RADIO CONTROL AEROBATICS
Contact
Eric Henderson 303 Shady Ln., Marlton, NJ 08053 E-mail: [email protected]
NSRCA and resources
One of this column’s missions is to bring you news and information about what is going on in the precision aerobatics world. Occasionally I get emails and telephone calls from readers who say they like the column but want more detailed information.
The AMA has Special Interest Groups (SIGs) in which a great deal of this detailed information circulates. Precision aerobatics has a SIG called the National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics (NSRCA). This organization includes many of the most knowledgeable people in the sport.
The NSRCA website is http://nsrca.org/ and is linked with the AMA website at http://modelaircraft.org. Like the AMA, NSRCA is a non-profit organization and publishes a monthly magazine called the K Factor. If you do not have Internet access, contact NSRCA Secretary Maureen Dunphy at (662) 462-5466. As soon as you join, you will begin receiving the K Factor.
The NSRCA divides the USA into eight competition regions that map to the geographic distribution of competitors and also includes the east and west districts of Canada. If you want more technical details about precision aerobatics and the latest equipment, joining NSRCA is highly recommended.
Nose rings and soft mounts
A nose ring, in this instance, is a support ring that goes around the front bearing housing of an engine. It is fixed to the front of a fuselage to keep an engine from waving around on a soft mount. The maestro and my mentor on soft mounts is Merle Hyde.
I met Merle in Henderson, Nevada, near the HobbyVisions show in Las Vegas. He gave me a tour of his workshop—there was a freshly baked batch of isolation mounts awaiting their engine beams—and we took a peek into his son Chip’s old bedroom, which held many of Chip’s early models and the history of U.S. Pattern flying.
Merle is not an advocate of installing a nose ring in the front of a solid-nosed aircraft (one without a removable cowl). He makes engine mounts that can be softer if they are provided with some front-end support. “The nose ring should normally be installed in the nose section of a solid-nosed aircraft,” he said. When I made nose rings 20 years ago, they were very loose fitting and very soft. I got out of the business of making separate nose rings several years ago.
A nose-ring support system works best when it is projected from the firewall. Merle believes a slightly loose-fitting nose ring will not degrade flight performance. A loose-fitting nose ring may permit front-end engine sag and be unappealing to modelers concerned with appearance. Full-scale pilots have told me that the engines in some World War II propeller aircraft moved “all over the place.” To get exceptional vibration protection, the engine needs to nearly float.
Merle makes the ARI series of mounts with a firewall-supported nose ring. His experience with this mount is that it provides additional noise reduction and eliminates nose-transmitted airplane shake associated with a fuselage-attached nose ring. Interestingly, this is currently the softest version of his mounts. Nose shake is vibration that needs to be avoided because it increases current drain and airborne equipment wear.
If you don't want to buy an ARI-type mount, Merle asks that you consider modifying your installations to include some form of firewall-supported nose-ring system. He thinks most modelers are savvy enough to design and build a nose-ring support projected from the firewall.
The current trend toward bigger two-stroke engines also allows use of Type A Hyde Mounts that do not employ a nose ring. The vibration of a two-stroke with this setup does not seem to have detrimental effects on battery consumption or servo wear.
HobbyVisions Expo
The HobbyVisions expo was a major promotional event for the hobby industry—part air show and part trade show. On the first day there was a flying display at the Bill Bennett Memorial Field (the site of many past Tournament of Champions events). Free buses ran all day to and from the field.
We saw amazing flying by pattern pilots such as Chip Hyde and Jason Shulman. Jason flew his electric-powered airplanes and demonstrated their vertical power and quiet operation. Electric power is here and may soon be price-viable.
The trade show was held in the Sands Expo and Convention Center. It was not specifically aimed at radio-control aerobatics, but several items were pattern-related.
Trade-show highlights and new gear
Multiplex
- Multiplex makes a wide range of radios, from four-channel sets to the new 12-channel Royal Evo. Multichannel sets can be expanded and customized from a basic four-channel configuration.
- Full “International” sets now ship with the new Multiplex IPD receivers.
- Control-stick units feature precision ball races with selectable ratchet/self-centering action and can be swiveled through 15°, allowing thumbs to follow their natural movement. Three sizes of stick tops are included, all variable in length. Stick-top switches can be fitted using an integral pushbutton or rocker switch.
- The Royal Evo features Multiplex’s new 3-D Digi-adjusters for changing mixer values and exponential controls—allowing in-flight adjustment until they’re right. Assigning transmitter controls and switches is simplified: move to the desired channel and the computer assigns it.
- The Evo includes a large graphic display and modes for in-flight, scanner, and channel selection (depending on the Royal model). Using an Evo data cable, you can connect the transmitter to a Windows PC to transfer model memories and install software updates.
Bob Smith Industries
- Bob Smith showed a new glue: Insta-Flex cyanoacrylate in thin form. You may know medium and thick versions; this thin Insta-Flex is designed for items such as Mylar hinges and areas where cured glue should not be brittle.
New horns from Chip Hyde
- Chip introduced a new line of anodized aluminum horns with a miniature ball bearing pressed into the body. They accept conventional clevises; the ball bearings provide a low-friction connection to the servos, improving centering of control surfaces.
- I recommend ball-bearing connections on all four points of a pull-pull system. As tension increases on pull-pull wires, friction increases on the pivot points of a regular horn and clevis; a ball bearing greatly reduces resistance to movement. In a push-pull setup, ball bearings allow much smoother operation.
JR 8611 servo
- JR introduced a new servo, the 8611, which is well-suited to driving a rudder. If you want more authority on the rudder, this servo looks promising. In the past I have fitted two servos to the rudder and noticed a marked improvement—airplanes that would not knife-edge well gained more climbing power when flying on their sides.
Electric Pattern update
- I saw Jason’s electric Pattern airplane and noted Hacker had a booth, so I photographed the motor. Unfortunately, detailed information wasn’t available at the booth; they referred me to their website and an article in another magazine. I don’t have more tangible data yet but will continue to follow the trend and report when I do.
Until then, manage that throttle and get better scores.
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
