RC Boating

I know the title of this blog is RC Hangar. But we pilots also like the ocean and fishing an other stuff. And we usually think about how to exploit the environment around us to have some RC fun. In that case I built this RC boat. It is a scratch build it is made out of balsa which right now I am noticing should've used ply for  the skin. Or I should've glassed the whole thing. I will make improvements on the next build I already have some ideas to implement on the next build which includes a deeper V bottom. Watch the video!

D25 Goes Faster

Finally I am happy to report the D25 is flying to my expectations! I still want to push it even more but this time I am happier with the results. On this flight we used a Hobby King NTM 28-36 brushless 3000kv with a 4.75 X 4.75 prop with a 11.1 LiPo battery and A 40 Amp ESC. This motor handles a 4S lipo so soon I want to put that in so we can push it even further. Sadly I did not have a speed gun. In the near future I hope to get some real measurements. I did however use RCSpeedo to get a reading off the video to get an approximate speed. One of the passes was clocked at 96 MPH. But I am not sure how accurate that can be. It does look fast on the video, we'll see. The landing was pretty rough, dumb thumbs I guess. But I like it too when stuff like this happens too. This crash/landing let me know how tough this thing really is. The only thing that came out damaged was the motor firewall. It just became unglued. I could've changed the broken prop there and re-glue and it would've been flying again. I am surprised at how tough this thing is for a built up plane. Stay tuned for more updates.

3000kv Brushless

I recently received this out-runner 3000kv motor. It's already installed on the D25 delta wing. It is setup with a 4.75X4.75 propeller. I will be using a 11.1 LiPo 3S battery. This motor will accept a 4S LiPo but I want to try it with the 11.1 first. This should be able to bring the D25 to the 100MPH+ mark. I will post a vid pretty soon hopefully with a radar gun. Stay tuned!

Burned ESC

HA! I had never ever burned an ESC since I started flying electric. So for the first time, here it is. This is why when you fly electric you need a Watt Meter!!! Yes, Battery, ESC and motor were properly matched. Still that doesn't mean you trust all the specs given by resellers or manufacturers. There could be typographical errors, conditions can change. USE A WATT METER!

RCadvisor's Model Airplane Design

 Hey everyone! Today I want review the book RCadvisors Model Airplane Design Made Easy.
 By Carlos Reyes. I have been building model airplanes for many years now. And one of the things I love about this hobby is that you can pretty much create something out of some raw materials like Balsa, composites, foam, plastics etc. In the past I had tried to build self designed airplanes of my own designs that worked ok I guess. But if you want to design and create great RC models you have to know what you are doing. Thats where this book comes in. The book is writen in simple language, easy to understand and there's plenty of ilustrations to demonstrate how everything works. Many, many topics are covered all which are necesarry to understand the design of a RC aircraft and full size aircraft for that matter! It covers aspect ratio, Reynolds numbers, airfoil basics and selection, problem analyzing, propellers explained, material characteristics, adhesives, drag, lift, control surface proportions and a lot more. This is a very complete book.

   Believe me, I have laid out many designs on paper just by looking at other models and this works to some extent, sometimes you can get good results sometimes you can't. This book improves  the chances of successfully designing your own RC aircraft by giving you the tools and understanding why aircraft are designed they way they are. If you are interested in designing an RC aircraft you must read this book before you start laying out anything.