Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Electric Motors - The Beginners' RC Planes Guide

Electric powered model aircraft has gained popularity, mainly because the electric motors are more quiet, clean and often easier to start and operate than the combustion motors.

They need batteries to operate and despite some developments in this area; the batteries still are somewhat heavier as energy source compared with the gas fuel.

Thus, the electric flier has to strive to build the model as light as possible in order to obtain a reasonable wing loading and/or a reasonable flight time.

The electric motor's operation is based on the electromagnetic principle. When electric current flows through a coil it creates a magnetic field with a strength proportional to the current's value, the number of windings of the coil and is inversely proportional to the coil's length. The strength of the magnetic field will further increase by introducing a so-called ferromagnetic material inside the coil.

Thursday, February 1, 2018

RC Airplanes: Trainers, Styles, and More

Remote control airplanes account for a large portion of the RC vehicle market and they come in a large variety of styles with their own distinct characteristics and abilities. Each style is built and designed for a specific purpose such as speed, maneuverability, or show. The primary styles of RC airplanes are: trainers, park flyers, racing airplanes, and acrobatic airplanes.

Trainers are designed for beginners and novices and fly at a slower rate of speed which gives the controller more time to react to changes in the wind. A good trainer style airplane will have these basic characteristics: a tricycle landing gear, low center of gravity, and wings that are angled and flat bottomed. Atricycle landing gear means that the RC airplane has 3 fixed wheels which allows for more directional control when taking off and landing then those with the tail dragger style landing gear.A low center of gravity means that the wings are located above the fuselage which helps to keep the plane flying some smoothly. When the wings are located below the fuselage then the center of gravity is high on the airplane and gravity is always trying to make the plane fly upside down. The wings of the RC airplane make up a large portion of its body and should have a dihedral angle which forces the airplane to self-correct into a straight and level flight path if the controls are released during flight. The wings should also be flat bottom which causes the air traveling over the wing to go at a slower pace than the air flowing below the wing allowing the airplane to sustain flight at a slower speed.