G’day Again!

Here it is, almost Christmas time (again!), and I bet you, like me, haven’t done half the things or built half the models you promised yourself at the beginning of the year?! At about the time I noticed that policemen and school teachers were getting younger, I also noticed that time was going quicker and the years getting shorter. For those of you who haven’t experienced that phenomenon yet, just wait, it will hit you sooner than you think!! Anyway, I wonder if the maturity induced exponential warping of time is also a subconscious factor in the increased appeal of slow flying indoor models......

Featured this month is part one of a set of tables detailing suitable equipment - servo’s, receivers & motors this month (kits, covering materials and BEC/speed controllers will be in next column). There is also advice on looking after those little motors that are new to some of us, information on readers/surfers models and details of my latest indoor r/c effort as well as some more on our www aewopwane pwoject (if you don’t know what this one is about - go back and re-read the first 2 columns that are available out of the E-Zone "archives")

Indoor R/C Equipment and sources - Part 1

In preparation for this column, I started putting together a few tables of information on various types of equipment, motors, servos, radios, etc., etc. I actually intended to include these tables in the last column, but time got the better of me (that warping thing again?!). Well, it has been said that great minds think alike, so David Lewis, you are in real trouble, ‘cause David sent me only a week or so after I had started my tables, several similar tables that he had compiled. Lucky for me, they were more complete than mine, and lucky for you out there in internet land, they concentrated more on the U.S. sources which my tables were lacking a little information on!! Thanks (again!) David for the quality information you are sharing with us all.

The tables that follow in fact represent the first instalment - part 2 will be in next column! They are by no means exhaustive, but they are non-the-less excellent reference sources. No apologies for the use of mixed units (metric & imperial) within the same table - remember, we are multi-cultural here!?!?! They do not favour one manufacturer over another, but simply represent objectively the information as best as we were able to compile from manufacturers and suppliers data sheets and advertisements (errors & omissions excepted). If you have any additional information that we can add to the tables, please let me know. Prices are definitely a guide only.

Servos

"Micro" servos are also listed by the following manufacturers, but no specific details were at hand at the time of compilation - Multiplex, Graupner (JR), Simprop, Becker, Robbe (Futaba), Fleet, Multiplex

Receivers

Motors (suitable for free flight and/or radio control)

David Lewis tells me ....MicroModels is out of business. I bought up some of their remaining stock, so I might be able to satisfy a few inquiries. The DC1.3-.03 from WES Tech is same thing as M1 motor. I have data and props for this motor for those who wish to use it as a propulsion unit for a pocket-size B-36.

Wayne’s Indoor World WWW Indoor Wadio Contwol Aewopwane.....

For those of you not familiar with the "WWW Indoor Wadio Contwol Aewopwane" project, the proposal was to jointly develop over the net a simple, reliable & flyable indoor r/c model that was within the capabilities of any "average" modeller with typical resources - a simple model that any modeller with "average" building and flying capabilities would be able to build and fly successfully, without requiring access to aerospace technology or a defence budget.

Last column were featured suggestions and comments from David Lewis & Todd Woodhouse. Now its my turn - enter (drum roll folks)……. "The Rat"……

Before our recent 850 km move, I used to get together with a few of the modellers in the local area every 6 weeks or so and fly indoor F/F models - mostly "Hanger Rats". They are a cute little rubber powered model that fly extremely well. If you have never built one, then I strongly suggest you do - heaps of fun and cheap as chips! They are also suitable for electric conversion - I am currently building an electric free flight version out of foam from the trays of McDonalds hot cakes (we multi-culturalists of ye olde English origin call them pancakes!?!) containers. It will be called (wait for it….) a Mc Rat-e (groan).

Anyway, as I reported in the last column, I got the bright idea to scale the "Hanger Rat" up to accommodate radio and electric power. For obvious (warped?) reasons, it was christened "Big-e-rat". After initial test flights with a home brewed motor, gearbox & controller, I put "the rat" on a diet by re-equiping it with smaller lighter servos (S80 size), WES motor & gearbox and BEC controller. To say that the performance improved, is an understatement!! Here are the Rat’s vital statistics……

Big-e-rat

More on Motors

Based on his experiences, David Lewis warned me of potential overheating problems with the WES Micro DC5-2.4 motor. I quote from one of David’s emails…" I think I already told you the DC5 will only last a couple of hours at 5W continuous. Although 9W for < 10 seconds is not terribly harmful with a cooling off period when required. Going to try home-made heatsink on my next model. Walter Scholl called me from Germany a couple of days ago and said his motors exhibit approx. 20 hour life under (for him) normal flying conditions. This upsets some people, but we're dealing with a 2.4W motor, after all & expectations must be realistic. I don't mind a bit, with this kind of performance…" My subsequent experience has confirmed David’s advice, and I concur with his comments about being satisfied with the performance. Remember, these are small motors, that when used correctly, provide amazing performance. Besides, 20 hours is a LOT of flying, especially in a confined space!?

Something that some of you may have probably thought of already - I suspect a vastly under utilised source of small motors & gears are servos (old or new) - the motors are powerful & optimised to run on relatively low voltages (hence small number of cells needed in the flight pack = lower mass). Modern coreless servo motors are (I believe) the basis of the WES motor/gearbox combinations. I have a box full of old servos and servo spares, but I haven’t done any experimenting (yet!) If any of you "give it a go", let us know how it went.

I just heard about a real small motor. It is supposed to measure 3mm diameter and 8 mm long. Power according to the information is 80mW @ 40,000 rpm. I do not know any more at this stage, but if any of you are able to pass on more information, such as manufacturer and supply details, PLEASE let me know. Nano micro servos, here we come!!

What have we been up too??

Thanks gang for all your emails - keep it up!!. Here are some of the "juicy bits" ?!?!?

Our roving reporter, David Lewis has been at it again. David says....

Bob Wilder of Texas last week, (i.e. mid September - Wayne) using 4.8v 350mAh Sanyo's with the DC5-2.4, got a 41 minute flight under a 24 foot ceiling. The world record for this category is 17 minutes. (I think thats the F/F record - Wayne) Bob sent me plans and photos of this airplane which I received recently.

I’ll try and publish more details next column, along with some additional "historical" information on past indoor r/c duration flights.

Martin Kopplow says about his latest project.

I have a new project I called "Klaustrophobia II", a foam/carbon-design which I first flew yesterday (19/10/97). It is designed to be simple and sturdy so one doesn't have to bother much about crashes. A friend of mine flew a similar model he built, straight into a wall a couple of times and nothing happened to the plane, only a propeller blade broke off. Maybe it's good for beginners too but the main idea is to use it for indoor races or similar action where one wouldn't dare to use a more complicated model.

Starting with a heap of raw material it took me 3 1/2 hours to build it ready to fly. That's not too bad, is it? We'll go on with the development of the carbon/foam design so there's more to come.

Sounds great, doesn’t it gang!? Here are some pictures I subsequently received from Martin, who has asked for feedback from any of you who are interested in his efforts. You can find out more at Martin’s home pages. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d like to know more, either for our "WWW Indoor Wadio Contwol Aewopwane" project, or as a construction article in a future Ezone - what do the rest of you think??

Wolfgang Nitschmann tells us:

Indoor slow-flying is getting a new commercial aspect. Hobby Lobby is selling the Bleriot II from Germany that is an easy entrance for a normal modeller: micro-type servos, micro type receiver and a tiny little motor at a very low price. We flew this model here in Germany and had flying times of 6-10 mins with 6x220 mAh Sanyo. There are two more on the market here: a Demoiselle and a Grade Eindecker. 5 people, a sporting hall, a few bottles of orange juice and you have the best fun you ever had. Repairs require some cyano and adhesive tape. The advantage: The kits are ready, hardly any assembly is necessary and the motor/prop/gearbox units is fool-proof and affordable. Check it out, it is interesting.

Best regards - wolfgang s. nitschmann
offenau 63
25335 bockholt hanredder
Germany

Johan Bjurling from Stockholm, Sweden, has some info on the Hacker line of kits, that I believe are available in the USA through Hobby Lobby. We published a picture of Mr Hackers own radio controlled Tiger Moth in an earlier column. I think the Hacker kits are also excellent candidates for electric F/F conversion - has anybody out there in internet land done this - if so, please email me with details.

Thank you for doing the best site on the net! I´m about to build a RC-indoor model for the coming winter season. I've been a modeller for about 17 years now and it’s about time to go into electrics now. Right? I’m finding a lot of inspiration on your site. I have a couple of kits from the Czech manufacturer "Hacker". Really good kits of Piper Cub, Tiger Moth and a Bellanca, but they are a bit hard to find here in Sweden so I have to buy them from UK. The price is quite low. I'm planning to use the British made "Knight & Pridham" electric motors and go free flight. Maybe the Moth will be radio controlled.

Again: Thanks for a great site. Keep up the good work!

Best regards, Johan

Soldering Irons to the Ready…

I suspect that most of you who are reading this are really "tinkerers" at heart (did you know that a good tinkerer is one who has the same number of successful assemblies as diss-assemblies?!). Anyway, in the course of packing for our recent house move, I re-discovered a clever circuit for a servo "exerciser" originally developed by Bob Meyer, an e-flight mate of mine. This circuit is very easy to build and will set you back the minimum of buckeroos, quids, dracma’s, peso’s, marks, guilder, etc., etc. Mine has worked faultlessly since I built it 4 years ago, and fits into the category of useful gadgets best described as "how the heck did I get by without it?".

Next Column

In this column was to have been details of servo power consumption, but time and moving the home and family 850 klm and starting a new job beat me! I was deprived of my computer for nearly 4 weeks, so if any of you emailed me and missed out on a reply, forgive me. I have still retained the same email address (whadkins(at)ezonemag.com) but in changing to a new ISP connection, I suspect some messages may have been "lost in the ether" - they are probably still out there somewhere, I just haven’t found them yet!? Feel free to give me a "nudge" if you are still waiting on a reply.

Never fear, the servo power consumption information will be in the next column (I promise!!), along with the second round of information tables covering kits, covering materials and BEC/speed controllers, a detailed discussion on power loading and the application of the "50watt/lb" rule of thumb, some historical information on indoor R/C duration, and whatever else I can dream up in response to your emails!?!?!

Hang loose, stay cool and may all your indoor r/c or electric f/f projects float as freely as your imagination…. see ya!!