RADIO CONTROL SCALE AEROBATICS - 2003/01
only A hAndFul of manufacturers in the US specialize in
competition-level Scale Aerobatics (SA) models and few have
managed to stand out as category leaders. One such company is
Aeroworks, co-owned by Rocco Mariani and Kevin Dietrich. Since
this column strives to focus on activity and innovation within the SA
community, I thought it would be interesting to bring you some of the
background behind one of our sport’s leaders. Aeroworks is located
just a few miles from where I live, so I took a trip to the shop and
talked with Rocco.
“Tell me a little bit about the history of Aeroworks and how you got
started.”
Project Extra
The landing gear has been angled forward to
help change the twisting force from landing to a more
survivable compression force, and aluminum “L”
brackets transfer the load to the motor box, eliminating
the need for a heavy plywood plate.
The original prototype was built with a motor box
that captured the wing tube. With this design the
vibration from the engine was transferred more directly
to the wings, wreaking havoc on ailerons, hinges,
servos, and linkages. I noticed that designs that did not
capture the tube seemed to be much smoother, so in the
second design I stopped the motor box short of the wing
tube. It worked! The wingtips and ailerons vibrate much
less, and the hardware seems to incur less wear and tear.
One of this design’s unique qualities is the extensive
use of laminating balsa over long expanses of thin, light
plywood. The process creates a strength in shear that
outweighs the sum of the two materials and makes the
structure light while keeping it rigid.
RC Giant Scale Aerobatics machine with magazine and Web-site how-to series
We Are ABOuT to embark on an exciting adventure! This is
Model Aviation’s first Giant Scale construction article, and it will
be presented in a “build-along” monthly series. Join us as we
discuss frankly products and services, opinions and options, tips
and techniques, and discuss the rationale behind many of our
component choices. This series will have widespread value for
anyone building any model aircraft. Consider this a set of “howto”
articles using a particular Giant Scale aircraft as the
demonstration platform.
Back to Basics: Scale Aerobatics (SA) has been growing steadily
in popularity in the last several years. Almost every Radio Control
(RC) manufacturer now offers one or more SA models. In
RC Scale Aerobatics
INTERNATIONAL MINIATURE Aerobatic Club (IMAC) and Scale Aerobatics (SA) are two of the fastest-growing segments of model aviation. A growing SA popularity means there are some new pilots joining the ranks all the time and many others taking a closer look while sitting on the fence. With all these fresh pilots come questions and apprehension. I thought it would be interesting to talk with a friend of mine who is getting interested in SA and in IMAC competition.
