at electric ducted fan (EDF). Preferably on a scale model, my ideal being the Gloster Meteor.

January 2006: well here we are in the new year and much has happened! My fourth time out with ER1-N was brilliant....she flew like a dream, loops too!! Also I have completed Skystar, according to the spec above, i.e. the Fizza. At the time of writing I have only taken her out once and it was not successful. But she's fixed now and ready to try again. Soon.....but for now this is what she looks like.......

This is SUCH a beautiful little aircraft............I'm really pleased with the finish (white and heather solarfilm over a 1/16" balsa sheeting). Hopefully I will be able to fly her this year too. I made an attempt but it really didn't work out!

My love of building prompted me to try a model straight from plans next. Just before Xmas I completed an Aeronca L-3, this was a light observation aircraft used by the US during WW2. This roughly 1/10 scale model turned out OK, but it's first flight was awful. The rudder is really sticky and must be sorted out.....later. This pic shows her without the undercarriage.....

Before even fixing this I satrted another model. This one was a roughly 1/10 scale Sopwith Pup (* plans, £8.00). This took a lot longer to build than I had predicted. But it was really nice to do. I had some warping problems...but managed to handle this by gently twisting the warp out and reshrinking; so far (7th January 2006) the build is progressing pretty good. The fuze is almost done, the wings and tailplane/rudder are finished, radio has been checked and servos neutralled, wire stuff has been fabricated, wheels have been cast......next is to connect up the pushrods and complete the fuze (decking, cockpit cut and trim, covering etc).

As the end of January approaches the Pup is almost finished. I even got a Ken doll from my daughter as a pilot.

Well as January wears on, now it is finished. I'm a bit concerned that it is too heavy at an all-up-weight (AUW) of 25.25oz.I may have to dispense with Ken as a pilot! We'll see....any-hoo here she is.....

I've decided it's time to lay off the building for a while, and concentrate on getting the planes and helis I have airborne......