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Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
OPERATING PRINCIPLES:
The basic principles of why and how airplanes fly apply to all planes, from the
Wright Brothers' first machine Wright Flyer to a modern Stealth Bomber, and
those principles are the same for radio control and full size airplanes alike.
Aerodynamic forces.
Essentially there are 4 aerodynamic forces that act on an airplane in flight; these
are lift, drag, thrust and weight (i.e. gravity).
In simple terms, drag is the resistance of air molecules hitting the airplane
(the backward force), thrust is the power of the airplane's engine
(the forward force), lift is the upward force and weight is the downwardforce.
So for airplanes to fly and stay airborne, the thrust must be greater than the drag
and the lift must be greater than the weight (so as you can see, drag opposes
thrust and lift opposes weight).
This is certainly the case when an airplane takes off or climbs. However, when
it is in straight and level flight the opposing forces of lift and weight are
balanced. During a
descent, weight exceeds lift and to slow an airplane drag has to overcome thrust.
1.3 FUNCTIONS OF RC PLANE:
The absolute fundamental purpose of your rc system is, of course, to control the
directional movement of your aircraft, with auxiliary functions being controlled
in a secondary manner.
Incidentally, if you don't already know, each controllable function of a radio
controlled model is referred to as a 'channel' i.e.a single channel rc aircraft will
have control to just one function, whilst a six channel aircraft will have six
controllable functions.
Aside from the main stick controls, additional channels are found on toggle
switches and/or rotating dials and sliders, all of which can be located on the face
or top of the transmitter within easy fingertip reach (the photo shows the top left
corner of a transmitter with many extra channels). These extra channels can be
utilised to control, for example, flaps and retractable landing gear, and functions
such as dual rates will commonly be operated by such switches.
All channels over and above the four primary ones are called auxiliarychannels.
1.4 TYPES OF RC PLANE:
For the purpose of this page, rc airplanes and helicopters have been split in to
their own groups; simply categorising them as just two different aircraft types
would be a bit broad given the variations available.
Collectively, rc planes account for the largest number of aircraft in the hobby.
Having said that, the popularity of flying rc helicopters has grown tremendously
in recent years as electric rc helicopters have surged onto the scene, and the gap
between the number of rc airplane pilots and rc helicopter pilots has become
much smaller than it ever has been.
Even more recently, multicopters or drones have amassed huge sales globally as
this newest sector of the radio control flying hobby takes hold.
THESE ARE SOME TYPES OF RC PLANE:
This Kyosho "Phantom 70" biplane is a semi-scale replica of a class winner and
record holder from the 2007 Reno Air Races. In this example, the fuselage with
its complex curves as well as the engine cowl, wheel pants and wing struts are
rendered in fiberglass. The wings and horizontal stabilizer are traditional
balsa/plywood construction
Perhaps the most realistic form of aeromodeling, in its main purpose to replicate
full-scale aircraft designs from aviation history, for testing of future aviation
designs, or even to realize never-built "proposed" aircraft, is that of radio-
control scale aeromodeling, as the most practical way to re-create "vintage" full-
scale aircraft designs for flight once more, from long ago. RC Scale model
aircraft can be of any type of steerable airshiplighter-than-air (LTA) aviation
craft, or more normally, of the heavier-than-air fixed wing glider/sailplane,
fixed-wing single or multi-engine aircraft, or rotary-wing aircraft such as
autogyros or helicopters.
Full-scale aircraft designs from every era of aviation, from the "Pioneer Era"
and World War I's start, through to the 21st century, have been modeled as
radio-control scale model aircraft. Builders of RC Scale aircraft can enjoy the
challenge of creating a controllable, miniature aircraft that merely "looks" like
the full scale original in the air with no "fine details", such as a detailed cockpit,
or seriously replicate many operable features of a selected full scale aircraft
design, even down to having operable cable-connected flight control surfaces,
illuminated navigation lighting on the aircraft's exterior, realistically retracting
landing gear, etc. if the full-sized aircraft possessed such features as part of its
design.
Various scale sizes of RC scale aircraft have been built in the decades since
modern digital-proportional, miniaturized RC gear came on the market in the
1960s, and everything from indoor-flyable electric powered RC Scale models,
to "giant scale" RC Scale models, in scale size ranges that usually run from 20%
to 25%, and upwards to 30 to 50% size of some smaller full scale aircraft
designs, that can replicate some of the actual flight characteristics of the full
scale aircraft they are based on, have been enjoyed, and continue to be built and
flown, in sanctioned competition and for personal pleasure, as part of the RC
scale aeromodeling hobby.
Plane characteristics[edit]
This .60 cubic inch/10cc glow-powered Vinh Quang Model Mudry CAP 10 is a
fully aerobatic, low-wing, "sport scale" model plane with slight dihedral
References[edit]