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Knife Edge

clubflier — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:02:19 +0000

Let's start by getting the aircraft in a nice, level flight attitude. Do this at an altitude that's high enough to give yourself plenty of time to recover. If you make a mistake, e.g., incorrect rudder input, you need to be high enough to give yourself time to get back on top of the sticks before your plane hits the ground. Enough altitude to recover from a mistake is commonly referred to as "one mistake high." Starting off two mistakes high is a good idea. The exercise you'll be doing won't be "natural" at first, but with a little practice (and an insanely easy memory tool), you'll learn how to knife-edge in no time, and you'll find yourself flying closer and closer to the ground.

INS

Bring your plane in front of you either from left to right or right to left. For illustration purposes, I'll assume that you're making a left-to-right pass. Depending on your aircraft, you'll need to be at about 1/2 to 3/4 throttle. While flying level, give enough left aileron input to roll the plane 90 degrees. You should now be looking at the bottom of the plane as it passes by, and you'll most likely notice that it will quickly lose altitude. Make a few passes, and practice rolling the plane 90 degrees by using left aileron input, and then return to level flight. When you're comfortable with that, move to the next step — adding rudder.

OK; so you made a few passes, rolled the plane onto its side, watched it lose altitude and rolled it back to level — right? Good. Now it's time to add rudder to keep it flying level without losing altitude as it passes by. Normally, you would use the elevator to change your plane's pitch: down-elevator causes the plane to descend and up-elevator causes the plane to climb. But when flying with the plane rotated at 90 degrees, the rudder, in effect, becomes the elevator and is the control surface you'll use to maintain altitude. The trick is knowing in which direction to move the control sticks at any given time. This is where the "Ins and outs" (as I call them) of knife-edge come into play.

When you rolled your plane 90 degrees with left aileron you moved the right stick of your transmitter towards the center. To maintain altitude with rudder, you'll have to move the left stick in as well. That's right: to fly knife-edge, your left stick should mimic the last input given by the right stick. Easy — right?

Now make a few more passes, and practice nothing more than maintaining altitude after you've rolled the plane onto its side with left aileron. Right stick moves in until the plane is on its side; then the left stick moves in to maintain altitude. As you practice. you'll notice that you can start making rudder inputs earlier to make things smoother.

OUTS

As crazy as it may sound, rolling 90 degrees to the right with right aileron and flying knife-edge is handled in the same way as rolling left; just remember that the left stick mimics the last input given by the right stick. If the right stick moves out, your left stick will also move out. Practice this until you're comfortable, and then move on to the next step.

COUPLING

Nearly all aircraft exhibit some sort of coupling. It will become evident when you attempt knife-edge flight, and you'll find that your plane will naturally try to drift in the direction of the landing gear. To compensate for this, you'll have to feed in slight up-elevator to maintain a straight flight path without yaw. If you have a computer radio, you can program a rudder-elevator mix to eliminate this coupling.

CONCLUSION

This isn't an in-depth look at the technical aspects of knife-edge flight; it's intended to give newcomers a no-nonsense look at the basics of flying knife-edge. With the simple "In and out" memory tool, it shouldn't take very long to nail down the basics. Then you can play with transitioning into and out of KE and manipulating throttle and rudder input to fly KE at high angles of attack; and, when you're feeling frisky, you can start cutting power and add a bit more rudder for a cool descending KE pass. Just don't forget to add slight up-elevator to eliminate coupling.

3 D flying

clubflier — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 04:59:36 +0000

You will be low and slow thus each input to your plane can have dire consequences. Practice up high, but get as low as possible as soon as possible but be confident in your flying before getting too low.
The lower (lighter) the wing loading the better. Power is not as important as wing loading. If you flop out of a maneuver, a low wing loading prevents stalling. A light plane will allow you to not lose any altitude when falling out of a maneuver, it simply starts flying immediately without having to build up speed to get flying again. Power is good for show, but it won't save a heavy plane in a bad position like low weight will. As long as you have enough power to maintain a hover, you have enough power.
Get a simulator. Practicing hovering on a simulator is often harder than with many planes. Master it on the computer and you will have an easy time flying your plane.
Set your radio up for lots of throw and experiment. Certain designs do better than others. The bigger the better too. You can get a gyro, once you are an expert, sell it.
Hovering and torque rolling are the most difficult. Once you've practiced on the simulator, practice with your plane. The closer you are to the plane, the easier it is to see and make corrections, but the shorter the distant to destruction. There's no substitute for practice when it comes to 3D. It typically takes a thousand attempts or more at hovering to become good.
Experiment and practice with your plane until you learn everything you can about it.
FIRST STEP: Programming your radio for 3D flying is key to being an awesome 3D pilot. See our webpage on programming your radio first.
SECOND STEP: Trimming out your plane for 3D flying is critical to being an awesome pilot. Right thrust and up thrust must be optimized. Perfect right thrust and up thrust for hovering is different than for sequence flying though they are close. This cannot be changed on a day to day basis, so you need to decide what is most important to you. It's easier to fly sequence with 3D right thrust and upthrust than it is to fly 3D with sequence right thrust and upthrust, so if you are primarily interested in 3D, trim the plane out as follows: On a day when there is little or no wind, fly level to the center of the field at a slow speed, pull to vertical and roll to see the canopy of the plane as if you were going to do a hammer. Let the plane slow to almost a stop. Go to full throttle and let go of the sticks and fly for several seconds. If the plane veers right of left, adjust the rudder to keep the plane vertical. Do this 10 to 20 times to be sure. Then put washers under the engine mount to put in about 1/2 the angle that the rudder is (if the rudder is deflected 4 degrees, change the engine thrust by 2 degrees). Do not line up the cowl yet with the spinner backplate. Do another flying test and make adjustments until the plane goes exactly straight up when you apply throttle. Follow the same guidelines for setting the upthrust. You need upthrust based on the CG of your plane as it hangs from the propeller. If you picked up the prop and let the plane hang vertically as in a torque roll (TR), if all the components inside the plane were in proper position, the plane would point straight up and the engine thrust line would be right through the CG. This probably isn't the case so change the engine thrust (you probably need upthrust) so that the plane doesn't keep falling forward to the belly when in a TR.
THIRD STEP: You should be good with the rudder. Learn rudder skills by following the steps above. You especially need rudder skills when the belly of the plane is towards you. Doing belly in hammer heads is good practice. Fly back and forth across the field inverted and do hammer heads at each end. Keep the uplines straight (using the rudder) and hammer while under control the direction that you choose.

That's about it. I will add how to do many 3D maneuvers, then keep them centered and above the ground!!

Subscribe to the WINGSPAN100 YouTube channel

AirShowRC Richard — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 22:05:44 +0000

More YouTube videos added to the WINGSPAN100 channel. Check out our past videos too! Don't forget to SUBSCRIBE!

http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=wingspan100..

Over 40 to Understand

john — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 08:09:31 +0000

Gotta Be Over 40 to Understand

from Fred Steer

Mum used to cut chicken, slice eggs and spread mayo on the same cutting board with the same knife and no bleach, but we didn't get food poisoning.

My Mum used to defrost mince-meat on the kitchen sink AND I used to eat some raw sometimes, too. Our school sandwiches were wrapped in wax paper, in a brown paper bag, not in icepack coolers, but I can't remember anybody getting e.coli.

Almost all of us would have rather gone swimming in the creek instead of a pristine pool (talk about boring), no beach closures then.

The term mobile phone would have conjured up a moving phone, and a pager was the school loudhailer or PA system.

We all played sport, and also did PE... and risked permanent injury with a pair of sandshoes (only worn in the gym or the sports ground) instead of having cross-training athletic shoes with air cushion soles and built-in light reflectors. I can't recall any injuries but they must have happened, because they tell us how much safer we are now...

Flunking sport was not an option....even for stupid kids! There were not many fat kids.

Speaking of school, we all said prayers and sang the National Anthem and got free school milk for strong bones and teeth, and staying in detention after school caught all sorts of negative attention. We must have had horribly damaged psyches.

What an archaic health system we had then. Remember school nurses? Ours wore a hat and everything, and she could even give you an aspirin for a headache or fever.

I thought that I was supposed to accomplish something before I was allowed to be proud of myself. I just can't recall how bored we were without computers, Play Station, Nintendo, X-box or 270 digital TV cable stations.

Oh yeah... and where was the Benadryl and sterilization kit when I got that bee sting? I could have been killed!

We played 'king of the castle' on piles of gravel left on vacant construction sites, and when we got hurt, Mum pulled out the 48-cent bottle of Mercurochrome (kids liked it better because it didn't sting like iodine did) and then we got our hair ruffled and got told to get back out there! Now it's a trip to the emergency room, followed by a 10-day dose of a $49 bottle of antibiotics, and then Mum calls the Solicitor to sue the contractor for leaving a horribly vicious pile of gravel where it was such a threat.

We didn't misbehave at our mate's house either, because if we did, we got our bum smacked there, and then we got our bum belted again when we got home. I recall Donny Reynolds from next door coming over and doing his tricks on the front verandah, just before he fell off. Little did his Mum know that she could have owned our house. Instead, she picked him up and swatted him for being such a yobbo.

It was a neighbourhood run amuck. We climbed trees, rolled down grassy slopes, made dams in the gutter, jumped into privet hedges...

To top it off, not a single person I knew had ever been told that they were from a 'dysfunctional family'. How could we possibly have known that we needed to get into group therapy and anger management classes? We were obviously so duped by so many societal ills, that we didn't even notice that the entire country wasn't taking Prozac! How did we ever survive?

LOVE TO ALL OF US WHO SHARED THIS ERA, AND TO ALL WHO DIDN'T - SORRY FOR WHAT YOU MISSED. I WOULDN'T TRADE IT FOR ANYTHING.

http://www.modelflight.regheath.com

The BMFA

john — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:09:15 +0000

The BMFA have issued bulletins which raise important safety issues Please go to the following link for more information. "http://www.bmfa.org/news/bulletins/index.html"(Also please read the latest Club Bulletins)here

These micro RC models

john — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 16:48:01 +0000

Flying radio control model airplanes is a great hobby and a tremendous amount of fun. However, the perception oftentimes is that flying an RC model airplane is expensive. The newcomer sees a model aircraft remotely controlled from the ground, flying various maneuvers under full control, and the assumption is that a fair amount of money is needed to purchase and operate something this complex.

Nothing could be further from the truth! The advent of mass produced consumer electronics has found its way to the world of RC model flight. The key to cheap micro RC model aircraft lies in the revolution of very small, ready to fly RC airplanes made of foam or lightweight carbon fiber materials married to cheap electronics. The systems used to guide and control these micro model aircraft are optimized for short range flight - perfect for these smaller airplanes flown close in - using less expensive infrared control technology, much like your television remote control.

This new breed of ready to fly mass produced micro RC aircraft further saves money for the RC model pilot by allowing all the support equipment to be included in the handheld transmitter. Electric model airplanes need a charger for the in-flight battery. The charger for these micro models is contained in the transmitter itself. In short, everything needed to fly these new micro model aircraft comes "in the box." This includes the airplane, charger, transmitter, and flight battery. You literally purchase the model, charge the battery, and go fly.

Another way these micro models save money for the hobbyist is by using a reduced set of airplane control channels. Full control of any RC model airplane requires four channels: rudder, elevator, throttle and ailerons. Many of these great flying micro models use as little as two channels for their flights, usually rudder for turns and throttle for altitude control. While not the optimum full control of a four channel RC model, the two channel control concept is a very practical way to get into the air with a simpler and much less expensive model, yet provide for a great deal of fun. In a way, learning to fly with two channels opens up a whole new world of model aviation that in turn helps your flying with a full four channel model.

These micro RC models are mass produced at a factory - not hand built - leading to further reductions in cost. You can often find these model airplanes for sale at your local WalMart or other consumer discount store.

The irony of these small ready to fly RC aircraft is that the absolute requirement for extreme light weight in these models has made it just about impossible for the average model aviator to actually build one in their home workshop. It is simply too difficult, using normal RC model airplane building methods and products, to construct the model light enough. The new breed of ready to fly micro RC model airplanes can take advantage of advanced factory production techniques, such as foam injection, to produce complex shapes that fly very well at a minimum cost. The benefits are clear to anyone looking for inexpensive entry to the world of RC model airplane flight. With the cost of a two channel ready to fly micro model typically under $30, you can easily purchase several of these remarkable aircraft for your flying fleet.

In summary, there are a wide range of radio control model airplanes, for every purpose and budget. The advent of micro, ready to fly RC model aircraft has very recently opened an entirely new segment of the hobby to any model airplane pilot. There is no need for a range of expensive ground support equipment, chargers or field boxes. Everything you need to fly comes with your purchase, and nothing needs to be built or added on. You simply open the box, charge the battery and go fly. There has never been a time when the model airplane pilot could take to the skies for less cost than today.

Gordon McKay has been an avid model airplane enthusiast for the past 35 years. Gordon is a published author with three original radio control model airplane designs. Further information on ready to fly indoor radio control model airplanes can be found at http://IndoorFlyingModel.com/

Buy a remote control plane

john — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:31:45 +0000

Buy a remote control plane. A good beginner's plane would be the super cub from HobbyZone, for about $50-100. However, it is recommended to not use the Anti Crash Technology.

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2
Build the plane (if assembly is required). Or rebuild it after you crashed it while trying to fly it without learning on a simulator first.
3
Preflight the plane. Turn on the transmitter, then the airplane. Check the direction of flight surfaces (have someone experienced check you). Do a range check... with the antenna on the transmitter collapsed, walk 50-100 feet away and check that your control surfaces still respond without chattering or unwanted movements.
4
Determine approximate wind speed by tying a ribbon to the end of the antenna of the remote and holding the controller parallel to the ground. Don't fly if the ribbon is parallel to the ground! Under 30 degrees is perfect
5
Determine wind direction by throwing some grass clippings or other light material into the air. If possible, launch INTO the wind. If you are taking off from a runway and the wind is perpendicular to the runway, it is possible to take off, but not advisable for a beginner.
6
Slowly advance the power on your aircraft and wait for it to gain sufficient speed on the ground. If you're hand launching, advance the power to full and give the plane a straight level and firm (not too hard though) toss into the air and quickly grab the controls. If you are still learning, have someone else launch your airplane for you so you can keep your hands on the sticks.
7
Keep the throttle at 100% until the plane reaches a sufficent altitude for the size plane you're flying. I usually fly what we call 3 mistakes high, which is 150-200 feet up, then reduce the throttle to half power.
8
Use a very light touch. Just push the stick over for a split second and release. Simulator training will make you better at this.
9
Turn to the left or right by moving the right control stick left or right. This will roll the plane slightly to the side. You will also need to pull back on the right control stick slightly to pull the plane through the turn. To complete the turn, roll the plane parallel to the ground. Remember to always keep the plane upwind, this way it won’t blow away from you.(this only applies if you turn with ailerons.
10
Keep the plane as level as possible; if you raise the nose too much, it may cause a stall.
11
Practice an oval shaped flight pattern, keeping all turns in the same direction. When you find yourself comfortable with this pattern, try flying an oval in the opposite direction (let other pilots around know what you are doing so they know to avoid you if you are flying an opposite pattern). When comfortable with both directions try a figure 8 pattern.
12
Land the airplane by first making note of the wind direction to land into the wind. Reduce power slowly (don’t touch the right stick - to descend, simply reduce the throttle). You want the plane to almost glide on its own. When the plane is about 5 feet from the ground, cut the throttle.
13
Flare just before the plane comes in contact with the ground by raising the nose at the last second so all three wheels touch at the same time.

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Edit Tips

Go easy on the sticks. When your just learning how to fly, never push a control stick (except for the throttle) too far in one direction, especially in emergencies. Just keep calm, and get yourself out of the situation. Again, try a flight simulation.
Fly into the wind for optimal performance.
Find an instructor, experienced flyer, or consider joining a flying club. Crashing on your first flight isn't a good way to start your flying experience.
Train with a RC-flight-simulator at home. This is a safe way and a crash wouldn't be so expensive. FMS is a free flight simulator that can be found on the internet and a lot of people program models for free that work with the program. There is even a way to attach your transmitter to the computer so that you can fly a plane with your transmitter (if it has a buddy connector).
Refer to the manual for your exact model.
Obtain and Amateur Radio License. Ham Radio Operators have access to special Radio Frequencies for Model vehicles.
Check out sites like www.modelairplanenews.com www.radiocontrolzone.com www.rcgroups.com and www.backyardflyer.com . the best beginner planes in my experience are the Hobbyzone Supercub for $160 or the Multiplex easystar for $175. (or firebird phantom, $60 but easier to break)
If you are flying electrically, bring the car charger to the field.
When flying a nitro (glow) plane, bring all the necessary things for glow, like fuel, glow plugs etc
If flying glow, bring windex and a cloth to the field, glow planes deposit unused fuel onto the plane, when you bring it down, there will be a greasy layer of glow fuel on your plane.
Esky flight packs for FMS are the best way to train, because more than likely, you can download your plane for FMS (also good for terrible weather.)
Check out the "Beginning Rc" section on www.modelairplanenews.com or www.backyardflyer.com
IF you're not sure if rc flight is for you, pick up a airhogs aeroace from your local walmart or Toys r us for $25. I am an experienced flyer, and I love mine.
A Flight Simulator might help.