Radio Control Aerobatics - 2010/03

86 MODEL AVIATION
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Aerobatics Albert and A.C. Glenn
Also included in this column:
• Perfect trimming
Last year’s F3A World Championship
Above: The 2009 World Champion French
F3A team (L-R): Benoit Paysant-Le Roux,
Loic Burband, and World Champion
Christophe Paysant-Le Roux.
Left: The US F3A team that took third
place (L-R): Andrew Jesky, 2007 F3A
World Champ Quique Somenzini, Brett
Wickizer, and Jason Shulman.
The Japanese F3A team (L-R): Team Manager Tetsuji Okumura, Yotaka Ueda, Tetsuo
Onda, Koji Suzuki, Giichi Naruke, and Yoichiro Akiba.
IN THIS MONTH’S column, we cover more
of the aircraft “Whisperer,” include a report
on the F3A World Championship, and Albert
(aka “the Dog”) writes “What the Dog Saw.”
As the team manager, I thank all those who
supported the US team. We finished third
(winning the Bronze) in Pombal, Portugal,
against some outstanding competitors from all
over the world.
The French team rose to the top. A
performance by the former World Champion,
Christophe Paysant-Le Roux, bordered on
perfection; he won all but one round.
More incredible was his fellow teammate
and brother, Benoit Paysant-Le Roux, who
won the Silver Medal and helped the French
defeat the Japanese. The latter team had three
pilots in the final round, versus two for the
French team.
The US team had two pilots in the Finals,
but only one counting toward the team score.
Jason Shulman finished sixth and Andrew
Jesky finished 11th, barely missing the top 10
after being there until the last round of the
Semifinals. Brett Wickizer finished 13th in his
first World Championship.
Defending World Champion Quique
Somenzini, who finished seventh, floated
between the second and third spots in the
Preliminary and Semifinal rounds. The Finals
was different; Quique threw the dice in the
last round of Unknowns, and it lowered his
position.
The US had the largest team of pilots and
supporters at the World Championship.
Attendees put forth a huge effort toward
trying to bring home the Gold.
In 2011, the F3A World Championship
will be held in Muncie, Indiana, at the
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glow power still won the contest,
and was used by half of the pilots
in the Finals. The latest version of
glow engine seems to be as reliable
as electric for those in the Finals. I
don’t know the numbers at the
AMA Nats, but I would guess that
the ease of electric power makes it
the main power source in the US.
5. Aerodynamic aircraft aids, to
make the vertical stabilizer and
rudder more effective, and biplanes
seem to be the answer to the more
demanding maneuvers. Tcanalizers,
dorsal fins, small V-tail
wings, dorsal strake, and new
biplanes are the latest changes.
6. We now have a large choice
of reliable and reasonably priced,
high-quality radio systems,
batteries, and new ARFs that are
within most pilots’ reach. It now costs less to
purchase an ARF than it does to scratch-build
an F3A airplane.
7. The Europeans have a Europe
Championship; it would be to the advantage of
the US Aerobatics community to promote
America’s Championship in the off World
Championship year, to develop pilots and
judges.
8. There is often news about unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAVs). Maybe our sport
should be “Precision UAV Aerobatics.” This
might attract new sponsors and a higher level
of business interest.
That’s all from the Dog. But if you have
comments or photos for use in the column,
please send it to our e-mail address.
The Airplane Whisperer: In the November
column, we published the first installment—by
Bryan Hebert—of this new series. Following
is the latest from him.
“Here we are again talking about my
favorite subject, ‘perfect trimming.’
“In the last article, we laid out where we
have come from in the evolution of our
designs and schedules. We talked about the
increases in difficulty that is expected in our
setups. I would like to lay the foundation for
my trimming methods now and try to explain
how to achieve a consistently good flying
airplane, without having a Masters degree in
radio mixing.
“First, because this a trimming article
aimed at Pattern [RC Aerobatics] flying, we
will assume you have a greater than average
understanding of set up, radio installation, and
slop free linkages. It is very important to do
the shop work and precise radio set up, before
you even attempt to start flying and trimming.
“If you are new to the sport, and need
some basic knowledge, there is a great article
written by Dean Pappas called ‘Trimming
From the Ground Up.’ You should read this
article by Dean first before attempting to
digest any other trimming advice from
anyone. [You can find the Web address where
you can access this article in the “Sources” list
at the end of the column.]
“Now, I’ve been doing this long enough
and helped enough fliers in trimming their
aircraft to know that trimming is an art. Even
some very good fliers have trouble
disciplining themselves to allow the airplane
to fly purely, without correction or cheats,
while trying to perform simple tasks in the
trimming process. Learning how to trim an
airplane and being able to duplicate that
trimming procedure with another airplane can
be laborious work, but in the end, it is worth
it.
“Here is the goal we are trying to achieve,
and to do it; these rules must be adhered to.
What we want is for the airplane to fly itself;
yes, fly itself.
“You say, Bryan, what do you mean?
Well, I’m glad you asked. Let me explain.
The airplane, absent our input, should do what
we told it to do last, at all times, even in the
wind. That is when we know the trimming
process is nearly complete.
March 2010 87
Dick Penrod, a former US F3A team manager and
major team supporter, has a conversation with CIAM
President Bob Skinner.
This aircraft featured some “out of the box” design,
but the V-tail (butterfly wings) was unique.
Austrian Gerhard Mayr’s Osiris had trick aerodynamic aids to help in flight. Note
fins above and below the stabilizer and extra-wide rudder. Able to fly slowly, it
also fared well in light to medium winds.
International Aeromodeling Center. It will
require that same high level of support for the
US to rise to the top and put on a world-class
event.
Thank you to the Portugal World
Championship Committee and the wonderful
hospitality of the people in Pombal and
Portugal, who made this World Championship
one of the best.
What the Dog Saw in 2009:
1. The complexities of the maneuvers in
FAI are becoming more difficult to fly, but
even more so to judge.
2. The organizing and judging at contests
are at a high level, but inconsistency still exists
and creates barriers to increasing consistent
participation.
3. In AMA and FAI classes, some pilots
are better than their airplanes. Trimming
aircraft seems to be a lost art in the world of
ARFs, and pilots with outstanding skills are
flying models that need trimming.
4. Electric-powered aircraft at the F3A
World Championship were the majority, but
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“When you pull the airplane into a 45
degree up line, you want the airplane to follow
that line as long as possible without correction,
not even by using the elevator; the same holds
true with a vertical up line or a 45 degree
down line. No input at all should be required
to maintain the line.
“That is why it’s important to be absolutely
certain that you have hands off trimming on a
straight horizontal line of flight. You must be
certain that you have no adverse trim effects
on any line that requires neutral elevator input.
This is an achievable goal and should not be
overlooked; it is the most important step in the
analysis process.
“Let me start by saying you must be as
honest with yourself as your skills allow.
There is no cheating in aerodynamics; and
compromises will always show their ugly
heads somewhere down the line and usually
where it hurts the most. The greatest
percentage of the time it is in snaps and
spins.
“Here is the first unbendable rule, when all
else fails you must remember this, a perfect
setup will improve every maneuver in our
schedule, from Sportsman to F3A, from stall
turn to snap roll.
“So if you think you are finished, and you
have a couple of maneuvers that are not quite
as good as they used to be, or if you are having
trouble hitting a particular maneuver; you
either have to tweak your control throw/expo
setup (something often overlooked after an
adjustment) or you still have something out of
whack!
“A real improvement will correct more
than one maneuver. It will usually change, to
the good, all maneuvers. So, let’s get started
shall we?
“Bench trimming: This cannot be stressed
enough; you must be as precise as possible in
your base setup. You must know where your
actual starting point lies. You need to be sure
of your wing incidence in degrees, down
thrust of the motor in degrees, and C/G
position.
“Another very important step is to know
the exact throw, in degrees, of all control
surfaces. What we are talking about here is
the actual amount of deflection for every
moveable surface. We call this the control
throw, or just throw, of the surfaces.
“Now, check, re-check, and duplicate
every setting until you can be certain of these
parameters every time. One of the biggest
problems I encounter while helping pilots trim
their airplanes, is that they are not aware of the
throw and incidence settings of their airplane
control surfaces and wings.
“Many airplanes have been cut and twisted
in order to fix a so called bad flying airplane.
Some have even been redesigned due to bad
diagnosis regarding unexpected performance,
such as finding that an airplane which will not
snap or spin, when the only problems were
incorrect throws and incidence, or the C/G was
not correctly set.
“Every airplane requires a slightly different
setup, in the amount of control surface throws,
for spins and snaps. That is why it is so
important to set a base line of settings
(incidences, throws and C/G) for all non-input
flying such as level flight, vertical flight, and
single input flight (like knife edge flight and
inverted flight).
“Without these maneuvers being flown
hands off, or at least flying with very limited
input, it is impossible to have a base upon
which to build your inputs for the complex
maneuvers. The small imperfections in trim
will turn into big course deflections in the
complex maneuvers, requiring large corrective
inputs from the pilot. The simple things have
to be perfect, just like trying to assemble a
maneuver.
“If your straight lines are not straight, then
you have no foundation upon which to build
perfect geometry. The less you have to apply
course corrections to the airplane, the less
chance you have of making an incorrect input.
Even if you have an airplane that will fly
hands off at numerous angles, knife-edge will
be the most important and the hardest to
achieve, so pay close attention to all of the
steps in your setup.”
We will be back next time with another
installment of setup tips from Bryan
Hebert. MA
Sources:
“Trimming From the Ground Up”
www.modelaircraft.org/MAG/FTGU/Part%20
29/29main.html
National Society of Radio Controlled
Aerobatics
www.nsrca.us