Micro-Flying - 2003/06

82 MODEL AVIATION
Hello, friends in microland. The first topic I
need to cover is a major change in the indoor
Radio Control (RC) championships I have
written about in recent columns. The original
plan was to hold this meet in the Lakehurst
(New Jersey) dirigible hangar. After all of the
plans had been made, and the sanctions had
been approved, the site was withdrawn citing
security reasons.
challenge, why don’t you read up on AMA
event 627 and see if you can push that time
up a bit?
Fred Ewing (44 Blaine Ave. #A, Hatfield
PA 19440) sent me a picture of his lovely
Lacey M-10. It has a wingspan of 28 inches,
an area of 208 square inches, and power is a
GWS Indoor Power System A drive with a
GWS 9 x 7 propeller. It weighs 8.50 ounces
with a 150 mAh 8.4-volt battery and is
covered with CoverLite. Fred relates that the
flight characteristics are great, exceeding his
expectations. Thanks for sharing, Fred.
Hector J. Santemma (3519 Charles Ct.,
North Bergen NJ 07047) sent me several
pictures of his scratch-built Yogi flying in
the National Building Museum in downtown
Washington DC. A neat little model of an
unusual Old-Timer, the Yogi flew great.
These flying sessions are held quarterly
and are hosted by the DC Maxecuters club.
Tom Schmitt ([email protected])
coordinates the gatherings. The building is a
nice site, and there are friendly people there.
Drop Tom a line and see how to share a
session.
Many of us have a goal of flying a slow
model indoors in confined spaces. Some of
the models I have seen are true works of art,
requiring a watchmaker’s touch for
construction and using expensive equipment.
There are those who let the model fly a bit
faster and rely on excellent reflexes to stay
in a confined space.
I decided to give this goal a shot,
blending standard Free Flight (FF) Indoor
structure with readily available RC gear and
drive equipment. The result is the Walker. It
is so named because it cruises at a true
walking speed (3-4 mph).
The minimum flying space required is
approximately 12 x 16 feet, and some people
have rooms in their homes that size. Ideal
sites include such places as the social hall in
my church, where there is ample space to
maneuver and play carrier landings on the
tables.
The Walker spans 25.50 inches, is 26.75
inches long, has a wing area of 357 square
inches, weighs 29 grams, and has a wing
June 2003 83
Fred Ewing’s Lacey M-10 spans 28 inches and weighs 8.50 ounces. The author’s Walker is an ultraslow indoor model.
Hector Santemma launches his scratch-built Yogi in the National Building Museum in
downtown Washington DC. Inset: The great-flying Yogi cruises around.
loading of .40 ounce per square foot. The
controls are the Dynamic Web Enterprises
RFFS-100, and the drive is a KP-00 motor
with 7.5:1 gearing spinning a 7.0-inchdiameter
x 1.8-inch-pitch propeller. The
battery is a 170 mAh Lithium-Polymer cell.
Flight time is roughly 30 minutes of
cruising per charge. The structure is mostly
balsa with a bit of light foam, and the
covering is 2um Mylar from Dave Lewis
(www.homefly.com). Look for this model
to be published as a construction article at
www.rcmicroflight.com.
Carl Bakay (1621 Lake Salvador Dr.,
Harvey LA 70058; E-mail:
[email protected]) sent a package containing
some delightful material. Carl is the editor
of the FF publication Indoor News and
Views and the South Louisiana Indoor
Modeling Journal.
The real highlight is a compilation
called the “Best of S.L.I.M.,” and it really
is. Approximately 1⁄4-inch thick and
containing numerous hints, tips, plans,
color pictures, and information about FF
and RC indoor models, this publication is a
must-have for the serious indoor flier. Carl
has done an outstanding job with this. Drop
him a line to see how you can get a copy.
Another nice letter arrived with a new
catalog from Peck-Polymers: a premier
source of small model kits, materials, and
parts. To quote Sandy Peck:
“We carry the full line of Aero
Graphics, West Wings, Lee’s Hobbies, and
Hannan’s books and plans. There are ready
to fly from Ikara and simple kits from
Ackus. The beautiful plans by Ulises
Alvarez are now in the catalog. Of course
we also have a well-rounded supply of
building and specialty items.”
The mailing address is Box 710399,
Santee CA 92072. There is also a Web site:
www.peck-polymers.com/. I have dealt
with this company for years, and it does
have a great deal of neat stuff. Tell ’em I
sent you.
I will see you at the flying site. MA
With the attitude that the show must go on,
a search for another suitable site started. With
the help of many cooperative people, there is
a new, confirmed site. The meet will be held
at the Oakland Yard Dome in Waterford,
Michigan. Waterford is approximately one
hour northwest of Detroit. There are also new
dates: May 31-June 1. All of the event
information still applies, as far as the rules,
etc.
For those with Internet access, there is
more information on the National Indoor
Remote-controlled Aircraft Council Web site
at www.nirac.org. If you do not have Internet
access, you can drop me a line. My
information is at the top of the column.
There will be a banquet the Saturday night
of the contest, which John Worth is
coordinating. For more information you can
contact John at (703) 273-0607; 4326 Andes
Dr., Fairfax VA 22030; or
[email protected]. We would appreciate
preregistration very much, to help with sorting
out frequencies and such. You can find an
entry form on the NIRAC Web site or drop
me a line.
This has been an active period for new
projects, and I thank all of you who have
shared. Gordon Johnson (gordonjohnson@
attbi.com) has developed a delightful Fokker
D.VII micromodel using a technique of
laminating ink-jet-colored tissue over 1⁄32
balsa. He mentioned that he got his color
scheme from the Fiddler’s Green Web site
(www.fiddlersgreen.net), but there are a
number of ways to get this effect. Photos
show Gordon’s neat little Fokker.
Gordon’s D.VII spans 13.50 inches, it has
a wing area of 46 square inches, it weighs
22.40 grams, and wing loading is 2.42 ounces
per square foot. It uses a Dynamic Web
Enterprises RFFS-100 radio, power is a Bit
Charger 3.0 motor with Didel 5:1 gears and a
Kokam 145 mAh Lithium-Polymer battery.
Flight duration is 7-10 minutes. Thanks for
sharing, Gordon.
Steve Leitge ([email protected]) holds
the record for RC Indoor Electric Duration
with a time of 18 minutes, 36 seconds. A
photo shows Steve’s wife holding the
victorious model. Steve mentioned that he
used a Maxxon motor geared 11:1 driving a
modified ARC-1 propeller. With this as a
Dave Robelen
M i c r o - F l y i n g
Route 4, Box 369, Farmville VA 23901; E-mail: [email protected]
Gordon Johnson used the technique of laminating ink-jet-colored
tissue over 1⁄32 balsa on his Fokker D.VII model.
Gordon’s Fokker D.VII has a 13.50-inch wingspan, weighs 22.40
grams, and has a wing loading of 2.42 ounces per square foot.
Steve Leitge’s wife holds his RC Indoor Electric Duration record-holding model.