RC Electrics
Greg Gimlick | [email protected]
The Toledo R/C Expo is offering more than ever for the electric modeler
TIME WARPS and Magazines: I'm writing this in the heat of summer, but when you read this it will be roughly the time I'll be at the NEAT (Northeast Electric Aircraft Technology) Fair in New York (www.neatfair.org), September 16-18, enjoying the fall colors. Such is the magic of bimonthly columns and publication schedules.
Hopefully I'll see many of you there, and by the time you read this I will have taken pictures of your airplanes. Thanks for the response to the column; it's been a pleasant surprise to see how many of you E-mail and send photos. I'll get going here before space runs out.
Toledo 2005—Again: There is too much to cover in one column, but I wanted to mention a special event at this year's Toledo Show: the electric-flight seminars! They were held in the largest room ever and were filled beyond capacity each time.
The seminars were hosted by Jim Graham of Hobby Lobby and Greg Covey of FMA Direct, who know their stuff about Electrics and came prepared with demonstrations and answers. The lively discussion and question sessions could have gone on twice as long as the time allotted, but Jim and Greg did a great job of handling it.
This is a huge departure from the days when Jim Martin of Hobby Lobby had more press guys than modelers in the room. The attendees' knowledge and the quality of their questions indicate how the electric field has grown and continues to expand.
Having "real-sized airplanes," as one person referred to the demo model, helped show that it's not just a park flyer movement. Kudos to Hobby Lobby and FMA Direct for conducting the seminars and their dedication to our end of the hobby/sport.
The big disappointment for many of us this year was the loss of the indoor-flight meet, usually held at Bowling Green State University's indoor practice field. There are many rumors about why this event died, but I hope someone picks up the ball and brings it back next year.
The indoor Tournament of Champions stuff is fine as a spectator event, but the Bowling Green indoor fly was the only thing there for regular modelers who just wanted to have a nice indoor flying session without competition and commercialism. I fear that we're heading down the path of commercial events and losing the average modeler in the process.
Great Videos: I love to find good videos covering events I can't attend and almost anything else related to electric flight. Throughout the years I've seen a few stinkers and some real standouts, but one video producer I've grown to trust for quality and content is Radio Carbon Art (www.radiocarbonart.com). Paul Naton and Aimee Krouse are the powers behind this production company, and they are not only videographers but excellent RC pilots.
For electric-power fans, their Electric Revolution video is a must-see. Paul shows you stunning performances from the Southeast Electric Flight Festival meet without killing you with loud music and dizzying special effects. That's what makes his videos stand out: quality.
I was there when he was shooting much of the video, and he's got nerves of steel when it comes to finding the right place to stand while shooting. I finally ran out of nerve and repositioned to get my photos, but he remained and got some of the finest flight video you could hope to see.
A bonus on the video is the interview section. You get to meet such pilots as Quique Somenzini up-close and personal, and you'll see they're just like us: regular modelers at heart—although they're much better fliers. Radio Carbon Art also has other videos about Electrics.
If you're interested in discus-launch gliders (DLGs), you should watch the Handlaunch Pro Clinic DVD. This is a step-by-step lesson about building, setting up, and launching a DLG from Paul, who is a master at it. There is slow-motion video showing world champions and their techniques. I taught myself to launch using this video before I was able to find some guys who were practiced at it to help me.
Featured Airplane: I told you I want info from you modelers, and you've come through. This month I'm presenting a Yak-54 that was built and converted by Dave Darr. His background is in competitive helicopters, and he's returning to the hobby in a big way: as an electric-power flier.
Dave's Yak from UltraRC (www.ultra-rc.com) is powered by an AXI 4130/20 motor, a Castle Creations Phoenix-80 controller, and two Kokam 11.1-volt Li-Poly packs in series. With 22.2 volts behind it, a 17 x 8 propeller provides plenty of power. The airplane spans 52 inches and weighs 6.5 pounds.
I have gotten more questions throughout the years about how to mount electric motors than almost anything else. For some reason it confuses people, so I'll cover some of that now and then, along with various commercially available mounts to make it easier.
Dave's outrunner was mounted directly to an aluminum plate, and then he used bolts cut to size and spacers to form the standoffs so it fits the cowl perfectly. Simple and effective is usually the best method, and a little ingenuity goes a long way.
Notice that Dave routes the wires down and away from the shaft protruding from the rear of the motor, to prevent chafing. Always look for potential problems as you mount things.
Neatness does count. I can't tell you how many times I've tried to help someone at the field or one of my friends has tried to diagnose a problem for someone, and it's a jumbled mess of wires and connectors. Look at Dave's fuselage photo and notice how all the wires are neatly routed and held in place. They don't kink or rub against anything, and the connectors are readily accessible.
This goes a long way toward keeping an airplane operational, and if you do run into a problem, you can work on it in an orderly manner. Look at photos in magazines to see how many components are neatly installed and how many are a haphazard mess. Trim your wires to the proper length and keep them orderly, and your model will be much easier to maintain and safer.
More Cool Tools: I use a ton of connectors, and most of them are Anderson Powerpoles. I've always wanted one of those crimpers designed to do these connectors, but $150 for the device is a great deal of money for me. West Mountain Radio (www.westmountainradio.com) came to my rescue with its PWRcrimp designed for power poles.
What really makes this tool special is not only the price of $49.95, but that instead of just doing one-size inserts, it does 30-, 10-, 30-, and 45-amp inserts. This tool is fool-proof, and I don't know how I lasted so long without it. The first weekend I had it I replaced almost every
RC Electrics
Greg Gimlick
connector in all my setups.
If you aren't using Powerpoles because you think they're too big, you need to look at an article by Del Schier in Fly RC magazine. You can find it online at www.flyrc.com/articles/using_powerpople_1.shtml. This is a valuable lesson about using connectors and modifying them.
By standardizing your connector choice, you make all your equipment compatible and easier to interchange if there's a problem. You'll see that when modified, the Powerpole is no bigger than the Astro Zero loss connectors or the Deans Ultra. I use all three and they are high in quality, but since I've added the PWRcrimp tool to my shop, I've begun using many more Powerpoles.
The close-up of the jaws shows the three stations for the different-size inserts. All you do is place the insert in the appropriate receptacle, slide the wire into the insert, and squeeze the crimper until it automatically stops. You get a perfect crimp every time. I'll show you more cool things from West Mountain Radio soon.
Final Approach: The time and space sure go by in a hurry. By the time I can tell you about all the things from Toledo, it will be time to go to the next show. Models, motors, controllers, chargers, and batteries are coming so fast that we can't keep up with the changes and improvements.
I'm glad Red Scholefield is taking care of the batteries and chargers in the column that alternates with mine. Please continue to direct your questions to both of us, and send in your photos and ideas. Please turn off the date feature on your digital cameras; I can't use photos with the dates on them. See you at the field! MA
Sources:
- Hobby Lobby International, Inc.
5614 Franklin Pike Cir. Brentwood TN 37027 (615) 373-1444 Fax: (615) 377-6948 www.hobby-lobby.com
- FMA Direct
5716A Industry Ln. Frederick MD 21704 (800) 343-2934 Fax: (301) 668-7619 www.fmadirect.com
- Radio Carbon Art
Box 2311 Corvallis OR 97339 (541) 752-9661 www.radiocarbonart.com
- West Mountain Radio
18 Sheehan Ave. Norwalk CT 06854 (203) 853-8080 Fax: (203) 299-0232 www.westmountainradio.com
- Fly RC
Maplegate Media Group 650 Danbury Rd. Ridgefield CT 06877 (203) 431-7787 www.flyrc.com
- Ultra-RC, LLC
250 Old Marlton Pike Medford NJ 08055 (609) 714-0040 Fax: (800) 567-4079 www.ultra-rc.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
