The 2010 JR Indoor Electric Festival
I was still unwinding from a wonderful weekend at the Keystone Indoor Electric Fly (KIEF) in October, and the JR Indoor Electric Festival was right around the corner. It can be challenging to fit several of these wonderful RC events so close together into your schedule, but I just had to make the JR gathering.
After many months of preparation I had most of my new models ready. So my wife Cindy and I packed the car for the eight-hour journey to Columbus, Ohio.
With an indoor water runway and separate areas for micro, 3-D, and open flying, the JR event has something for everyone. I enjoy flying off Spektrum Lake each year. I wanted to build a new model with floats but ran out of time.
However, I did have time to design a new set of floats for my Night Vapor. My previous design worked, but the model would take off only if it had some speed from a touch-and-go landing.
I made the new floats from 1/2-millimeter Depron, and they worked beautifully. They are slightly longer and thinner to save weight. Taking a friend's advice, I added a larger flat piece to the bottom of the front area of the floats. This not only provided a little more buoyancy, but also allowed them to function as snow skis as well.
One of the highlights of the JR event was the ParkZone air races, in which great-flying ParkZone Ultra Micro T-28 Bind-N-Fly (BNF) aircraft were used. The models were customized with numbers and graphics for good visibility for the judges.
Each contestant was given a randomly selected T-28 to use with his own transmitter. The wonderful thing about this contest was that you did not have to win the race to win the event. After the final race on Sunday, all 10 of the airplanes were raffled off to the participating pilots.
Congratulations to the air race winners: in first place James Haley, second place Joe Smith, and Mark Stermer finished third.
Another fun event held throughout the weekend was the Force RC helicopter contest, in which participants were issued models to test and fly. The helicopters featured the Force battling system, which allows you to use infrared signals to shoot down your opponents' aircraft.
All of the models took off at the same time, and the last one in the air was the winner. The winner of each event was given a Force RC RTF.
Higher Plane Productions was in attendance, making some great videos of the JR Indoor Electric Festival. They were shot in high definition and are available for immediate download from the Higher Plane website.
The videographers even captured some wonderful footage of my 1/72-scale MiG-15 and my 4-inch wingspan Great Lakes. Please see the company's website for more information.
Also included in this column
- New E-flite UMX Extra 300
- Cartoon-scale Dr.I living-room flyer
- Dan Baird's single-phase brushless motors
New E-flite UMX Extra 300
The new Ultra Micro eXtreme (UMX) Extra 300 3D BNF is impressive. Designed by Seth Arnold, an Electric Tournament of Champions champ, this model features lightweight construction techniques that allow it to be flown almost anywhere.
The completely ready-to-fly Extra 300 arrives in an attractive box that also functions as a carrying/storage case. It comes with a 150 mAh Li-Poly cell, charger, and optional side force generators. All you need is a four-channel or higher DSM2-compatible transmitter.
The Extra uses the same proven 8.5mm coreless brushed motor and Spektrum AR6400L DSM2 Ultra Micro Receiver/ESC that is used in the Ultra Micro 4-Site. At a weight of 32.5 grams, this UMX model is a capable 3-D performer.
Seth used a foam skeleton airframe to save as much weight as possible, and it is reinforced in several locations with carbon rod to help protect it from crashes. The covering is micro-thin film in a vibrant color scheme.
I first saw the Extra fly at the JR event in the hands of Seth, David Payne, and several other master 3-D pilots. Watching them effortlessly fly the aircraft in the micro areas of the dome impressed me. After I saw that, I was excited to try it for myself.
When the box arrived at my door, it took only a few minutes to bind the model to my DX7 transmitter and take it outside for a test hop. The Extra manual included the recommended dual rates and exponential settings.
As I was writing this in January, it was extremely cold with lots of snow in Northeast Pennsylvania, but I was not going to let that stop me from flying. Within a few minutes I was comfortably doing all of the 3-D maneuvers I could. I found the model easy to fly, with a nice feel to it.
Then I took it inside my house and had fun hovering around the living room. It is a great model to practice hovering in the comfort of your home. Flight time is roughly four to eight minutes with the included 150 mAh Li-Poly cell.
This UMX Extra 300 3D is a welcome addition to E-flite's growing line of BNF models. It is recommended for intermediate-to-advanced-skill-level pilots. Please see the Horizon Hobby website for more information.
Cartoon-scale Dr.I living-room flyer
My quest for the ultimate living-room flyer continues. After seeing my friend Gordon Johnson's cartoon-scale Dr.I triplane fly at KIEF, I started thinking about how cool a micro version of his design would be. Gordon kindly sent me a copy of his plans, so I shrank them and added some graphics and details I created in Adobe Illustrator.
I had just received a beautiful new geared 440-milligram single-phase brushless motor from Dan Baird to test. It and a 115-milligram Rabbit receiver seemed like a good combination for success.
I carefully hand-cut the lightweight skeleton airframe from Dubro/ATC foam and covered it with 0.9-micron Poly Micro film, available from Indoor Model Supply through A2Z Corp. I reinforced the structure in several spots with 0.3mm carbon rod.
I made the propeller using a plastic material purchased from Micro Flier Radio. It has a neat brown appearance, resembling a World War I propeller, and it performs well.
The completed Dr.I spans 4.5 inches and weighs 1.94 grams ready to fly with a 350-milligram Full River 10 mAh Li-Poly cell. The model flies beautifully and will easily do figure eights in my living room.
I am now designing a cartoon-scale Sopwith Camel to complement the triplane. I should have more information about it in my next column.
Dan Baird's single-phase brushless motors
Dan Baird continues to amaze with his progress in developing the perfect power plant for micro RC indoor airplanes. He has a new technique of hand-winding the motor coil, which allows a tighter air gap between the magnet and coil for more power. It also makes the process of building the motor much easier.
Dan continues to develop more efficient single-phase brushless motors. His 440-milligram single-magnet unit puts out more than 2 grams of thrust, and his two-magnet motor weighs only 490 milligrams and produces more than 3 grams of thrust using the 3222 carbon propeller.
Dan recently discovered that using two magnets increased the power even more. It runs approximately 2,000 rpm faster than a 4mm pager motor, at half the weight with less current draw.
He sent me a new two-magnet motor, geared at my request with the same gearing as the Plantraco GB05. I was blown away by the performance of the new unit.
The 440-milligram single-magnet geared motor is 16.1 ohms and puts out 2 grams of thrust with a 3222 Plantraco carbon propeller. The two-magnet motor weighs only 490 milligrams, is 10.6 ohms, and produces more than 3 grams of thrust with the 3222 carbon propeller.
I used a Full River 20 mAh Li-Poly cell for my tests. The two-magnet, single-phase power plant outperforms the GB05, weighs 300 milligrams less, and draws less current. It is amazing.
Visit the WestKnoxRC website to learn how Dan makes these wonderful motors and see them run.
Sources
- JR Indoor Electric Festival
- Higher Plane Productions
1525 Acadia St. Durham, NC 27701 www.higherplaneproductions.com
- Horizon Hobby
(800) 338-4639 www.horizonhobby.com
- A2Z Corp.
(877) 754-7465 www.a2zcorp.us
- WestKnoxRC
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
