Radio Technique
BASIC TRAINING. I'm teaching basic RC flying again, after a little layoff. My current student is Stan Harris, and his plane is the Goldberg Eagle which is powered by an OS Max .45. Stan built his airplane correctly, broke in the engine at home, and cycled the radio on the workbench (by charging the batteries, then running them down again a couple of times while building the plane and making the radio installation). When he comes to the field, Stan brings a field box equipped with fuel, tools, spare glow plugs, spare props, etc. All of this is very important. When we got to the field for the first training session, we found that only three test flights were required to make the final control throw adjustments, set the trims, and take care of other little items that made the airplane ready for use as a trainer. The significant point is that the airplane hasn't been modified since those three test flights. This has simplified Stan's training, because we don't have to waste any time retesting the plane before each session. In fact, we don't even have to make needle valve adjustments. A very high percentage of Stan's RC system's battery charge is spent on training time in the air.
Radio Technique
THE QUESTION: What low-priced radio should I buy for 1988? I toured some of the major RC systems suppliers, asking them that question. Before I give you their answers, let's review what we already know. 1) Use of the frequencies 72.08, 72.16, 72.24, 72.32, 72.40, 72.96, and 75.64 MHz for control of model aircraft became illegal by federal regulation, effective December 20, 1987. Those frequencies were "shared" with other high-powered services that interfered with model aviation so much as to make them useless in some parts of the country. The FCC gave us five years to get our existing equipment converted to RC38 through RC56 (which are exclusively for model
Radio Technique
RC IN RURAL AMERICA. I'm accustomed to building models on Long Island, NY where well-stocked hobby shops are seldom more than 15 minutes from where you are. On vacation, I visited my daughter, Lee Anne, and her husband, Corey J. Larsen (and my grandchildren, of course), at their home in Preston, ID (population 3,759), where I found a different situation. When I decided to build a model with my grandson, Caleb, I found that the nearest reasonably stocked hobby shop was not only 30 miles away in Logan, UT, but that it occupies a back corner in a children's toy store. Simple things like pushrods and propellers require a hunt to find. Everything you want is scarce.
Radio Technique
SOME interesting new products have come my way. In 1983, the AMA Frequency Committee took a lot of flak from manufacturers, because we didn't define new RC channel flags early enough for the manufacturers to bring their new flags to market with new RC systems. Consequently, some early transmitters on RC38-RC56 were sold with either "illegal" flags or no flags at all. When "legal" designs reached the market, they generated the following complaints: 1) Some required you to store the transmitter with the thinnest part of the antenna extended to support the frequency flag, which caused damage. 2) Some put a lot of weight out at the tip of the antenna, where it unbalanced the transmitter. 3) The flag drag tried to pull the transmitter out of your hands when flying in a wind, as in Slope Soaring.
Radio Technique
SOME NEWS about flying over Long Island, NY. The subject matter of my column for this month may seem far removed from my usual treatment of the various technical aspects associated with our hobby, but if you'll bear with it I'll make my point later on. I have recently retired from my job in the aerospace industry, a fact which is supposed to give me more time for flying RC models. When my friend, Nick Ziroli, called up and invited me to accompany him on a visit to the Manorville RC Flyers (SMRCF, AMA chartered club No. 2161) to learn about their new airfield, I accepted the offer.
