Small-Field Flying — 2012/04
Paul Bradley [email protected]
Old Plans and a New Model
I must confess that I am a model-airplane pack rat. I can’t believe what I have saved throughout the many years I have enjoyed this great hobby.
Space is always an issue, so hanging onto old airplanes can be a real problem. I have a bunch, including some that really are junk because of crash damage. You never know when a situation will come along that you will need something from one of the old aircraft.
I am not an advocate for saving useless stuff and I try to keep my shop organized. However, I don’t think I am the only modeler who saves old aircraft. An old airframe can sometimes be just the ticket for something new.
Ernie Hoenigmann from the Jericho RC Flyers of Long Island, New York, helps make my case. I received a note from Ernie that mentioned a Goldberg Junior Falcon he built more than 40 years ago for 1/2A glow power and single-channel RC gear.
He never flew the model when it was new because he couldn’t afford the RC gear. The Junior Falcon was placed in storage until he could add the equipment—likely not expecting that day to be 40 years later.
Today, smaller, electric-powered models are just right for flying in small spaces. I can hear Ernie’s Junior Falcon calling to him, saying, “I am just what you need and I sure would like to take to the air one of these days.”
Ernie decided some new covering and a SuperTigre 370 outrunner motor, powered by a three-cell 1000 mAh LiPo, would be just right for his model. He reports that he has been flying his Goldberg Junior Falcon and it has proven to be a terrific, modern small-field model. In addition to converting the model from glow to electric power, Ernie added elevator control, taking advantage of today’s small, lightweight multichannel radios. Nice work, Ernie.
There really are no limits when it comes to small-field model choices. The combination of small RC gear, electric motor options, and excellent laser-cut free-flight (FF) kits makes it possible to have nearly any model we could want for our small-field venues. There is a large variety of FF kits in many sizes. Nearly all of them would also make excellent RC models.
FF Conversion
John Jones, from the Mobile, Alabama, area, recently used a FF kit to create a small-field RC model. In this case, he chose the Dumas Walnut Scale Piper J4-E Cub Coupe kit. The Walnut Scale class in the FF community means the model has a wingspan of 17.5 inches. At that size, we get a micro small-field flyer.
John used Spektrum micro RC gear to provide control functions, but put a brushless motor in front. The motor is a Park 180 that gets energy from a two-cell pack of 120 mAh LiPo cells and turns a 3.75 x 3 propeller. Covered with CoverLite, the model has a flying weight of roughly 2 ounces.
John reported that the model flies well; however, he cautions that with models in this size range you have to pay attention to wind conditions. Good work, John.
Super Drone
Bob Aberle and old model plans are a nice combination. When Bob came across old FF plans for an early 1932 British light aircraft called the British Aircraft Company Super Drone, he knew a modern small-field RC model must be built.
The original FF plans were for a model that is larger than Bob wanted for this updated rendition of the airplane. He scaled the plans to deliver a wing area of 125 square inches—just the right size for smaller outdoor venues and larger indoor sites.
The finished model has a 6.7-ounce flying weight and is powered with a Park 280. Bob said a Park 180 would also work. Flight controls include rudder and elevator. Bob found rudder control challenging.
The full-scale aircraft has no dihedral, which is not practical on a small model with only rudder control. Bob added 5° of dihedral to the wing, but it was not enough to allow the rudder to turn the model. He reworked the wing to add more dihedral, resulting in a scale model rarely seen at your local flying site.
As is the case with many of Bob’s recent designs, the full-size plans are available via RC Micro World. See the “Sources” listing for contact information.
Innovative Designing
Buck Rogers’ vision is alive and well. Depending on your age, you may know Buck Rogers—the comic-book space-traveling hero of the future. Back in the day, making reference to something being “Buck Rogers” meant it could only exist in the distant future because there was no way to create it with current technology.
I am constantly amazed by emerging technology, especially in the world of model aviation. We take for granted things that would have been only a Buck Rogers concept not long ago, such as computer radios, brushless ESCs, laser cutters, computer-controlled machine tools, computer-controlled graphic cutters, and computer-based design software. All of these items have enhanced our hobby.
While reading the laser-cutting article by Fred Randall in the November 2011 issue of MA, I was reminded of how innovative modelers can be when it comes to adopting new technology. Laser cutting and CAD have been around for a while, but creative modelers were among the first to apply those technologies.
One Buck Rogers idea that is now emerging is the ability to create a design on your computer and print it. There is new technology that actually “prints” an object from a computer-based model.
The process involves laying down successive thin layers of a material that is mixed with a bonding agent. Many passes are made with the print head slightly raised with each layer. The material layers stack up until you have the desired object setting in front of you. This is a simplified description of the process. Three-dimensional printing is sometimes used when prototype parts are needed.
Where there is emerging technology, there are also modelers. One such modeler is Toni Palmen of Finland. To give you an idea of what can be accomplished when you give a modeler good technology, look at the photos of the 16-inch-span Hellcat framework that Toni created using a 3-D printer. What you see are the parts as they came from the printer. No glue, no jigs, no fat-finger breaks anywhere—just a clean, relatively complicated structure.
There is work to do in the area of material development and related subjects, but it does not take much imagination to visualize your latest small-field project as a computer file. Place that file on your computer and you will soon have a complete, ready-to-cover airframe. The cost of the equipment and material limitations make that vision difficult today, but watch this space for future developments.
Wrapping Up
This is a wrap for now. I hope your winter season has resulted in one or more new projects emerging from your workshop. Why not share a few photos for us to enjoy? My contact information is in the Sources listing.
Sources
- Dumas Products, Inc.
(520) 623-3742 www.dumasproducts.com
- RC Micro World
[email protected] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/RC-Micro-World
- Paul Bradley
10201 Scarletoak Dr. Independence, KY 41051 [email protected] www.parmodels.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
