RC Sport Flyer June 2014 (Vol 19-06)

RC Airplanes | Gliders | Helicopters

CORSAIR

pg 94

JUNE 2014

EXCLUSIVE:We visit

For A Look at the NEW

S1000 OCTOCOPTER Go inside TT with us to see how they make some of the best RC products in the World.

SPECIAL REPORT RC is really taking off in China! Get an inside look at pilots that fly in Beijing’s Olympic Village.

SF shows you how this factory makes airplanes you’ll want to fly.

USA & CANADA $6.49

RC-SF.COM

RECOVERY AT THE PRESS OF A BUTTON PAnIc REcOvERy SwITcH THREE SAFE™ EnABLED FLIGHT MODES BRUSHLESS MAIN AnD TAIL MOTORS

Advance your piloting skills with the Blade® 200 SR X, the first fixed pitch heli to utilize Horizon Hobby’s innovative Safe technology system. with SAFE technology, pilots unlock features including three flight modes and panic button recovery. Equipped with authoritative brushless motors for ample precision and responsive both indoors and outdoors, the 200 SR X facilitates flight time when you want it most.

400mm

64mm

135mm

250 g

375mm

facebook.com/bladehelis

©2014 Horizon Hobby, Inc. Blade, Serious Fun and the Horizon Hobby logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Horizon Hobby, Inc. All other trademarks, service marks and logos are property of their respective owners. Patents Pending. Actual product may vary slightly from photos shown. 43185

200 SR X FEATURES • Engineered with SAFE™ technology

• Brushless main and tail motor

• PANIC BUTTON RECOVERY

• Stainless steel main shaft

• Beginner Mode - Limited flight envelope with

• RTF version: 6-channel transmitter included

self-leveling and a low bank angle limit

• BNF version: Requires DSM2®/DSMX® 6+ channel transmitter

• Intermediate Mode - Increased control authority with self-leveling and a high bank angle limit

• Flight time up to 10 minutes

• Experienced Mode - Full control authority with no

• Flight battery and charger included

bank angle limit

Get to BladeHelis.com right now to learn more about the Blade 200 SR X and to find the Blade retailer near you.

VISIT

Your Local Retailer

CLICK

horizonhobby.com

CALL

1.800.338.4639

SERIOUS FUN ®

QuadPack 25:

• 490 Hz refresh rate • 6S LiPo • 25 amps • 8 amp peak BEC* *This package contains one MultiRotor 25 with a BEC and three with no BEC. The single BEC supplies power for all 4 controllers

QuadPack 35:

• 490 Hz refresh rate • 6S LiPo • 35 amps • 7 amp peak BEC* *This package contains one MultiRotor 35 with a BEC and three with no BEC. The single BEC supplies power for all 4 controllers

TABLE OF CONTENTS DEPARTMENTS

10 LEADING EDGE 12 HOT PRODUCTS 102 AD INDEX 103 MYSTERY PLANE

LEARN FROM OUR EXPERT HOW TO MAKE GEAR DOORS THAT CLOSE FITTINGLY.

PG 62

FEATURE

24

BEIJING RC

36

THUNDER TIGER

SEE WHY WE THINK OUR NEXT WORLD CHAMP WILL LIKELY COME FROM CHINA.

By Wil Byers

WE SHOW YOU HOW THESE PEOPLE MAKE HIGH-QUALITY RC PRODUCTS.

By Wil Byers

30

PILOT RC

42

DJI VISIT

GO INSIDE THIS FACTORY WITH US TO SEE HOW THEY MAKE AIRPLANES.

By Wil Byers

LOOK AT HOW DJI IS “DEFINING THE FUTURE OF POSSIBLE.”

By Wil Byers

BEIJING RC PILOTS ARE STARTING TO PUSH THE OUTSIDE OF THE ENVELOPE.

PG 42 DJI CREATES AN INNOVATIVE WORK CULTURE FOR SUCCESS!

HOW TO

62

PG 24 6

RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

FUNCTIONAL GEAR DOORS THIS ARTICLE TEACHES YOU THE TRICKS OF MAKING DOORS THAT WORK.

By Tom Wolf

66

AEROBATICS PART 15 GET OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE

BY INSTALLING EXHAUSTS RIGHT.

By Daniel Holman

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JUNE 2014

BUILD

COLUMN

50 HALL’S SPRINGFIELD

56

BULLDOG II

LEARN FROM A PRO THE BUILDING STEPS OF HOW TO MAKE A GULL WING.

By Rob Caso

COVERING PREP

76

SEE WHY GETTING IT READY IS A BIG PART OF GETTING IT DONE RIGHT.

By Jeff Troy

E-POWER 9 THE GREAT MOTOR/ GENERATOR EMF DICHOTOMY IS EXPLAINED BY ANDREW.

By Andrew Gibbs

3-VIEW

REVIEWS

72

86

PIPER PA-25 PAWNEE AN AIRPLANE PURPOSE-BUILT FOR HEAVY LIFTING.

By Hans-Jürgen Fischer

CARBON-Z CUB BNF BASIC SEE WHY THIS AIRPLANE IS FUN TO TAKE BACKCOUNTRY BUSH FLYING.

By Wil Byers

82

MULTIROTOR INVASION TAMMIE’S HOBBY HAS THEM IN STOCK, AND IT’S BEEN PROFITABLE FOR THEM.

By Lucidity

94

HITEC RCD F4U CORSAIR THIS SCALE AIRPLANE IS INEXPENSIVE, EASY TO BUILD, AND MADE FOR PILOTS.

By Staff

PG 72 PIPER PA-25 PAWNEE 3-VIEW AN AIRPLANE BUILT FOR HEAVY LIFTING

PG 36

INSIDE PILOT-RC, RC-SF SHOWS YOU HOW LARGE-SCALE AIRPLANES GET BUILT IN CHINA. facebook.com/rcsportflyer

WE TAKE YOU ON A TOUR OF THE THUNDER TIGER FACTORY IN YU YAO.

PG 30 RC-SF.COM

7

SUBSCRIBE@RC-SF.COM for

ONLY 29.95 Digital & Hardcopy Combo $

EDITOR IN CHIEF Wil Byers wil@rc-sf.com ASSISTANT EDITORS James T Baker Louie Scribner Lucy Teng Asa Clinton PRODUCTION Zhe Meng mengzhe@kionapublishing.com PHOTOGRAPHY Wil Byers Bess Byers GRAPHIC DESIGNERS Zhe Meng Bess Byers Shi Yuang graphics@rc-sf.com WEBMASTER CONTACT Chang Liang web@kionapublishing.com OFFICE MANAGER/ Brian Barrett CIRCULATION support@kionapublishing.com OFFICE ASSISTANT Sue Wharton CIRCULATION Christian Wells MARKETING Wil Byers ads@rc-sf.com CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Rob Caso, Gene Cope, Andrew Gibbs, Daniel Holman, Mike Hoffmeister, Richard Kuns, Joe Nave, David Phelps, Steve Rojecki, Gary Ritchie, Mike Shellim, Patrick Sherman, Jerry Smith, Jeff Troy, James VanWinkle, Tom Wolfe RC Sport Flyer (ISSN: 1941-3467) is published monthly for $24.95 per year by Kiona Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 4250, W. Richland, WA 99353-4004. Periodicals postage paid at Richland, WA and additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER Send address changes to RC Sport Flyer, P.O. Box 4250, W. Richland, WA 99353-4004.

OFFICE (509) 967-0831 HOURS M–Th 8-4, Closed Fri, Sat & Sun.

SUBSCRIPTIONS kionasubscribe.com TOLL FREE (ORDERS ONLY) (866) 967-0831 EDITOR/ADS/DESIGN (509) 967-0832 E-MAIL subscriptions@kionapublishing.com FAX NUMBER (509) 967-2400

Ask for RC Sport Flyer at your local hobby shop!

DISTRIBUTED BY

Hobby Shop Orders (800) 558-1544 ext. 818 www.retailers.kalmbach.com

HOBBY SHOP DISTRIBUTION BY

Kalmbach Publishing Co. (800) 558-1544 ext. 818 Subscriptions: USA and possessions and Canada: $29.95 per year, $49.95 overseas.

Washington residents add 8.3% sales tax. Single copies $6.49 plus $4.00 S&H U.S. All payments must be in U.S. funds. Visa, Mastercard, Amex, and Discover accepted.

Send to: RC Sport Flyer – Circulation, P.O. Box 4250, W. Richland, WA 99353-4004.

Please allow eight weeks for change of address.

MEDIA USE:

FOR PRESENTATION PROJECTIONS, FLAT SCREEN MONITORS, CRT MONITORS USE

a. HEXACHROME #09195B or b. R = 9 G = 25 B = 91

FOR PRINT (Lithography, Screen printing), USE

a. PMS 294 Uncoated b. C = 95 M = 65 Y = 17 K=5

or

CONTRIBUTIONS: Articles and photographs are welcome, but cannot be considered unless guaranteed exclusive. When requested we will endeavor to return all materials in good condition if accompanied by return postage. RC Sport Flyer assumes no responsibility for loss of or damage to editorial contributions received. Any material accepted is subject to possible revision at the discretion of the publisher. Publisher assumes no responsibility for accuracy of content. Opinions of contributing authors do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher.

RC Sport Flyer will retain author’s rights, title to and interest in the editorial contributions as described above in both print and electronic media unless prior arrangement has been made in writing. Payment for editorial materials will be made at our current rate. Submission of editorial material to RC Sport Flyer expresses a warranty by the author that such material is in no way an infringement upon the rights of others. The contents of this magazine may not be reprinted traditionally or electronically without permission of the publisher.

Copyright ©2014 All rights reserved.

Printed in the USA

8

RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

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The Best Adhesive Selection for All Foams.

With the addition of Foam-Cure, BSI gives you the most choices when building your foam aircraft. With over 60 items, BSI has the largest selection of CA and epoxy adhesives available for modelers. Consistent high performance and freshness is what BSI provides in the adhesives that are always available at your local hobby shop.

“Your Adhesive Company for Over 30 Years.”

To find a dealer or ask a question of The Glue Pros, go to: www.bsi-inc.com • info@bsi-inc.com (805) 466-1717 • 8060 Morro Road • Atascadero, CA 93422 • USA Find us on Facebook at Bob Smith Industries

LEADING EDGE

WIL BYERS

W

e give you an upclose look at the RC industry and hobby in China in this month’s issue. We’ve done so because as a guesstimate probably 60 percent or more of the almost-ready-tofly (ARF) RC airplanes and helicopters are now made in China, with a few gliders starting to be produced in Asian factories too. Reason would say that you might want to see where your models are made, and what the work environment is like.

What I hope you’ll take away from my factory visits — plus a day with an avid group of RC pilots in Beijing — is how truly large the RC community is internationally. I heard it said once there are an estimated 30 million active modelers the world over. I’m not certain if this number was pulled out of thin air or if it was an estimate by an association such as the Academy of Model Aeronautics, where you would expect real numbers to be found. No matter the source, I’m thinking 30 million modelers is probably a pretty good guess. Moreover, China is just now starting to come to the party even though many Chinese were modelers before they discovered RC. Soon we’ll see the number of Chinese RC pilots explode as their middle class grows. No matter how you slice that fact, I think it means more and better model airplanes, radios and accessories are going to come out of this growth.

So, give the articles about China a read. I think you’ll see the Chinese pilots are undeniably an integral part of the hobby now. I’d expect you’ll take away from these articles that Chinese RCers are going to be competing with us head to head in the very near future — without a doubt in my mind, they’ll be world champions too. Get ready!

DIGITAL EDITIONS We’ve been pretty much inundated with calls about our new digital editions. So let me explain what has been happening, as well as what will going forward.

As I’ve written in the past, the publishing industry is changing — doing so at an accelerating rate. For example,

Ladies’ Home Journal had to close its doors on April 24, 2014 after being in business for 131 years! Suffice it to say, the publishing industry is facing monumental changes. The changes are happening in the areas of printing, distribution and content creation. The changes were starting to occur more than a decade ago, but really accelerated after April 3, 2010 when the first generation iPad was introduced. Tablets are becoming pervasive; even my 84-year-old mother is using an iPad to read the news and e-mail friends and family.

RC Sport Flyer embraced the iPad from its introduction. We quickly learned the process of how to build folios and to produce digital editions. However, it was expensive to create. Both Adobe and Apple did not make it affordable to small publishers like Kiona Publishing, Inc. As a result, we backed away from producing digital editions for the tablet market, instead focusing our resources on hardcopy, with our digital editions being PDF (portable document format) and SWF (Shockwave Flash) files — the files being delivered to our digital subscribers by way of a server link. And, while we’ve had a number of companies offer to convert our PDF files to tablet versions, as some of the other magazines do, this conversion was also expensive and not at all interactive. Our thinking is, if we’re going to do digital editions, they should at least take advantage of the delivery system that they will be served up on.

Well, we’re pleased to finally announce that RC Sport Flyer is available to you as digital editions from Apple’s iTunes store for iPad and iPhone, with the Android editions soon to follow. This new RC-SF media is quite interactive, patterned after some of the most successful recreation/sports magazines. We think you’ll enjoy the read and the experience. Just search for RC Sport Flyer at iTunes — know the first three issues are free! Give it a try and give us your feedback.

We’ll continue to provide the PDF/SWF digital editions for those people that want to read it in your browser or on your computer. However, we’ll be dedicating our resources to the tablet editions as we go forward. Know too, for those of you that still like to read hardcopy, it is not going away.

Finally, want to contribute to our pages, the website, blog, or our digital editions? Contact me at: editor@rc-sf. com.

APC Competition propellers for the intermediate and

advanced sport flyer as well as the competition community.

Over 400 pitch/diameters available ranging from slow-flyer electric to High performance Giant Scale Racers.

Visit the APC Prop Website for product selection and detailed information on product design and features.

LANDING PRODUCTS All propellers are in stock and overnight delivery is available.

Proudly made in the USA

10

RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

1222 Harter Ave., Woodland, CA 95776 (530) 661-0399 est. 1989 by Mr. Fred Burgdorf

twitter.com/rcsportflyer

TEN BUCKS SAYS YOU’LL LOVE SPEKTRUM SERVOS

RC fans everywhere are discovering that, when it comes to delivering precision and reliability at a great price, Spektrum servos are tough to beat.

In fact, we’re so confident that you too will love Spektrum servos, we’ll give you cash back to prove it.

From April 1 through May 31, 2014 you can get a rebate of up to $75 when you buy Spektrum servos

GET UP TO $75 BACK with the Spektrum Servo Rebate program now through May 31st

Buy $100 - $249, Get $10 Back Buy $250 - $499, Get $30 Back Buy $500 or More, Get $75 Back

For complete details, terms and conditions, visit www.spektrumrc.com/rebate.

VISIT

CLICK

CALL

Your Local Retailer

horizonhobby.com

1.800.338.4639

©2014 Horizon Hobby, LLC. DSMX, Serious Fun and the Horizon Hobby logo are registered trademarks of Horizon Hobby, LLC. The Spektrum trademark is used with permission of Bachmann Industries, Inc. 44120

SERIOUS FUN.®

HOT PRODUCTS DJI S1000 SPREADS ITS WINGS

W

ith the release of the DJI S1000 a milestone in aerial photography and cinematography has been reached.

The new S1000, combined with a flight controller like the A2, weighs only four kilograms, with a maximum takeoff weight of about eleven kilograms, which makes it a very stable, heavy-lift camera platform.

The frame arms and the retractable landing gear are made of carbon fiber to ensure lightweight and high structural stability. The eight frame arms are foldable for easy transportation and storage. The high-performance folding propellers can tuck away too. To fly the S1000, you simply lift the frame arms, lock them in place, and power the eight-motor system.

The Zenmuse Z15-5D camera gimbal offers advanced stabilization for smooth footage capture, with precision tilt and position control from a remote ground station. There is also full HD video downlink compatibility via the new LightBridge, giving the operator the ability to see in high definition what the camera sees.

The gimbal mounts low on the frame on a specially designed bracket. When combined with the included retractable

landing gear, it offers a clear, wide shooting angle. Both the gimbal and battery system mount to a common bracket, with dampers placed between the bracket and the frame.

This significantly reduces high-frequency vibrations and video capture is clearer and sharper. The battery tray’s position also makes it convenient for mounting and dismounting too.

Features • Spark-proof power plug • Low-gimbal mounting position • Retractable landing gear • Zenmuse Z15 gimbal • New damping design

• • • • • • •

Innovative frame arm design 4 Kg weight Built-in 40-amp ESC at motors High-strength custom propellers Foldable airframe Carbon frames Five-minute setup time

Price $6350.99

Distributor ATLANTA HOBBY 6110 Parkway North Drive Cumming, GA 30040 Phone: 678-513-4450 atlantahobby.com

Distributor

SOARING USA XPLORER II F5J

SOARING USA 827 N Glendora Ave Covina, CA 91724 Phone: 626-967-6660 soaringusa.com

T

he New Xplorer II F5J has been specifically designed for F5J, ALES type electric-powered glider competitions. It has the same wing design and profile as the two-time F3J World Championship winning Xplorer. The new F5J wing employs state-of-the-art layup techniques, combined with even lighter materials for an incredibly lightweight F5J model. A new fuselage design has further reduced the glider’s drag and weight. The Xplorer II F5J sports a 3.8-m wingspan that has proven to be the most effective and best overall size in most flight conditions. The empty airframe with all parts and hardware weighs approximately 1130 grams. The all

12

RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

Specifications Wingspan Wing Area Length Weight Weight

149 in. (3.8 m) 1236 in.2 (79.7 dm2) 64 in. (1.63 m) 39 oz empty (1130 g) AUW 57 oz (1625 g)

up flying weight starts from an incredible 1625 g, which is dependent on radio gear and motor system. Soaring USA includes a complete hardware package.

Price

$1899.95 (Xplorer II F5J) twitter.com/rcsportflyer

BLADE 200 SR X BNF

C

heck it out! Now, advancing from an intermediate helicopter to an advanced, flybarless machine is almost seamless with the 200 SR X. The Blade® 200 SR X is the first fixed-pitch helicopter to employ SAFE™ Technology, which means you get an unparalleled flybarless experience. SAFE technology helps facilitate the learning process with beginner, intermediate and experienced flight mode options. Each flight mode utilizes varying amounts of bank limiting and advanced

stability characteristics for pilot assists.

Additionally, SAFE technology enables a panic button that can automatically return the 200 SR X to steady flight with the push of a button.

This durable helicopter arrangement is complimented by brushless main and tail rotor motors. The kit’s included 3S 800mAh 30C LiPo flight battery and 3-cell LiPo AC-powered balancing charger give long flight times and make charging easy.

Importantly, the 200 SR X BNF comes ready to bind with your favorite 6-channel extended range 2.4-GHz DSM® enabled Spektrum™ transmitter.

Features • Engineered with SAFE™ technology

• Panic button recovery • Beginner mode—limited flight envelope with self-leveling and a low bank angle limit • Intermediate mode—self-leveling and a high bank angle limit • Experienced mode—full stick control with no bank angle limit • Brushless main and tail motor • Stainless steel main shaft • Flight times up to 10 minutes • Flight battery and charger included Price

$219.99 (BLH2080)

Specifications Type Fixed pitch flybarless electric helicopter Main rotor 16.1 in. (410 mm) diameter Rotor blade Length 7.3 in. (185 mm) Tail rotor diameter 2.4 in. (62 mm) Length 14.8 in. (375 mm) Weight 8.82 oz (250 g) Motor 3900 Kv brushless Battery 3S 800-mAh (not included) Kit/ARF/RTF BNF

Distributor HORIZON HOBBY 4105 Fieldstone Road Champaign, IL 61822 Phone: 217-352-1913 horizonhobby.com

JETI CENTRAL BOX UPDATE

J

Distributor Esprit Model 1240 Clearmont St NE, Unit 12 Palm Bay, FL 32905 Phone: 321-729-4287 espritmodel.com facebook.com/rcsportflyer

eti’s update provides new options for digital inputs and outputs to their Central Box 200. For example, you can control your model’s LED lights using the Central Box. Also, the Central Box can function as an EX Bus expander so you can join several Central Boxes together for signal distribution and control redundancy in any model.

The 1.20 firmware version adds a digital interface function to the existing settings for the output pins. Individual Central Box 200 outputs can now be configured in three modes: classical servo output, digital output or digital input. In the digital output mode, only the logical level 1 or 0 is generated on the port configured this way. The value of this output is reflecting the assigned output channel and its level. If the servo

position of the specified receiver channel is lower than 0%; i.e., 1.5 ms, the output is set to permanent log 0 (0 V). If the servo position is higher than 0%, log. 1 (3.3 V) will be generated on the pin. In the digital output mode, no control servo pulses are generated for that particular pin.

The Central Box with the new firmware can also function as an EX Bus Expander.

This function can be activated on the Ext1, Ext2 and Ext3 outputs and this will function even if the Central Box is controlled by the PPM signal (Rx1 and Rx2 input). The Central Box transforms the servo positions from the PPM signal to the EX Bus. The Central Box can detect any sensor that can communicate in EX Bus mode and starts the communication with the sensor automatically using EX Bus protocol.

Price $Free

RC-SF.COM

13

HOT PRODUCTS

ESPRIT WING RETAINER SYSTEM

T

hey are a simple, clean solution for securely attaching wings and outboard wing panels to fuselages and wing sections.

Using these in your airplane will guarantee that the wings stay locked in place because the plastic snap fasteners make for a secure connection. And, the wing retainer system comes with a special tool that lets you safely unlock wings or outboard wing panels easily.

Distributor Esprit Model 1240 Clearmont St. NE #12 Palm Bay, FL, 32905, USA Phone: 321-729-4287 espritmodel.com

Dimensions Length x Diameter: 5/8x5/16 in. (17.5 x 8 mm) Price

$4.00 (TOP-03801)

DLE 20RA 20CC REAR EXHAUST GAS ENGINE W/ ELECTRONIC IGNITION

T

he DLE-20RA has the features RC pilots want. Its rear-exhaust design and beam type mounting make it an easy engine to install even in cramped cowls.

A rear pumper carburetor delivers fuel consistently at any attitude or altitude, and the 30:1 gasoline/oil mixture translates into smooth performance.

Additionally, the DLE-20RA boasts a powerful and reliable electronic ignition system that makes starting a breeze. The DLE-20RA also comes with a generous package of extras.

Features • Efficient, lightweight design • High power-to-weight ratio • Lightweight piston for fast acceleration, excellent compression and low vibration • CNC-machined parts • Sealed crankshaft bearings • Works well with tuned pipes • Custom pumper carburetor • Updated muffler for excellent aeration and power Includes

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RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

Electronic ignition module, muffler, spark plug, manual, gasket, bolts, throttle arm extension & two exhaust extensions Requires Unleaded gasoline, 2-cycle oil, ignition battery & propeller Propellers 14x10, 15x8, 16x6, 16x8, 17x6 Price

$284.97 (LXDWDW)

Specifications Displacement Bore Stroke Engine weight Muffler weight Ignition weight Total weight Rpm range Output

20.0 cc (1.22 cu in.)

1.26 in. (32 mm) 0.98 in. (25 mm) 1.46 lb (660 g) 2.8 oz (80 g) 4.6 oz (130 g) 1.92 lb (870 g) 1700 — 9000 2.5 hp @ 9000 rpm

Distributor Great Planes P.O. Box 9021 Champaign, IL 61821 Phone: 800-637-7660 greatplanes.com twitter.com/rcsportflyer

FUTABA 10J — 10-CHANNEL RADIO WITH TELEMETRY

T

he Futaba 10J radio system is feature rich. It is a new, affordable 10-channel, programmable radio, with telemetry that is easy to update. Telemetry data can be viewed on a backlit LCD screen as well as audibly reported through headphones. The 10J is lightweight, easy to handle and has

30 model memory locations. It is designed to support airplane, helicopter, glider, and multirotor programming, all of which are are included.

Features • Futaba T-FHSS, S-FHSS 2.4-GHz

Distributor Great Planes P.O. Box 9021 Champaign, IL 61821 Phone: 800-637-7660 greatplanes.com

• Airplane, heli, glider & multirotor programming • 30-model memory • S.Bus capable T-FHSS receiver • Telemetry (uses eixsting Futaba sensors) • Synthesized voice for telemetry data • Vibration alerts for alarm conditions and low battery • User-updatable software (using optional CIU-2 interface) • Wireless data transfer among 10J transmitters • Built-in S.Bus programming link for S.Bus servos • 10-character model and user naming • Large LCD display (128 x 64 dot) backlit display • 10 channels (1) variable knob, (5) 2-position switches, (2) 3-position switches, (1) momentary switch & (2) digital levers • Built-in diversity antenna • Jog dial and 3 buttons for fast, easy programming • Sub-trim and fail-safe (all channels) • Servo reversing, endpoint adjustment, digital trims, dual rates/exponential* & ATL • Trim step adjustment • Trainer system • Throttle cut • 2 count-up/-down timers + integrated timer • Model Timer • Range check mode • Servo cycle w/bar graph displays • Assignable switch/lever/functions (Ch. 5-10) Price

$349.98 (LXDWZD)

REALFLIGHT LEARN TO FLY FOR FREE WITH REALFLIGHT MOBILE

R

ealFlight’s Mobile app is available for iOS and Android devices now and ready to offer would-be pilots a fast, easy way to fly anytime and anywhere.

RealFlight Mobile brings the look and feel of flight to you wherever you are, creating a world in which your plane and the environment around it respond just as they would in the real world.

All that’s required is a smartphone or tablet; RealFlight Mobile provides everything else: a flying site, two aircraft, onscreen joysticks and an entire suite of customizing tools. No previous flying experience is necessary; RealFlight Mobile makes it easy to learn basic flight skills in a hurry. There’s a Help/About screen to guide you, and adjustments that make it easy to learn at your own pace.

Distributor For the person who’s always wanted to fly, RealFlight Mobile offers the chance to do it Great Planes whenever and wherever they are. The RealFlight P.O. Box 9021 Mobile app is available online at the Google Play Champaign, IL 61821 Store and Apple App store. For more information, Phone: 800-637-7660 visit realflight.com greatplanes.com facebook.com/rcsportflyer

RC-SF.COM

15

HOT PRODUCTS Distributor

JR 28X INTERFACE BY ANDROID™, INNOVATION BY JR

J

R’s new 28X transmitter is a professional class radio that replaces their legendary flagship 12X. Their plan for the 28X was to start from a clean sheet of paper for a fresh perspective of the needs of today’s modeler. JR has an unwavering commitment to providing the finest quality systems in both design and innovation.

As innovators, JR engineers chose the 28X to be the first RC system in the world to integrate Android™ technology as the interface for the ultimate JR Easy programming experience.

A 16-bit color touch screen, combined with separate flight and interface processing systems, plus 4GB of internal memory ensure unmatched performance and Rf reliability.

JR engineers then outfitted the 28X with special CNC aluminum gimbals that deliver an incredible 65,536 resolution, and housed them in a rigid cast aluminum chassis.

These innovations take the “JR feel” to new levels.

Features • Heavy-duty cast aluminum chassis provides superb strength for

ultimate feel • 480x273 pixel Android™-powered 4.3-in. WQVGA-TFT full-color touch screen features beautiful 16-bit color output • Patent-pending CNC machined aluminum gimbals are ball bearing-supported and adjustable • 65,536 step stick resolution is 16 times more precise than any RC transmitter • 28 channels in 16 proportional + 12 binary configuration • 4GB internal memory, with 512MB RAM • Dual processors for unmatched interfacing and Rf reliability • Integrated USB host controller and USB device port for seamless data interfacing and PC connection • External SD card slot for unlimited model, picture, sound and telemetry data storage • Customizable audio and vibration notifications • Customizable user interface allows users to set wallpaper, color schemes and notifications • Audio controller for voice, music and telemetry notifications • Push-button power switch eliminates accidental powering on and off.

• Removable, customizable shoulder switch plates can be configured to any combination of switches.

• Includes custom 28X transmitter case and RG031BX Infinity XBus receiver

JR Americas P.O. Box 8757 Champaign, IL 61826 Phone: 217-352-7959 jramericas.com

Price $2699.99 (JRP01050)

HITEC ECONOMY AND PREMIUM HELICOPTER COMBO PACKS

H

itec RCD is making it easy and affordable to outfit your RC helicopter with the very best in servo technology in their new combination packs. Hitec has combined high-resolution, high-response helicopter servos in packages that are designed to ensure your helicopter is equipped with what you need to get it flying fast, responsively and safely!

They’ve made it easy to choose economical, ultra-efficient packs that include three speedy, steel geared HS8330SH servos and the ultra-fast, carbonate HSG-8315BH tail rotor servo. If you want that professional, ultra-response, Hitec offers the Premium Pack, which includes three powerful, titanium gear HS-8360TH servos as well as the quick HSG-8315BH gyro servo.

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RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

Model HS-8330SH HIGH SPEED HSG-8315BH ULTRA FAST HS-8360TH HIGH SPEED

6.0 VOLTS Speed Torque 139 oz-in 0.09 10 kg-cm 60 oz-in 0.05 4.3 kg-cm 187 oz-in 0.08 13.5 kg-cm

7.4 VOLTS Speed Torque 181 oz-in 0.07 13 kg-cm 74 oz-in 0.04 5.3 kg-cm 229 oz-in 0.07 16.5 kg-cm

Hitec has made it quick and easy for you to get the right servos for your next model.

Price

$324.99 (34011) $499.99 (34010)

Part# 38330 38315 38360

Dimensions 1.57 x 0.78 x 1.46 in 40.0 x 20.0 x 37.0 mm 1.57 x 0.79 x 1.50 in 40.0 x 20.0 x 38.0 mm 1.57 x 0.79 x 1.50 in 40.0 x 20.0 x 38.0 mm

Weight 2.33 oz.

66 g 2.12 oz.

60 g 2.40 oz.

68 g

Distributor Hitec RCD 12115 Paine Street Poway, CA 92064 Phone: 858-748-6948 hitecrcd.com twitter.com/rcsportflyer

O.S. ENGINES GT15 GASOLINE-POWERED ENGINE

O

.S.’s GT line of gasoline engines boast power and fuel economy that have made them favorites among flyers of all sizes of RC aircraft.

Those attributes are built into the compact GT15. The PD-08 pumpequipped carburetor delivers fuel consistently at any attitude or altitude, and the IG-06 ignition system provides dependable starts. You’ll be able to mount the GT15 in your next project, or drop it into any .60 2-stroke or .90 4-stroke size model to enjoy the advantages of gas power.

• Specially designed O.S. carburetor makes tuning a breeze and delivers excellent throttle response; it comes equipped with a regulator and pump.

• A special roller bearing on the large end of the conrod allows for 50:1 oil/fuel mixture.

• Includes the compact IG-06 ignition module.

Features • Offers power equivalent to a .90 4-stroke or .60 2-stroke glowpowered engine, with the fuel economy of gasoline.

• Features the same mounting pattern as the 65AX.

Specifications

Price

Distributor Great Planes P.O. Box 9021 Champaign, IL 61821 Phone: 800-637-7660 greatplanes.com

$349.99 (OSMG1515)

Displacement Bore Stroke Rpm range Output Weight Engine Ignition module Muffler Includes

0.91 cu in (14.95 cc) 1.091 in. (27.7 mm) 0.978 in. (24.8 mm) 2000 – 11,000 2.37 hp @ 15,000 rpm

22.26 oz (631 g) 3.35 oz (95 g) 6.28 oz (178 g) E-4040 muffler, IG-06 ignition module, spark plug Requires gasoline/oil mixture

Specifications 44.0 in. (1120 mm) 42.3 in. (1074 mm) 40.6 oz (1150 g) 10-size BL10 brushless outrunner, 1250Kv Battery 3S 2100–2200-mAh 25C Li-Po (sold separately)

Wingspan Length Weight Motor

Distributor HORIZON HOBBY 4105 Fieldstone Road Champaign, IL 61822 Phone: 217-352-1913 horizonhobby.com

PARKZONE SUKHOI SU-29MM BNF BASIC

T

he ParkZone® Sukhoi SU-29MM was designed by champion pilot and worldclass aircraft designer, Mike McConville. It combines lightweight construction with a high-output power brushless motor system to achieve awesome 3D and precision aerobatic performance.

What sets Sukhoi SU-29mm apart is its Spektrum™ AR636 receiver with advanced SAFE™ (Sensor Assisted Flight Envelope) technology. SAFE technology actually makes the Sukhoi SU-29MM ‘aware’ of its attitude relative to the ground. This attitude facebook.com/rcsportflyer

awareness has been used to create four flight modes that let experienced RC pilots explore aggressive aerobatics with more confidence and less risk.

SAFE Technology • Stagility Mode: Lets you perform any aerobatic or 3D maneuver but return to upright flight if both sticks are released.

• 3D Mode: It provides marvelous balance of crisp response and rock-solid stability when practicing low-speed 3D maneuvers.

• Precision Mode: Designed for flying precision aerobatics at high speed, because it smoothes out the effects of turbulence so the aircraft tracks like it’s on rails.

• Panic Recover Mode: Immediately returns the aircraft to upright flight with the push of a button at any time, in any mode.

Price

$229.99 (PKZ8050)

RC-SF.COM

17

HOT PRODUCTS Specifications

SEAGULL EXTRA EA 300L .46-.55 ARF

T

he Extra aerobatic airplane designs have dominated both the fullscale international and RC aerobatic competitions since Walter Extra’s first monoplane entered the circuit nearly four decades ago.

The Seagull Extra 300L .46 ARF is a beautiful replica of the two-seat, low-wing variant. Its large canopy placement gives the design an advantage in knife-edge handling, and the low wing placement offers friendly handling during the final flair to landing. Seagull has engineered this model with quality balsa and plywood so that it looks the part of a high-class aerobat that’s also rugged enough for grass RC airfield flying, even with the wheel pants on.

adds to scale appearance • Painted aluminum landing gear with matching cuffs • Painted fiberglass cowling and wheel pants matches the UltraCote covering perfectly and requires no finishing • Large, top hatch allows easy access to radio equipment • Pre-cut decal sheet • All necessary hardware included • Electric power conversion hardware is included so no additional parts are necessary Price

Type Wingspan Overall length Wing area Weight Engine Radio Servos Engine Fuel type

Scale civilian 54.9 in. (140 cm) 44.4 in. (123 cm) 517.7 in.2 (33.4 dm2) 6.6 lb (3.0 Kg) 0.62 in.3 2-stroke glow 4-channel+ system (5) standard servos .61-1.00 2-cycle glow Glow

Distributor HORIZON HOBBY 4105 Fieldstone Road Champaign, IL 61822 Phone: 217-352-1913 horizonhobby.com

$189.99 (SEA199)

Key Features • Popular scale aerobatic aircraft design • All laser cut wood construction for a lightweight airframe • Eye catching scale color scheme in genuine UltraCote® covering • Two-piece, plug-in wing with aluminum wing tube for easy transportation and assembly at the flying field • Perfect match for the Evolution® 10GX 10-cc gas engine • Detailed cockpit with two pilots included

SOARING USA VIXEN 3.68

S

oaring USA tells us their new Vixen has been in development and testing for some time. With the joint cooperation of Jiri Baudis and Championship-winning pilot Daryl Perkins, the Vixen is now in production and ready for competition!

Daryl Perkins, five-time world champion says, “Everything about the Vixen was well thought out for the task. It was designed to be easy to build light, and to keep the weight out of the extremities — note the V-tail and two-piece wing. There is no joiner box structure or joiner weight at half span, which reduces weight out at the tips. The section choices are designed to have a wide speed range, pull hard on tow, and slow down well for a slow controlled approach. Many of you will question the six servo wing; it must be flown to be believed! The control surfaces are quite short, enabling the use of very small and

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RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

lightweight servos, and are less prone to twist or flutter. The largest benefits here are in the landing circle and the ability to slow down, controllably and work the clock for that last 10th of a second. F3J contests are won on tow, and in the LZ. The Vixen is optimized for both.”

Price

$2299.95 (vixen)

Distributor SOARING USA 827 N Glendora Ave Covina, CA 91724 Phone: 626-967-6660 soaringusa.com

Specifications Wingspan 144 in. (3.68 m) Wing Area 1169 in.2 (75.4 dm2) Weight AUW - 66–70 oz (1872 – 1984 g) Length 68 in. (1.72 m) Airfoil Proprietary (modified JW transitioning to modified Drela sections) twitter.com/rcsportflyer

SIG T-CLIPS 70 EG ARF

T

-CLIPS is no ordinary clipped wing Taylorcraft. Originally a stock 1939 Taylorcraft, this is the only clipped wing T’craft in the world currently flying airshows with an original size engine. Airshow pilot Erik Edgren refers to this as “Twistin It Old School”.

The SIG T-CLIPS 70 EG ARF is a sport scale version of Erik’s striking red and black show stopper. Designed for a “60” size electric motor or glow engine, the T-CLIPS 70 flies as good as it looks. Basic precision aerobatics are its specialty — inside and outside loops, slow rolls, point rolls, snap rolls, cuban eights, spins, and inverted flight

Specifications Wingspan Wing area Length Weight Wing Loading

are routine for this everyday sport aerobatic airplane.

Features • 70-in. wingspan (60 size) • EG Series — electric or glow power • Handcrafted wood ARF • CAD drawn, laser-cut, and factory jig assembled • 2-piece wing design w/ aluminum tube wing joiner • Clear windshield and side windows • Magnetic top hatch • Aluminum landing gear • Fiberglass cowling and wheel pants • Covered with Oracover® (aka UltraCote®)

Radio

Glow engine

Electric motor ESC Battery

70 in. (1778 mm) 860 in.2 (55.5 dm2) 50 in. (1270 mm) 7 - 7.8 lb (3175 - 3538 g) 19 - 21 oz/ft2 (57 - 64 g/dm2) 4-channel w/ 5 standard servos (glow) 4-channel w/ 4 standard servos (electric) 2-stroke .53 - .61 cu in.

(8.6 – 10.0 cc) 4-stroke .53 - .65 cu. in.

(8.6 - 10.7 cc) 1200 – 1700 watt (300 – 400 Kv) 75-amp 4S/6S 4000/5000-mAh LiPo

Distributor SIG Mfg. Co., Inc. P.O. Box 520 Montezuma, IA 50171 Phone: 641-623-5154

Premium Film • Complete pushrods and hardware • Illustrated assembly manual Price

JETI MVARIO2 EX VARIOMETER / F5J-ALES LIMITER & EXPANDER

M

Vario2 measures atmospheric pressure. Using the data it calculates the altitude above sea level, airspeed and the rate of climb as well as the rate of descent of your aircraft. Changes in climb and descent rates are signaled as well. The sensor also alerts you if any alarm setting is exceeded.

The sensor enables an acoustic signal for the climb rate/descent rate or for exceeding of a pre-adjusted limit value. The acoustic signal consists of four different kinds for climbing and the same amount of steps for descending. The step width can be adjusted by the user. The climb signal consists of short interrupted tones; the descent signal consists of long permanent tones.

F5J/ALES Altitude & Time Limiter, Motor Cut-Off Switch If you participate in competitions in categories such as F5J or ALES (Altitude Limited Electric Soaring), set the appropriate device mode (F5J/ALES) in the MVario2 menu. Connect the receiver and the speed controller (ESC) as shown here. The firmware allows you to set the cut-off tof facebook.com/rcsportflyer

$229.99 (SIGRC108EGARF)

Distributor Esprit Model 1240 Clearmont St NE, Unit 12 Palm Bay, FL 32905 Phone: 321-729-4287 espritmodel.com

the motor on height and the maximum run time.

Expander Setting Due to its flexibility, the MVario2 EX allows connection of up to two additional sensors. MVario2 then acts as an Expander and sends its own telemetry to the receiver together with the telemetry of connected sensors. For example, you can connect speedometer MSPEED EX for the speed compensation (TEK) or any other sensor to any port (Ext1 or Ext2).

Logical Sensor MVario2 EX can be configured as a sensor of logic levels (log. 0 or log. 1). If you want to be informed whether the landing gear is properly secured, the logic inputs function is very convenient. Simply connect the limit switch, as shown here, between the signal wire and the ground. You will know immediately whether the switch is on or off.

Price

$99 (JETITMV2) RC-SF.COM

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HOT PRODUCTS options.

• Receiver: Includes AR9020 9-channel DSMX® receiver

SPEKTRUM PRO CLASS + SPEKTRUM™ DX18 TRANSMITTER

H

orizon Hobby has just announced the Spektrum DX18 has been updated with additional features to make it more capable than ever.

New • Programmable Voice Alerts: Keep tabs on important functions without ever taking your eyes off what you’re flying.

These alerts can be programmed to call out what flight mode you’ve chosen or report telemetry information on demand. If an alarm goes off, you won’t have to look at the display to see what’s happening. The DX18 will tell you.

• Wireless Trainer Link: The wireless trainer link gives instructors the option to wirelessly ‘’buddy box’’ with another DSM2®/DSMX® transmitter. Once bound to another transmitter, ModelMatch™ technology will allow the DX18 to re-link without having to go through the bind process again.

• 250-Model Memory: The enormous capacity of the DX18’s on-board memory means you will rarely, if ever, need to juggle models between transmitter memory and your SD card. The model memory menu is easier to navigate too.

Only memory slots with model settings saved to them will appear. You won’t have to scroll through empty slots or move models around if one is deleted.

• 0.5% Mix-Rate Increments: Mixes with values of less than 10% can be adjusted in 0.5% increments for aircraft model types.

• Origin Mixing: Origin mixing uses true

You get all these new features including those that came in the original DX18.

stick position as the input for a mix.

When origin mixing is selected, any other settings to the master channel will be ignored and the mix will be based strictly on stick position and trim position.

• Six-Servo Wing Type: Support for models with six aileron servos has been added to the available wing types in the airplane software.

• Two Canard Options: When an elevon wing type is chosen, users will be presented with 1- and 2-servo canard

Price:

$799.99 (SPM18100)

Distributor HORIZON HOBBY 4105 Fieldstone Road Champaign, IL 61822 Phone: 217-352-1913 horizonhobby.com

JETI WIRELESS POWER SWITCH

N

ow your model’s receiver system can be turned on/off with a simple flip of your transmitter’s switch, wirelessly from the Jeti DC/DS transmitter. This state-ofthe-art device makes it easy to fly your next flight.

The RCPS10 wireless switch replaces any mechanical or electronic switch. The Jeti wireless power switch is fully integrated into the 2.4-GHz radio system. RC switch operation is done using a switch on the Jeti Duplex DC/DS transmitters. Switching on is indicated by a green LED light that is visible through the opening on the side of

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RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

the switch. Importantly, the Jeti switch is designed to fail in the on position, so you’ll never have to worry about an inadvertent in-flight turn off of your model’s radio system.

Price

$105 (JETISWRCPS10)

Distributor Esprit Model 1240 Clearmont St NE, Unit 12 Palm Bay, FL 32905 Phone: 321-729-4287 espritmodel.com

twitter.com/rcsportflyer

THUNDER TIGER RAPTOR G4.1 FLYBARLESS NITRO 3D HELI KIT

T

hunder Tiger has added some upgrades to their popular Raptor 90 G4 flybarless platform to make it better than ever.

Thunder Tiger has established the Raptor G4.1 as very competitive machine. Thicker grip plates on the full aluminum rotor head increase rigidity, and the mainframe’s 2-mm thick carbon side frames allow pilots to equip the helicopter with a 115-tooth main gear when flying with the O.S. 105HZ engine (115T gear and 105HZ engine are sold separately).

Features • 135/140° Collective Cyclic Pitch Mixing (eCCPM) with +/-15° • Collective pitch range; adjustable Bell-

• • • •

Hiller mixing ratio can be set for F3C or 3D 0.08-in. (2-mm) thick carbon side frames fit the optional 115T main gear optimized for the O.S. 1.05 engine Full aluminum rotor head with thicker grip plates for greater rigidity and improved 3D performance Other rotor head features include lengthened posts and a reinforced bearing block with added cross-member Torque-tube drive system with 100% power transfer and crisp tail rotor response

• 0.6-in. (15-mm) diameter hardened hollow steel main shaft • All-metal, heavy-duty tail rotor system with rotor rod guide and heavy-duty helical bevel tail gears • Carbon tail boom with carbon support and fin, plus a one-piece metal bracket • Lightweight, vented heavy-duty 0.7-in.

(17-mm) helical main gear • One-piece machined aluminum tail case • 4.1-in. (105-mm) carbon tail blades included • Red FRP canopy • Precise control arm set featuring Quick Calibration • 22-oz (650-cc) main fuel tank • 2-oz (60-cc) header tank • Nylon landing gear with aluminum skids Price

$899.99 (TTRE0104)

Specifications 53.3 in. (1354 mm) 8.7 in. (221 mm) 18.2 in. (462 mm) 61.5–63.1 in.

(1563-1603 mm) 27.2–28.3 in.

(690-720 mm) Tail blade 4.1 in. (105 mm) RTF weight 9.7 lb (4400 g) Main gear/pinion 111-T/14-T (115-T optional) Length Width Height Main rotor diameter Rotor blades

Distributor Great Planes P.O. Box 9021 Champaign, IL 61821 Phone: 800-637-7660 greatplanes.com

SPEKTRUM H6280 HV ULTRA SPEED HELI CYCLIC MG SERVO Distributor HORIZON HOBBY 4105 Fieldstone Road Champaign, IL 61822 Phone: 217-352-1913 horizonhobby.com

performance for heli pilots who push the limits.

H

elicopter flyers who demand every ounce of performance from their models and push the limits hard will love the powerful, snappy response of Spektrum’s H6280 servo. This servo delivers class-leading performance for your 550–800-sized helicopter. It provides exceptionally crisp and accurate facebook.com/rcsportflyer

Features • Designed from the ground up for 550800 sized flybarless helicopters • Impressive 280 oz-in (20.16 kg-cm) of torque @ 8.4-volt with a transit speed of 0.06 sec/60 deg @ 8.4V • Quick release servo lead simplifies wire routing and maintenance • Metal gear train • Full metal case • HV compatible Price

$149.99 (SPMSH6280)

Specifications Size Standard Type Digital Application 550- to 800-class helicopter cyclic Torque 214 oz-in. (15.4 kg-cm) @ 6.0 volts 280 oz-in. (20.2 kg-cm) @ 8.4 volts Speed 0.084 sec/60 deg @ 6.0 volts 0.06 sec/60 deg @ 8.4 volts Length 1.61 in. (40.9 mm) Width 0.82 in. (20.8 mm) Height 1.35 in. (34.3 mm) Weight 2.70 in. (76.5 g) Bushing Or Bearing Bearing Bearing Dual Motor Type Coreless Connector Type Universal Gear Type Metal Voltage 4.8 – 8.4 volts (high voltage) RC-SF.COM

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HOT PRODUCTS

FUTABA CGY750 SOFTWARE UPDATE

F

utaba has released Version 1.4x software for the CGY750 gyro. It gives the Futaba CGY750 flybarless system pilots faster, more streamlined options in programming.

Both menu terminology and structure have been simplified to make programming a more intuitive and streamlined process. There is a new flight tuning menu that provides a welcome shortcut to better performance. All helicopter pilots will appreciate the fluid control feel and excellent holding power of the new software update. Pilots of

SPEKTRUM AR6335 6-CHANNEL AS3X NANOLITE RECEIVER

S

pektrum™ introduces the new AS3X® (Artificial Stabilization – 3-axis) receivers.

They make it easier than ever for fixedwing pilots to transform their flying experience with this amazing technology.

Like their predecessors, they combine AS3X technology with a DSMX® receiver in a single unit. What sets them apart is programming software that makes setup and adjustment of their AS3X settings much easier.

electric helicopters will also experience enhanced governor performance.

CGY750 owners can download Version 1.4x software at the Futaba website, futaba-rc. com.

Distributor

Price Free

5.

Great Planes P.O. Box 9021 Champaign, IL 61821 Phone: 800-637-7660 greatplanes.com

Programming made easy via PC or iOS/Android mobile devices

Features • Perfect for park flyers up to giantscale aircraft to add AS3X technology & stabilization • AS3X technology — 3-axis stabilization • 3 gyro modes allows customization of the gyro performance and feel of the aircraft • Programmable from mobile devices (iOS and Android) as well as PC’s — easy setup

Specifications Type AR6335 AS3X Nanolite receiver Channels Six Modulation DSM2/DSMX Band 2.4 GHz Length 1.12 in. (28.6 mm) Width 0.72 in. (18.4 mm) Height 0.28 in. (7.1 mm) Weight 0.07 oz (2.0 g) Voltage Range 3.5 – 8.5 volts Antenna Length 31 mm

The AS3X software’s easy-to-understand, graphical user interface will allow pilots to: 1. Select which AS3X mode to fly with: Off, Conventional Rate or Heading Hold 2. Activate flaperon/dual aileron, delta/ elevon, V-tail or dual elevator mixing 3. Take advantage of servo setup options like balancing, travel adjust, absolute limits, reversing and more 4. Map output and gain settings for individual channels

at home or at the airfield • Compact design • Lightweight • JST-ZHR connector Price

$69.99 (SPMAR6335)

Distributor HORIZON HOBBY 4105 Fieldstone Road Champaign, IL 61822 Phone: 217-352-1913 horizonhobby.com

JETI HICOPTER SWITCHING BEC

T

he new Jeti HiCopter switching BEC is designed to regulate the voltage from your 14- to 51-volt power source (4–12S LiPo or 5–14S LiFe packs). It provides a stable output voltage of 12 volts at 8 amps continuous, up to 18 amps peak current, which is for your aerial photography and video (APV) and first person view (FPV) equipment. With its high output voltages, the Jeti HiCopter 12-volt 8-amp switching regulator is designed to meet the needs

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RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

Distributor and requirements of most multirotor aircraft and their camera gear.

Price

$155 (JETIREGHIC12V8A)

Esprit Model 1240 Clearmont St NE, Unit 12 Palm Bay, FL 32905 Phone: 321-729-4287 espritmodel.com twitter.com/rcsportflyer

Imagine...

Owning a Premium Quality JR System with the RF flexibility to fly your EXISTING fleet Introducing the

C HANGEABLE MODULE VER SION

Based from the world renowned XG11, the JR XG11MV is uniquely different, offering unmatched 2.4 Protocol flexibility courtesy of its removable module design. The flexibility of the removable module allows the XG11MV to be compatible with virtually ANY currently available JR style RF Module.

Use the XG11MV with the included DMSS module and you have all the benefits JR’s robust DMSS technology has to offer, including Telemetry. Replace the DMSS module with your favorite JR compatible module (not included), and you have unmatched 2.4GHz protocol flexibility. In addition, the XG11MV is also compatible with older 72MHz JR PCM/FM modules and equipment.

If you’ve been wanting to upgrade to a Premium Quality JR DMSS System, but want the flexibility to fly with your existing equipment, the XG11MV is the system you have been waiting for….

72Mhz FM/PCM

JR DMSS 2.4

Other brand 2.4

Thanks to its removable module design, the XG11MV offers unmatched modulation flexibility making it compatible with many brands of 2.4 equipment as well as JR 72Mhz receivers.

BEIJING RC OUR NEXT WORLD CHAMPION WILL LIKELY COME FROM CHINA

BY Wil Byers

BEI JING

M

y first trip to China was in 2001. At that time, I attended the Beijing Model Fair, at the invitation of Mr. Huang.

Mr. Huang was the representative of the Aero Sports Federation of China (ASFC), which was established in 1964. The Beijing Model Fair was where it was “happening” in terms of seeing the aircraft that were new or being offered to the RC industry.

I was fortunate in that after the Fair Mr. Huang hosted me to visit other factories near Shanghai and in the south of China near Shenzhen and Zhuhai.

China has, over the last three decades, become the world’s manufacturing center for everything from water bottles to automobiles, and even full-scale airplanes. China RC pilots fly their aircraft in the former Olympic Village, which is now home to the stunning Beijing Olympic Park Observation Tower.

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RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

twitter.com/rcsportflyer

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Notice how when this modeler readies his Sbach e-powered model there is a father and son looking on. It was this way for almost all the pilots and their aircraft.

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Kong Guan hovers his electricpowered Sbach as a testament to his skill at flying model airplanes. He was a very focused pilot and it showed in his flying.

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is, without question, now the leading manufacture of model aircraft — building airplanes, helicopters, multirotors and even some gliders.

So when you receive nearly any model airplane box these days, it is signatured with the words MADE IN CHINA. It should not be surprising, then, that the RC pilot community in China is growing, and growing rapidly. This is especially so in light of the fact that China’s middle class society is emmerging at an accelerating rate, with its rolls expected to exceed some 650 million people by 2020, while Ernst and Young predicts China’s middle class will exceed one billion by 2030. facebook.com/rcsportflyer

This past March I had the opportunity to visit China for business. I arrived in Beijing by way of Delta airlines and a 14-hour flight.

After a day to resolve some of my jet lag, I was given the opportunity to visit the Olympic Village to see the changes made there since China’s hosting of the 2008 Games.

The Village has not changed all that much, with the exception of the new Beijing Olympic Park Observation Tower, which is amazing in that it towers over the park at a height of 797 feet (243 meters). It has five observation areas, which also include restaurants, bars, and gift shops. It will be a hallmark of Beijing for years to come.

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Kong was flying a Futaba radio that had a 2.4-GHz adapter module in it.

Look closely, you can see the Olympic Village’s Bird Nest in the background.

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This flat foamy is a copy of a Chinese J-10 fighter jet. In this case, it is using a pusher propeller system, a LiPo pack and control is by Futaba.

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As you can see, the J-10 gets a hand launch and off it went on another mission to combat any intruder of Chinese airspace.

What has changed is the number of RC pilots in and around the Beijing area. As I was told, there are now at least five RC airfields in the Beijing area, and with a population of 26 million and growing, it is expected that more RC airfields will be made available to pilots in the not too distant future.

So it was that in the shadow of the Observation Tower that I met RC-SF.COM

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FEATURE

BEIJING RC

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All you need do is look at the smile on this little guy’s face and you’ll know he is destined to be an RC pilot in the very near future.

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Here is another example of a Chinese J-10 jet fighter. I didn’t see a F-16 around to do battle with it, but you know a dogfight is inevitable.

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Xiongshan Chen is an 80-year-old model aviation enthusiast. He has been flying models nearly his entire life and now enjoys RC. Ye Wentao is a young man that will soon come to the USA to study at a midwestern university. He is an avid modeler and was very helpful.

I like Ye’s little DLG very much. I’m anxious to see these gliders hit the USA market. You’ll be able to fly them just about anywhere...

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an enthusiastic group of RCers.

They were flying their models on the sunny Saturday morning in the Olympic Village.

What was immediately noticeable to me was that within Beijing’s Olympic Village area there were three clubs flying, each with their own area of interest and model type.

As such, there was an area for mostly helicopter flying, then airplanes, and for parkflyers, though within a specific area there was somewhat of a mix of aircraft types. For example, in the helicopter area there were pilots flying multirotors, with an occasional RC car racing around the area.

Additionally, the age range of the pilots was from seven to eighty six.

Beside of the significant difference in age of the pilots, there was real involvement of the families in the pilots’ hobby. Understand that the lifestyle of the Beijingers is much, much different from that of those in the USA because most families live in a small apartment, often in a high-rise building. Consequently, the family members most likely enjoy the

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RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

opportunity to get out and share an afternoon together. Even so, what I witnessed were smiles all around, with genuine enthusiasm for the hobby. The children seemed to have a fascination with the models both on the ground and in the air, while the pilots faced the same challenges we do here in the USA. As you can see by the photos that accompany this article, the pilots were specimens of concentration while their models were in the air and all smiles once they’d landed them safely back on the “runway”.

You may be saying to yourself at this point in the article, “Who cares?”

What this article is attempting to

underscore is how model airplane flying is truly a universal language and sporting joy for all peoples. It is very much a common bond among pilots, builders and enthusiasts. I expect it will not be long before we see many of the best pilots in the world coming out of China to compete head to head with pilots from all parts of the globe. Moreover, it is my very biased opinion that these pilots/builders will lead to better airplanes being offered to the consumers, and at a lower price too.

That is likely because the Chinese pilots will speak the language of the manufacturers and will demand bigger and better aircraft from them. twitter.com/rcsportflyer

PILOTS Let me tell you about a few of the pilots: Xiongshan Chen is a long-time modeler — starting with free flight, then control line, and now RC. He told me he spent three years in Florida as a professor at a university.

As of my visit, he said he was 80 years old. Even so, he was an enthusiast beyond compare, with a huge smile, a friendly demeanor, and a love of aircraft of all kinds. He was flying a foamy jet, which was controlled by an older Futaba 72MHz radio system. He was beyond anxious to show me his piloting skills, which were keen for his age.

One of the more serious pilots, as well as skilled, was Kong Guan. He was flying an electricpowered Sbach. Kong gave me

the opportunity to photograph his airplane as he hovered it in front of the Beijing Olympic Park Observation Tower, or at least within photography range of the tower. He explained to us how there were three different clubs using the Olympic Village area to fly their models, and where they were relative to each other. It is worth noting that one club’s flying area nearly adjoins the Village’s famous Bird Nest stadium. I am 100 percent confident that pilots

like Kong will be innovators in their Chinese hobby, and will help to eventually make the Chinese RC model community one of the most respected in the world.

Ye Wentao is a young man that will be studying in the USA starting in the fall of 2014. He likes to fly electric-powered airplanes, helicopters, and even some small discus-launched gliders (DLG). Ye was a true advocate for his Chinese model aviation club. He was also very

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Even suffering a nasty mid-air collision this pilot was all smiles. I’m sure he has it fixed and is back at the Olympic Village practicing aerobatics.

This junior pilot was brought to the airfield by his mother to fly with the club members. He is only seven years old. As you can see he is having fun!

As is the case at many RC airfields the pilots were all working hard to hone their hovering skills. In this case the rudder of the model was enlarged.

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This pilot arrived at the Village by bicycle. He was carrying his model and transmitter in a backpack.

The model was pushed around a bit in the wind.

This little GB racer looks very much like the little foamy that was formerly sold by Tower Hobbies.

It flew well, even in the slight wind.

RC-SF.COM

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FEATURE

BEIJING RC

gracious, explaining the models the pilots were flying as well as how and where they fly. I was most impressed with his small DLG, which we may soon see in the USA as it finds an importer willing to bring it stateside.

Ye also introduced me to his friends so that I could photograph them and their models. He was truly one of the most enthusiastic modelers I’ve been privileged to meet in quite some time.

As you would expect, because the Chinese have been the innovators of the quadcopters, I saw a DJI Phantom 2 in action at the helicopter site. In this case it was flown by Wan

Jingchao. He has his quad set up to provide first person view (FPV) flying. Wan was the epitome of concentration as he navigated his Phantom 2 for some picture taking of the buildings and aircraft that were being flown. You’ll want to notice the observatory in the background of the accompanying photo — I found it interesting in that it is used for looking up while the quad is being used to look down on the people, places and things. Talk about fun for Wan — even though his face never really showed it. Again, Wan is the type of pilot that will demand better and cheaper products from the

manufacturers in the future.

Watch out helicopter pilots! You are about to see serious competition coming from all areas of China as pilots like Wang Yue hone their skills in preparation for competing head to head with RCers everywhere.

Wang was very skilled! Moreover, he was extremely cautious, explaining to me that he was flying his helicopter in a confined space that required him to be very cautious as to were and how he flew it. Even so, when I asked him if he could hover it inverted for me he did so, but with the concern for my safety.

He wasn’t about showing off for the

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Wan Jingchao is shown here setting up his FPV system for his Phantom 2 quadcopter.

Again, note that his gear came packed in a backpack.

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With a GoPro camera mounted to the quad, Wan was flying it all around the area taking photos of people, places and things.

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It took Wan a couple of minutes to get his quad readied for flight and then it was all about using it to do some aerial photography.

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I don’t know who was flying this little helicopter, but it looks mysteriously like a Blade® brand machine. It was very nimble in flight too.

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The pilot gave me a little inverted hovering flight, so I could catch a few quick photos. He was quite skilled and steady on the sticks. twitter.com/rcsportflyer

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Wang Yue hovered his 900size helicopter inverted for me. I wanted to show you how they are flying in close proximity to the apartments.

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Wang did a little 3D flying, but he kept the helicopter under control at all times because of how near the flying site is to people.

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Wang Yue was the owner and pilot of this 900-size X-Treme electric-powered helicopter.

He is a very good pilot and super safe too.

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Ye Wentao proudly sports his club’s jacket, which is not too different from how we often wear our club’s hat or T-shirt.

It was just fun to be there.

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If you want future pilots, you need to introduce them early on to the hobby, which is the case with this little guy. You can see his fascination!

camera. Rather, he was focused on flying his helicopter very safely so that I could snap a few quick photos of it in flight.

I’ll wrap this article up by saying I think a large contingent of future competitors in the area of RC airplanes, helicopters, gliders and multirotors will come from this growing community of Chinese pilots. It simply has to be the case as the middle class grows and as those individuals look to model aviation as a way to recreate. Moreover, as I see it, the Chinese are fierce competitors and they enjoy the challenges that only competition delivers.

Yeah I know, I’m lecturing a facebook.com/rcsportflyer

little bit, but it seems as obvious as the nose on my face, that because now many of the aircraft and radio systems are built in China that domestic consumption of those products will grow. It is also obvious that the Chinese RC pilots are having as much fun or more than we do here in the USA. As such, they are becoming evangelists for the hobby just as we’ve all been for the last 70-plus years — or at least since Dr Walt Good added radio control to his model in 1937.

What is different about the

Chinese is they’ve been introduced to RC by the West. They’ve become the manufacturers for RC aircraft and systems of all kinds. Now they are rapidly becoming the pilots of these aircraft, with a want to be recognized as world class pilots.

It will be extremely interesting to see how the Chinese modeling community evolves. Importantly, it will be intriguing to see their level of competitiveness. I’m assuming our pilots will face some stiff competition soon, just as our manufacturers have over the last few decades.

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PILOT RC

FROM START TO FINISH, THIS FACTORY MAKES AIRPLANES YOU’LL WANT TO FLY!

BY Wil Byers

P ZHONG SHAN

ilot-RC is a relatively new company. It opened for operation in March of 2008.

The impetus for the company was Tony Tan, with the help of an RC friend. Tony is an RC pilot from the south of China who told me he has a true passion for flying giant-scale RC airplanes. Tony started Pilot-RC with his friend and a very experienced giant-scale builder, Elvis Zhou.

As Tony told me, he was an electrical engineer before starting Pilot-RC. In nearly all of his spare time he was building and flying giant-scale, gas-powered airplanes.

Tony Tan is the owner of Pilot-RC. He is greeting me at the door of his 28,000 square foot factory in Zhongshan city, Guangdong Province, China.

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Then he met Elvis in 2005. They became RC friends, enjoying the thrills of flying giant-scale, aerobatic airplanes. So during a flying session on January 1, 2008, Tony and Elvis discussed the idea of opening a factory to build high-quality RC airplanes. They wanted to create a company that would be entirely based in China, rather than just part of the company. It was not long after the discussion that Tony and Elvis put together a business plan to start a company to build model airplanes.

So it was that in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province, China the

Tony shows me the custom-made 55%-scale Yak-54 he is making for a customer in Spain. He told me it will be shipped to the customer by DHL air freight. twitter.com/rcsportflyer

factory was opened, with a meager beginning, but one that was focused on making high-quality, giant-scale, gas-powered RC airplanes.

As I learned, the company started small in a shop that was only 10,760 square feet. It had only four workers besides Tony and Elvis. It has since grown and now occupies a building that is 28,000+ square feet and employs 80 workers. The factory is also located in a small (by Chinese standards) but very clean city which is very near Hong Kong. This location aids Pilot-RC in exporting the models

to countries all over the world.

What I found inside Pilot-RC is a factory that is clean and well organized in terms of production.

Its staff seems 100-percent-plus dedicated to making high-quality, superb-flying airplanes. Moreover, I found that Tony is dedicated to his workers. As an example, Tony designed and built a huge air conditioning system to remove the balsa dust from the air so that his employees have a healthy working environment. The work spaces were also well kept, as were the offices.

Tony explained that he is dedicated to creating a work environment where his employees are appreciated for their skills.

DESIGN Pilot-RC is extremely well organized from design to packaging.

I was impressed!

The product line for Pilot-RC airplanes is designed by Elvis.

However, Pilot-RC uses customer feedback as a method for evolving product design and quality — doing so since the company’s beginning.

Laser Cutting

This is one of three large laser cutters that Pilot-RC uses to cut both plywood and balsa parts. Notice that even this laser cutter is relatively clean, even though it is in constant use.

As you can see, not much plywood is wasted in the laser cutting operation, with many parts being cut from each piece of wood.

This is engineering that takes time and money to do.

Prefabrication All parts of the factory are kept clean and well organized so there is a worker-friendly environment for the employees. This is a prefabrication area.

Here is the beginnings of a left wing for a Yak, with the wing tube glued in position, the spar in place and some of the ribs located.

This worker is building wing spars for a Yak 54. The spars will then be located in a jig, ribs added, wing tube installed, and then sheeting applied. facebook.com/rcsportflyer

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The worker is applying glue to the appropriate parts to ready it for the next step. He is paying special attention to details so as to not miss any of the parts.

At this point the wing sheeting is applied to the wing’s structure. It is held in position with tape and readied for the wing pressing process.

In this step of the build, the wing ribs, spars, wing tube and leading and trailing edges are positioned in a wing jig so that the parts are aligned properly.

Here the wing is inserted in the wing press. The press is heated so that the glue gets activated to make a strong, long lasting bond with the wood parts.

Assembly At this point in the build, the fuselages and wings have been assembled and mostly ready for sanding and finishing. The long fuselage is for a 1/3-scale glider.

This is one of the areas where the parts come to be sanded to final form. Sanding blocks guarantee the parts get finished without waviness.

All the workers in the sanding area were wearing dust masks to protect them against balsa dust, plus the factory has a huge air filter system!

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Pilot-RC’s first airplane was an 87-in. wingspan YAK. It was offered to the consumers on April 15, 2008.

Their current product line includes: Bergfalke II-55 glider, Columbia 400, Decathlon, Edge 540, Extra 260, Extra 300, Extra 330SC, Sbach 342, Skyline 182, YAK 54, YAK 55 and a trainer airplane. All their models are offered in different sizes, with the exception of the Bergfalke glider and the Skyline 182, with a 50-ccsize, 128-in. wingspan Skyline in the design phase. Pilot-RC will also be testing their new jet trainer in July, which should be available to the consumers by late 2014.

It is worth noting that PilotRC will provide at no cost to the customer the wooden parts for their airplane should they crash it and want to rebuild. Obviously, this is not the wood to rebuild an entire airplane, but it is the parts needed to make a reasonable repair to the airframe, wing, stabilizer, etc.

BUILD The factory assembly process understandably starts with design.

Then it moves right into the production side, with the making of the wood parts, laser cutting,

sheeting assembly, parts fabrication, finish sanding, covering, etc.

The next step is that of fuselage assembly, wing making, empennage fabrication, and vacuum forming canopies. The assembly process of Pilot-RC airplanes has truly been engineered well and thought out for an efficient step-by-step assembly line type of operation, which helps to speed the build and thereby reduce the cost to the consumers.

All the laser-cut parts are engineered for a keyed-together fit.

As I watched some of the builders assembling wings, fuselages and empennages, it was notable that they were paying special attention to detail. They were making certain that no wood joint was missed in terms of applying adhesive. And, while you may find another manufacturer’s giant-scale airplane that is lighter in weight, I can assure you the Pilot-RC airplanes are well made, strong and durable enough to provide hours and hours of enjoyable piloting.

Also, you should know that Tony and Elvis are focused on such things as wood grain, spar design and fabrication, wing joiner quality, parts fit, finish quality, overall airframe balance, engine mounting, landing

gear design, accessories, covering, package quality, and international shipping methods.

Overall I was extremely impressed with the organization of Pilot-RC’s assembly process. It was the type of operation that has been designed to ensure excellent quality control, from their laser-cut parts, to the parts assembly operation, to finish detail and even to packing the airplanes to avoid the possibility of shipping damage.

FLY During our lunch break, Tony explained that his airplanes must pass some iterative design and performance testing. In other words, Tony flies the heck out of his airplanes before they are considered ready for sale to the consumers.

Tony emphasized that he focuses on overall performance and handling of the airplanes. He also checks for proper center of gravity position, as well as engine thrust line. He also flies his models to test their strength and durability, hinge quality, abd control surface size. Additionally, he searches for any resulting weak spots that may occur in the airframe.

As I learned, most of his

If you are a giantscale airplane enthusiast, visiting this factory will have you smiling from ear to ear as you see airplane after airplane coming together.

The model in this photo is being preassembled to check alignment and to do the necessary checks in addition to parts fitting to the airframe.

These are just some of for fuselages waiting for their next step in the build. Each part of the airplane gets attention to detail by the workers.

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Quality Control At this step of the build, the builder is attaching the canopy to its canopy frame and fuselage hatch. This worker is super skilled and FAST!

Here a worker is putting the finishing touches on a set of wheel pants. As you can see, the worker makes many molded wheel pants per run.

Quality control is very much a part of Pilot-RC’s business model. Here a worker inspects a vacuum-formed canopy for imperfections.

Covering & Finish

Pilot-RC uses Ultracote covering material. It is put on tight, so it will stay tight, even when the airplane is exposed to temperature changes.

The factory women are busy masking the wheel pants, getting them ready for the paint booth. It was amazing to watch them in action.

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Tell me you would not want to take your pick of the airplanes in this rack. I know you would. Me too! I was in awe of the number of airplanes being built.

This worker was applying paint to a cowl.

He was very skilled at applying the paint, such that you’ll get a airplane that looks great.

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Built Right

It seems that Pilot-RC is making a name for themselves in the giantscale airplane industry. If you should need more information please contact Tony at pilot-rc@139.com.

By the way, Tony speaks excellent English.

Chief Aircraft 1301 Brookside Blvd Grants Pass, OR 97526 Phone: 800-447-3408 chiefaircraft.com

MANUFACTURER

QUALITY I’ll say it again, Pilot-RC’s manufacturing is a quality operation from start to finish. Their factory is clean, well organized and well run. Tony and Elvis are focused on creating a work environment that guarantees their employees are dedicated to building high-quality airplanes — even to the point of

providing well-kept rooms and good boarding at no charge to the employees that need it.

Their airplane kits typically included carbon fiber parts, landing gear and hardware, wing tubes and tail wheel assemblies. When you buy a Pilot-RC airplane you’ll get a hardware package that includes premade pushrods, control horns, servo arms, tires, and even a fuel system that is installed — including the fuel filter and dot. Their models are also covered in Ultracote® covering, so you know it will stay tight and look good on the airplane.

Finally, Pilot-RC has just introduced a line of servos that are designed to deliver high-quality, high-torque performance. Now you can buy a Pilot-RC airplane and get their servos, which are optimized to deliver the best performance for their models. And, if you want, Pilot-RC can do a custom design scheme for one of their airplanes. It will add a few days to the build, but it will be your specially designed color scheme on their model.

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models go through at least three or four designs iterations before they are ready for the end users.

Consequently, he and Elvis are constantly working to improve the designs so the consumers get the most enjoyment from flying their models. Additionally, Pilot-RC does incorporate design changes that come from user feedback, when it is appropriate to enhancing the overall design of the airplane and its performance, which is like saying they are open to the pilots’ needs and wants in giant-scale performance. Simply, Tony and Elvis make the rational assumption that skilled pilots have knowledge.

Pilot-RC No.34, Chengnan Er Road Zhongshan city, Guangdong Province China Phone: 86 137-024-53450 pilot-rc.com

I could not help myself, Tony holds a set of Columbia 400 wings for a model I’ll be getting in the near future. It is just one sexy machine, and will be DA-120 powered!

Pilot-RC airplanes are designed, engineered, fabricated and built right from the ground up. Their airplanes will give you many hours of true piloting enjoyment.

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Tony shows us how his hardware packages are done. Every part and piece you’ll need to build your model comes in their hardware packs.

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THUNDER TIGER

AN INSIDE LOOK AT HOW GREAT RC PRODUCTS ARE MADE

BY Wil Byers

YU YAO

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u Yao, China, is a city to the south of Shanghai by about 100 miles. It is a small city by Chinese standards, with a population of approximately one million. It is also home to the three-year-old Thunder Tiger (TT) factory.

Thunder Tiger is a corporation owned by Aling Lai. Aling has been in the model airplane and hobby business for many years. So, when I was offered an opportunity to visit his factory to see how Thunder Tiger airplanes, boats, and cars are made, I was enthused about the opportunity.

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Thunder Tiger’s factory is located to the south of Yuyao, set at the base of lush, green, rolling hills. It is surrounded by other factories. Just to the west of the main building about 100 meters is a dormitory area, which also houses a large dining hall for the more than 400 employees.

There is a courtyard area that I was told is sometimes used for helicopter testing or for their RC cars.

What is impressive is to go inside the factory and see how this sevenstory operation is organized and run, making some of the best RC products you can buy anywhere.

It begins with a huge office area. The office area is adjoined by the design center, which also does duty as the order and export area. All areas are clean, well lit, and well stocked with computers.

The employees were sporting Thunder Tiger jackets, which gave the company a cohesive, corporate family feel to me as an outsider.

Moreover, I was greeted warmly by the employees, from management to production staff. Mr. Terry Hsu acted as my host. He has been with Thunder Tiger for more than 20 years, and is an expert in nearly every aspect of plant operation and production. As such, he showed me the factory’s inner workings. twitter.com/rcsportflyer

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Yu Yao is a small city by Chinese standards, but it is home to many production factories. It has the feel of a traditional Chinese city.

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Jimmy Lai is Thunder Tiger’s development manager. He has been with the company for many years and is responsible for product evolution and testing.

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Terry Hsu is the production manager at Thunder Tiger, Yu Yao China. He is showing me one of the plastic boat hulls blown by their custom-made machine.

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There are many machine bays in the Thunder Tiger factory. Parts progress from machine to machine in the build. Notice how clean this area is kept.

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Here a technician is using software that renders a part in three dimensions. This 3D image will then be used by the CNC machine to cut the part to form.

PEOPLE As with any large, successful corporation, Thunder Tiger is run by dedicated staff throughout. I felt like I was looking at a well-oiled machine from design, to packaging, and to distribution. It is truly difficult to put it into words, but seeing this factory in action detailed the who, what, where, when, and how of this factory.

Terry underscored for me how Thunder Tiger is constantly changing its product line to meet the needs and wants of the consumers. He also explained how there are literally hundreds of machining steps just in the process of building one kind of car engine. This is obviously the case with many other products as well.

On the machine tool floor I witnessed the employees completely and totally focused on their part of the operation. As you can see from the photos that accompany this article, Thunder Tiger has invested heavily in many machine tools, including CNC cutters, water jet machines, and CAD systems. You truly had to see the scope of this operation to understand just how much time, money and man hours go into each product made in this large factory.

As Terry showed me, each part facebook.com/rcsportflyer

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typically moves through multiple steps, going from one machine to the next. The workers understand the process intimately, so the quality control is exceptional. From the tool making to the CNC cutting, each part is made to the highest standards.

I was particularly impressed with how the steel molds are made

At this stage, the machinist is readying his machine to cut a part. He is checking coordinates before running the machine. The cutting is done inside the machines’ enclosure to keep the operator safe.

for the RC helicopter blades. Also, the custom-made blow-molding machine for making one-piece plastic hulls for RC boats was amazing, with it running from one floor to the next. Impressively, the employees know these machines inside out and backwards, and how to get optimum performance from RC-SF.COM

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The machine is running, with the metal being cooled by water/oil mixture. It is programmed to cut a specified part, in a one-after-the-other fashion.

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This step shows you how an engine is jigged in the machine for cutting bearing recesses, carburetor facings, and the cylinder bore.

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Notice the quality of the work and the craftsmanship that go into these engine blocks. These two are example of the superb casting done by TT.

10 This worker is using a dial caliper to check the tolerances on a billet that was just pressed. Quality control was evident everywhere in the TT factory.

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them during production.

DESIGN Thunder Tiger makes airplanes, boats, cars and helicopters, with the possible multirotor machine on the near horizon.

Consequently, each part must be designed in CAD, then have those digital files exported so that the appropriate machine can cut or machine the parts. Those parts are then hand finished or assembled into a complete assembly. When you see the designs being turned into

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a working model at the end of the production, it is quite impressive.

Think of the process for building a simple airplane, for example: There is the fuselage, and all its accompanying parts, the wing with all its internal workings, the empennage and its mounts, the hardware packages, the engine/ motor, landing gear and, of course, the propeller. Each of these parts must be designed in CAD and then turned into a file for production by either a CNC machine or by hand

This gives you an idea of just how many motors are made at Thunder Tiger in a day. This is just one tub of car motors that will go to car installation next.

tools. It is a complex process for each item, with many drawings.

As Terry explained, each part must be checked for tolerances to meet quality control standards, and done so at each point along the production lines and assembly areas.

The designs are often very complex too. As I was told, some of the designs require the completion of as many as 100+ steps along the production process. These steps must be engineered too.

Consequently, the design engineers twitter.com/rcsportflyer

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spindles installed waiting to be assembled. There were many! The quality of the fit and finish of these parts is excellent.

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This engineer is going over the support drawings for a TT product.

Obviously, these drawings will result in the machining and eventual build of a product.

14 These stators have all been wire

wound by hand. TT uses all high quality wiring that is of consistent copper grade, quality and size to provide superb performance.

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Here you see how a stator gets wound by hand. The workers were extremely skilled at this task and were amazingly fast — a few hundred make for such skill.

not only design the individual parts of a product, they must also create a production process design. As I see it, the production process may be much more complicated than the part design.

Also, the tooling for some of the parts must be created. I was particularly impressed with the tooling for the helicopter parts.

For example, the tooling for the helicopter blades is designed for the two halves of the molds to bolt together. Consider that the molds facebook.com/rcsportflyer

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16 This worker is making a helicopter canopy.

He is bushing resin into the fiberglass cloth that has been laid up in the female mold. It appears the mold has been painted prior. Later the two halves of the mold will get bolted together and a seam will be applied to the joint of the two parts. Once the seam cures the part is removed from the mold.

are made of steel, and then very highly polished and you’ll get a sense of just how difficult this tooling is to make and then to polish.

Also, the parts for the electric motors are made by machine.

However, the laminations are then wire wound by hand. It is a very tedious process — one that requires attention to detail for each motor in order to get a consistent rpm per volt (Kv) for each motor. Also, the wire for Thunder Tiger’s motors must be of a uniform grade and size. Then too,

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each part must be designed so they are easy to assemble, and done so with the least number of tools.

Even the process for the handmade items such as canopies and finish items is designed to run in an efficient step-by-step fashion. If you look at the photos of the boat hulls you will see that while the color schemes are very attractive, they are done by hand. The colors are cut from vinyl and then applied by the workers to the hulls. Then the next step in the process is to get the vinyls RC-SF.COM

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to adhere aggressively to the hulls by the drying in a heated room! When you look at the finished hull you would think it was painted on, but it is not — amazing quality.

PRODUCTION I’ve explained the production process a bit at this point. However, the production line is quite something to see in action.

Each part is mostly made by machine. It then goes into a basket or bin to progress to its next phase of machining or assembly. There is very little wasted time between the production steps. In some cases, the parts move along in an assembly line fashion on a conveyor belt. In other cases, they may be moved by cart.

There is production line management, however; from what I saw, each employee seems to know

that they are an integral part in the process of getting their parts or pieces ready for the next step in the assembly line.

I’ll underscore that the work environment is extremely clean!

There is no clutter or confusion as to what the next step in the process is for the product. Rather, the workers seem well educated in their respective jobs. Let me underscore that Thunder Tiger’s production facility is a huge building. I’m not sure how many square feet exactly, but it would have been nearly impossible to clean it just to impress me. I’m confident that this is the way Aling Lai has instructed his managers to run the operation — heck, even from floor to floor the operation looked much the same in terms of organization and cleanliness.

There is one other thing about

TT’s production that was evident to me: TT Yu Yao has spent much money on training, either on the job, or specialized. I know there is a large labor pool in China. However, much of the production work is very specialized, which means training!

And, training costs time and money.

QUALITY CONTROL I did not see any quality control guys running around the factory, checking tolerances with a micrometer. I did see that TT has a clean, well-organized quality inspection center. It was stocked with a coordinate measuring machine and a nice surface plate and some tools you would normally see in a good, standard, laboratory. One would expect that TT is putting those tools to use to make certain their products are of consistent and high

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The helicopter canopies come here after they have been painted. The final finish decals will be applied at the next step in the assembly process.

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are getting a final finish before they are approved for installation on the helicopter’s rotor head.

19 The boat hull is getting its vinyl set of

very thin, high-quality decals applied.

Once she has them perfectly placed the hull will go to the drying room.

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steel molds up close. The finish on them was outstanding, which gets replicated into the carbon blade!

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and support staff. Moreover, it costs much money to set up and run a factory like Thunder Tiger’s Yu Yao operation.

For more photos of the Thunder Tiger factory, visit rc-sf.com.

Thunder Tiger

Great Planes

No.7, Gongyecyu 6th Rd, Situn Dist. Tichung City 40755, Taiwan Phone: 886-4-23591616 thundertiger.com

P.O. Box 9021 Champaign, IL 61821 Phone: 800-637-7660 greatplanes.com

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like coming out of the mold.

Notice the flawless shine on the blades, and that matching blades are made in the same set of molds.

balancing a set of rotor blades before they go to have paint applied. As you can see, this set is in perfect balance and ready for the paint booth.

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MANUFACTURE

DISTRIBUTION Thunder Tiger has, over the past 30 years, grown its business significantly. In 2005 they acquired Team Associated, which is the number one RC car brand the world over. Because they make boats, cars, airplanes, and helicopters, Thunder Tiger has distribution agreements with companies such as Great Planes USA, Tower Hobbies and Best RC as well as European distributors.

I was not able to see any sea containers being loaded, but I did see the way the models get packaged

and the warehouse area. The models are well packaged against damage.

The boxes are all designed by the Thunder Tiger staff, including the box art. The part of the warehouse that I saw was pretty much stacked from floor to ceiling with model airplane boxes waiting to be loaded into a container. It was fun just seeing this many airplanes in one place.

In the office area, the girls were busy staffing the phones and computers taking orders. I can only guess at how many orders are taken each day, but it must be in the hundreds.

As my day wound down at Thunder Tiger, I felt educated in the inner workings of a large model manufacturer. It is a complex operation that requires a huge staff of management, engineers, designers, production personnel,

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quality standards.

Then too, as I went from production area to area, I witnessed high quality assembly and organization, with workers checking their respective parts tolerances at a number of points along the way.

line operations that are used to assemble the Thunder Tiger RC cars. When the car comes off the other end it is boxed and ready for shipping.

the boat hulls. The boats look like they’ve been painted, but TT uses superb quality vinyl decals that dress up the boats’ hulls from top to bottom.

that work at Thunder Tiger is applying the finish decals to the vacuum-formed body of an RC car. These women are fast at their work.

sold in the U.S. However, every one of these helicopters is tested for flight in a protective cage before it leaves the factory.

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very traditional Chinese city. However, new factories surround the downtown area as the city grows.

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DJI VISIT

THE INDUSTRY LEADER DEFINES THE FUTURE OF POSSIBLE

BY Wil Byers

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D

uring the Shanghai Model Fair in 2009, I met Mr. Frank Wang. Mr. Wang, 34, is known as the Chief Executive Officer and Technology Officer of DJI, now an international company with offices the world over.

At the time of that first meeting, Frank was busy demonstrating the capabilities of what he said was an innovative quadcopter —capable of flying autonomously. I found him to be a very gregarious guy and filled with enthusiasm for his new machine. While I was impressed with its capabilities (he let me hover it in the convention hall ), I did not see it as revolutionary in terms of aviation and the way we now have the ability to look at and interact with our environment and society using multirotors/drones. Well, hindsight is at least 20/20 at a minimum.

So, with the literal skyrocketing of multirotors machines since that meeting in 2009, I’ve wanted to visit the DJI factory and headquarters to see what makes a company like DJI so outstandingly successful.

Therefore, during my trip to China in March, I made it a point to go to Shenzhen — DJI’s headquarters city — and call on DJI to see how its operation is run.

Unfortunately, I was not able to visit the DJI production facility, but I was able to visit their offices in the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (DJI has since moved).

What I found was an energetic, millennial (Generation X) staff that was a reflection of their CEO’s vision.

It was like walking into the future!

Everyone was friendly and cordial,

excited to show us around the offices — even though they were in the process of moving. I even caught a glimpse of Mr. Wang as he hurried to a meeting with DJI’s staff.

BEGINNINGS DJI started out of Frank Wang’s love for flying RC helicopters. He grew up in the city of Hangzhou, China, where he learned early on that crashing an RC helicopter could take him months to repair and require no small amount of money for a young man living in China. Nevertheless,

DJI’s new Phantom 2 Vision is the perfect match for their new 3-axis control camera gimbal and an FPV system. facebook.com/rcsportflyer

RC-SF.COM

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FEATURE

DJI VISIT

Wang persisted and tried to innovate by learning the physics of stabilized helicopter flight.

When Wang entered Hong Kong University, his major was electrical engineering; he graduated in 2006.

It is worth noting that his senior project was to build a helicopter control system that would basically stabilize his helicopter. Unfortunately, it crashed before it could be demonstrated for the professors.

After graduating, Wang continued his studies of helicopter control.

He also tried to turn his helicopter stabilization systems into a profitable business. The business began as he and a few other employees built controller systems for drone makers.

Their marketing was via user groups and forums. It was not long before DJI started to make drones, which may have been shortly before I met Mr. Wang at Shanghai. The rest is pretty much history, and the reshaping of the future of unmanned aviation systems (UAS).

S1000 What I was fortunate to get to see and photograph at DJI was the new S1000 octocopter, which is a highperformance machine that employs some of the most innovative technology available in a multirotor to date.

Let me tell my story of the visit to underscore DJI’s innovative culture.

I’ll start by explaining that I’d had some communications with DJI prior to arriving in Shenzhen. However, once I arrived at the headquarters, I

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RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

twitter.com/rcsportflyer

DJI’s new octocopter incorporates ESCs at the motor base, carbon composite structure, custom high-strength plastic propellers, retractable landing gear, foldable wings technology, 11 Kg maximum takeoff weight, and 15-minute hover times at 15 amps.

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FEATURE

DJI VISIT

Photographers, the S1000 is capable of carrying a few different camera types on its new 3-axis gimbal system.

was informed that they were moving, and the person I had communicated with was not available. Even so, the staff at DJI welcomed me and RCSF’s art director. We explained the purpose of our visit and they invited us in. Moreover, they offered up their photography studio. They also provided assistance by way of their art director, Sheldon Schwartz, and their marketing manager, Mr. Michael Perry. Then too, their photographer and the DJI professional multirotor pilot helped. They simply gave us the run of their studio and its lighting system, a couple of cameras, tripods, etc., and a couple of new S1000 octocopters, equipped with gimbals and cameras. It was nothing short of amazing to me, especially in light of the fact that DJI’s staff didn’t know I was going to be there because of communication problems.

What you see on the cover of the

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RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

magazine is a reflection of the time spent in the DJI studios.

SYNOPSIS My observation, for whatever it is worth, is that DJI now has 1500 employees and is growing because Mr. Frank Wang has created an innovative environment that is very hard to find in today’s corporate culture. It is not surprising, therefore, that DJI has grown from a few employees working out of an apartment in 2006 when it was established to one that is bursting at the seams today.

I think it is exceedingly fair to say that DJI’s multirotor platforms have changed the world’s perspective of drone flying from that of simply hobbyists’ obsessive-compulsive behavior to that of one where professionals are using drones as camera platforms and/or for the gathering of sensor data.

The use of drones as camera carriers was spotlighted at the recent

National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas (RC-SF’s May 2014 issue), where DJI had a huge booth presence.

Drone use as sensor carriers comes in many forms: infrared, air quality, spectral analysis, etc.

I’d venture to speculate what we’ll see from DJI in the future is their multirotor machines being used in a more integral fashion for agricultural inspection, forestry, marine biology, geology, safety, security, and, yes, observation. Moreover, I think we’ll see more and more people using DJI’s drones to enhance their enjoyment of photography and ground-based flying via First Person View (FPV) systems.

Thanks to Mr. Frank Wang and his dedicated and innovative staff, we can now look down on the world from new vantage points. Who could have imagined this even a decade ago?

I’d have to say, “The future of possible is happening now.” twitter.com/rcsportflyer

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Center frame weight : 1330 g (46.90 oz) w/ landing gear mounting base, servos Landing gear size : 460 mm (L) × 511 mm (W) × 305 mm (H) (top width: 155 mm) Motor Stator size : 41 × 14 mm Kv : 400 rpm/volt Max power : 500 watts Weight (w/ cooling fan) : 158 g ESC : 40-amp Working current : 40 amps Working voltage : 6S LiPo Signal frequency : 30 – 450 Hz Drive PWM frequency : 8 KHz Weight (w/ radiators) : 35 g Foldable Propeller (1552/1552R) Material : High-strength performanceengineered plastics Size : 15 × 5.2 in.

Weight : 13 g Flight Parameters Takeoff weight : 6.0 – 11.0 Kg Total weight : 4.2 Kg Power battery : LiPo 6S 10000 – 20000-mAh 15C (min) Max power : 4000 watts consumption Hover power : 1500 watts @ 9.5 Kg consumption takeoff weight Hover time : 15 minutes @ 15000-mAh & 9.5 Kg takeoff weight Working environment : -10 °C ~ +40 °C temperature

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BUILD

HALL’S SPRINGFIELD “BULLDOG” PART II “A GOOD SCALE MODEL NEVER LOOKS TO BE AS MUCH WORK AS IT ACTUALLY WAS”

BY Robert J. Caso

M

y initial article on the Bulldog focused on how the model came to be, the overall design concept, and some specifics on the fuselage, since this is where all the action takes place.

In this installment, I will delve into the design for the fancy gull wing, the removable outer panels, and the scale, sprung landing gear, which was personally responsible for many

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RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

late nights. I will also detail how I finished the model, since this took longer than actually building it.

THE GULL On a more conventional model — even one having a two or three piece wing — there is usually a center section either in the form of a fuselage or an actual wing center section that forms a contiguous

line and which aids in the alignment of the outer panels. Not so with the Bulldog; the wings are two discreet members that nevertheless must act as one. So, the primary design challenge here was to have mirror images of the gull, installed identically, on each side of the fuselage. To achieve this, each gull’s fore and aft spars key into slots residing in a pair of strategically twitter.com/rcsportflyer

1

Tabs on the root of gull spars mate with boxed-out slots in the fuselage bulkheads to provide a positive location on the fuselage.

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One-sixteenth-inch skin has been applied to the gull after holes were made in the fuselage for the aileron lead routing.

3

Here the model has been trammeled level and the wings test fitted to establish the proper dihedral and wing incidence.

4

The wing mounting tabs have been installed, the LE and sheeting completed, and filler has been applied for the filleting.

placed fuselage formers — the slots themselves hiding just beneath the skinned fuselage. I boxed the slots out underneath with some sheeting so the tabs on the gull spars would slide into them positively, once the skin was slotted to reveal the openings. This gave me a consistent fore/aft location and proper spacing between the spars. The gull’s ribs, once positioned on the spars, also eliminated any twist and caused each assembly to act as a unit.

Okay, two axes taken care of, the game now was to make sure that each side would locate the wing root at the same level and with no wing droop or too much dihedral.

The long tabs on the spars helped immensely with this, but there still was enough play at the gull’s root to cause a problem. I had previously made a bench stand for the fuselage that bolted onto the firewall location facebook.com/rcsportflyer

and I had designed this to hold the fuselage level when placed on a flat surface. With the fuselage thusly trammeled, I simply measured from the table up to the next to last gull rib, compared these measurements to my CAD drawing, and then tacked in the gull to the fuselage. I left the very last rib loose on the gull to aid in positioning the wing, which came next.

REMOVABLE WINGS Removable wings on a 51-in.wingspan model are really not completely necessary and, as it is, I rarely take them off. Nevertheless, such a feature does have its conveniences here for servo wire routing, and it aids in the ability to set the proper dihedral during construction. Note that this feature is peculiar to the larger model and therefore required a considerable

amount of “clean sheet” design effort.

The outer panels are quite conventional and offered few challenges to build. Having a “D” box design with two hard balsa secondary spars however, make them quite sturdy. Purists will note I did not pursue a completely scale layout here, opting instead for simplicity as the prototype had what looks like a million ribs in each panel.

The mounts for each wing consist of a slender tab of eighth-inch hard plywood on each gull that slides into an internal box in the wing, through which a 4-40 screw is threaded up into a captive blind nut in the wing root, thus securing it. As I constantly recommend, it pays to look at how a particular subject’s wing is supported, and where — in this case as with many others, there is more wing area outboard of the functional “V”struts RC-SF.COM

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HALL’S SPRINGFIELD “BULLDOG” – PART II

5

The open LG leg showing its box truss components and stub axle.

Each leg was glassed after being closed up.

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An off-the-model test assembly of the LG mount. Due to space limitations, the components required assembly in the model.

7

The LG mount interlocks together and with the fuselage longerons. The latter is mocked up here using sections of light ply.

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LG was test-installed in the fuselage. Note the jigging spacers employed to keep the fore and aft sections of the mount properly spaced.

than inboard. Thus, there is virtually no flight load on the wing root; the struts do it all. All I had to do was to make sure the tabs prevented twist, but don’t forget the struts help a lot here also.

The remaining chores were to get a clean, tight, and accurate joint at the wing root next to the gull and to build a pair of struts that would lock in the correct dihedral and wing incidence. This is why I left the end rib on the gull loose. I first located and screwed in the tab to the wing, then tacked it to the gull’s end rib and again trammeled the fuselage using the stand mentioned above.

I then built adjustable wing tip supports from two-by-fours clamped to the table, and plywood rectangles supporting the wing, which also were adjustable vertically. Again using my CAD dimensions, I measured up from

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the table to the tip on each side and then checked each wing’s incidence with a meter. Once everything was A-OK, I glued in the locating tab and its rib on the gull, being careful not to glue up the wing!

After this was complete, and with the model still trammeled, I built the struts using flattened aluminum tube lugs, connected with carbon fiber (CF) tube.

SPRUNG LANDING GEAR The centrally-pivoting landing gear (LG) really gave me fits and held up much of the construction because I wanted to avoid having the gull and the empennage hanging off the model while handling it for the LG install. There is a fullscale Bulldog replica being built in Washington State by the Skagit Air Museum. The museum’s website

had a few in-process shots showing the LG configuration. Key to this was the location of the shock absorbers which are positioned internally out towards the skin of the fuselage with the LG leg poking through a square opening in the fuselage. Each LG leg was dog-legged shape, angling forward where it exited each side of the fuselage. So, the leg had to deal with not only vertical landing loads, but also with somewhat of a torsional, twisting factor as well. And, like everything else on this model, it had to be light. I felt that a hollow box-truss would give me the crosssection that it needed along with a lightweight but sturdy structure, which is complicated by the need for it to taper in two dimensions to make it look right.

I built the box-truss from 1/16-in. plywood sheet, internally supported twitter.com/rcsportflyer

9

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A jig was also made to help guide the proper bends in the stub axle since no adjustments could be made once installed.

10

The fore and aft LG fairings were done in building foam and then filled and glassed over during the finishing process.

To properly locate the ply mount for the wheel fairing, a hardwood block was drilled and slid on the axle – easy!

12

The wheel pant fairing at the lower end was also done in foam, and then the entire leg was filled and glassed.

by carbon fiber sheet and balsa, trussing it diagonally along its internal length with more ply and balsa laminates. This design required I use a stub axle for the wheel, which had to be as long as possible since it was going to be the initial point of contact upon landing, but it couldn’t be so long as to disturb my truss. Due to the various angles inherent in the LG structure, the music wire stub axle had to be bent as if by a contortionist so the wheel had the correct camber and toe in.

To prevent the axle from twisting, I could not simply make a single bend out to the wheel, but rather had to make a second right angle bend, this one being buried by carbon and ply. At the pivot end of the leg, a cross-drilled hole accepts a section of 1/8-in. ID aluminum tube which, in turn, would accept a 1/8-in. OD facebook.com/rcsportflyer

axle. After all this, the legs were wrapped in lightweight fiberglass and epoxy. Then building foam leading and trailing edge fairings were added. These were primed, filled, and glassed as part of the finishing process described below.

The LG mount, which had to be test fitted and ultimately assembled piecemeal within the confines of the fuselage, resembles an inverted “T”, each leg of which ties into a structural longeron on the fuselage.

There are two of these: one fore and one aft, with the box truss LG leg in between, and the mounts for the springs outboard of all this. At this late date in the build, I noted with some disappointment that American screws (in this case a 4-40) do not come in 1/8-in. diameters to match the tube’s ID, and the smaller diameter yielded too much

play in the leg at the wheel. Excess play is a killer here and would add significantly to the fore/aft shock load on the LG leg and mount.

Plus, it would play havoc with the leg openings now carefully cut in the fuselage sides. A machinist friend, who is a lot smarter than I am, suggested threading a piece of 1/8-in. soft steel welding rod, which worked perfectly. A little lube, Loctite®, and a soldered-on safety tab and I was in business. Obtaining the springs for the shock mechanism resembled a harried Easter egg hunt, with me ordering stuff from the four points of the globe prior to finding a suitable set right at the local hardware store.

Installation of the LG legs and their mounts made a substantial portion of aft fuselage inaccessible and thus presented issues with RC-SF.COM

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BUILD

13

HALL’S SPRINGFIELD “BULLDOG” – PART II

As shown here, 0.75-ounce cloth was applied with Minwax Polycrylic over all the skinning to stabilize the balsa surfaces.

pushrod runs and battery location — the model now requiring a rather chunky 4S LiPo battery. I mounted the servos rather unconventionally around the circumferential lip of the fuselage, just behind the firewall mount, which facilitated a full 360 degrees of options for straight CF pushrod runs to the tail. The opening in fuselage is quite large, so it is easy to access both the servos’ holddown screws and their control horns.

14

Here the thick primer coat is carefully wet sanded off with 220grit paper mounted to a foam auto body sanding block.

FINISHING Since I am running out of room in this column, I will only briefly cover the finishing process I used.

After an initial sanding, filling, and leveling, nitrate dope was applied to waterproof the fuselage with 0.75-ounce cloth, applied using Minwax Polycrylic. Over this went a thinned coat of vinyl Spackle mixed with a little Polycrylic, sanded level and then more Polycrylic

was applied to waterproof. A full can of gray filler primer was hosed on and was wet sanded off all at once after letting it cure for a full day. The empennage was finished similarly and, after installing this, I then switched to white primer since gray tends to make red appear dull.

More mistakes and such were filled, re-primed and the fuselage was declared ready for paint. A similar treatment was done for the LG legs,

Pre-first flight static shot. For me, it’s more fun to watch somebody else fly it!

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RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

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Figure 1 Circles representing each bulkheadInitial have Bulkhead Layout been drawn at the intersection of the horizontal datum and vertical station lines.

Figure 2 Bulkhead Detail

Locations for the stringered section of the fuselage were easy to do in CAD. At right is a final bulkhead ready to be laser cut.

although the glass parts were simply sanded, filled, leveled, and primed in white. The wings and the movable control surfaces were covered with Sig Koverall, which was then doped and primed with Polycrylic. Klass Kote epoxy was used for the colors, and the model was pinstriped by hand by a friend who did one of my motorcycles.

FLYING With a 27-oz. per square foot wing loading, the Bulldog is a brisk, responsive, intermediate level flyer with no bad flight characteristics. facebook.com/rcsportflyer

The wings incorporate three degrees of washout, so it stalls gently and straight ahead. It also slows down for landing without issue. Although it is quite fast at full throttle, like the prototype, it was not designed for heavy acrobatics, but it can handle the occasional loop or roll. On takeoff, the rudder has quite a bit of authority early on during the roll out, so it should be used smoothly and sparingly. Upon landing, as it is currently set up, the sprung LG makes you look really good if you get it right, or really bad if you don’t.

It really could use a pair of softer

LG springs. The short couple of the nose/wing/tail appears to have no effect on the model’s overall stability or handling. So, the Bulldog is a surprisingly docile aircraft.

My father used to say, a good scale model never looks to be as much work as it actually was. The Bulldog certainly checks this box.

It was tricky to design and build, laborious to finish, and nervewracking to fly for the first time.

Nevertheless, I am also checking the “success” box with this one….

Rcaso916@aol.com

RC-SF.COM

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PREP FOR COVERING

GETTING IT READY IS A BIG PART OF GETTING IT RIGHT.

M

y previous two Super Sportster 60 installments explained how I fiberglassed the center section, aligned and mounted the wing, stabilizer, and vertical fin, and added the fairing blocks under the wing. It looked as if the model might be ready for covering, but a few items still remained on the do-list. These happen now.

Mounting an RC switch isn’t an issue, although two items are essential to do it correctly. First, the switch must be mounted on the side

1 56

of the fuselage opposite the engine exhaust to prevent its electrical contacts from fouling. The other is locating a usable wall thickness.

The Enya 60’s exhaust port is on its right, so I chose an area of the left fuselage side that was inside one of the plywood doubler’s lightening cutouts. I used the point of an awl to poke through the fuselage in the proper position. Then I traced the switch plate’s mounting holes and slide cutout onto the fuselage side.

A 3/32-in. drill bored the mounting holes, and I cut the slide opening

I used an awl to puncture-mark an area between the doublers where the RC switch could be mounted. Always mount the switch on the opposite side of the engine exhaust.

RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

2

BY Jeff Troy

with a No. 11 blade.

I chose four Hobbico CS-60 standard servos for my airplane, and like all but the smallest servos, rubber grommets and metal eyelets must be installed in their mounting tabs.

The rubber usually goes in without a fight, but my chubby fingers and the tight fit make installing the eyelets a major pain, occasionally resulting in bruised fingers and broken nails.

My solution was to design an eyelet mounting tool.

The tool is a simple woodenhandle screwdriver with the tip

Use the switch plate to trace the cutline for the switch onto the fuselage side. Use the awl or a pencil to mark the fuselage for the mounting screws. twitter.com/rcsportflyer

This was the Super Sportster framework at the close of the last installment. It will be ready to receive its MonoKote covering after just a few more simple procedures.

chopped off, and the last inch or so of the shank turned down. The shank was drilled to accept a hard welding rod, which was shaped to a dull point at the tip. The rod is long and thin enough for four metal eyelets to slip over it, and the turned portion of the shank lets the tool access tight quarters while acting as a stop for the eyelets.

The design works flawlessly. I load four eyelets flange-down over the tip, apply a drop of light oil on each eyelet, then I use the tool to push the eyelets, one piece at a time, into the rubber grommets. Finish one servo, load four more eyelets, and repeat for the next servo. The images tell the whole story, and a nearby machine shop could probably make one for you without breaking the bank.

The aileron servo mounts require attention because of the wing’s dihedral. Gluing the plywood plates

directly to the wing would leave a potentially troublesome gap under the center of each plate. I circumvent this by cutting two balsa scraps to the outline of the plywood plates, then sawing them partially through at the center so they can bend upward. I use 5-minute epoxy to glue the plates at the ends of the servo opening, pressing down at the center to ensure positive contact with the wing.

After the epoxy cures, use the bar sander to sand the balsa pieces flat. Then epoxy the ply plates over them. Now you have two flat mounts with no nasty gap underneath. Use a round file or Perma-Grit tool to cut a notch for the servo lead, then drop in the servo, mark the screw holes, remove the servo, drill the holes, and thread a mounting screw into each hole. Remove the screws and harden the threads in each hole with a drop or two of thin CA.

3

This is a tool I designed to make quick work of installing eyelets into servo grommets. My friend and master metal worker Randal Sordelet fabricated the tool from my drawings.

4

Here, four brass eyelets are stacked on the tip of the tool, and a drop of lightweight oil is being applied to each eyelet. The oil helps to smooth installation.

5

One at a time, use the tool to press the eyelets into the grommets. They slip right in, and you won’t suffer damaged fingers and nails to get them there.

6

Two pieces of scrap balsa were cut to fit between the wing panels and the two plywood aileron servo mounts. Score and bend the scraps to match the wing’s dihedral.

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PREP FOR COVERING

Mounting rails for the fuselage servos are made from scrap 1/4-in. balsa and 1/8-in. Lite-Ply, laminated with medium CA. I cut two lengths to fit between the fuselage sides, further supported by the edges of the lightening cutouts in the side

7

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doublers. Using epoxy, I installed the rear rail first because it’s harder to reach when spacing the rails.

After the cure, place one servo over the rail, then fit the forward rail to accommodate the servo’s length.

Be sure to leave enough extra

clearance for the servo wires. Mark the position, remove the servo, and install the second rail with epoxy.

The pushrod tubes were installed in the fuselage during construction, and I use them to find the optimum side-to-side position for the throttle,

The balsa strips are angled, so sand them flat before attaching the ply plates with epoxy. Note the cutout for the servo lead, created with a round Perma-Grit sanding tool.

8

Laminate balsa and plywood scraps to construct the servo rails.

Install the rear rail, and use the servo to correctly locate the forward rail. Allow ample space for the wires.

Insert the pushrods, and use them to finalize the servo positions.

Mark the hole locations with a pencil, then remove the servos and drill 1/16-in. pilot holes for the screws.

10

In the Sportster’s RC bay, the throttle and nose gear tubes should be supported near their centers. Two sturdy parts were created from scraps left over from my servo rails.

You can help prevent the servo mounting screws from stripping the wooden threads by wicking one or two drops of thin CA into each of the holes in the rails.

12

Wheel pants can be less than ideal for grass runways. Faux detail is a visually impressive alternative. First, wrap a strip of masking tape near the top of the leg.

RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

twitter.com/rcsportflyer

elevator, and rudder/nose gear servos. Center the output arms on the servos, and place the servos on the mounting rails. Slide the pushrods so they extend over their respective output arms, and shift the servos to align the desired holes in the arms with the rods. Use a pencil to mark the mounting-screw holes in the rails, then remove the servos, drill and thread the holes, and harden them with thin CA. I’m not a big fan of unsupported pushrod tubes, so I like to reinforce the nose gear and throttle tubes near the center of their open runs. The center fuselage bulkhead is an ideal location for these reinforcements.

Two supports were cut from the leftover laminated wood for the servo rails. I held them over the bulkhead to mark the tube location, then I drilled a 3/16-in. hole in each one to accept the tube. I cut and

shaped the tops of the supports, and sanded their outer edges. The supports were slipped over the tubes, and medium CA was used to glue them to the sides and the bulkhead.

The Super Sportster 60 kit comes with ABS wheel pants and cleverly designed updated mounts. While I applaud the brilliant engineering, it won’t mean much if your home runway is grass, which may or may not be tightly mowed every time you want to fly your airplane. Because the Decathlon and the Spacewalker II in my series are larger, their wheel pants are higher off the ground and less prone to destruct. I’ll handle wheel pants techniques with those airplanes, but for now, I’ll show you a cheater alternative—faux detail.

Scale guys, please calm down.

This isn’t intended as serious stuff, but merely a quick-and-easy treatment to add the suggestion

of realism to bare-wire gear legs.

The materials are easy: just a roll of masking tape and some appropriately sized flexible tubing.

Sullivan Products’ #209 Yellow Gasoline Tubing is a good choice for 5/32-in. wire.

Cut a few 18-in. lengths of masking tape into strips approximately 1/4 in. wide. Near the top of one main gear leg, but allowing room for the mountingrail groove, wrap one strip of tape around the extended part of the leg.

Find some rubber tubing that will slip over the wire, then cut it to roughly 1/3 the length of the leg. Slip the tubing on the wire and up against the tape wrap. Lock it in with another wrap of masking tape, and use a drop of medium CA on ends of the tape strips to prevent the wraps from unraveling.

Measure down 1 in., then add

13

Find some rubber tubing that fits the gear leg. Cut it to one third the leg length, then slip it over the wire and against the tape strip.

14

Lock the tubing with another tape strip. Secure the wraps with CA. Leave one in. of the leg bare, and repeat the tape/tubing steps for the lower portion of the leg.

15

Cut short lengths of dowel and scrap ply to simulate the oleo scissors. File round angles on the flat plate to conform to the tape wraps on the gear legs.

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Attach the parts for the dummy oleo springs with medium CA. Mask the bare sections, and spray the gear legs with fuelproof paint. Don’t forget to paint the wheel collars.

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PREP FOR COVERING

Hobby-Lite Balsa Filler from Hobbico fills minor dents and gouges in the woodwork. The filler will work into the wood better if you wet the surface with clean water first.

another tape strip and another length of tubing that extends all the way down to the axle. Push a wheel collar on the axle against the tubing, and secure it with the setscrew. Add the wheel and a second collar, and cut the unnecessary end of the axle off with a House of Balsa Tuff-Grind impregnated fiberglass disk on a rotary tool. Remove the outer collar and the wheel, then reattach the outer collar.

I cut a short length of dowel and two pieces of Lite-Ply to simulate the scissors for each of the oleo forks. Use medium CA to attach the flat pieces to the two middle tape strips with the dowel at the ends to simulate the knuckle. Mask the axle and the bare wire between the center tapes, and spray the whole thing with fuelproof paint: silver, black, white, or any color you like.

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Sand the filler with No. 100 (coarse) paper on a Tee-Bar or an Easy-Touch Bar Sander, then sand all of the airframe components in ever-increasing grits until you reach 600.

Filling dents, cracks, and hanger rash in models has been previously covered, so get out the Hobby-Lite Balsa Filler from Hobbico and fix any imperfections. You don’t want any more dents or gouges, so place the components on a Robart Super Stand II for finish sanding. Use light pressure to sand down the filler with 100-grit paper on a bar sander, then sand every square inch of every component with increasingly finer grits. Before I switch to the next finest grit, I sand until all of the sanding scratches from the previous grit are gone. Start with 100, and progressively switch to 180, 240, 400, and 600 for film-covered models. For heavier fabric coverings, a 240 finish is fine enough.

In my next installments, I’ll resume work on the Dynaflite Super Decathlon, followed by how-to

articles for film and fabric covering.

Coverite 21st Century Fabric will eventually dress my Decathlon, and the Super Sportster 60 will be covered in Top Flite MonoKote Many of the techniques I describe in my series for RC Sport Flyer have been demonstrated in previous installments. If you are enjoying the series, and find your building skills improving from the information presented, please consider having back issues on hand for reference— just in case you want a refresher or may have missed something along the way. Back issues can be ordered from the publisher, and subscriptions to the magazine are available at $29.95 for 12 issues.

SPONSORS

BUILD

Excel Hobby Blades 481 Getty Ave. Paterson, NJ 07503 Phone: 800-228-4344 Excelhobbyblades.com House of Balsa 10101 Yucca Rd. Adelanto, CA 92301 Phone: 760-246-4682 Houseofbalsa.com Great Planes Model Mfg. Co. P.O. Box 9021 Champaign, IL 61821 Phone: 800-637-7660 Bestrc.com Robart Mfg. Inc.

My Super Sportster 60 is ready to receive its MonoKote covering, but that won’t happen before I’ve prepared at least one more model. I’ll use both to demonstrate covering techniques.

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625 N 12th Street St Charles, IL 60174 Phone: 630-584-7616 Robart.com Sullivan Products 1 North Haven St. Baltimore, MD 21224 Phone: 410-732-3500 Sullivanproducts.com twitter.com/rcsportflyer

Photo by Greg Wolf

HOW TO

FUNCTIONAL GEAR DOORS MAKING DOORS THAT OPEN AND CLOSE FITTINGLY Photo by Greg Wolf

BY Tom Wolf

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R

etractable landing gear adds significant complexity to aircraft setup and often impacts aircraft reliability. Scale modelers almost always also have to deal with landing gear doors in conjunction with an airplane’s retractable landing gear. Those who are lucky enough to be modeling an airplane with gear doors that are attached to the landing gear legs have a relatively easy time of making them work properly. However, it is more common to be faced with functional landing gear doors that are hinged and operated separately from the landing gear. Such doors increase the complexity of the gear’s installation and are the potential source of other problems such as doors that stay open during flight, or doors that become fouled with the landing gear during landing gear retraction. A common method for twitter.com/rcsportflyer

controlling and operating the landing gear doors is the use of a sequencing controller and separate landing gear and gear door actuators (either pneumatic or electro-mechanical).

The sequencer controls the order and timing of gear’s retraction and door operation. This approach, however, adds parts, weight and system complexity.

For my 1/5-scale DeHavilland Mosquito, I chose to go down a somewhat simpler path, one that is a throw-back to what might be considered old-school, but one I have found is not very difficult to implement and has proven to be very reliable once properly adjusted.

The full-scale Mosquito’s landing gear doors are simply pushed open by the landing gear during gear extension and the doors are pulled closed by a pair of cables that are attached to the landing gear legs and run through a series of pulleys, ultimately being attached to the gear doors. For my model, I use a similar approach, which is shown schematically in the accompanying diagram. Features of this approach are as follows: • The gear doors are spring-loaded to open to a fixed position that is adjustable to achieve the proper door-open position for a scale appearance.

• Door closure is achieved by a pull-string and an inline extension spring that is connected between the gear leg and the door. Adjustment of the

LANDING GEAR LEG

LANDING GEAR DOOR

EXTENSION SPRING DACRON LINE BALL LINK GEAR MOUNTING BLOCK

COMPRESSION SPRING MOUNTING BRACKET (WITH CLEARANCE HOLE FOR DOOR ROD)

WHEEL COLLAR EXTENSION STOP

pull-string is not critical because the spring allows for a wide range of acceptable operation without over-stressing the system.

• The gear doors are always held tightly against their door stops when the gear is retracted because the in-line spring provides a positive closing force against the door stops.

• The in-line spring makes it possible to manually open each gear door without extending the

The forward door stop is a 1/32-in. plywood strip that is bonded to the inside surface of the nacelle just behind the carburetor scoop, as shown here. facebook.com/rcsportflyer

This diagram shows the basic layout of the gear door operating system for my DH Mosquito.

landing gear. This is a nice feature that allows for inspection of the interior of the landing gear well even when the landing gear is retracted. The air fitting on my Mosquito is in the aft end of the landing gear well. By manually opening the gear doors, I am able to pump up the air system without extending the landing gear.

The aft door stop is shown here. It extends approximately 1/8 inch beyond the edge of the door opening in the nacelle.

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The landing gear door is pulled shut by a pull-string with an extension spring in series, as shown here.

The spring loaded door strut opens each door when the gear is lowered. The limit stop on the door strut determines the final open position of the door, and can be easily adjusted using the ball link.

The following describes the procedure I followed to set up the gear doors on my Mosquito.

The first step is to hinge the doors so they open and close without binding, and fit properly to the door opening around the wheel well. I used Sonic-Tronics landing gear door hinges, three per door. The forward hinge on each door has an actuator tab on it (p/n Sot131CF) which is where the ball link on the door opening strut is attached.

The remaining door hinges are Sonic-Tronics p/n Sot130CF. When installing the hinges, make sure the

hinge pins of all three hinges are in line with each other. To provide a positive stop for the doors to close against, I bonded pieces of 1/32-in. plywood “stops” to the inside surface of the nacelles at the forward and rear edges of the door opening.

These stops extend beyond the door opening by about 1/8 inch (see photos).

Next, fabricate the door opening strut for each door. For my model’s struts, I used a short section of 1/16in. music wire with a 2-56 threaded fitting soldered onto the end. A ball link is used on the threaded end. To

The use of extension springs in series with the pull-strings that close the doors allows manually opening the doors without extending the landing gear. This is a convenient feature for maintenance.

Note the air fill fitting at the rear of the gear well.

The following series of photos show the landing gear retraction sequence with the doors closing.

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was about 30–40% (≈one inch) of the door relative to the hinge point, and is located about one inch aft of the landing gear leg attach point.

This arrangement provides increasing slack during the initial part of the landing gear retraction. The attach point on the gear leg is about 2 inches away from the landing gear pivot point, and is located on the aft side of the gear leg. This location provides additional closure throw during the final portions of landing gear retraction. An extension spring is connected to the attach point on the gear door. A short length of 20-pound test Dacron line is tied off to the other end of the spring and is then tied to the attach point on the gear leg with some slack in the line.

Start with a slip knot on the gear leg end and adjust the knot so the gear door just comes in contact with the wheel as the gear is retracted. If the geometry of the attach points is correct, the doors will be fully closed with a significant spring force applied when the gear is fully retracted. If that does not happen, you many need to change the locations of the attach points slightly to achieve good door closure. Because of this, I usually work only one door as a test case. When I get the attach point locations correct, I then do the remaining doors with the final locations. The accompanying photo shows the door closure pull-string

assembly for one of the gear doors on my Mosquito. The door attach fitting is partially hidden behind the trailing link. The attach point on the landing gear leg can be seen in the upper center of this photograph.

When completed, you must test the landing gear’s operation. The doors should come open fully when the gear is extended and close nicely against the door stops when the landing gear is retracted. Once set up correctly, the doors will operate properly every time the gear is extended or retracted.

SUMMARY While this “old school” approach is not high tech and does not utilize any of the very fine landing gear controller/sequencers that are available commercially, it does provide a highly reliable and relatively straightforward alternative.

I have logged nearly 50 flights on my Mosquito, and have found this system to be completely troublefree. The ability to open the gear doors even with the landing gear retracted has been a convenient feature I have found to be useful on numerous occasions.

REFERENCE

mount the strut to the inside of the wheel well, I fabricated a plywood bracket with a hole drilled in the short leg to accept a loose, slip fit with the piano wire. As an alternative, if you can find a nylon angle bracket, that would serve just as well. Two wheel collars and a compression spring complete the assembly. The wheel collars are adjusted to provide about 30–40% compression of the spring with the assembly at rest. To install the door struts, attach the ball link to the hinge with the actuator tab. Then, while holding the door in the approximate position desired for the “door open” condition, glue the strut mounting bracket to the inside surface of the wheel well.

Final adjustment of the “door open” position can be accomplished by adjusting the ball link after the assembly is bonded into position.

Check the operation of the door to ensure it can open and close fully without binding or other problems.

At this point, the door should spring open to the correct position. The door strut for one of the gear doors on my Mosquito is shown in the photos.

The final step is to attach the door closure pull string assemblies.

The attach points on the doors are made from loops of .018 diameter piano wire embedded in plywood mounting blocks. The attach point mounting location for the Mosquito

Sonic-Tronic Inc. 7865 Mill Road Elkins Park, PA 19027 sonictronics.com

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HOW TO

AEROBATICS PART 15

INSTALL THE RIGHT EXHAUST SYSTEM FOR OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE

BY Daniel Holman

O

ver the last few months, we’ve been discussing IMAC (International Miniature Aerobatic Club) and precision aerobatics flying. Hopefully, it has inspired you to try IMAC. To date, I’ve covered airframe

choices, control surfaces, and CG (center of gravity) setups, and the Aresti figures, along with the primary precision aerobatic maneuvers, how to call a routine, and more.

In this column, I will discuss the importance of choosing the right

exhaust system for your airplane.

I’ll also explain what I think are the strengths and weaknesses of each type. Note that IMAC pilots are as picky and proud of their airplanes’ exhaust systems as any rat-rod or muscle-car enthusiast. However,

This shows Kyle Woyshnis and I taking off together for some formation flying at the 2013 Wenatchee, Washington Huckfest event.

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Here is how I opened the cowling on my Extreme Flight 104-in. Extra 300 for maximum air-outlet. This is an easy proposition with stock mufflers, but gets a little more complicated with tuned exhaust.

the goal in picking a good exhaust system for an IMAC airplane is to keep the noise levels at a minimum while tuning the engine’s power curve for maximum performance.

The reason that IMAC pilots strive to keep their airplanes quiet is that

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pilots are judged on the sound of the airplane as well as how they pilot their aircraft. Sound level accounts for a very small percentage of the total score, but every point counts, especially at the highest levels of competition. Also, many RC

airfields have noise restrictions that necessitate the need for muffled or tuned exhausts in the airplanes.

TYPES There are three exhaust systems commonly used: stock mufflers,

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This compares canisters with tuned pipes. The shorter canisters provide extremely quiet operation, while the longer tuned pipes increase engine torque and topend power. Pro-Flow canisters and Smooth Pipes from Planebender are some of the best!

canisters, and tuned pipes.

Stock mufflers provide the lightest weight option, but while they produce good power and a fairly linear throttle curve, they are quite loud.

Canisters are the quietest system, but are heavier than stock mufflers.

Also, they slightly decrease overall performance while making the engine’s mid-range power curve a little more difficult to control — peaky. Until recently, canisters were always a trade-off between power and quiet operation. The Pro-Flow canisters from Planebender Products are the only canisters I’ve fitted to my airplanes that truly yield good performance while keeping the exhaust note to a minimum.

The third exhaust type is the tuned pipes. As the name implies, these pipes are tuned for maximum performance and substantially increase the overall performance of the engine, usually adding between two and four hundred rpm to the engine’s top end, while increasing the low-end torque too. The tradeoff for this power gain is a small increase in weight because tuned pipes are the heaviest of the three main exhaust systems. However, their weight is more than offset by the additional power. Also, as a general rule, tuned pipes do not yield quite as linear a power curve as stock mufflers. This fact is often blown way out of proportion by pilots. It is negligible! Furthermore, much of the linearity depends on the length of the exhaust system’s header. The header pipe connects the tuned

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When I mounted the KS-1060 tuned pipe in my Extreme Flight 91-in. Extra 300, I used this KS comfort mount from Desert Aircraft. This mount is very strong and provides some vibration dampening.

Here you see a mounting technique used on composite airplanes. My friend Ido Segev mounted these JMB canisters in his Krill Yak-55 without a pipe tunnel. This can be done as long as no wires or electronics touch the hot surfaces.

One of the positive aspects of stock mufflers is they still perform well when the smoke is turned on. They also put out the most smoke volume of the three primary exhaust types.

pipe or canister to the engine and its length has a considerable effect on performance. A shorter header will provide more top-end power while making the throttle’s midrange much more peaky. Conversely, a longer header will yield less of a power gain while making the

throttle’s mid-range smoother and more linear. However, what I’ve found is that if your airplane’s engine is fitted with a Desert Aircraft header, it will be optimized to provide a good compromise between power and a smooth mid-range because they build their header lengths. However, twitter.com/rcsportflyer

You can see how I opened a whole bay on the bottom of my Extreme Flight 91-in. Extra 300EXP. This is slightly overkill, but I feel good knowing that more than enough air is keeping my model’s engine and exhaust cool.

performance that quieter, and slightly lighter canisters, yield.

if you are using other brands and need to do some tuning, the rule above is very helpful. It also applies to canisters.

CHOICE Now you know the primary differences between the three main exhaust system types. The big question you’re asking is, “Which is right for me?” My thoughts are as follows: If you are setting your airplane up for IMAC only, you’ll want to use either canisters or tuned pipes.

Unless you are at a contest with deaf judges, you will never get a perfect sound score if your airplane is fitted with mufflers. Some pilots use them in their IMAC airplanes, but they are certainly not ideal.

If you are configuring an airplane for freestyle as well as IMAC and plan to use a smoke system, you should consider mufflers primarily because they are the best choice for a smoke system. Because the outlets on tuned pipes and canisters limit the exhaust flow due to their small size, when a smoke system is running through them the smoke puts more backpressure on the engine and causes low to mid hundreds rpm loss.

Alternately, stock mufflers result in a minimal and almost unrecognizable rpm loss. Stock mufflers also facebook.com/rcsportflyer

generate a higher volume of smoke than other exhaust types. With that in mind, you can run a smoke system through canisters and tuned pipes, but it comes at a cost. The size of the engine is another thing to consider when considering stock mufflers.

If your airplane is running a 50-cc engine fitted with a stock muffler, it’s not going to be that loud. A 170-cc twin-cylinder engine, on the other hand, can be deafening when it is using only stock mufflers. If you’re just getting into IMAC flying and you’re going to begin by using a smaller airplane, and you don’t want to spend the extra money on tuned exhaust or you want to run a hasslefree smoke system, there’s nothing wrong with stock mufflers on a sub 150-cc-size engine.

Now let’s take a closer look at the decision between canisters and tuned pipes. The first question to ask yourself is, “Do I really need more power?” We all like having more power on tap, but there does come a point when enough is enough. If you are setting up an airplane that weighs more than 41 pounds and is fitted with a 170-cc-size engine, I would definitely recommend going with tuned pipes. However, if you’re working with a 38-pound airplane, the extra power isn’t mandatory and you will be plenty happy with the

MOUNT Another factor to be considered when choosing an exhaust is the airplane’s internal design. Most modern aerobatic airplanes from the top manufacturers have builtin, full-length pipe tunnels, which make mounting any kind of exhaust easy. However, there are a few airplanes that do not have this tunnel and require some modification if one wants to outfit them with a tuned exhaust. When making the modifications, I would advise you to simply ensure there is good airflow over the pipes. You must all make certain that all electronics and wires are secured so that they do not make contact with the pipes or suffer from the pipes’ heat. Note that a good friend of mine lost an $8,000 airplane to the fact that a servo’s extension wire came in contact with a canister in flight. The result was a circuit short that took the whole electrical system out. So make certain that the components are properly mounted and isolated from the hot parts of the exhaust system.

Mounting canisters and tuned pipes is quite easy, but there are a couple practices that must be observed. The most important is that the weight of the pipe or canister and its header must be supported correctly. If the mount is misplaced, there will be significant stress put on the airplane and the exhaust system during high-G (G = force of gravity) loading maneuvers. When using a single mount, the mount must be positioned so it holds the canister or tuned pipe right on its center of gravity, with the header attached to the pipe. Using a single pipe mount is not as risky as it may sound, if it is placed correctly. However, I recommend using two mounts per pipe when possible and always when the engine displacement is more than 60 cubic centimeters per cylinder. When using two mounts per RC-SF.COM

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I installed MTW RE-2 tuned pipes in my Extreme Flight 110-in. Yak-54, which was quite easy because of the builtin pipe tunnels. You can see the two separate mounts that hold the pipes secure.

REFERENCES

I flew in a contest last year that required canisters or tuned pipes. So I modified my Extreme Flight 104-in. Extra 300 to fit a set of TD-75 canisters. The headers were not built for my application, but everything worked.

This picture is of my friend’s, and fellow Team Extreme member Lee Morey’s, Extreme Flight 104-in. Extra 300’s tuned pipe installation. It is very easy to work on this airplane’s exhaust system thanks to two removable hatches.

pipe, it is best to space them as far apart as possible to spread the load between the mounts.

After the exhaust is mounted, it is extremely important to ensure it has adequate airflow around all its parts. When using stock mufflers, I simply open a huge hole in the bottom of the cowling for the air to exit. When running tuned pipes or canisters, I usually leave an entire bay uncovered, so the primary air outlet is at the back of the pipe tunnel. When running tuned pipes, keep in mind the extra power also means extra heat. Ideally the ratio of air outlet to inlet should be three to one. This ratio actually comes from full-scale aviation, and although it is difficult to attain, you should strive to get close to it. Many modelers have been putting louver plates on the

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Desert Aircraft desertaircraft.com Planebender Products planebenderproducts. com

maximum cooling air is flowing over the engine and fly at a safe altitude just in case the engine dies. Contrary to what your ears will probably tell you, it should stay running Canister and tuned pipes both require header pipes that just fine and after a few flights, connect them to the engine. Before ordering headers, make sure to get the right drop measurement so that the everything should smooth out pipes fit in the center of the pipe tunnel. Note that the nicely. At this point, if you need airplane is upside down in this picture. to adjust the needles, do so in very small increments. Also, bottom of their airplanes’ fuselages you can experiment with the header and cowlings to create low-pressure length simply by changing the areas. The low pressure helps suck distance between the tuned pipe or warm air out of the cowling and canister in the coupler. For almost all fuselage. Whatever method you use, of my airplanes, I’ve set that distance you must ensure that every hot part to about a oneeighth inch gap and of the engine and exhaust system left it there. The results have been gets much internal cooling airflow. good.

RUNNING AND TUNING When running a new engine with canisters or tuned pipes, you might notice it sounds and feels really rough. This is especially evident with single-cylinder engines. Twins, however, can take a little while to break in and smooth out. During their break-in time, just take it easy on the engine and let it hunt around and try to smooth out. Unless for some reason the engine is on the verge of dying, don’t mess with its tuning or the header length for the first four plus flights. During this time, just be patient. Keep the airspeed up reasonably high to ensure that

CONCLUSION Choosing the right equipment for your model is important! I think my exhaust system information should make it easier for you to set up your IMAC or freestyle airplane. I have run all three of the exhaust system types. None of them will throw you any huge surprises. Stock mufflers are great for some applications, but you will love the power and mellow sound of a finely tuned exhaust. I encourage you to give one a try!

Keep practicing and I’ll be back with more information in the next issue of RC Sport Flyer magazine!

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1815 South Research Loop Tucson, Arizona 85710 Phone: (520) 722-0607 E-mail: info@desertaircraft.com Web Site: desertaircraft.com

DA-200

Price $2795

Displacement: 12.20 cin (200 cc) Output: 19 hp Weight: 10.95 lb (4.95 kilos) Length: 9.625 in. (244 mm) Warranty: Two Years

DA-150

Price $1395

Displacement: 9.15 ci (150 cc) Output: 16.5 hp Weight: 7.96 lb (3.61 kilos) Length: 7.67 in. (195 mm) Warranty: Three year

DA-100L

Price $999

Displacement: 6.10 ci (100 cc) Output: 9.8 hp Weight: 5.57 lb (2.53 kilos) Length: 6.5 in. (162.5 mm) Warranty: Three year

DA-50-R

Price $549

Displacement: 3.05 ci (50 cc) Output: 5.0 hp Weight: 2.94 lb (1.33 kilos) Length: 6.7 (170 mm) Warranty: Three year

DA-170

Price $1695

Displacement: 10.48 ci (171.8 cc) Output: 18 hp Weight: 8.05 lb (3.56 kilos) Length: 7.67 in. (195 mm) Warranty: Three year

DA-120

Price $1199

Displacement: 7.4 ci (121 cc) Output: 11 hp Weight: 4.95 lb (2.25 kilos) Length: 6.25 in. (159 mm) Warranty: Three year

DA-85

Price $795

Displacement: 5.24 ci (85.9 cc) Output: 8.5 hp Weight: 4.3 lb (1.95 kilos) Length: 5.9 in. (150 mm) Warranty: Three year

3-VIEW

PIPER PA-25 PAWNEE DESIGNED AND BUILT FOR HEAVY LIFTING

BY Hans-JĂźrgen Fischer

T

he Piper PA-25 is an aviation workhorse. It was specifically designed for agricultural spraying, but it has been adapted for many other uses, including glider towing and the spray of chemicals to control mosquitos. As a result of its purpose-built design, the PA-25 has been very successful, with several thousand built and put into service, both domestic and international.

The airplane was designed by Fred Weick. It first flew in 1957 as a prototype under the designation of AG-3. The airplane was first powered

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3-VIEW

PIPER PA-25 PAWNEE

Horizon Hobby 4105 Fieldstone Road Champaign, IL 61822 Phone: 217-352-1913 Horizonhobby.com

SPECIFICATIONS

DISTRIBUTOR

by a 110 kilowatt engine (150 hp) Lycoming O-320. Fred designed the airframe to absorb the stresses that an agricultural airplane would be exposed to, as well as to take the impact of a crash. As you can see in the three-view drawing, the airplane has a cockpit that sits high on the fuselage, so the pilot has excellent visibility. The wing is braced and it is designed to accept the typical agricultural spray bar.

Pawnee PA-25s were powered by the 150 horsepower for their initial production, which began in August of 1959. The powerplant was subsequently replaced with a 235 hp engine, with the new designation of PA-25-235. From 1968, the airplane was available with a 260 hp engine, with the designation PA-25-260. It was also modified to have an enlarged hopper, and then with oleo type shock absorbers. Later, it even had the fuel tank moved from the fuselage to the wings. Piper stopped production of the PA-25 in 1982.

Wingspan : 11.02 m (36 ft 2 in.)

Length : 7.55m (24 ft 9 in.)

Height : 2.19 m (7 ft 2 in.)

Wing area : 17.0 m2 (183 ft2) Max speed : 188 km/h (102 kt) Cruising speed : 170 km/h (91 kt) Spraying speed : 145 km/h (78 kt) Rate of climb : 630 ft/min.

Service ceiling : 13,000 ft.

Hangar 9ÂŽ : 33%-scale Power : 80-cc engine min.

Price : $1399.99

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COLUMN HOW TO

If it were parked on the ramp at airfield you would think it were a fullscale Cessna 182, not a Top Flite model.

E-POWER 9

THE GREAT MOTOR/GENERATOR EMF DICHOTOMY

T

his month I’ll be sharing two models with you. I’ll also tell you about a little-appreciated, but very important, characteristic of electric motors.

First, let’s look at an inspirational model.

CESSNA 182 This beautiful Top Flite® Cessna

The motor receives plenty of cooling air via the scale inlets. It exhausts thru a non-scale, inconspicuous belly outlet.

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BY Andrew Gibbs

182 Skylane was built by British Modeler Neil Jarvis. It’s a large —1/5.33 scale model — impressive high-wing model, with a wingspan that is 81 inches, as compared to the full size machine’s 36-foot span. The Skylane has been an extraordinarily successful airplane for Cessna; it was introduced in 1956 and is still in production. Neil’s almost-ready-

The wooden propeller is about the only thing distinguishing the model from the full-scale, which would use a metal prop. twitter.com/rcsportflyer

The Cessna’s flaps are large and effective. The scale hinging lets a gap open between wing and flap when they are deployed.

The tail area of the Cessna 182. The swept fin and rudder is a significant signature feature of Cessna high-wing singles.

Neil’s Cessna 182 looks very realistic as it flies past for a photograph. The working port navigation light can be seen.

POWER LOADING Power loading is the ratio of the power delivered divided by the model’s weight. With 1100 watts powering this 12.5-pound model, the power loading works out at 88 watts per pound (1100 divided by 12.5 = 88). It is interesting to compare this to the full-scale aircraft, which has a maximum takeoff weight of 3100 pounds and an engine with 230 horsepower (172 kilowatts). The full-scale’s power loading works out to be 55 watts per pound (172,000 divided by 3100 = 55). I’ve often found scale models are comfortably able to use power loadings that are about the same as the full-scale machine. In this case, the model’s power loading is significantly higher than the full-scale airplane’s, indicating the flight performance is probably relatively better than that of the full-scale aircraft at maximum takeoff weight. to-fly (ARF) version weighs twelve pounds, eight ounces in readyto-fly condition. It is an all-wood construction, but even so, it has an excellent scale appearance.

POWER SYSTEM For me, one of the most interesting aspects of any electricpowered models is its power system.

In gas form, the Cessna 182 Skylane is designed for a two-stroke .61- to facebook.com/rcsportflyer

.91-cu-in.-size engine, or a .91- to 1.20-cu-in. four-stroker.

Neil obviously opted to fit his model with an electric motor. The model’s system consists of a 410 Kv motor and an 80-amp ESC that are married to a 6S 4000-mAh LiPo battery. The motor turns a 15 × 10 propeller. At full throttle, this combination delivers 1100 watts of power for the airplane.

WING LOADING AND FLIGHT PERFORMANCE The wing loading is another statistic of interest to the modeler.

The wing loading is the ratio of the wing area to the model’s weight.

In this case, the wing area is 906 square inches, or 6.29 square feet.

The weight is 12.5 pounds, or 200 ounces. These values result in a wing loading of 31.8 ounces per square RC-SF.COM

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Neil’s Cessna 182 is seen here making a landing approach, expertly piloted by its builder.

foot (200 divided by 6.29 = 31.8).

For a small model, this would be an alarmingly high figure, but for a model with a wingspan of nine feet this is perfectly acceptable.

Interestingly, Top Flite provided a wing-loading specification for this model in the range 23 – 28 oz/ sq ft. The Cessna’s installed electric power system is no heavier than a comparable gas system (comprising motor, tank, throttle servo, etc), so it’s hard to see how even the 28-oz figure could be achieved.

Whatever the reason for the apparent discrepancy, the fact is the model flies very nicely, and, it looks magnificent in the sky. Neil says that 10-minute flights are the norm.

The Cessna makes a gentle landing because it is assisted by the generously proportioned flaps.

The Lanzo Stick’s LiPo battery pack is conveniently located in the shallow wing pylon.

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Mike extended the Stick’s rudder to get sufficient control. This was probably necessary because of the model’s relatively shallow dihedral. twitter.com/rcsportflyer

FLAPS The model is equipped with scale flaps, and when these are deployed Neil says the model is able to fly noticeably more slowly. This mirrors my experience with the full-scale high-wing Cessnas, all of which have very effective flaps. Neil also reports the model lands well whether or not the flaps are deployed.

SPECIFICATIONS Wingspan : 81 in.

Weight : 12 lb 8 oz Battery : 6S 4000-mAh Lipo ESC : 80 amp Motor : Purple Power 5065-410 (Kv = 410) Prop : 15 × 10 Radio : Futaba® FAAST 14-ch 2.4-GHz equipment

LANZO STICK Another charming model has come to my attention that I’m sure will be of interest to you. I’m light on technical data for the model, but I still really wanted to include it here, as I thought it might inspire some similar projects.

The model is a Lanzo Stick, belonging to Mike Burke and is of course the famous free-flight rubber-powered design dating from 1939 by American modeler Chester Lanzo. With this model, he won the Open Outdoor Stick Rubber event at the 1940 Chicago Nationals, setting a new national record.

Mile Burke with his Lanzo Stick. This model has had two conversions: first to rubber RC and then to electric power.

Mike bought the 56-in. wingspan model from a friend. Initially, he left the model in rubber power guise, but added a couple of small servos and a small receiver and battery to avoid having to chase it around.

He enjoyed it like this for a while, and then decided to convert the model to electric power. So, a small brushless motor, ESC and a 2-cell 1300-mAh LiPo replaced the rubber motor. This power system proved to be a very successful conversion.

Mike Burke’s Lanzo Stick is covered in red Litespan, which gives it a most attractive and visible finish. facebook.com/rcsportflyer

He chose a folding propeller for the conversion, which for a model with no landing gear is much less likely to get broken on landing than that of a fixed-blade propeller.

The model weighed around nine ounces as a rubber-powered model.

The motor, battery and ESC probably weigh a little more than the rubber motor. So I’d guess the model is heavier now, but probably not by very much. The model has 300 square inches of wing area, or 2.08

The Lanzo is fitted with a small and inexpensive brushless motor and a folding propeller — used for gliding flight.

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The windings of any motor are always bathed in a magnetic flux. As soon as the motor starts rotating, it also be comes a generator.

All electric motors generate a back EMF, or opposing voltage, when running. The back EMF voltage varies with rpm.

square feet. If we assume it’s now flying at 10 ounces, the wing loading is a modest five ounces per square foot — very floaty!

Mike enjoys 15- to 20-minute flights with the model. He says flights are not limited by the battery’s capacity. Rather, they are limited by the onset of neck ache! He also says the Stick has flown for more than half an hour with the assistance of thermal lift.

This brushed motor shows how the armature windings are constantly in the magnetic flux of the permanent magnets.

MOTOR/ GENERATOR

Previously I explained how motors adhere to the principles of magnetism to create rotational movement. This time, I’ll detail an important, but little-appreciated, element of the operation of the electric motor. You may find this surprising!

A Motor is a Generator A wire conducting an electrical current generates a magnetic field around it. Similarly, a wire that passes through a magnetic flux field has a current induced into it. The current, when passed through a resistive load, will then generate a voltage drop across the load. This is the basic principle by which a generator (or dynamo) works.

A brushed motor functions as a generator if its shaft is spun by an external force. You can easily check this by attaching a voltmeter to the terminals of a brushed electric motor such as an old 400 can type motor. When you spin the motor’s shaft, a voltage will be present at the terminals. The faster the motor is spun, the higher the generated voltage will be.

Back-EMF Similarly, when a motor is operating, powered by a battery, it is also simultaneously behaving as a generator. By virtue of the fact that the windings are traveling through the magnetic flux field of the permanent magnets, the windings have a current induced into them, which then creates a voltage in the

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load. This voltage opposes that of the battery’s and is known as back-EMF — by Lenz’ Law. The back EMF is always less than the battery voltage.

Electro Motive Force, or EMF by its engineering acronym, is used to specify voltage, so the term back-EMF simply refers to an opposing voltage in the context of electric motors. The difference between the battery voltage (forward voltage) and back EMF is the voltage that actually drives the current through the motor’s windings. For example, if the battery voltage is eight, and the value of the back-EMF is three volts (minus three), then the effective forward voltage that drives the motor is five volts. This phenomena applies to all motors, whether brushed or brushless.

The issue of back-EMF is of great relevance to our work with electric motors. Back-EMF plays a large part in determining the performance characteristics of the electric motor. I will be examining this subject in more detail again in a future issue.

Next Month Well, that’s it for this issue. Next month, I’ll examine another model, and continue our discussion of electric power systems.

As always, I’m genuinely interested to hear about your models, so share them with me and my readers. You can reach me at: andrew@gibbsguides.com

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Tim Schelhaas is a 3D helicopter pilot who competes professionally and has been an avid modeler for more than 20 years.

He works at a local hobby shop that has been owned and operated by the same family since Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, but nothing could prepare him for...

THE INVASION OF THE MULTIROTORS IT’S IN STOCK AT TAMMIE’S HOBBIES

“T 1

A competitive acrobatic helicopter pilot, Tim Schelhaas has worked at Tammie’s Hobbies in Beaverton, Oregon for the past six years. Over the past three years, he has watched multirotors grow to dominate the shop’s sales of model aircraft.

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Tim Schelhaas demonstrates the performance of the Blade Nano QX quadcopter — which he steers new pilots towards before they start flying larger, more expensive aircraft.

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he first time I saw a First-Person View (FPV) quadcopter was maybe a little more than three years ago,” Schelhaas told me. “A customer brought it in — he was looking for spare parts, but unfortunately we didn’t have any to sell him.

“I remember thinking that it was kind of a cool idea — being able to fly with a camera and looking at a screen or through a pair of goggles.”

A cool idea, maybe, but neither Shelhaas nor the family who runs Tammie’s Hobbies in Beaverton,

BY Lucidity, Roswell Flight Test Crew

Oregon, saw much of a future in the gangly aircraft or its unorthodox control scheme. You don’t survive for more than 50 years in hobby business by pouring money into every oddball product that comes over the transom.

“A lot of times, when something new comes along, you can’t tell if it’s a fad or if it’s going to stick around for a while,” explained Schelhaas.

Even when he got the opportunity to fly a multirotor for himself, he came away unimpressed by the experience. twitter.com/rcsportflyer

3

Tammie’s Hobbies in Beaverton, Oregon, stocks multirotors from well-known brands such as DJI, Gaui and Blade — as well as a host of other manufacturers — in addition to the spare parts.

4

In addition to multirotors, Tammie’s Hobbies also sells components for complete First-Person View (FPV) systems, including circular polarized antennas and other specialty items previously available only from online retailers.

5

Top performers from the 2013 holiday shopping season, the Blade Nano QX and the Estes ProtoX, out-sold fixed-wing aircraft by ten to one.

3

“I kind of fought it at first,” he said. “They were just too easy to fly.

I didn’t think they were challenging enough — but now I understand what they are for.”

ENTER THE DRONES To Schelhaas’ surprise, customers kept coming in and asking for multirotors — us among them. The notion of the “Roswell Flight Test Crew” had not even occurred to us at that point. I was just another novice RC pilot trying to teach himself to fly the Gaui 330x, with its original GU344 flight control system on board.

That was not the best approach, I’ll admit. Eventually, I relented and picked up a copy of RealFlight to master the basics in a consequencefree environment, but in the meantime, I was purchasing spare parts on an industrial scale.

Fortunately for me, I could find them at Tammie’s.

“The Gaui 330x was the first multirotor that we had available to us,” Schelhaas recalled. “Our suppliers had a very limited selection at that point. It was frustrating at first, because our customers would come to us, wanting to support their local hobby shop and we had to turn them away, because we just couldn’t get product.”

According to Schelhaas, his suppliers had to climb up the same learning curve that he and his colleagues at the retail level had already surmounted.

“They were scared at first, because it was something new,” he said. “Once multirotors caught on, they became a huge part of their business — it actually saved them from going under, in some cases.”

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It hardly seems necessary to mention this fact; however, for the record, I am a huge fan and outspoken proponent of multirotors.

I believe that these robust flying machines — paired with FPV systems and other remote sensing technology, as well as sophisticated flight control systems — are going to drive a revolution in unmanned aircraft that will rival the Internet in terms of its social impact.

I really, truly believe that — and yet I was gobsmacked, as our friends across the pond would say, when Schelhaas told me how much the multirotor segment has grown over the past three years.

“It took me by surprise,” he admitted. “It went from being nothing to probably about 75 percent of the market today.”

Thinking I hadn’t heard him

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correctly, I followed up with another question: “You mean, if you look at total aircraft sales at Tammie’s today, 75 percent are multirotors? So fixedwing and conventional helicopters together only account for 25 percent of your sales?”

“Yup,” he said. “It looks like multirotors are taking over the market.”

HOBBY HOLIDAY The dominance of multirotors in RC flying was on full display at Tammie’s during the 2013 holiday shopping season.

“The Blade® Nano QX,” he said, referring to a palm-sized quad from Horizon Hobby, “we sold a dozen of those for every fixed-wing aircraft that went out the door. The Estes® ProtoX, which is another small quad, we sold something like 300 to 400 of those in the last two months of the year.

“We were selling a lot of them as gifts, but a lot of people were buying them for themselves, too. Everybody, from kids — 7 and 8 years old — on up to adults, were picking up micro-quads, and they were all very interested in the larger models, like the DJI Phantom.”

Demand is also strong for highend systems, such as the DJI S1000 — a meter-wide octocopter built for professional aerial photography and video capture that can cost upwards

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of $8,000 for the aircraft, flight control system, and camera gimbal.

“The RC helicopter industry, pre-multirotor, was kind of hitand-miss,” Schelhaas said. “Big helis would be popular for a couple of years, and then months would go by before we’d sell another machine.

People are much more willing to shell out big money for an expensive multirotor than they were for an expensive helicopter.

“When people come in to buy one of the larger systems — whether it’s a Phantom or an S1000 — I ask what they are planning on using it for. Some people just like multirotors because they are so easy to fly.

However, a large percentage of them are interested in doing aerial photography, either professionally or for their personal enjoyment, like they want to video tape their friends wake boarding, for example.”

Of course, once they have their own flying camera, it doesn’t take long for these would-be aerial Busby Berkeleys to want to see what their machine is seeing in real time.

“We started selling FPV gear in 2013,” Schelhaas said. “It was simply a question of supply and demand: the customers wanted us to start carrying it, so we’re carrying it.

“Some people just really love flying FPV, but for the people who are interested in doing aerial photography, it’s more about having

a system so that they can line up their shots.”

Once again, traditional hobby suppliers were not well-stocked with FPV equipment — famously made and often sold direct from China — forcing Schelhaas to search out less conventional sources for the parts he needed.

“Now that DJI and Gaui are building their own video systems, our regular suppliers are starting to carry them,” he said.

SAFETY FIRST In Schelhaas’ experience, multirotors are bringing a lot of new people into RC flying — and certainly I am one example.

“A lot of these folks have never even touched an RC model before — airplane, helicopter, car, boat, so they don’t have that depth of knowledge that experienced modelers have built up over many years. For example, they don’t understand how dangerous LiPo (lithium-polymer) batteries can be, and just the fact you could really hurt somebody with one of these things.

“Once it’s going 40 miles an hour, it doesn’t matter if it weighs two pounds or ten pounds. If you hit somebody with that thing, it’s going to hurt.”

Therefore, Schelhaas’ offers up a side order of good advice, free of charge, to each new customer. twitter.com/rcsportflyer

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Multirotors now account for the largest proportion of RC aircraft sales at Tammie’s Hobbies in Beaverton, Oregon — outselling conventional helicopters and fixedwing models together by a three-to-one margin.

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Located in Beaverton, Oregon, Tammie’s Hobbies offers customers a huge range of products: not only RC aircraft, but also boats and ground vehicles, as well as model trains, modeling kits and supplies, a well-stocked newsstand, and countless other toys to delight young and old. The shop has been run by the same family since 1966.

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The DJI Phantom 2 Vision is shown here in action capturing photos at an RC event.

The Phantom 2 Vision is an affordable option for most people that have a want to get into flying FPV.

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The DJI S1000 represents the high end of what the prosumer would buy for shooting professional video and photos, which would be in combination with a high quality FPV system.

REFERENCE

“We try to give them as much assistance as possible,” he said. “I’ll try to start them off with a smaller model — something like the Nano QX or a Phantom — so they can learn the basics.

“Knowledge is power. Do your research. Learn how to safely charge a LiPo battery. When you go flying, always use your best judgment: don’t fly over people or in congested areas, like downtown. If you’re doing FPV, go somewhere that you’ve got a lot of space to work with while you’re learning how to fly.”

He added: “We’re always urging people to be safe, but once someone leaves the store, they’re on their own.

We just hope that they’ll be safe and use common sense, because all it’s going to take is one serious mistake and it’s going to reflect badly on all of us.” lucidity@roswellflighttestcrew. com

Tammie’s Hobbies 12024 Canyon Road Beaverton, OR 97005 503-644-4535 tammieshobbies.com

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IS THAT A DRONE?

According to Tim Schelhaas, the arrival of multirotors equipped with camera systems caused some initial apprehension among his regular customers at Tammie’s Hobbies in Beaverton, Oregon.

“At first, people were just biased against multirotors. They would point to one up on the shelf and ask me, ‘Is that a drone?’

“It didn’t really matter whether or not it was transmitting video or just recording on board — the only thing that seemed to matter is whether or not it was carrying a camera.”

He said that, at first, customers were split 50-50 between people

THEY CALL ME “TIM”

Tim Schelhaas has worked at Tammie’s Hobbies in Beaverton, Oregon, since March 2008.

“Before that, I was working a parttime job, but then I got laid off,” he said. “I had some money saved up, so I just started flying helicopters pretty much full time. I was in the store almost every day, until one of the guys finally said to me, ‘Since you’re here every day, anyway, you might as well work here.’

who were excited about this new technology and people felt threatened.

“Now, that’s changed completely.

I’d say 95 percent of the people who come in are excited about this technology, and then you’ve got maybe five percent who are whispering negative things in the background.

“It’s funny: some of the people who we’e really down on it to start with are now doing it themselves. You read comments from people online going back and forth about this, but I never see that in the store anymore.

Today, everybody is pretty much supportive and excited.”

“I put in an application right then and there, and the very next day I was hired.”

A competitive acrobatic helicopter pilot, Tim has flown at events in cities around the country, including Las Vegas, Nevada; Birmingham, Alabama; and Seattle, Washington.

“I don’t really compete anymore,” said Schelhaas. “These days, I’m devoting myself to teaching. I’ve got a friend here and we do a couple of helicopter schools each year.”

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CARBON-Z CUB BNF BASIC TAKE THIS ONE BUSH FLYING FOR BACK-COUNTRY FUN

BY Wil Byers

At just over 1400 feet ASL, the E-flite Carbon Cub makes an approach for a possible short bush type landing on the top of Kiona Butte, WA.

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F

ull-scale Carbon Cubs are built by CubCrafters, which is located in Yakima, WA. It was founded by and is still owned by Jim Richmond. Jim basically remade the venerable Piper Cub by at first rebuilding and modifying Cubs. Then CubCrafters started making aftermarket parts. That business grew until eventually CubCrafters began making FAA certificated Cub-like airplanes, which are branded as CubCrafter® airplanes. These are the Sport Cub S2, the Top Cub, and the Carbon Cub SS.

E-flite’s 84.6-in. wingspan Carbon-Z Cub BNF Basic is designed to give RC pilots the thrill and excitement of flying a bush type airplane. However, the E-flite model sells for a whole lot less than the fullscale aircraft, but is just as much fun to fly as the CubCrafters’ machine.

What you are going to like about the E-flite Carbon-Z Cub is how quickly you’ll be able to have it flying.

That is because the airplane is a Bind-N-Fly™ Basic machine. BNF means quick assembly, and in this case it will take you only about 90

minutes to have your Carbon-Z Cub ready to fly.

The Carbon-Z Cub is also electric-powered by an E-flite BL50 outrunner motor. So it is clean and quiet, but powerful! The model sports vortex generators on the wing for steep takeoffs and low-speed landings. This is especially the case when you lower the generously sized flaps. They let this model make steep approaches and fast climbouts. The Cub also comes with a set of big, bush type tires, so it does well taking off of or landing on grass.

Check out the vortex generators and the bush tires on this Cub. It is perfect for flying into that back country area or lake, when equipped with floats. facebook.com/rcsportflyer

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Your E-Flite Carbon-Z Cub will come well-packaged against shipping damage. Everything you need to fly it is included except the transmitter and battery.

FEATURES • Easy to assemble • Quique Somenzini design • Exceptionally strong, easy to repair, Carbon-Z® construction • 5-channel control including functional flaps • E-flite® 60-amp Pro switch-mode BEC brushless ESC • Digital servo control including flaps • Pre-hinged control surfaces with control links • Plug-in wings and stabilizers • High-grade socket-head hardware used • Included sailplane aerotow mechanism • Optional camera mount (EFL1045023) • Optional Carbon-Z Cub float set (EFL1045016) NEEDED TO COMPLETE • 6-channel plus DSM2/DSMX programmable transmitter • 22-volt 6S 3200-mAh LiPo E-flite flight battery • Charger for flight battery • Spektrum transmitter - DX6 min.

As you can see in this photo, you get a very complete kit.

Even the flaps’ and ailerons’ linkages come factory assembled and adjusted.

An E-flite BL50 motor powers the Carbon-Z Cub. It is plenty of power for this model, giving it enough power to do very steep climbouts.

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AT THE CONTROLS Let me start by telling you that this model has plenty of power for just about any kind of flying you’ll want to do, with the exception of full-blown 3D flying. The motor/ propeller/ESC/battery combination make this Cub a bush pilot’s dream machine when it comes to short

The landing gear of the Cub is made of spring steel, so it will take a rough landing. The gear fairings just snap into place on the gear’s legs. It’s easy to build! twitter.com/rcsportflyer

The connections at the fuselage to wing root connection make for a “no brainer” install because the connections are marked per the control.

A 15 x 5.5 electric type propeller is used to deliver thrust. I must underscore that this model has plenty of power from its electric motor.

takeoffs. In this case, you simply hit the “gas” and this model is flying in about 10 feet! I mean it. You drop the flaps for takeoff, hit the throttle, and then hang on! This airplane is going near vertical.

So after a brief hop around my local RC airfield, I wanted to do some bush flying with my Carbon-Z Cub. I did so because I wanted you to have some different photos to look at and I wanted to have the fun of flying it in a rather fun environment in terms of my pilot’s perspective. As a result, I decided to fly the Carbon-Z Cub at Kiona Butte. There is a great place to either slope or bush fly at Kiona. The runway is smooth and plenty long enough for takeoffs and landings.

After range checking the model, I lined it pointing into the wind.

Then I simply pushed the throttle up aggressively. The Cub pretty much

lept into the air. Once out over the face of the hill, the Cub had 1200+ feet of air under its wing. It was flying like a dream.

My model’s 6S pack and the BL-50 motor give it tons of power, which I wanted to exploit. I subsequently pushed the model’s nose over and headed for the valley floor. It was just cool to see the model flying below, and the control response is nothing short of amazing. When I applied power, the Carbon-Z Cub started climbing like a “homesick angel.” So it was back at hill height in only a matter seconds.

Dropping the flaps is a ton of fun because you can push the airplane’s nose over, but the speed does not build. Rather, the model just comes down from altitude, or in this case, dives at a pilot-pleasing rate. All the while, you have good aileron,

A Spektrum AR635 receiver is included with the BNF version. Look at how neatly it fits into the fuselage of the airplane. The servos are E-flite 26g Digital Mini MGs.

The elevator’s pushrod runs as a straight connection between the servo and the control horn. You will like the positive control connections of this model.

The control connections on the Carbon-Z Cub are very well done. There is no binding or slop in the controls, so you have a very responsive airplane in all axis. facebook.com/rcsportflyer

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The optional float set for the Carbon-Z Cub makes it an absolutely ideal float plane.

Notice the water rudder’s servo comes installed in the left float — very nice!

I’m powering my model with an E-flite 6S 22.2-volt 3200-mAh LiPo pack. The model is often upgraded to a 5000-mAh pack, which it has no trouble carrying.

The Carbon-Z Cub is making a camera pass in this photo, after which I made it dive into the valley below for some fun bush piloting at Kiona Butte, WA. With the power this model has under the cowl it has no trouble whatsoever climbing out of the Columbia Valley after scoping out a lake.

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elevator, and rudder control. I made a number of approach passes at my “bush” RC airfield’s runway, all without feeling anxious about landing speed or control. When I sucked the flaps up and added about 10 percent throttle, the model resumed flying without any pitch changes or alarming control responses.

I’d think that the vortex generators add to the overall lift of the wing by the way this model climbs at such a steep angle, and without any nasty stalling.

Also, with floats installed, the Carbon-Z Cub breaks water easily.

And, even with the floats installed, it climbs very aggressively. You’ll like that the floats come with the water rudder’s servos installed in the float.

All you need to do is connect the float’s servo to the set’s Y-connector and you’re in business. E-flite has made float flying quick and easy to do with their float set. twitter.com/rcsportflyer

Full-flap maneuvers are an absolute blast to fly with this model because it will slow down to a near crawl. Here I’m pushing its nose down to get close to the hillside.

DEBRIEF Here is what I say about the Carbon-Z Cub, buy one! At a price of just $399.99, it truly is a buy. I know you’re thinking, “That dude has to say that in a review.” But it is true. This is a fun airplane all around. It doesn’t take long to assemble, and the E-flite motor system provides tons of climb power. The control response is excellent. The control feel as we have it set up is quite good. And I love the way the flaps work for both takeoffs and landings.

Finally, if you have even a rough field to fly the Cub from, it will do well. It is definitely the little brother of the full-scale Carbon Cub; albeit this one is made of foam, is electric powered, and it will not require a second mortgage on your house for a down payment. This model is also perfect for fitting in almost any car.

You won’t do that with a CubCrafter airplane.

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You’ll find that the Cub has tons of control authority even at low airspeeds. You can pretty much fly it like a 3D airplane for some maneuvers.

This photo gives you a good look at the vortex generators and the big bush tires. The cowl cheeks set it off from the typical Piper Cub type airplane.

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Add a set of E-flite floats to this model and you’ll find it is nearly the perfect pick for your first float airplane or even your latest.

It is just at home flying off water.

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have the vortex generators glued in place, but again this is an easy step and takes only about 20 minutes. Finally, fastening the wings to the fuselage is extremely quick and easy. They simply slide onto the joiner rods, and the controls’ electrical connections are marked, so you just plug in the servo leads to their female receptacles and you’re ready to install the battery pack, bind the receiver, and do the necessary programming.

The battery drops in by way of the front hatch. You’ll want to be sure to have the hook-n-loop material on the bottom of the pack, and to strap the pack in place. You can adjust the model’s center of gravity by sliding the pack fore and aft in the fuselage to get it set properly.

This airplane is very easy to program. You’ll want to set up two positions on the flaps: one for takeoffs and the other for landings. Page 16 of the manual will take you thru all the control throw settings. I set my model per the manual and I’ve found it to be very comfortable to fly. I’d be happy to share my program with anyone that needs it.

I’ll add that this model has plenty of power for carrying the 5000-mAh pack, so the upgrade will add quite a bit more runtime, which means more fun all around.

SPECIFICATIONS

The Carbon-Z Cub, with AS3X® built into its AR635 receiver, is easy to assemble, even for the rank beginner RC pilot.

You can have it ready to fly in about 90 minutes. It is also very easy to convert from its wheeled undercarriage to floats, which are sold separately. The patented Carbon-Z foam makes the Cub’s molded airframe into a durable, scale airplane that pilots will enjoy flying off of wheels or from floats.

There really isn’t much to do to assemble the Carbon-Z Cub. You will need to buy an E-flite 6S 30C 3200-mAh LiPo pack, or upgrade to the 5000mAh battery. In my case, I’m using the new Spektrum® DX9 transmitter, with voice commands, to bind to the AR635 receiver for control.

The assembly is explained in a detailed step-by-step fashion in the 27-page manual. You’ll need to install the landing gear. You’ll also need to attach the rudder and connect its control pushrod. Next, you’ll slide the horizontal stabilizers onto the joiner rods. Once they are fitted to the empennage and fastened in place, you’ll fasten the elevator’s pushrod as well. There are six steps required to install the motor, attach the cowl, and then fit the collet, propeller and spinner. This is easy and won’t take you more than about 30 minutes. The wings must have their struts attached and

DISTRIBUTOR

ASSEMBLY Horizon Hobby 4105 Fieldstone Road Champaign, IL 61822 Phone: 217-352-1913 Horizonhobby.com

Type : Scale Civilian Wingspan : 84.6 in. (215 cm) Length : 55.8 in. (142 cm) Wing area : 1100 in.2 (71.0 dm2) Weight : 8.15 lb (3.70 kg) Wing loading : 17 oz/ft2 Motor size : 50-size brushless outrunner Speed control : 60-amp brushless Motor battery : 6S 3200-mAh LiPo Propeller : 15 x 5.5 electric Spinner : 2.64 in. (67mm) Servos : (4) MG mini servos (2) micro servos Radio : 6-channel min.

DSM2/DSMX transmitter Flaps : Yes Flight duration : ≈7 minutes Assembly : Yes required Price : $399.99 (EFL10450) twitter.com/rcsportflyer

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F4U CORSAIR WWII ACE MAJ. ARCHIE DONAHUE’S CORSAIR IS YOUR WEEKENDER

BY Staff

T

he Chance-Vought F4U/AU Corsair is likely best known now for the fact that Marine Major Gregory “Pappy” Boyington flew his Corsair to distinction in the Solomon Islands as part of the Black Sheep squadron. Boyington was credited with 22 kills in his U.S. Marine Corp F4U Corsair.

Other WWII Aces found the F4U Corsair a formidable fighter too. They include Major Archie Donahue and Lieutenant Commander Ira Kepford.

Archie Donahue flew his F4U to make 14 kills, while Ira Kepford had 16 confirmed kills in his.

While the F4U Corsair primarily saw service in World War II, it was

also flown in the Korean conflict.

Because of its versatility, and as an aircraft that could fly from ground bases as well as from U.S. Navy carriers, there were 12,571 F4Us built.

Production spanned from 1940 until 1953. It is worth noting that there were sixteen different models of the F4U. It was even modified to become

This is RC-SF’s art director’s rendition of what Archie Donahue’s F4U Corsair Weekender would look like flying home after a mission. facebook.com/rcsportflyer

RC-SF.COM

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REVIEW

HITEC F4U CORSAIR Hitec’s F4U is copied after Major Archie Donahue’s aircraft. It includes a nicely done spinner, belly tanks, and ordnances.

The planform of the F4U is quite scale, including the paint scheme. The 9-g servos come installed and work well in this application.

This gives you a topside look at the Corsair.

Notice the cowl flaps, canopy, paint scheme, and decals all come pre-done from the factory.

Archie Donahu had 14 kills as a WWII ace pilot. This little Corsair has the markings of the Jolly Rogers and the kill flags of Ira Cassius Kepford.

Hitec’s F4U Corsair has a super Corsair outline for a model that only sports a 29.5in. wingspan. I like its big threeblade, plastic propeller too.

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RC SPORT FLYER . JUNE 2014

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a Reno racer in different versions.

Hitec RCD’s F4U Corsair is a rendition done in foam. Its markings make it one of two airplanes, either the model flown by Archie Donahue (name on fuselage) or that of Ira Cassius Kepford as a Jolly Rogers member.

No matter which airplane it replicates, the F4U Corsair by Hitec is a well-made little, electric-powered airplane, sporting a wingspan of just 29.5 inches.

The kit is very complete, with the exception that you’ll need a transmitter and a 2S 1000-mAh LiPo battery. Other than that, it comes as a very easy airplane to assemble and make ready to fly. I’d estimate it will not require more than about an hour to assemble. You will need to install a receiver and a battery pack too, but they simply drop into the fuselage.

FEATURES • Replica of WWII Aces’ F4U Corsair fighter • Injection foam construction • One-piece wing • Dual-servo ailerons control • Four-function control (elevator, rudder, ailerons and throttle) • Four 9-g servos • Clear plastic canopy, with painted frame lines • Pre-bent wire landing gear, with plastic wheel pants • Foam wheels • 1.75-in. (44-mm) foam main wheels • 0.75-in. (19-mm) tailwheel • WBL-1200 brushless motor • WBE-12A ESC • Three-blade plastic propeller • Plastic 1.25-in. deep (32-mm) spinner • Drop tanks & missiles

REQUIRES • Four-channel radio • Minima 6L receiver • 7.4-volt 2S 1000-mAh LiPo battery with JST connector IN FLIGHT We used a Hitec RCD Aurora 9X transmitter married to a Minima 6L receiver for remote control of our Corsair. You’ll find they are a perfect match for this model. It got a Thunder Power 1350-mAh LiPo battery for power too.

You’ll find this little Corsair’s bushless motor makes for a ton of power. As such, what we found after flying the model is that there is lots of P-factor during its takeoff runs.

You’ll want to apply power gradually, while at the same time adding right rudder. It is going to require a pretty good ground roll before you can pull

Sitting on the tarmac waiting for the pilot to arrive, the Hitec F4U Corsair is designed as a small, foam, electricpowered airplane that is scale! facebook.com/rcsportflyer

RC-SF.COM

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REVIEW

HITEC F4U CORSAIR

back on the elevator control to get it in the air — it might be as much as 100 feet or so, without a headwind.

Once you have it in the air, you are going to discover that the motor, in combination with the three-blade propeller, makes lots of power, so this model will climb aggressively.

Also, you’ll need to use rudder control when making the turns, that is, if you want to have them look coordinated. Even though this is a small foam airplane, it is quite fast.

We had quite a bit of fun pushing the throttle up and then doing some strafing runs for the camera.

When you pull the throttle back

you’ll be surprised at how well this model glides. Even with drop tanks and missiles it stays in the air quite well, so landings are not fast.

With its big three-blade propeller up front and the WBL-1200 brushless motor in combination with the 1350mAh LiPo, our model was capable of loops and rolls. We did not find the roll rate super aggressive either, so give your model plenty of altitude for those first few. Note that we flew it on high-rate controls, but did not feel the model was twitchy in its response to control input, although you do not want to be yanking the control sticks around to make this

model go where you want it to go.

We should underscore we found this model definitely must be flown with rudder control in combination with ailerons, but that big ‘ole control surface sticking up there keeps this model flying straight as an arrow.

Consequently, you must use rudder to initiate the turns, while doing so in conjunction with the ailerons. If you work the controls together you’ll find the model responds well to commands.

We did not try snap rolls or knifeedge flight, but we’re quite sure it will knife-edge easily.

Also, we did not time the flights of

The is no mistaking the inverted gull wing of the F4U. Here you see this model is packing drop tanks and some serious ordnance.

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1

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Your F4U will come with a WBL-1200 brushless motor and a WBE-12A ESC. The plastic three-blade propeller comes as part of the ARF package.

Installing the landing gear is as easy as pushing it into place and then tightening one Phillips head screw, which will not take more than about three minutes.

3

The model’s wing also attaches with a #1 Phillips head screw at its trailing edge. There is nothing complicated about assemlying this airplane.

4

The recess for the vertical fin. The rockets and drop tanks get secured in place with the kit’s glue. You simply apply a bit and push the part in place.

We used an Aurora 9X Tx for control of the F4U Corsair Weekender in combination with the Minima 6L receiver. You need a 2S LiPo pack too.

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As you can see, the vertical fin gets glued into a recess in the tail boom. You’ll want to make certain it is perpendicular to the horizontal stabilizer.

6

The tail wheel is made to pivot on a bearing surface in the tail boom. The elevator’s control is tight and slop free, so you get good control response.

The Minima 6L is the perfect match for the F4U Corsair. Just drop it into place, connect it to the BEC and the appropriate control channels — binding is easy too.

8

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TowerHobbies.com sells a 2S 25C Thunder Power LiPo pack to go with the Corsair.

You’ll need one with the JST connector for the power lead.

RC-SF.COM

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REVIEW

HITEC F4U CORSAIR

our Corsair, even though we should have done so. We’re confident, however, in saying that you can expect to get motor run times of at least seven minutes if you use throttle management during your sorties with this model. One of the nice things about flying a model of the Corsair’s size is the battery packs are quite inexpensive, so you can have two or three in your flight box.

That should keep the Corsair flying nearly continuously.

DEBRIEF There are only a couple of things we’d say about the Hitec F4U Corsair: one would be that you must use rudder control during takeoffs and in flight. Two would be that this model looks very scale in flight, and even on the ground, but in the air it is very good looking.

Oh yes, it is priced very affordably at only $119.98 at towerhobbies. com. Heck at that price, you could buy another Weekender for your buddy, and he’ll never forget it. You’ll likely make him a Weekender fan too. Or buy two for yourself! They’ll probably make you a scale Corsair fan after the first flight.

Hitec supplies an excellent manual that covers all their Weekender brand of models.

It details exactly how to assemble the airplane.

As you can see, this model provides a very good rendition of the F4U Corsair in the air.

The motor provides plenty of power too.

We like the addition of the drop tanks and missiles that come with the model. They definitely give it a warbird appearance in the air.

There is no mistaking the F4U Corsair from any other airplane when it is coming at you. That is one of the things that makes this model unique.

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SPECIFICATIONS

Wingspan : 29.5 in. (749 mm) Length : 25.5 in. (610 mm) Motor : WBL-1200 ESC : WBE 12-amp Battery : Thunder Power 2S 1000-mAh LiPo Transmitter : Hitec Aurora 9X Receiver : Hitec Minima 6L Weight : 14.8 oz (423 g) Servos : Weekender 9g

DISTRIBUTOR

Price : $119.98 (towerhobbies.com) Hitec RCD 12115 Paine Street Poway, CA 92064 Phone: 858-748-6948 Hitecrcd.com

BUILD Building the Hitec F4U Corsiar, if you can call it that, is easy. The manual explains the process in step-by-step fashion.

And, while we would not call this a beginner’s model airplane, it is designed for any beginnner to be able to build and ready it for flight.

You’ll need to attach the landing gear, mount the wing to the fuselage (takes one screw), and glue the horizontal and vertical fin in place with the glue that is provided in the kit.

Next, you are required to connect the control pushrods and adjust their trim settings. You’ll definitely want to have the receiver bound to the transmitter for this step. Make certain that all the trims are set to zero and then set the

control surfaces to their neutral points.

If you are using an Aurora 9X, like we did, you’ll need to reverse the travel of aileron number one. Other than that we did not have to make any other transmitter adjustments. You may want to set a dual rate for about 60 percent of throw.

We set the center of gravity of our F4U Corsair at almost two inches behind the wing’s leading edge at the root, which worked out to be about right. Also, our model’s battery was pushed up into the nose of the model almost all the way into the battery cavity. It is held in place by a piece of foam. The switch is the mating of the receiver and battery plugs.

CENTER OF GRAVITY 1.6 – 1.8 in. behind the wing’s leading edge

If you want to fly a classic WWII fighter, the Hitec RCD F4U Corsair Weekender is a good choice. It is as afforable as an electric-powered ARF. facebook.com/rcsportflyer

RC-SF.COM

101

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THE Mystery SAILPLANE

Last month’s

WiN

ANSWER

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THE WARBIRDS HAVE LANDED!

Hawker Hurricane Mk IIB Wingspan: 29.5 in. (749.3 mm.)

Weight: 14.9 oz.

Length: 24.5 in.

P-51D Mustang Wingspan: 29.5 in. (749.3 mm.)

Weight: 15 oz.

Length: 25.5 in.

F4U Corsair Wingspan: 29.5 in. (749.3 mm.)

Weight: 14.8 oz.

Length: 24 in.

Hitec RCD USA, Inc. | 12115 Paine Street | Poway • CA 92064 | (858) 748-6948 | www.hitecrcd.com

Design. Build. Share.

Get More From Your RC Simulator Than Just a Thrill Ride The latest version of Phoenix includes Phoenix Builder companion software that lets you import source geometry from almost any 3D CAD program. With it, you can customize your design by adding objects such as control surfaces and completely control the flight characteristics. When you’ve finished your model, share it for other Phoenix pilots around the world to download and fly.

The new Phoenix 5 is compatible with a wide range of PC computers and will work with many of today’s most popular transmitters. You can also buy the software with a working Spektrum™ DSMX® DX4e transmitter.

Visit Phoenix-SiM.CoM for more information and to find a dealer near you.

VISIT

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CLICK

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CALL

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SERIOUS FUN™.

©2014 Horizon Hobby, Inc. AS3X, SAFE and the Horizon Hobby logo are registered or trademarks of Horizon Hobby, Inc. DSMX is a trademark of Horizon Hobby, Inc., registered in the U.S. The Spektrum trademark is used with permission of Bachmann Industries, Inc. PhoenixRC and the PhoenixRC logo are registered trademarks of Runtime Games Ltd. Exclusively distributed by Horizon Hobby, Inc. 43821

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