1. Introduction
to the RC airplane hobby
2. How to choose an
airplane
3. Learn to fly airplane
Introduction to the RC Airplane Hobby
The rc airplane hobby is by far the most rewarding hobby. More
and more people love this hobby, from children to adults. Survey shows that
many people enjoy the the r/c airplane hobby because it is relaxing to them,
and it gives them a feeling of accomplishment when they build their own rc plane.
Terms of rc airplane
There are some terms you need to know when you talk about rc airplane with someone.
RTF - Ready To Fly
ARF- Almost Ready to Fly
Aileron- Rolls the airplane left or right
Angle of attack - Angle measured between the chord of an airfoil and
a line representing the undisturbed relative airflow.
Control surface - Movable surfaces like the rudder, aileron and elevator.
Control linkage - Servo movement is transmitted through this linkage
to the control surface.
Drag - The opposing force placed on an object as it moves through the
air.
Dihedral - This is the upward slope of the wings, which gives the airplane
more stability.
Elevator - The part of an airplane that controls the up and down movement.
Electronic Speed Control (ESC) - Controls the motors RPM speed.
Elevon - Control surface on an airplane that combines the functions
of an elevator and an aileron.
How to choose
an airplane
1. Difference among RTF, ARF Plane and a kit.
RTF airplanes are Ready To Fly almost right out of the box. Since it takes little
building experience to get started flying these RTF planes, beginners would
better buy this kind of rc airplane. Most RTF planes will have you flying in
less than 1 hour. Although an RTF plane cost a little more than an ARF plane,
they come 70% to 90% complete and are more durable.
ARF planes are Almost Ready to Fly airplanes. These planes require some assembly
on your part. Some only require a little assembly and others are very time consuming.
It all depends on what you want to do, and how quick you want to get started
flying. Another big advantage of buying a RTF or ARF airplane in this way is
that many spare parts are available. You need not spend too much time in searching
and purchasing the parts.
Another way you can get
your plane is in a kit. A kit requires you to fully construct the plane all
the way to completion. If you are an experienced player, a kit is a good choice.
Once you build an airplane by yourself, you will have great feeling of acomplishment.
2. Electric airplane and gas airplane, which is better?
After you know the difference of RTR, ARF and kit, you need to decide
whether you want an electric, gas, or jet powered rc plane. For beginners, electric
rc planes are strongly recommended because they are less complicated, and more
efficient. But if you are a more experienced in the rc airplane hobby, a gas
or jet plane is a better choice for you. It allows you more freedom to explore
this hobby, and it gives your more capabilities too.
Electric rc airplanes
With radio control technology forever advancing, servos
and receivers have become smaller and smaller in recent years, which reduced
the electric rc airplane weight. Now the electric planes can weigh as little
as a handful of dimes and be small enough to be flown indoors. It has little
noise and it is very clean to fly a plane. With products such as the Parkflyers,
Slowflyers, blimps and UFOs entering our stores electric flight is making
radio control flying an increasingly popular hobby.
Prominently, electric rc airplanes provide the easiest and quickest way of getting
started in powered radio control model flying and their affordable prices make
them a great attraction to the hobby.
An RTF electric airplane such as the very popular 2CH
Super Sonic airplane can be ready for flight within minutes of opening the
box (need to charge the battery of course). The smallest ready-to-fly RC plane
yet, the Super
Sonic is packed with high-tech electronics and engineering innovation, yet
it is quite simply the easiest model to get into the air that I have seen. And
because of it's classic high-wing trainer design and stable flying characteristics
the Sonic
electric rc airplane makes a perfect introduction to electric rc flight.
Best sellers
If you are browsing
to purchase an electric rc airplane, please go to
Hobby-estore e-airplane section!
Learn
to fly airplane
You can learn how to fly fast if you choose the right
airplane and follow a few suggestions!
You can learn how to fly RC airplane instantly, avoid unnecessary damages and
enjoy flying once you follow rules below. You don’t need an instructor
if you choose the right airplane to start with.
1.
Make clear how an airplane flies.
Here’s how airplanes fly: When
the wing moves forward the air lifts it. Too slow, no lift and it falls out
of the air -- it stalls. So, it needs flying SPEED either from a motor and propeller,
or by descending and gliding. The wing is lifting all the time it's moving forward
-- whether it’s upside down, in a turn, inverted, or doing acrobatics
-- there is always lift from the wing even though the lift might not be straight
UP as it is in level fly. The airplane makes right or left turns by tilting
in the direction of the turn so that some of the wing’s lift is angled
partly to the left or right. To turn an airplane you tilt the wings with the
ailerons or with the rudder in the direction you want to turn. To make the airplane
go UP you give an UP command to the elevator. The elevator surface angles UP
and the air that’s hitting it blows the tail DOWN and the nose UP. When
the airplane goes UP it slows down. If it goes too slow the lift stops and the
airplane falls -- stalls.
2. Choose an airplane that can fly all by itself
without your controlling.
Don’t pick a low-wing, aerobatic airplane. The best choices are slowflyers,
parkflyers, or gliders that use electric motors for power. Gliders can glide
straight ahead all by themselves (if they do not have a warped wing -- see below)
without you doing any controlling from the radio transmitter. If you want to
fly without an instructor these glider type airplanes will fly themselves while
you are trying to figure out how to make them go some other direction. You need
this stability while you learn how to fly. The second best choice is a non-glider
(powered airplane) that has the wing on the top of the fuselage and which is
advertised to be a good training airplane. Click here for true "beginner"
airplanes.
3. Confirm that these following things are correct
before each fly:
A. The balance point MUST be where the airplane’s designer intended. Don’t
be afraid to add lead weights to either the nose or the tail to make the airplane
balance where it is supposed.
B. The wing must not be warped,. Fasten the wing onto the airplane. Set the
airplane on a table and walk off to the rear of it. Look back at the airplane
from an eye position where you can see just a bit of the BOTTOM of the entire
wing. If you see MORE bottom wing surface on, let’s say, the left wing,
then your airplane will tend to turn left even when you have the aileron or
rudder control in neutral. Remove that warp before you try to fly the airplane.
C.The wing should have something called "washout""Washout",
this is an intentional and desirable warp of the wing near each wing tip. Usually
this warp is done to the outer 20% of the wing toward each wing tip. From the
rear of the airplane you should see a little more of the BOTTOM of the wing
near both wing tips. Why is this "washout" good? It helps the outer
parts of the wing continue flying straight ahead during the beginning of a stall.
This means that your airplane will stall straight ahead instead of rolling over
on its back or side when it stalls and that rolling over might be impossible
to recover from.
4. Find a BIG flying field for your first flys.
Don't try to fly in your street even if the airplane is capable of flying
in such a restricted area. You will need lots of open and unobstructed space
for your first flys.
5. Properly take off
A.If you hand launch your airplane throw it hard and throw it straight ahead,
not up.
B. If you take off from a ground roll let the airplane build up so much speed
on the ground before you signal "UP" elevator, that you KNOW that
the airplane has enough speed to fly. When it leaves the ground try to climb
at a very small angle, not abruptly upwards which could cause loss of airspeed
and a stall.
C. Give very little UP elevator as your airplane starts to take off. Most beginning
modelers try to climb too steeply which makes their airplane slow down, stall,
then crash.
6. How to control turn during fly
A. You turn an airplane differently than a car or a boat: when you tilt the
airplane’s wing in the direction that you want it to turn, the airplane
will continue to turn as long as the wing is tilted in that direction. But you
will NOT be holding the control stick in the direction of the turn (as you would
on the steering wheel of a car) -- you will have the control stick near NEUTRAL
during the turn. To STOP the airplane from turning you move the control stick
in the opposite direction from the turn so that the wings level out. "Beginner's"
airplanes have a built-in tendency to automatically come back to level fly if
you let go of the control stick.
B. Don’t try any turns until the airplane is very high. Mostly climb straight
ahead with only gentle turns.
C. Practice gentle turns high in the air before you try to land. Practice "landings"
while high in the air so you get a good idea of the airplane's stalling (fall-out-of-the-sky)
speed. If the airplane stalls just give a bit of DOWN elevator and the airplane
will be flying again.
D. avoid turns when the airplane is low.
7.
Don’t try to land in a specific spot, Just let your airplane glide into
the ground straight ahead. The
bigger the field for your first fly, the greater will be your chances for success.Hope
you can enjoy yourself with your rc plane!
|
