Electric Model Airplanes

Electric Model Airplanes

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An electric aircraft is an aircraft that runs on electric motors rather than internal combustion engines, with electricity coming from fuel cells, solar cells, ultracapacitors, power beaming,[1] or batteries.

Currently flying electric aircraft are mostly experimental demonstrators, including manned and unmanned aerial vehicles. Electrically powered model aircraft have been flown since the 1970s, with one report in 1957

In 1883 Gaston Tissandier was the first to use electric motors in airship propulsion.[3] The following year, Charles Renard and Arthur Krebs flew La France with a more powerful motor.[3]

Nikola Tesla envisaged using electrically powered aircraft, powered by beams from the ground or the ionosphere.[citation needed]

Electric motors have been used for model fixed-wing aircraft since from at least 1957, with a challenged claim from 1909.[4]

In 1964 William C. Brown demonstrates on CBS News with Walter Cronkite a model helicopter that receives all of the power needed for flight from a microwave beam.[5]

In 1973, Fred Militky and Heino Brditschka converted an HB-3 to an electric aircraft. Heino flew it for 14 minutes that same year.[6]

In 2007 the non-profit CAFE Foundation held the first Electric Aircraft Symposium in San Francisco.[7] The first electric registered aircraft makes its first flights the 2007-12-23 : BL1E "Electra" (F-PMDJ).[8]

In 2009, a team from the Turin Polytechnic University made a conversion of a Pioneer Alpi 300. It flew 250 km/h for 14 minutes.[9]

By 2011 the use of electric power for aircraft was gaining momentum. At AirVenture in that year the Electric Aircraft World Symposium was held and attracted wide attention. It was sponsored by GE Aviation and included presentations by US Air Force, NASA, Sikorsky Aircraft, Argonne National Labs and the US Federal Aviation Administration.[10]

Experimental projects[edit]

1970s and 1980s[edit]

Sunrise[edit]

The 27 lb (12 kg) unmanned AstroFlight Sunrise, the result of an ARPA contract, made the world's first solar-powered flight from Bicycle Lake, a dry lakebed on the Fort Irwin Military Reservation, on 4 November 1974. The improved Sunrise II flew on 27 September 1975 at Nellis Air Force Base.[11][12][13]

Solar Riser[edit]

The world’s first official flight in a solar powered, man carrying aircraft took place on April 29, 1979. The Mauro Solar Riser was built by Larry Mauro and was based on the UFM Easy Riser biplane hang glider. The aircraft used photovoltaic cells that produced 350 watts at 30 volts, which charged a Hughes 500 helicopter battery, which in turn powered the electric motor. The aircraft was capable of powering the motor for 3 to 5 minutes, following a 1.5-hour charge, enabling it to reach a gliding altitude.[14]

Solar One[edit]

The Solar-Powered Aircraft Developments Solar One was designed by David Williams under the direction of Freddie To, an architect and member of the Kremer prize committee and produced by Solar-Powered Aircraft Developments. A motor-glider type aircraft originally built as a pedal powered airplane to attempt the Channel crossing, the airplane proved too heavy to be successfully powered by human power and was then converted to solar power,[15] using an electric motor driven by batteries that were charged before flight by a solar cell array on the wing.[16] The maiden flight of Solar One took place at Lasham Airfield; Hampshire on June 13, 1979.[17]

Gossamer Penguin and Solar Challenger[edit]

The Gossamer Penguin, a smaller version of the human powered Gossamer Albatross was completely solar powered. A second prototype, the Solar Challenger, flew 262 km (163 mi) from Paris to England.[18] On 7 July 1981, the aircraft, under solar-power, flew 163 miles from Cormeilles-en-Vexin Airport near Paris across the English Channel to RAF Manston near London, flying for 5 hours and 23 minutes. Designed by Dr. Paul MacCready the Solar Challenger set an altitude record of 14,300 feet.[19]

MIT Monarch and Monarch-B[edit]

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology Monarch[20] aircraft project was a series of two aircraft designed to win the Kremer prize for human powered aircraft speed record. The aircraft used an electrical motor along with batteries which were charged by the pedalling action of an athlete piloting the aircraft.[21]

Aerovironment Bionic Bat[edit]

The Aerovironment Bionic Bat was an aircraft built to compete for the Kremer Speed Challenge, one in a series of Kremer prize offerings administered by the Royal Aeronautical Society. It incorporated an electric motor that doubled as a generator while on the ground, with the pilot's pedaling action charging ni-cad batteries. The stored energy was used to supplement pedal power from the pilot during record attempts. In 1984, Bionic Bat won two segments of the Kremer Speed Challenge.[22]

Solair 1[edit]

The human piloted Solair 1 was developed by Günther Rochelt and based on a Hans Farner canard design.[2][23] It employed 2499 wing-mounted solar cells giving an output of between 1.8 kilowatts (kW), equivalent to approximatlly 2.4 horsepower (hp), and 2.2 kW (3.0 hp). The aircraft first flew at Unterwössen, Germany on 21 August 1983.[2] It flew for 5 hours and 41 minutes, "mostly on solar energy and also thermals".[2] The aircraft is now displayed at the German Museum in Munich.[23] The newly developed piloted Solair II made its first flight in May 1998 and further test flights that summer but the propulsion system overheated too fast.[23] Development stopped when Günther Rochelt suddenly died in September 1998.

NASA Pathfinder and Helios[edit]

NASA's Pathfinder and Helios were a series of solar and fuel cell system-powered unmanned aircraft. AeroVironment, Inc. developed the vehicle under NASA's Environmental Research Aircraft and Sensor Technology program.[24][25]

1990s[edit]

Solar Flight's Sunseeker flying over Southern California's high desert

Sunseeker[edit]

During the summer of 1990, the solar powered airplane Sunseeker, piloted by Eric Raymond, became the first solar powered airplane to cross the United States.[26] It used a small battery pack charged by solar cells on the wings for takeoff, and then was able to fly directly on solar power.[27]

The Sunseeker II, built in 2002, was updated in 2005–2006 with a more powerful motor, larger wing, lithium battery packs and updated control electronics.[28] As of Dec, 2008 it was the only manned solar powered airplane in flying condition and was flown regularly by Solar Flight.[27] In 2009 it became the first solar-powered aircraft to cross the Alps, 99 years after the first crossing of the Alps by an aircraft.[29][30]

Soaring[edit]

Test Flight of Soaring in 1994

Summary of Configuration and Performance Parameter of “Soaring”

China's first solar powered aircraft "Soaring" was designed and built by Danny H. Y. Li and Zhao Yong in 1992. The body and wings are hand-built predominantly of carbon fiber, Kevlar and wood. The design uses winglets to increase the effective wing span and reduce induced drag.[31][32]

Icaré II[edit]

The German solar powered aircraft "Icaré II" was designed and built by the institute of aircraft design (Institut für Flugzeugbau) of the University of Stuttgart in 1996. The leader of the project and often pilot of the aircraft is Rudolf Voit-Nitschmann the head of the institute. The design won the Berblinger prize in 1996, the EAA Special Achievement Award in Oshkosh, the Golden Daidalos Medal of the German Aeroclub and the OSTIV-Prize in France in 1997.[33]

LF20[edit]

Built by Lange Flugzeugbau GmbH, the LF20[34] was a heavily modified DG800. First flown on 7 May 1999, the aircraft was used as a flying testbed and technology demonstrator. Powered by NiMh cells and using the same EA42 propulsion system as the later Antares 20E, the LF20 could climb 1725 m on one charge.

2000s[edit]

Antares 20E and 23E[edit]

The Antares 20E is an electric, self-launching 20-meter sailplane with a 42-kW DC/DC brushless motor and lithium-ion batteries. It can climb up to 3,000 meters with fully charged cells.[35] The first flight was in 2003. The Antares 20E was the first aircraft with an electric propulsion system to obtain a certificate of airworthiness. In 2011 the aircraft won the 2011 Berblinger competition,[36] an ambitious aerial challenge for “green” aircraft. The Antares 23E is a 23-meter version of the 20E featuring a wider range of wing-loading and higher performance, using the same propulsion system as the 20E and Arcus E. The Antares 23E first flew in December 2011, with series production commencing in early 2012.[citation needed]

Alan Cocconi and the SoLong[edit]

In 2005 Alan Cocconi, who founded the California (USA) electric-propulsion research company AC Propulsion, flew, with the assistance of several other pilots, an unmanned airplane named "SoLong" for 48 hours non-stop, propelled entirely by solar energy. This was the first such around-the-clock flight, on energy stored in the batteries mounted on the plane.[37][38]

Solar Impulse[edit]

Solar Impulse made its first "flea hop" test flight on December 2009

Main article: Solar Impulse Project

The first short-hop (350 m) test flight of the Solar Impulse prototype was made on 3 December 2009.[39]

In its present configuration it has a wingspan of 210 ft (64 m), weighs 3,500 lb (1,588 kg) and is powered by four 10-horsepower (7 kW) electric motors. The aircraft has over 11,000 solar cells on its wings and horizontal stabilizer. Power from the solar cells is stored in lithium polymer batteries and used to drive 3.5-metre (11 ft) propellers turning at a speed of 200–400 rpm. Take-off speed is 19 knots (35 km/h) and cruising speed is 30 kn (56 km/h).[40][41]

The aircraft had its first high flight on 7 April 2010, when it flew to an altitude of 1,200 meters (3,937 feet) in a 1.5-hour flight on battery power alone. The Solar Impulse team is planning to use a second two-place aircraft to circumnavigate the globe in 2015.[42]

The aircraft first flew on purely solar power, charging its batteries in flight, on 28 May 2010[43]

On 8 July 2010 it completed the first manned 24-hour flight completely powered by solar power.[44][45][46]

On 5 June 2012, the Solar Impulse successfully completed an intercontinental flight, the first-ever by a solar plane, flying a 19-hour trip from Madrid, Spain, to Rabat, Morocco.[47][48]

On 23 May 2013 the aircraft completed the second leg of its trip across the United States and landed at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. This set a new world distance record for solar aviation.[49][50]

Electravia BL1E Electra[edit]

French BL1E Electra F-PMDJ : the first registered electric aircraft in the world. First Flight in Dec, 2007

The Electravia team, with the APAME Association, first flew its "Electra" electric-powered open-cockpit airplane on Sunday, 23 December 2007 at Aspres sur Buech airfield, Hautes Alpes, France. Test pilot Christian Vandamme, Electravia technical manager, flew the strut-equipped aircraft for 48 minutes, covering 50 km (31 mi). The BL1E "Electra" is powered by an 18-kW (24 hp) disk-brushed electric engine driven by a 47 kg (104 lb) KOKAM Lithium-Polymer battery power pack.[51][52] The BL1E "Electra" is the first registered aircraft in the world powered by electric engine and with batteries. It was the first electric realization of the French company Electravia.

Electravia Electro Trike[edit]

E-Trike : French electric delta trike

The Electravia Electro Trike is a single seater delta trike with an electric propulsion system from Electravia. First flight in June 2008 in Aspres sur Buëch, Hautes Alpes, France. Engine GMPE 102 of 26 hp. The 3 kWh pack of Lithium-Polymer batteries allows 1 hour of flight with ElectroTrike. Charge of a 3 kWh battery takes 1h30.[53]

First manned AA-battery-powered aircraft[edit]

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and undergraduates at the Tokyo Institute of Technology teamed up to build an aircraft powered by 160 AA battery cells and successfully flew it for a distance of 391 meters (1,283 ft) in July, 2006.[54]

Boeing-FCD Project[edit]

In 2008, The Boeing Fuel Cell Demonstrator achieved straight-level flight on a manned mission powered by a hydrogen fuel cell.[55]

The FCD (Fuel Cell Demonstrator) is a project led by Boeing that uses a Diamond HK-36 Super Dimona motor glider as a test bed for a fuel cell powered light airplane research project.[56]

Successful test flights took place in February and March 2008.[56]

Boeing's partners in the project are Intelligent Energy of Britain (fuel-cell); Diamond Aircraft of Austria (Airframe); Spanish Sener (control system); Spanish Aerlyper (integrate motor with airframe); Advanced Technology Products, a U.S. company (motor, batteries, flight testing).[57]

QinetiQ Zephyr[edit]

The QinetiQ Zephyr is a lightweight solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle engineered by the United Kingdom defence firm, QinetiQ. As of 23 July 2010 it holds the endurance record for an unmanned aerial vehicle of over 2 weeks (336 hours).[58]

It is of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer construction, the 2010 version weighing 50 kg (110 lb)[59] (the 2008 version weighed 30 kg (66 lb)) with a span of 22.5 metres[59] (the 2008 version had 18 metres (59 feet)). It uses sunlight to charge lithium-sulphur batteries during the day, which power the aircraft at night. The aircraft has been designed for use in observation and communications relay.[60]

The 2008 Zephyr version flew for 82 hours, reaching 61,000 foot in altitude in July 2008, the then unofficial world record for the longest duration unmanned flight. In July 2010 the 2010 version of the Zephyr made a world record unmanned aerial vehicle endurance flight of 336 hours, 22 minutes and 8 seconds (more than two weeks) and also set an altitude record of 70,000 feet.[61][62]

SkySpark[edit]

Skyspark in flight 2009

The SkySpark is a joint project of engineering company DigiSky and Polytechnic University of Turin. The two-seat Pioneer Alpi 300 has a 75 kW (101 hp) brushless electric motor powered by lithium polymer batteries. The aircraft achieved a world record of 250 km/h (155 mph) for a human-carrying electric aircraft on 12 June 2009.[63][64]

Green Pioneer Ι[edit]

Test Flight of “Green Pioneer I” in 2004

The Green Pioneer solar powered aircraft research programme was announced at the 4th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in 2002. The experimental programme was intended to provide research data for future Chinese solar powered aircraft. The programme was run by New Concept Aircraft (Zhuhai), the China Aviation Industry Development Research Center, and China Academy of Space Technology. The project leader and chief designer was Danny H. Y. Li.[65][66]

2010s[edit]

EADS Cri-Cri[edit]

In June 2010 European aerospace company EADS unveiled an electric version of the 1970s vintage Colomban Cri-cri ultralight aircraft powered by four electric engines. The Cri-Cri will have lithium batteries and will be able to fly for 30 minutes at 60 kn (111 km/h) or 15 minutes of aerobatics at speeds up to 135 kn (250 km/h), with a climb rate of 1,000 feet per minute. The aircraft is a demonstrator for future technology, as Jean Botti, EADS's chief technical officer explained: "The Cri-Cri is a low-cost test bed for system integration of electrical technologies in support of projects like our hybrid propulsion concept for helicopters." The Cri-Cri first flew on 2 September 2010 at Le Bourget airport near Paris.[67][68]

Hugues Duval MC15E Cri-Cri[edit]

The MC15E electric Cri-Cri during world speed record - 2011 Paris Airshow in Le Bourget

On 5 September 2010, pilot Hugues Duval established a world speed record for electric aircraft with his twin engine MC15E CriCri “E-Cristaline”. This aircraft has been equipped with Electravia engines, controllers, batteries and propellers. During the Pontoise Air show, a top speed of 262 km/h (141 kt) was recorded by Aero Club de France organizers. Then, on 25 June 2011, during the official flight presentation at 2011 Paris Air Show (Salon du Bourget), Duval established a new world record of 283 km/h (175.46 mph)[69]

e-Genius[edit]

The battery-powered e-Genius was designed and built by the Institute of Aircraft Design (Institut für Flugzeugbau) of the University of Stuttgart Germany for the 10–17 July 2011 Green Flight Challenge in Santa Rosa, California. The design has similarities to their earlier solar powered aircraft Icaré II and seems to share most of the components with the fuel-cell powered Hydrogenius. The aircraft is a converted motorglider and uses a tail-mounted 80 hp (60 kW) electric motor. The e-Genius performed its first 20-minute flight on 25 May 2011. In July 2011 the aircraft flew for over two hours between two points near Mindelheim, Germany, at an average speed of more than 100 mph (161 km/h).[70][71][72]

ENFICA-FC[edit]

The ENFICA-FC is a project of the European Commission, to study and demonstrate an all-electric aircraft with fuel-cells as the main or auxiliary power system. During the three-year project, a fuel-cell based power system was designed and flown in a Rapid 200FC ultralight aircraft.[73]

Paratrike E-Fenix[edit]

E-Fenix : the first electric 2-seater paratrike in the world. Flying at Re Island

The E-Fenix was the first two-seat electric paratrike flown. Developed by Planète Sports & Loisirs, headquartered on Re Island, off the coast of La Rochelle, France, with a complete Electravia electric solutiont, this paratrike is used since summer 2011 for tourist flying. The first flight took place on 12 May 2011 at Sisteron's airfield (South of France, headquarters of Electravia), with Michaël Morin as test pilot.[74]

Puffin[edit]

The Puffin is a proposed hover-capable, electric-powered, low-noise, personal, vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) technology-concept, proprotor aircraft. It would be capable of flying a single person at a speed of 150 miles per hour. Range is expected to be less than 50 miles with initial battery technology. The design has a 13.5 foot wingspan and stands 12 feet tall on the ground in its take-off or landing configuration.[75]

As of January 2010, a one third–size, hover-capable Puffin demonstrator was planned for March 2010. Future designs might incorporate additional rotors to provide redundant systems.[76]

As of August 2010, the one-third scale model of the Puffin was on display at the NASA Langley campus for filming for the Discovery network series “Dean of Invention.” The Puffin simulator was also demonstrated. The Puffin will appear in the eighth and final episode of the show.[77]

Electric Model Airplanes

Electric Model Airplanes

Electric Model Airplanes

Electric Model Airplanes

Electric Model Airplanes

Electric Model Airplanes

Electric Model Airplanes

Electric Model Airplanes

Electric Model Airplanes

Electric Model Airplanes

Electric Model Airplanes

Paper Airplane Instructions

Paper Airplane Instructions

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A paper plane, paper aeroplane (UK), paper airplane (US), paper glider, paper dart or dart is a toy aircraft, usually a glider made out of paper or paperboard; the practice of constructing paper planes is sometimes referred to as aerogami[citation needed] (Japanese: kamihikōki), after origami, the Japanese art of paper folding.

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The origin of folded paper gliders is generally considered to be of Ancient China, although there is equal evidence that the refinement and development of folded gliders took place in equal measure in Japan. Certainly, manufacture of paper on a widespread scale took place in China 500 BCE, and origami and paper folding became popular within a century of this period, approximately 460-390 BCE. It is impossible to ascertain where and in what form the first paper aircraft were constructed, or even the first paper plane's form.

For over a thousand years after this, paper aircraft were the dominant man-made heavier-than-air craft whose principles could be readily appreciated, though thanks to their high drag coefficients, not of an exceptional performance when gliding over long distances. The pioneers of powered flight have all studied paper model aircraft in order to design larger machines. Da Vinci wrote of the building of a model plane out of parchment, and of testing some of his early ornithopter, an aircraft that flies by flapping wings,and parachute designs using paper models. Thereafter, Sir George Cayley explored the performance of paper gliders in the late 19th century. Other pioneers, such as Clément Ader, Prof. Charles Langley, and Alberto Santos-Dumont often tested ideas with paper as well as balsa models to confirm (in scale) their theories before putting them into practice.

The most significant use of paper models in aircraft designs were by the Wright brothers between 1899 and 1903, the date of the first powered flight from Kill Devil Hills, by the Wright Flyer. The Wrights used a wind tunnel to gain knowledge of the forces which could be used to control an aircraft in flight. They built numerous paper models, and tested them within their wind tunnel. By observing the forces produced by flexing the heavy paper models within the wind tunnel, the Wrights determined that control through flight surfaces by warping would be most effective, and in action identical to the later hinged aileron and elevator surfaces used today. Their paper models were very important in the process of moving on to progressively larger models, kites, gliders and ultimately on to the powered Flyer (in conjunction with the development of lightweight petrol engines). In this way, the paper model plane remains a very important key in the graduation from model to manned heavier-than-air flight.

With time, many other designers have improved and developed the paper model, while using it as a fundamentally useful tool in aircraft design. One of the earliest known applied (as in compound structures and many other aerodynamic refinements) modern paper plane was in 1909[citation needed], followed in 1930 by Jack Northrop's (co-founder of Lockheed Corporation) use of paper planes as test models for larger aircraft. In Germany, during the Great Depression, designers at Heinkel and Junkers used paper models in order to establish basic performance and structural forms in important projects, such as the Heinkel 111 and Junkers 88 tactical bomber programmes.

In recent times, paper model aircraft have gained great sophistication, and very high flight performance far removed from their origami origins, yet even origami aircraft have gained many new and exciting designs over the years, and gained much in terms of flight performance.

There have been many design improvements, including velocity, lift, propulsion,[1] style and fashion, over subsequent years.

Advanced paper gliders

Developments

Paper gliders have experienced three forms of development in the period 1930–1988:

High flight performance

Scale modeling

Use of CAD software

Ongoing development of folded/origami gliders over the same period has seen similar sophistication, including the addition of the following construction refinements

Increased fold-count, sometimes of an intricate nature

Explicit kirigami (cutting of paper) as a component of design

Requirements for additional ballast to ensure flight performance

Technological introductions

Technology responsible[citation needed] for the proliferation of advanced paper plane construction:

Inexpensive CAD software for 2D part design

Widespread manufacture, and inexpensive nature of acetal air-annealed glues, e.g. Bostick Clear-bond.

Inexpensive ink and laser computer printers, for accurate aircraft part reproduction

The advent of the Internet, and widespread information sharing

Material considerations

Compared to balsa wood, another material commonly used to fabricate model planes, paper's density is higher; consequentially, conventional origami paper gliders (see above) suffer from higher drag, as well as imperfectly aerodynamic wing chords.

However, unlike balsa gliders, paper gliders have a far higher strength to thickness ratio – a sheet of office-quality 80 g/sq m photocopier/laser printer paper, for example, has approximate in-scale strength of aircraft-grade aluminium sheet metal, while card stock approximates the properties of steel at the scale of paper model aircraft.

Directions in advanced paper aircraft design

Unmodified origami paper aircraft have very poor glide ratios, often not better than 7.5:1 depending on construction and materials. Modification of origami paper gliders can lead to marked improvements in flight performance, at the cost of weight and often with the inclusion of aerodynamic and/or structural compromises. Often, increases in wing loading can encourage breakdown of laminar flow over a wing with a hybrid of origami and glued and taped construction.

Professors Ninomiya and Mathews (see sections below) developed more directed design strategies in the late 1960s and the 1980s. Previously, paper model aircraft had been designed without an emphasis on performance in flight. By using aerodynamic design, and fluid dynamics, both professors were able to design models that exceeded previous flight performance criteria by a very wide margin. Ranges of flight increased from the typical 10+ meters to 85+ meters, depending on energy input into the gliders on launch.

At present, the work of the two professors remains the last serious research work on improving the flight performance of paper model gliders. Collaborative work by enthusiasts through online forums and personal websites are mostly developments of these original glider types.

In the field of scale model design, there are at present many possibilities for advanced design. Profile gliders encounter a limitation for improvement of flight performance based on their wing types, which are typically curved-plate aerofoils. In addition, fuselages are either balsa-paper or paper laminates, prone to warping or breakage over a very short time. Improvement in performance is possible through modelling three-dimensional fuselages which encourage laminar flow, and in internally braced wings which can then have high-lift aerofoil profiles, such as the Clark Y or NACA 4 or 6 series, for high lift .

White Wings

In Japan in the late 1980s, Professor Yasuaki Ninomiya designed an advanced type of paper aircraft, which are sold as the 'White Wings' Series of paper glider packs.

White Wings are a stark departure from conventional paper aircraft, in that their fuselages and wings are paper templates cut and glued together. They were designed with the aid of low-speed aerodynamics. The early models were explicitly hand drawn, but by the 1980s these had their parts drafted with the use of CAD software.

Prof. Ninomiya's designs also included, for the first time in any paper model, working propellers driven by airflow, in particular for his profile scale models of the Cessna Skymaster and Piaggio P.136 of 1967. Noteworthy as well was the careful design of gliders so that they could fly without ballast – his F-4 Phantom II model is able to be flown immediately without recourse to paperclips etc.

The high performance gliders have fuselages that are kept rigid by the use of a balsa fuselage profile bonded to the paper components. The paper used is quite heavy, approximately twice the weight of standard drawing cartridge paper, but lighter than lightweight cardboard. Original White Wings were entirely paper, requiring patience and skill. Later however, balsa-wood fuselages were used, and White Wings were sold "pre-cut", making construction easier. The aerofoil used is a Göttingen 801 (curved plate), and a pattern is supplied as a cutout part of each kit.

Paper Pilot

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Professor E.H. Mathews and the University of the Witwatersrand, in South Africa, developed a different form of the White Wings gliders for sale to South African children and teenagers in the 1980s. His gliders are designed using aerodynamic principles in the style of the White Wings series, they differ in construction, being of all-paper rather than paper-balsa laminate fuselage. The first book of gliders was entitled 'Paper Pilot', and was published by Struik in 1987. The Paper Pilot gliders are a watershed in paper model aircraft – they are the first commercial paper models to have been designed completely on a CAD system, and the first to be tested exhaustively in a wind tunnel.

The performance of the Paper Pilot gliders is almost equivalent to that of the Ninomiya gliders – but one of the first designs, a profile model of the SAAF C-160Z Transall, has a gliding distance of greater than the length of a rugby pitch.

The early gliders were designed to incorporate a catapult hook shaped from a paper clip. Later designs (and upgraded early designs) incorporated the addition of a bungee hook, permitting extremely long distance flights.

A remarkable characteristic of the Paper Pilot gliders is their ability to be flight trimmed – to the point of being able to fly straight in confined spaces, which few modern paper gliders can do.

E.H. Mathews designs then developed in 12 Planes for the Paper Pilot (Struik, 1994) into aircraft with three dimensional fuselages – models included the J-3 Piper Cub,Biplane, Lockheed U-2 and Britten-Norman Trislander (a subject of a high performance flat glider earier in the series).

E.H. Mathews authored a commemorative model of the SAAF Junkers Ju-52/3m 'Johan van Riebeek' in 1999, and an as-yet unreleased model of the Airbus A-320 airliner in South African Airways colours, seen on the SABC youth TV program 'Tekkies' in 1998, as a prototype.

The most astonishing glider developed by Prof. Mathews was the Papercopter – a free-flight paper model helicopter, with a rotationally stabilised ring-wing as the flight dynamic element. Three variants were developed – the standard Papercopter of 1991, the Airwolf (1993) and the Stealth helicopter.

Paper helicopters (autogyros)

The world's first known published paper autogyro (engineless helicopter) by Richard K Neu appeared in "The Great International Paper Airplane Book" published in 1967. Its wings fly in a circle around a central ballast shaft as it descends vertically. This basic design has been published several times and is widely known.

The world's first known published forward gliding paper autogyro with forward pointing body lifted by spinning blades was built by James Zongker. It appears on page 53 of "The Paper Airplane Book: The Official Book of the Second Great International Paper Airplane Contest" published in 1985 by Science Magazine. Its twin contra-rotating blades automatically spin on paper axles upon launch to provide lift.

As noted above (see entry, Paper Pilot), E.H. Mathews developed a flight stable paper model helicopter. This has a ring wing, and flaps for adjusting for flight for stability, positioned on the inboard edge of the ring. While not an autogyro per sê, this paper model aircraft class falls within the general design of a paper model helicopter, and does possess a rotational flight element producing lift during forward flight. Papercopters, as Professor Mathews labeled them, are unique among paper model rotorcraft in having a range and velocity far in excess of all other classes, able to fly quite quickly, and with a range of between 10–15 m. The longest flight time is 27.6 seconds.[citation needed]

World records

There are multiple goals for a flight:

Distance (javelin throwing).

Time (javelin throwing straight up with subsequent metamorphosis into a sailplane).

Aerobatic (looping).

Stable flight to understand flight mechanics of a good plane.

For every goal there is a typical plane and sometimes a world record.[2]

There have been many attempts over the years to break the barriers of throwing a paper plane for the longest time aloft. Ken Blackburn held this Guinness World Record for 13 years (1983–1996) and had regained the record on October 1998 by keeping his paper plane aloft for 27.6 seconds (indoors). This was confirmed by Guinness officials and a CNN report.[3] The paper plane that Blackburn used in this record breaking attempt was a "glider". As of 2012, Takuo Toda holds the world record for the longest time in air (27.9 seconds).[4] The distance record (226 feet, 10 inches) was set by Joe Ayoob, with a plane constructed by John Collins, in February 2012[5]

A contest-winning paper glider.

Aerodynamics

General aerodynamics

Paper aircraft are a class of model plane, and so do not experience aerodynamic forces differently from other types of flying model. However, their construction material produces a number of dissimilar effects on flight performance in comparison with aircraft built from different materials.

In general, there are four aerodynamic forces that act on the paper aircraft while it is in flight:

Thrust, which keeps the plane moving forward;

Aerodynamic lift, acting on horizontal surface areas that lifts the plane upward;

Gravity, which counteracts lift and pulls the plane downward; and

Air drag, which counteracts thrust and reduces the plane's forward speed.

Altogether, the aerodynamic forces co-interact, creating turbulence that amplifies small changes in the surface of the paper aircraft. Modifications can be made to most paper airplanes by bending, curving or making small cuts in the trailing edges of wings and in the airplane's tail, if it has one.

Main article: Roll, pitch, and yaw

The most common adjustments, modelled after glider aircraft, are ailerons, elevators, and rudders.

Critical Re

The Reynolds number range of the paper model aircraft is reasonably wide:

2,000–12,000 for Origami aircraft

4,000–16,900 for Compound Origami (involving adhesives and aerodynamic refinements)

9,000–39,000 for Profile Performance (White Wings, Paper Pilot, et al.)

19,200–56,000 for Scale Performance (White Wings, Paper Pilot, et al.)

22,000–93,000 for Scale Models (complex structures)

These ranges are indicative. As noted above the mass:density ratio of paper prevents performance from reaching those of Balsa models in terms of expressions of power to weight, but for models with wingspans of between 250 mm and 1,200 mm, the Critical Re is very similar to balsa model gliders of similar dimensions.

Paper models typically have a wing aspect ratio that is very high (model sailplanes) or very low (the classic paper dart), and therefore are in almost all cases flying at velocities far below their wing planform and aerofoil Critical Re, where flow would break down from laminar to turbulent.

Most origami paper darts tend to be flying within turbulent air in any case, and as such, are important to research into turbulent flow as are low-Re lifting surfaces found in nature such as leaves of trees and plants as well as the wings of insects.

High performance profile and scale models do approach their wing section's critical Re in flight, which is a noteworthy achievement in terms of paper model design. Performance is derived of the fact that wings of these gliders are in fact performing as well as it is possible for them to perform, given their material limitations.

Experiments in different material finishes in recent years have revealed some interesting relationships in Re and paper models. Performance of origami and compound origami structures improves markedly with the introduction of smooth paper, though this is also aided by the paper's higher mass and consequently better penetration.

More marginal performance and scale types generally do not benefit from heavier, shinier surfaces. Performance profile-fuselage types do experience somewhat improved performance if shiny, slippery paper is used in construction, but although there is a velocity improvement, this is offset very often by a poorer l/d ratio. Scale types have experience negative performance at the addition of heavy shiny papers in their construction.

Aerofoils

Wing profile sections in models vary, depending on type:

Origami : Göttingen flat-plate, or Jedelsky-form for folded leading edges.

Compound Origami : Identical with origami, though often with sealed edges – 45% improvement in Cd.

Profile Performance: Göttingen curved-plate, with profile similar to Göttingen 801.

Scale Performance: Göttingen 801 or any other wing aerofoil

Scale Models: This varies on model type (see below)

Camber of profiles varies, too. In general, the lower the Re, the greater the camber. Origami types will have 'ludicrous' or very high cambers in comparison with more marginally performing scale types, whose escalating masses demand higher flying speeds and so lower induced drag from high camber, though this will vary depending on type being modelled.

Paper Airplane Instructions

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Cheap Airplanes Tickets

Cheap Airplanes Tickets

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An airline ticket is a document, issued by an airline or a travel agency, to confirm that an individual has purchased a seat on a flight on an aircraft. This document is then used to obtain a boarding pass, at the airport. Then with the boarding pass and the attached ticket, the passenger is allowed to board the aircraft.

There are two sorts of airline tickets - the older style with coupons now referred to as a paper ticket, and the now more common electronic ticket usually referred to as an e-ticket.

Contents  [hide] 

1 Details

2 Replacement of paper tickets

3 Black market

4 See also

5 References

6 External links

Details[edit]

Regardless of the type, all tickets contain details of the following information[citation needed]:

The passenger's name.

The issuing airline.

A ticket number, including the airline's 3 digit code[1] at the start of the number.

The cities the ticket is valid for travel between.

Flight that the ticket is valid for. (Unless the ticket is "open")

Baggage allowance.

Fare. (Not always visible on a printout but recorded electronically for the airline)

Taxes. (Not always visible on a printout but recorded electronically for the airline)

The "Fare Basis", an alpha-numeric code that identifies the fare.

Restrictions on changes and refunds. (Not always shown in detail, but referred to).

Dates that the ticket is valid for.

"Form of payment", i.e., details of how the ticket was paid for, which will in turn affect how it would be refunded.

The Rate of Exchange used to calculate any international parts of the fare and tax.

A "Fare Construction" or "Linear" showing the breakdown of the total fare.

Replacement of paper tickets[edit]

A handwritten flight coupon for Biman Bangladesh Airlines

IATA has announced, that as of June 1, 2008, IATA-member airlines will no longer issue any paper tickets.[2]

A ticket is generally only good on the airline for which it was purchased. However, an airline can endorse the ticket, so that it may be accepted by other airlines, sometimes on standby basis or with a confirmed seat. Usually the ticket is for a specific flight. It is also possible to purchase an 'open' ticket, which allows travel on any flight between the destinations listed on the ticket. The cost for doing this is greater than a ticket for a specific flight. Some tickets are refundable. However, the lower cost tickets are usually not refundable and may carry many additional restrictions.

The carrier is represented by a standardized 2-letter code. In the example above, Thai Airways is TG. The departure and destination cities are represented by International Air Transport Association airport codes. In the example above, Munich is MUC and Bangkok is BKK. The International Air Transport Association is the standard setting organization.

Only one person can use a ticket. If multiple people are traveling together, the tickets are linked together by the same record locator or reservation number, which are assigned, if the tickets were purchased at the same time. If not, most airlines can cross-reference the tickets together in their reservation systems. This allows all members in a party to be processed in a group, allowing seat assignments to be together (if available at the time of the assignment)

Black market[edit]

When paper tickets were still frequently used, a practice existed by travellers to get rid of their tickets (which are person-specific), when they decided to alter the course of their trips. This practice consisted of selling the ticket to other travellers (often at discount prices), after which the seller accompanied the buyer at the time of departure to the airport. Here, the original owner checked in under his name and provided the airline with the buyer's baggage. After this, the buyer boarded the airplane at the moment of departure.[3] However, since most airlines check identification on boarding, this procedure is rarely functional.

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Kit Airplanes

Kit Airplanes

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In the United States, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand, homebuilt aircraft may be licensed Experimental under FAA or similar local regulations. With some limitations, the builder(s) of the aircraft must have done it for their own education and recreation[3] rather than for profit. In the US, the primary builder can also apply for a repairman's certificate for that airframe.[4] The repairman's certificate allows the holder to perform and sign off on most of the maintenance, repairs, and inspections themselves.[1][2]

Alberto Santos-Dumont was the first to offer for free construction plans, publishing drawings of its Demoiselle in the June 1910 edition of Popular Mechanics.[citation needed] The first aircraft to be offered for sale as plans, rather than a completed airframe, was the Baby Ace in the late 1920s.[citation needed]

Canada's first homebuilt aircraft, Stitts SA-3A Playboy CF-RAD, first flown in 1955, seen in the Canada Aviation and Space Museum.

Homebuilt aircraft gained in popularity in the US in 1924 with the start of the National Air Races, held in Dayton, Ohio. These races required aircraft with useful loads of 150 lb (68 kg) and engines of 80 cubic inches or less and as a consequence of the class limitations most were amateur-built. The years after Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight brought a peak of interest between 1929 and 1933. During this period many aircraft designers, builders and pilots were self-taught and the high accident rate brought public condemnation and increasing regulation to amateur-building. The resulting federal standards on design, engineering, stress analysis, use of aircraft-quality hardware and testing of aircraft brought an end to amateur building except in some specialized areas, such as racing. In 1946 Goodyear restarted the National Air Races, including a class for aircraft powered by 200 cubic inch and smaller engines. The midget racer class spread nationally in the US and this led to calls for acceptable standards to allow recreational use of amateur-built aircraft. By the mid-1950s both the US and Canada once again allowed amateur-built aircraft to specified standards and limitations.[2]

Homebuilt aircraft are generally small, one to four-seat sportsplanes which employ simple methods of construction. Fabric-covered wood or metal frames and plywood are common in the aircraft structure, but increasingly, fiberglass and other composites as well as full aluminum construction techniques are being used, first pioneered by Hugo Junkers as far back as the late World War I era. Engines are most often the same as, or similar to, the engines used in certified aircraft (such as Lycoming, Continental, Rotax, and Jabiru). A minority of homebuilts use converted automobile engines, with Volkswagen air-cooled flat-4s, Subaru-based liquid-cooled engines, Mazda Wankel and Chevrolet Corvair six-cylinder engines being common. The use of automotive engines helps to reduce costs, but many builders prefer dedicated aircraft engines, which are perceived to have better performance and reliability. Other engines that have been used include chainsaw and motorcycle engines.[1][2]

A combination of cost and litigation, especially in the mid-1980s era, which has discouraged general aviation manufacturers from introducing new designs, has led to homebuilts outselling factory types by five to one. In 2003, the number of homebuilts produced in the USA exceeded the number produced by any single certified manufacturer.[citation needed]

History[edit]

The history of amateur-built aircraft can be traced to the beginning of aviation. Even if the Wright brothers, Clément Ader, and their successors had commercial objectives in mind, the first aircraft were constructed by passionate enthusiasts whose goal was to fly.[citation needed]

Early years[edit]

Aviation took a leap forward with the industrialization that accompanied World War I. In the post-war period, manufacturers needed to find new markets and introduced models designed for tourism. However, these machines were affordable only by the very rich.

Many U.S. aircraft designed and registered in the 1920s onward were considered "experimental" by the (then) CAA, the same registration under which modern homebuilts are issued Special Airworthiness Certificates. Many of these were prototypes, but designs such as Bernard Pietenpol's first 1923 design were some of the first homebuilt aircraft. In 1928, Henri Mignet published plans for his HM-8 Pou-du-Ciel, as did Pietenpol for his Air Camper. Pietenpol later constructed a factory, and in 1933 began creating and selling partially constructed aircraft kits.[2]

In 1936, an association of amateur aviation enthusiasts was created in France. Many types of amateur aircraft began to make an appearance, and in 1938 legislation was amended to provide for a Certificat de navigabilité restreint d'aéronef (CNRA, "restricted operating certificate for aircraft"). 1946 saw the birth of the Ultralight Aircraft Association which in 1952 became the Popular Flying Association in the United Kingdom, followed in 1953 by the Experimental Aircraft Association in the United States and the Sport Aircraft Association in Australia.

Technology and innovation[edit]

The Questair Venture set new standards for speed in kit-built aircraft design

Until the late 1950s, builders had mainly kept to wood-and-cloth and steel tube-and-cloth design. Without the regulatory restrictions faced by production aircraft manufacturers, homebuilders introduced innovative designs and construction techniques. Burt Rutan introduced the canard design to the homebuilding world and pioneered the use of composite construction. Metal construction in kitplanes was taken to a new level by Richard VanGrunsven in his RV series. As the sophistication of the kits improved, components such as autopilots and more advanced navigation instruments became common.[1][2]

Litigation during the 1970s and 1980s caused stagnation in the small aircraft market, forcing the surviving companies to retain older, proven designs. In recent years, the less restrictive regulations for homebuilts allowed a number of manufacturers to develop new and innovative designs; many can outperform certified production aircraft in their class.

An example of high-end homebuilt design is Lancair, which has developed a number of high-performance kits. The most powerful is the Lancair Propjet, a four-place kit with cabin pressurization and a turboprop engine, cruising at 24,000 feet (7,300 m) and 370 knots (425 mph, 685 km/h). Although aircraft such as this are considered "home-built" for legal reasons, they are typically built in the factory with the assistance of the buyer. This allows the company which sells the kit to avoid the long and expensive process of certification, because they remain owner-built according to the regulations.[citation needed] One of the terms applied to this concept is commonly referred to as "The 51% Rule", which requires that builders perform the majority of the fabrication and assembly to be issued a Certificate of Airworthiness as an Amateur Built aircraft.[5]

Swearingen SX-300

A small number of jet kitplanes have been built since the 1970s, including the tiny Bede Aircraft BD-5J.[2]

Future trends[edit]

Van's Aircraft and Aircraft Kit Industry Association (AKIA) President Dick VanGrunsven was asked about the future of the kit aircraft industry in a wide ranging interview in KitPlanes magazine in December 2012:

I don't expect to see dramatic changes in the industry within the next five years. Ten years; who knows—it’s too dependent on fuel prices, FAA policy, etc. Overall, I think our industry will continue to mature, particularly as AKIA is successful in growing and having a positive influence on the professionalism of its industry members and on the builders/pilots of its products. With concern over fuel prices, we might see a trend toward lower-powered aircraft intended more for pure sport flying rather than the trend toward cross-country aircraft, which has been the norm over the past 30 years. I would expect that toward the end of that period, there might be some design ventures into electric-powered aircraft, but only if battery technology improves significantly. We might see more motorglider-type homebuilts, tied both to high fuel prices and emerging electric-propulsion technology.

What we do at Van's could mirror some of the above thinking. Unfortunately, I don't see the growth potential that there was in the 1980s and 1990s. There seems to be a shrinking pilot base from which to draw people to build kits. Plus, with demographic changes, there is possibly a diminishing interest in, or ability to undertake, aircraft building as a pastime. Hopefully, EAA and AOPA initiatives to interest more people in learning to fly will help create a larger market for our airplanes.

Emerging markets such as China and India could also boost demand for our products, but entire infrastructures will need to be formed before small players like us could benefit.[6]

Building materials[edit]

Homebuilt aircraft can be constructed out of any material that is light and strong enough for flight. Several common construction methods are detailed below.

Wood and fabric[edit]

A typical wood and fabric construction amateur-built, the Bowers Fly Baby.

A Pietenpol Air Camper under construction, showing the wooden frame structure that will be covered with aircraft fabric.

This is the oldest construction, seen in the first aircraft and hence the best known. For that reason, amateur-built aircraft associations will have more specialists for this type of craft than other kinds.[1][2]

The most commonly used woods are Sitka spruce and Douglas fir, which offer excellent strength-to-weight ratios. Wooden structural members are joined with adhesive, usually epoxy. Unlike the wood construction techniques used in other applications, virtually all wooden joints in aircraft are simple butt joints, with plywood gussets. Joints are designed to be stronger than the members. After the structure has been completed, the aircraft is covered in aircraft fabric (usually aircraft-grade polyester). The advantage of this type of construction is that it does not require complex tools and equipment, but commonplace items such as saw, planer, file, sandpaper, and clamps.[1][2]

Examples of amateur-built wood and fabric designs include:

The classic Pietenpol Air Camper, a homebuilt that has been built since the 1920s.

The Bowers Fly Baby, a low-wing monoplane which has been popular since the 1960s.

The Ison miniMAX

Wood/composite mixture[edit]

A recent trend is toward wood-composite aircraft. The basic load carrying material is still wood, but it is combined with foam (for instance to increase buckling resistance of load carrying plywood skins) and other synthetic materials like glass- and carbon fibre (to locally increase the modulus of load carrying structures like spar caps, etc.).[1][2]

Examples of wood-composite designs include:

Ibis experimental aircraft project, designed by Roger Junqua

KR series of homebuilts designed by Ken Rand

PIK-26 designed by Kai Mellen

A non-typical wood construction amateur-built, the IBIS RJ03.

Metal[edit]

Van's Aircraft like this RV-4 are the most common metal homebuilt type.

Inside of the tail cone of a Murphy Moose under construction, showing the all-metal semi-monocoque design

Planes built from metal use similar techniques to more conventional factory-built aircraft. They can be more challenging to build, requiring metal-cutting, metal-shaping, and riveting if building from plans. "Quick-build" kits are available which have the cutting, shaping and hole-drilling mostly done, requiring only finishing and assembly. Such kits are also available for the other types of aircraft construction, especially composite.[1][2]

There are three main types of metal construction: sheet aluminium, tube aluminium, and welded steel tube. The tube structures are covered in aircraft fabric, much like wooden aircraft.

Examples of metal-based amateur aircraft include:

The Murphy Moose, Rebel, Super Rebel and Maverick, produced by Murphy Aircraft.

The Vans RV-4, RV-8, RV-10 and other models produced by Van's Aircraft, are the most popular metal homebuilt aircraft.

Chris Heintz's Zenith CH601 Zodiac and Zenith STOL CH701

Kit Airplanes

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R.C Airplane Plans

R.C Airplane Plans

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Simple Plastic Airplane Design (SPAD) is a type of radio controlled airplane.

The R.C. aircraft is usually, though not always, built with the body consisting of a lightweight plastic material such as PVC gutter downspout or an aluminium rail (Search for the plans of Big Ugly Hell on Rails [1]). The wings are made of an equally light material such as foam or coroplast. The remaining components added to the plane are virtually the same as can be found in any other R.C. aircraft of similar size.

This concept of building simple radio controlled airplanes using cheap materials without the time consuming and painstaking process of working with balsa wood and iron-on plastic coating was popularized by a web site created in the late 90's which sparked much interest in this field, www.spadtothebone.net [2]. While this web site, and the many original plans and articles still exist, the main gathering place for Spad enthusiasts on the web today resides at www.spadworld.net [3].

SPADs are preferred to other materials because they are cheaper and are easy to work with, painting is not required, the plastic can optionally be decorated with vinyl sheets which are available in any signboard making shop at very cheap price. The hinges for the control surfaces can be made by sheering one of the twinwalls of the plastic sheet and no special hinging device is required.

SPAD Modelers use corrugated sheets of various thickness, such as 2 millimeter (like the flying wings [4] or electric gliders for which 2mm sheet are preferred) and 4 millimeter. These sheets are generally used by signboard makers and many times, when these sheets are discarded, the modelers have a choice to use them to build model airplanes.

The choice of propulsion can be either internal combustion engine or electric motors as with balsa counterparts.

Corrugated plastic planes are simpler alternative to the traditional balsa wood based R.C. aircraft for a variety of situations. Most of the SPAD airplanes do not use balsa which saves considerable cost. They withstand crashes better than balsa counterparts because of their resilience and hence are a good choice for beginners. Good trainer planes and gliders can be made from SPADs. SPAD modelers make equally good advanced planes that can be made with corrugated plastic. They include: RC Airplane Combat, 3D Flying, and are preferred in places where the flyers would normally not risk a more expensive plane and yet want the same flying characteristics of balsa planes.

For making a SPAD plane, the modeler (usually a beginner) can copy the dimensions of a well known balsa trainer and makes the SPAD plane using the same dimensions and adapting to the building techniques of a SPAD plane. The plane can also be built from plans or can be scratch built (usually, the modeler draws his/her own plans and makes the plane, though this is mostly attempted by experienced modelers)

A radio-controlled (model) aircraft (often called RC aircraft or RC plane) is a small flying machine that is controlled remotely by an operator on the ground using a hand-held radio transmitter. The transmitter communicates with a receiver within the craft that sends signals to servomechanisms (servos) which move the control surfaces based on the position of joysticks on the transmitter. The control surfaces, in turn, affect the orientation of the plane.

Flying RC aircraft as a hobby has been growing worldwide with the advent of more efficient motors (both electric and miniature internal combustion or jet engines), lighter and more powerful batteries and less expensive radio systems. A wide variety of models and styles is available.

Scientific, government and military organizations are also utilizing RC aircraft for experiments, gathering weather readings, aerodynamic modeling and testing, and even using them as drones or spy planes.

RAE Larynx on cordite fired catapult of destroyer HMS Stronghold, July 1927. The man on the box is Dr George Gardner, later Director of the RAE[1]

The earliest examples of electronically guided model aircraft were hydrogen-filled model airships of the late 19th century. They were flown as a music hall act around theater auditoriums using a basic form of spark-emitted radio signal.[2] In the 1920s, the Royal Aircraft Establishment of Britain built and tested the pilotless Larynx, a monoplane with a 100-mile (160 km) range. It was not until the 1930s that the British came up with the Queen Bee, a gunnery target version of the de Havilland Tiger Moth, and similar target aircraft. Radio control systems for model aircraft were developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s by English enthusiasts such as Howard Boys, who patented his 'Galloping Ghost' system of proportional control and became a regular contributor to Aeromodeller on the topic.[3]

In the United States, two pioneers in the field of controlling model planes by radio were Ross Hull and Clinton DeSoto, officers of the American Radio Relay League. During 1937, these two men successfully built and flew several large R/C gliders in the first public demonstration of controlled flights, in the course of which their sailplanes made more than 100 flights. A scheduled R/C event at the 1937 National Aeromodeling Championships attracted six entrants: Patrick Sweeney, Walter Good, Elmer Wasman, Chester Lanzo, Leo Weiss and B. Shiffman, Lanzo winning with the lightest (6 pounds) and simplest model plane, although his flight was rather erratic and lasted only several minutes. Sweeney and Wasman both had extremely short (5-second) flights when their aircraft took off, climbed steeply, stalled and crashed. Sweeney, however, had the distinction of being the first person to attempt a R/C flight in a national contest. The other three entrants were not even able to take off, although Good, with his twin brother William, persisted with developing R/C systems, culminating in first placings in the 1940 US Nationals and again after the end of World War II, in 1947. Their historic R/C model airplane, which they named the “Guff,” was presented to the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., in May, 1960, where it can be seen today.[4]

Types[edit]

There are many types of radio-controlled aircraft. For beginning hobbyists, there are park flyers and trainers. For more advanced pilots there are glow plug engine, electric powered and sailplane aircraft. For expert flyers, jets, pylon racers, helicopters, autogyros, 3D aircraft, and other high-end competition aircraft provide adequate challenge. Some models are made to look and operate like a bird instead. Replicating historic and little known types and makes of full-size aircraft as "flying scale" models, which are also possible with control line and free flight types of model aircraft, actually reach their maximum realism and behavior when built for radio control flying.

Radio control scale aircraft modeling[edit]

This Kyosho "Phantom 70" biplane is a semi-scale replica of a class winner and record holder from the 2007 Reno Air Races. In this example, the fuselage with its complex curves as well as the engine cowl, wheel pants and wing struts are rendered in fiberglass. The wings and horizontal stabilizer are traditional balsa/plywood construction

Perhaps the most realistic form of aeromodeling, in its main purpose to replicate full-scale aircraft designs from aviation history, for testing of future aviation designs, or even to realize never-built "proposed" aircraft, is that of radio control scale aeromodeling, as the most practical way to re-create "vintage" full-scale aircraft designs for flight once more, from long ago. RC Scale model aircraft can be of any type of steerable airship lighter-than-air (LTA) aviation craft, or more normally, of the heavier-than-air fixed wing glider/sailplane, fixed-wing single or multi-engine aircraft, or rotary-wing aircraft such as autogyros or helicopters.

Full-scale aircraft designs from every era of aviation, from the "Pioneer Era" and World War I's start, through to the 21st century, have been modeled as radio control scale model aircraft. Builders of RC Scale aircraft can enjoy the challenge of creating a controllable, miniature aircraft that merely "looks" like the full scale original in the air with no "fine details", such as a detailed cockpit, or seriously replicate many operable features of a selected full scale aircraft design, even down to having operable cable-connected flight control surfaces, illuminated navigation lighting on the aircraft's exterior, realistically retracting landing gear, etc. if the full-sized aircraft possessed such features as part of its design.

Various scale sizes of RC scale aircraft have been built in the decades since modern digital-proportional, miniaturized RC gear came on the market in the 1960s, and everything from indoor-flyable electric powered RC Scale models, to "giant scale" RC Scale models, in scale size ranges that usually run from 20% to 25%, and upwards to 30 to 50% size of some smaller full scale aircraft designs, that can replicate some of the actual flight characteristics of the full scale aircraft they are based on, have been enjoyed, and continue to be built and flown, in sanctioned competition and for personal pleasure, as part of the RC scale aeromodeling hobby.

Sailplanes and gliders[edit]

F3A Pattern Ship - ZNline Alliance by CPLR

Shinden by Bryan Hebert

Main article: radio-controlled glider

Gliders are planes that do not typically have any type of propulsion. Unpowered glider flight must be sustained through exploitation of the natural lift produced from thermals or wind hitting a slope. Dynamic soaring is another popular way of providing energy to gliders that is becoming more and more common. However, even conventional slope soaring gliders are capable of achieving speeds comparable with similar sized powered craft. Gliders are typically partial to slow flying and have high aspect ratio, as well as very low wing loading (weight to wing area ratio). 3-channel gliders which use only rudder control for steering and dihedral or polyhedral wing shape to automatically counteract rolling are popular as training craft, due to their ability to fly very slowly and high tolerance to error.

Powered gliders have recently seen an increase in popularity. By combining the efficient wing size and wide speed envelope of a glider airframe with an electric motor, it is possible to achieve long flight times and high carrying capacity, as well as glide in any suitable location regardless of thermals or lift. A common method of maximising flight duration is to quickly fly a powered glider upwards to a chosen altitude and descending in an unpowered glide. Folding propellers which reduce drag (as well as the risk of breaking the propellor) are standard. Powered gliders built with stability in mind and capable of aerobatics, high speed flight and sustained vertical flight are classified as 'Hot-liners'. 'Warm-liners' are powered craft with similar abilities but less extreme thrust capability. Many powered beginner craft are based upon or considered borderline gliders.

To avoid ambiguity, unpowered gliders are typically referred to as 'slope soarers' or 'thermal soarers' respectively.

Jets[edit]

Jets tend to be very expensive and commonly use a micro turbine or ducted fan to power them. Most airframes are constructed from fiber glass and carbon fiber. For electric powered flight which are usually powered by electric ducted fans, may be made of styrofoam. Inside the aircraft, wooden spars reinforce the body to make a rigid airframe . They also have kevlar fuel tanks for the Jet A fuel that they run on. Most micro turbines start with propane, burn for a few seconds before introducing the jet fuel by solenoid. These aircraft can often reach speeds in excess of 320 km/h (200 mph). They require incredibly quick reflexes and very expensive equipment, so are usually reserved for the expert.

In the U.S.A the FAA heavily regulates flying of such aircraft to only approved AMA Academy of Model Aeronautics sites, in where certified turbine pilots may fly. Also, the AMA requires model aviation enthusiasts who wish to operate miniature gas turbine powered RC model aircraft, to be certified in the operation of the type of gas turbine engine, and all aspects of safety in operating such a turbine-powered model aircraft, that they need to know in flying their model.[1]. Some military bases allow such high tech aircraft to fly within limited airspace such as Kaneohe Marine base in Hawaii, and Whidbey Island NAS in Washington State.

An average turbine aircraft will cost between $150–$10,000 with more than $20,000 all-up becoming more common. Many manufactures sell airframes such as Yellow Aircraft and Skymaster. Turbines are produced from The Netherlands (AMT)to Mexico (Artes Jets). The average microturbine will cost between $2500 and $5000 depending on engine output. Smaller turbines put out about 12 lbf (53 N) of thrust, while larger microturbines can put out as much as 45 lbf (200 N) of thrust. Radio control jets require an on board FADEC (Full Authority Digital Engine Control) controller, this controls the turbine, just like a larger turbine. RC Jets also require electrical power. Most have a lithium polymer (LiPo) battery pack at 8-12 volts that control the FADEC. There is also a LiPo for the onboard servos that control ailerons, elevator, rudder, flaps and landing gear.

Of much less complexity are the types of RC jet aircraft that actually use an electric motor-driven ducted fan instead to power the aircraft. So called "EDF" models can be of much smaller size, and only need the same electronic speed contoller and rechargeable battery technology as propeller-driven RC electric powered aircraft use.

Pylon racers[edit]

Racers are small propeller-driven aircraft that race around a 2, 3, or 4 pylon track. They tend to be hard to see and can often go over 240 km/h (150 mph), though some people do pylon races with much slower aircraft. Although several different types of aircraft are raced across the world, those flown primarily in the US are; Q500 (424 or ARPRA, and 428), and Q40. 424 is designed as a starting point into the world of pylon racing. Inexpensive (under $200 for the airframe) kits with wing areas of 3,200 square centimetres (500 sq in) are flown with .40 size engines that can be purchased for less than $100. The goal is for the planes to be not only inexpensive, but closely matched in performance. This places the emphasis on good piloting. APRA is a version of 424 with specific rules designed for consistency. 428 aircraft are similar to 424 in appearance. The difference is in engine performance and construction. The planes are primarily made of fiberglass with composites used at high load points. Wings are often hollow to save weight. (All aircraft must meet a minimum weight. A lighter wing moves more of the weight closer to the center of gravity. This requires less control deflection and its resulting drag to change the planes attitude.) They also use .40 cu in size engines but unlike 424 they are much more expensive. They have been designed to put out the maximum amount of power at a specific RPM using a specific fuel. Nelson manufactures the most predominantly used engine. Speeds are very fast in this class with planes capable of reaching 290 km/h (180 mph). Q40 is the highpoint of pylon racing, as their aircraft resemble full-size race planes. They are not limited to the simple shapes that Q500 planes are, which have much cleaner aerodynamics and less wing area. They use the same basic Nelson engine used in 428, but the engine is tuned to turn a much smaller prop at a much higher rpm. The planes accelerate much more slowly than 428, but their clean airframes allow them to reach higher speeds, and maintain them around the turns. These planes can fly in excess of 320 km/h (200 mph) on the course. Because of their limited wing area however, Q40 planes must fly a larger arc around the pylons to conserve energy. Although faster, they ultimately fly a larger course. Ironically the best times for a 10 lap 3 pylon Q40 race are very close to the same in 428.

Helicopters[edit]

Main article: radio-controlled helicopter

Radio-controlled helicopters, although often grouped with RC aircraft, are in a class of their own because of the vast differences in construction, aerodynamics and flight training. Hobbyists will often venture from planes, to jets and to helicopters as they enjoy the challenges, excitement and satisfaction of flying. Some radio-controlled helicopters have photo or video cameras installed and are used for aerial imaging or surveillance. Newer "3d" radio control helicopters can fly inverted with the advent of advanced swash heads, and servo linkage that enables the pilot to immediately reverse the pitch of the blades, creating a reverse in thrust.

Flying bird models, or ornithopters[edit]

Some RC models take their inspiration from nature. These may be gliders made to look like a real bird, but more often they actually fly by flapping wings. Spectators are often surprised to see that such a model can really fly. These factors as well as the added building challenge add to the enjoyment of flying bird models, though some ARF (almost-ready-to-fly) models are available. Flapping-wing models are also known as ornithopters, the technical name for an aircraft whose driving airfoils oscillate instead of rotate.

Toy-class RC[edit]

Since about 2004, new, more sophisticated toy RC airplanes, helicopters, and ornithopters have been appearing on toy store shelves. This new category of toy RC distinguishes itself by:

Proportional (vs. "on-off") throttle control which is critical for preventing the excitation of phugoid oscillation ("porpoising") whenever a throttle change is made. It also allows for manageable and steady altitude control and reduction of altitude loss in turns.

LiPo batteries for light weight and long flight time.

EPP (Expanded Polypropylene) foam construction making them virtually indestructible in normal use.

Low flying speed and typically rear-mounted propeller(s) make them harmless when crashing into people and property.

Stable spiral mode resulting in simple turning control where "rudder" input results in a steady bank angle rather than a steady roll rate.

As of 2013, the toy class RC airplane typically has no elevator control. This is to manage costs, but it also allows for simplicity of control by unsophisticated users of all ages. The downside of lack of elevator control is a tendency for the airplane to phugoid. To damp the phugoid oscillation naturally, the planes are designed with high drag which reduces flight performance and flying time. The lack of elevator control also prevents the ability to "pull back" during turns to prevent altitude loss and speed increase.

Costs range from 20 to 40 USD. Crashes are common and inconsequential. Throttle control and turning reversal (when flying toward the pilot) rapidly become second-nature, giving a significant advantage when learning to fly a more costly hobby class RC aircraft.

R.C Airplane Plans

R.C Airplane Plans

R.C Airplane Plans

R.C Airplane Plans

R.C Airplane Plans

R.C Airplane Plans

R.C Airplane Plans

R.C Airplane Plans

R.C Airplane Plans

R.C Airplane Plans

R.C Airplane Plans