Flightplan page 1

Published "online" by the Flightmasters Model Aircraft Club, Inc. of Fort Smith, Arkansas. It's purpose is to inform the membership and to promote interest in the safe building and flying of model aircraft both in the Fort Smith Area as well as elsewhere.

This issue of FlightPlan has a different layout than that previously used. I have been told that some folks are having trouble navigating the newsletter, and that at times the links to the pages are slow, or don't work at all. I suspect this may be the fault of some browsers rather than the layout because most folks do not have trouble. However... in the interest of making this site work well for all viewers, I have decided to try the "One Page" approach in this newsletter.

Everything is on this one page, therefore, no links! Just keep scrolling down to view the entire newsletter. If you like this better, or if you don't, let me know by email.

Flightmasters' Annual
Cecil Venable Jumbo Fly-In
May 23 & 24th

This I.M.A.A. restricted, A.M.A. sanctioned Fly-In will have a $20.00 landing fee and lunch will be provided for registered pilots. here WILL BE A TRANSMITTER IMPOUND and an allotment of airspace over the main runway.

Contacts:

Harold Wille, Contest Director / Email h.wille@sbcglobal.net
Josh Price, Club President / Email: firefighterbdr@hotmail.com
Ron Roberts, Club Vice-Pres / Email: granddadr@sbcglobal.net

The field has two grass strips, 600’ X 75’ Main and 400’ X 75’ Alternate.
Bring your own cover for shade and let’s have some fun!

The field will open at 8:00 AM and close at Sundown.

The Trials and Tribulations of a New "Electric Aviator"

(A "tongue-in-cheek" look at Electrics)

by Cecil Collum

Taking interest in this new-fangled electric flight at my age is akin to learning how to generate an atomic reaction from scratch! I have never seen a new hobby discipline so full of jargon as when I entered this phase!

"28-42-30" sounds like a very poorly shaped female body to me, but it may actually refer to some electric motor that may equate, somehow, to a glow engine... but no one seems to know just how. (Electric motor manufacturers apparently do not wish to simplify the matter for modelers but cling to their own proprietary terminology for those motors.)

I also had to learn about "Brushless" motors, "Outrunners", "Inrunners" and "No runners"! "No runners" are what I will probably have, especially after the smoke escapes. What the heck is an "ESC"? How many watts equals a joule? What is a joule? Who's on first? Abbott and Costello could have had a great skit about all these things, whatever they are.

By the way, let's clarify one thing before we go any further. If it's an electric propulsion system, it's power is generated by a MOTOR. If it's gasoline or glow fuelled, it's an ENGINE. We DO NOT have motors in our automobiles, we have ENGINES (unless you have one of those hybrids, which have both) and our air conditioners do not have engines, they have MOTORS. MOTOR equals electricity: ENGINE equals wet fuels.

One of the first things I had to learn is the WATT. A watt is a unit of measurement in electrical work and is defined as "the power produced by a current of one ampere across a potential difference of one volt: (and that equals) 1/746 horsepower". Boy, that tells me a lot! Remember my reference to generating an atomic reaction in the first paragraph? That's a whole lot easier than this! I learned how to generate an atomic reaction in just a few days back in '67 and I've worked on this electric stuff for a couple of months now and still know diddly about it!

(To set the record straight, I had to go to the Army's Nuclear Projectile Assembler's Course upon becoming an 8" Artillery Battery Executive Officer since one of my additional duties was to supervise the Special Weapons Section and we all had to know how to do this properly. I mean, we didn't want to glow in the dark after working with these devices!)

Once I "learned" how to size my motor for a particular plane and how to choose a lipo battery (that is a PHD level course in itself), I turned to the Electronic Speed Control. This device is neat... it controls the speed of the MOTOR, distributes electrons to the various servos through the "Battery Eliminator Circuit" and many other things I am not familiar with. One thing you do not want to do is to LET THE SMOKE OUT OF THE ESC. Your flying will be over for the day and your plane could come down in flames, as in the Army Air Corps song.

One very critical item you must know when selecting an ESC is it's "Maximum Continuous Current Rating". You should select one with a 20% safety factor; In other words, if your motor will pull 20 amps continuous, choose an ESC rated at 25 amps, minimum. This way, it will take you much longer to let out the smoke!

(Cont'd on Right, scroll back up)

(Cont'd from Left)
Lithium Polymer batteries (LIPO's) are an extremely compact battery. I cannot comprehend how the Chinese can get 90,000,000 amps in a battery that only measures 0.5" x 1.5" x 1" but they do! These things are like the Pink Bunny on TV- they go on forever. Charging them is an experience the first time, what with all the safety precautions one sees and reads. I expected mine to blow up like a shaped charge when I connected it to the charger but it just lay there, soaking up the electrons by the millions. It didn't even swell or burst or anything like they said it would. Terribly disappointed!

Once I "learned" how to select the various items needed for my first electric flying device, I placed an order with HobbyKing.com in Hong Kong. After some time (17 days, to be exact), the order arrived in dear old Fort Smith and I began trying to figure out how to assemble everything. I had to solder "Bullet" connectors to the ESC and a "Dean's Plug" to the battery, both of which are straight-forward easy jobs. I had no guide for placing the various components on the airframe, so I used the TLAR method. The TLAR method requires "That Looks About Right" and it works like a charm. If something doesn't look right, it generally isn't so we use this rule in all areas of life except Government Work, but that's a different story.

Now the airplane (somehow, calling flat sheets of fan fold foam an airplane just doesn't seem right) is ready for it's maiden flight, scheduled for 25 Feb 09, weather permitting. Hopefully this thing will stay airborne and react to the control surfaces in a predictable manner and be a joy to fly. We'll see. [Editor's Note: Perhaps Cecil will write another article to tell us why it did not!]

If it doesn't fly as well as it should because the eng- uhhh, motor is a little small, how do I choose a larger one? They aren't like glow engines, you don't just move from say, a .35 to a .46. That's too easy for the electron guys, you must purchase a 35-24-35 (now that sounds better!) or even a 50-75-50 (this sounds like an insurance policy for your auto) and I still can't relate them to glow engine sizes. Qu'elle dommage!

To help simplify motor selection, many people follow the guidelines below:

Trainers require 50-75 watts of power per pound.

Sport planes require 100-125 watts per pound

Aerobatic and 3-D planes require 150 watts and up per pound.

These assume brushless motors and ESCs. Don't mix brushless with brushed types, they aren't compatible.

Electrics appear to be the wave of the future but so did the tsunami. If the recent ruling by the EPA concerning emissions from small wet fuel engines are applied like everything else so far in this new administration, we may all be flying these small electrics. I sincerely hope they go to sleep at the switch and leave our gas burners alone. Electrics are convenient but the sound of the engines on our wet fuel planes can't be replaced by them. I may build and fly an electric but I will never give up my engines!

Saturday, April 4th, 2009

by Ron Roberts

(Photos by Bill Womble)

A few weeks ago we had a "Work Day" at the field. This was planned with other things in mind. We had determined to have "Fun-Fly" competition, a Picnic Lunch and some Open Flying to offset the "work" involved. It was a good plan, and a number of members showed up, but the weather just didn't cooperate. As you can see from these three photos, it was cold, and the wind was blowing about 20 MPH! We all wore jackets! Unfortunately Bill did not get pictures of everyone.

There was not much real "work" to do. The field had become the home of a few Armadillo's and Gophers, so there were a few "holes" to patch, and we wanted to spread some "Grub-Killer" to cause the varmits to move elsewhere to look for thir food. We also wanted to erect a new "Martin House" with a "Free Rent" sign so the Martins could help solve the gnat situation in the summer, and we needed to do a little "tying up" to our safety fences.

All in all we figured about two to three hours work with plenty of time to eat, fly and enjoy ourselves.

Then several representatives of the local Civil Air Patrol (CAP) showed up and pitched in and the work went very quickly!

Actually we are working with the CAP on a program that may tie in with the TAG program that the AMA has. We are going to help these CAP guys (and gals) learn how to fly RC airplanes! They are a good group of young folks that jumped right in and worked hard.

HOW TO REPAIR SCRATCHED
WINDSHIELDS, CANOPIES ETC.

By Roy Valliancourt 411

"Taken from "High Flight", the I.M.A.A. Magazine"

Have you ever gotten to the point where your newest creation was ready for painting and in the course of sanding the airframe you also accidentally sanded the canopy? If you haven't you either don't use sandpaper or you don't build aircraft with windshields or canopies.

Well, now that your entire day is ruined by this scratchy situation, take heart and let's try to get a clear view of things, first thing to do is forget about this mishap momentarily and proceed to finish the model in all its splendid colors, marking etc. When things look great except for the canopy, now's the time to clear up the problem.

Mask off the entire canopy where the framing meets the fuselage using 1/2 inch or wider masking tape. Now sand! That's right, sand the entire canopy using No. 600 wet or dry sandpaper using plenty of water. Pay particular attention to areas of severe scratches. Sand the entire canopy until it looks foggy or sort of like fine frosted glass. By this time you may think I'm crazy but hang in there, your pilot will soon see the light. At this point dry the canopy thoroughly. If the tape has gotten soggy remove it and replace it with fresh stuff when everything is dry. After masking (being careful not to touch any of the sanded area) add whatever method you prefer to cover adjoining areas to protect them against overspray. Mix up some "Hobby-Poxy" clear with gloss brushing hardener and about 20% thinner. Let this mixture set for about 15 minutes before using. While you're waiting, lock the dog, the kids and your wife in the closet. Then take out your tack rag and wipe the entire canopy. Now that all the dust and noise (kids, dog and wife in closet noise) have settled, its time to spray with your airbrush or whatever.

Spray one light coat of your clear epoxy mixture over the entire canopy. Wait 5 minutes and repeat. Wait another 5 minutes and apply a wet coat. Presto! You and your pilot can now see eye to eye. If things are still a little hazy, apply one more wet coat and quit. If blushing appears, hang in there. It will go away by itself.

A half hour after your last wet coat you can unlock the closet, but don't touch the canopy. Let the clear set for 24 hours before removing the masking tape etc. if you have fine dust specks in the finish, wait 3 days and wax. That's right, wax the canopy with a good grade of automotive wax that contains a fine cleaner. Buff and Wa-La!

This issue of FlightPlan has a different layout than that previously used. I have been told that some folks are having trouble navigating the newsletter, and that at times the links to the pages are slow, or don't work at all. I suspect this may be the fault of some browsers rather than the layout because most folks do not have trouble. However... in the interest of making this site work well for all viewers, I have decided to try the "One Page" approach in this newsletter. Everything is on this one page, therefore, no links! Just keep scrolling down to view the entire newsletter. If you like this better, or if you don't, let me know by email. Thanks, Ron
Flightmasters' Annual Cecil Venable Jumbo Fly-In May 23 & 24th This I.M.A.A. restricted, A.M.A. sanctioned Fly-In will have a $20.00 landing fee and lunch will be provided for registered pilots. here WILL BE A TRANSMITTER IMPOUND and an allotment of airspace over the main runway. Contacts: Harold Wille, Contest Director / Email h.wille@sbcglobal.net Josh Price, Club President / Email: firefighterbdr@hotmail.com Ron Roberts, Club Vice-Pres / Email: granddadr@sbcglobal.net The field has two grass strips, 600’ X 75’ Main and 400’ X 75’ Alternate. Bring your own cover for shade and let’s have some fun! The field will open at 8:00 AM and close at Sundown.
The Trials and Tribulations of a New "Electric Aviator" (A "tongue-in-cheek" look at Electrics) by Cecil Collum
Taking interest in this new-fangled electric flight at my age is akin to learning how to generate an atomic reaction from scratch! I have never seen a new hobby discipline so full of jargon as when I entered this phase! "28-42-30" sounds like a very poorly shaped female body to me, but it may actually refer to some electric motor that may equate, somehow, to a glow engine... but no one seems to know just how. (Electric motor manufacturers apparently do not wish to simplify the matter for modelers but cling to their own proprietary terminology for those motors.) I also had to learn about "Brushless" motors, "Outrunners", "Inrunners" and "No runners"! "No runners" are what I will probably have, especially after the smoke escapes. What the heck is an "ESC"? How many watts equals a joule? What is a joule? Who's on first? Abbott and Costello could have had a great skit about all these things, whatever they are. By the way, let's clarify one thing before we go any further. If it's an electric propulsion system, it's power is generated by a MOTOR. If it's gasoline or glow fuelled, it's an ENGINE. We DO NOT have motors in our automobiles, we have ENGINES (unless you have one of those hybrids, which have both) and our air conditioners do not have engines, they have MOTORS. MOTOR equals electricity: ENGINE equals wet fuels. One of the first things I had to learn is the WATT. A watt is a unit of measurement in electrical work and is defined as "the power produced by a current of one ampere across a potential difference of one volt: (and that equals) 1/746 horsepower". Boy, that tells me a lot! Remember my reference to generating an atomic reaction in the first paragraph? That's a whole lot easier than this! I learned how to generate an atomic reaction in just a few days back in '67 and I've worked on this electric stuff for a couple of months now and still know diddly about it! (To set the record straight, I had to go to the Army's Nuclear Projectile Assembler's Course upon becoming an 8" Artillery Battery Executive Officer since one of my additional duties was to supervise the Special Weapons Section and we all had to know how to do this properly. I mean, we didn't want to glow in the dark after working with these devices!) Once I "learned" how to size my motor for a particular plane and how to choose a lipo battery (that is a PHD level course in itself), I turned to the Electronic Speed Control. This device is neat... it controls the speed of the MOTOR, distributes electrons to the various servos through the "Battery Eliminator Circuit" and many other things I am not familiar with. One thing you do not want to do is to LET THE SMOKE OUT OF THE ESC. Your flying will be over for the day and your plane could come down in flames, as in the Army Air Corps song. One very critical item you must know when selecting an ESC is it's "Maximum Continuous Current Rating". You should select one with a 20% safety factor; In other words, if your motor will pull 20 amps continuous, choose an ESC rated at 25 amps, minimum. This way, it will take you much longer to let out the smoke! (Cont'd on Right, scroll back up)	(Cont'd from Left) Lithium Polymer batteries (LIPO's) are an extremely compact battery. I cannot comprehend how the Chinese can get 90,000,000 amps in a battery that only measures 0.5" x 1.5" x 1" but they do! These things are like the Pink Bunny on TV- they go on forever. Charging them is an experience the first time, what with all the safety precautions one sees and reads. I expected mine to blow up like a shaped charge when I connected it to the charger but it just lay there, soaking up the electrons by the millions. It didn't even swell or burst or anything like they said it would. Terribly disappointed! Once I "learned" how to select the various items needed for my first electric flying device, I placed an order with HobbyKing.com in Hong Kong. After some time (17 days, to be exact), the order arrived in dear old Fort Smith and I began trying to figure out how to assemble everything. I had to solder "Bullet" connectors to the ESC and a "Dean's Plug" to the battery, both of which are straight-forward easy jobs. I had no guide for placing the various components on the airframe, so I used the TLAR method. The TLAR method requires "That Looks About Right" and it works like a charm. If something doesn't look right, it generally isn't so we use this rule in all areas of life except Government Work, but that's a different story. Now the airplane (somehow, calling flat sheets of fan fold foam an airplane just doesn't seem right) is ready for it's maiden flight, scheduled for 25 Feb 09, weather permitting. Hopefully this thing will stay airborne and react to the control surfaces in a predictable manner and be a joy to fly. We'll see. [Editor's Note: Perhaps Cecil will write another article to tell us why it did not!] If it doesn't fly as well as it should because the eng- uhhh, motor is a little small, how do I choose a larger one? They aren't like glow engines, you don't just move from say, a .35 to a .46. That's too easy for the electron guys, you must purchase a 35-24-35 (now that sounds better!) or even a 50-75-50 (this sounds like an insurance policy for your auto) and I still can't relate them to glow engine sizes. Qu'elle dommage! To help simplify motor selection, many people follow the guidelines below: Trainers require 50-75 watts of power per pound. Sport planes require 100-125 watts per pound Aerobatic and 3-D planes require 150 watts and up per pound. These assume brushless motors and ESCs. Don't mix brushless with brushed types, they aren't compatible. Electrics appear to be the wave of the future but so did the tsunami. If the recent ruling by the EPA concerning emissions from small wet fuel engines are applied like everything else so far in this new administration, we may all be flying these small electrics. I sincerely hope they go to sleep at the switch and leave our gas burners alone. Electrics are convenient but the sound of the engines on our wet fuel planes can't be replaced by them. I may build and fly an electric but I will never give up my engines! Cecil .....
Saturday, April 4th, 2009 by Ron Roberts (Photos by Bill Womble)
A few weeks ago we had a "Work Day" at the field. This was planned with other things in mind. We had determined to have "Fun-Fly" competition, a Picnic Lunch and some Open Flying to offset the "work" involved. It was a good plan, and a number of members showed up, but the weather just didn't cooperate. As you can see from these three photos, it was cold, and the wind was blowing about 20 MPH! We all wore jackets! Unfortunately Bill did not get pictures of everyone. There was not much real "work" to do. The field had become the home of a few Armadillo's and Gophers, so there were a few "holes" to patch, and we wanted to spread some "Grub-Killer" to cause the varmits to move elsewhere to look for thir food. We also wanted to erect a new "Martin House" with a "Free Rent" sign so the Martins could help solve the gnat situation in the summer, and we needed to do a little "tying up" to our safety fences. All in all we figured about two to three hours work with plenty of time to eat, fly and enjoy ourselves. Then several representatives of the local Civil Air Patrol (CAP) showed up and pitched in and the work went very quickly! Actually we are working with the CAP on a program that may tie in with the TAG program that the AMA has. We are going to help these CAP guys (and gals) learn how to fly RC airplanes! They are a good group of young folks that jumped right in and worked hard.
HOW TO REPAIR SCRATCHED WINDSHIELDS, CANOPIES ETC. By Roy Valliancourt 411 "Taken from "High Flight", the I.M.A.A. Magazine" Have you ever gotten to the point where your newest creation was ready for painting and in the course of sanding the airframe you also accidentally sanded the canopy? If you haven't you either don't use sandpaper or you don't build aircraft with windshields or canopies. Well, now that your entire day is ruined by this scratchy situation, take heart and let's try to get a clear view of things, first thing to do is forget about this mishap momentarily and proceed to finish the model in all its splendid colors, marking etc. When things look great except for the canopy, now's the time to clear up the problem. Mask off the entire canopy where the framing meets the fuselage using 1/2 inch or wider masking tape. Now sand! That's right, sand the entire canopy using No. 600 wet or dry sandpaper using plenty of water. Pay particular attention to areas of severe scratches. Sand the entire canopy until it looks foggy or sort of like fine frosted glass. By this time you may think I'm crazy but hang in there, your pilot will soon see the light. At this point dry the canopy thoroughly. If the tape has gotten soggy remove it and replace it with fresh stuff when everything is dry. After masking (being careful not to touch any of the sanded area) add whatever method you prefer to cover adjoining areas to protect them against overspray. Mix up some "Hobby-Poxy" clear with gloss brushing hardener and about 20% thinner. Let this mixture set for about 15 minutes before using. While you're waiting, lock the dog, the kids and your wife in the closet. Then take out your tack rag and wipe the entire canopy. Now that all the dust and noise (kids, dog and wife in closet noise) have settled, its time to spray with your airbrush or whatever. Spray one light coat of your clear epoxy mixture over the entire canopy. Wait 5 minutes and repeat. Wait another 5 minutes and apply a wet coat. Presto! You and your pilot can now see eye to eye. If things are still a little hazy, apply one more wet coat and quit. If blushing appears, hang in there. It will go away by itself. A half hour after your last wet coat you can unlock the closet, but don't touch the canopy. Let the clear set for 24 hours before removing the masking tape etc. if you have fine dust specks in the finish, wait 3 days and wax. That's right, wax the canopy with a good grade of automotive wax that contains a fine cleaner. Buff and Wa-La!
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Flightplan

Flightmasters' Annual Cecil Venable Jumbo Fly-InMay 23 & 24th