Thoughts from the workbench of Radical RC. The online retailer of electronics and kits for radio control aircraft. Dave Thacker shares his thoughts and knowledge of electronics, batteries, kit design and overall enjoyment of the hobby.
Students from the Discovery Lab send me some links and a thank you. Heya Dave, This is Jacob, from the Discovery Lab. My team and I finally got to maiden our aircraft yesterday, and she flew great! Very docile in the air, and we got the CG spot on. More than enough power, and lift …
Continue reading “Discovery Lab Team Successful Flight Trials”
It’s important not to fall into the swirling well of panic and paranoia. We so often hear those kinds of reactions from the those less informed whenever the AMA speaks out on a subject. I certainly favor the future development of our hobby to included FPV (First Person View) technologies and flight stabilization capabilities. The …
Continue reading “FPV and Flight Stabilization AMA Revised Policy”
Our series about becoming a solid test pilot continues….. Make sure every surface is perfectly nuetral. No slight rudder, or aileron inputs. Check the elevator for “slight up”. I would define this as the elevator being set dead nuetral then putting in about 1/32″ up or about 3 clicks of up trim. It’s always easier …
Continue reading “Being a Good Test Pilot: Part 4, Trim Pre Flight – Flight Plan”
I was cooler today but the ceiling was high and visibiliity was good. Mostly cloudy, nice that some blue was showing. I was in the second flight of the day so the engines were already warmed up, didn’t take long from strapping into to engine start and down the taxi way. It was a great …
Continue reading “B-25 Flight Complete At Last”
Went to Grimes Field in Urbana Ohio today for my B-25 ride. It was a gift from my family for Christmas. Scheduled for 12am. It’s been beautiful around here all week until this morning. Drisely all the way there. Lots of people waiting. Turns out flights were scheduled to start at 9am. However the ceiling …
Continue reading “B-25 Flight Adventure Rescheduled”
Springfield Ohio’s SelectTech in September of 2011 reports sucessful test flight of the worlds first privately funded 3D printed aircraft. Designed by Frank Beafore and Beth Galang, flown by Jade Lowrey at Springfields Beckley Municipal Airport. Aircraft is powered and guided by electronics from Radical RC. Powered by Himax brushless motor, Castle Creations ESC, and …
Continue reading “3D Printed Aircraft Takes Flight”
Check it out, see if you can figure out the controller logic to make this safe as possible. A step beyon fly-by-wire for certain. Maybe with some aluminum, rivits and 4 quad boards you too could be seated above a blender. 😉 Dave
Here it is. You can hear Bob stepping in the throttle on the take off. The model looked like it had pretty good power. He didn’t get around to removing the propless glow motor (donor fuse) so the actual flight weight here is about 10lbs 10oz. Yikes! On speed 300’s. Very sorry to say, shortly …
Continue reading “Lucky 13 Flight Test”
The contents of my Survival tin Project Current Contents: Altoids Tin Compass Sandpaper T Pins 2 Safety Pins 2 Buttons 2 4 Neodymium Magnets Hobby Knife Blade Single Edge Razor Utility Knife Blade Reflective Mirror on Bottom 2 Alcohol Pads 2 Standard Adhesive Band Aids Vegetable Bag Moist Towelette Leatherman Style CS Multi-Tool Knife File …
Continue reading “Survival Tin”
Ed writes me about properly forming a recent NiMH purchase. Hi Dave, I recently bought one of the FDK Twicell 6.0V 5-cell 2000mah NiMH AA Flat Pack and would like to try it in one of my airplanes . I read all your comments about this battery pack and I have the HiTec Multi-Charger X-4 …
Continue reading “Forming a recent NiMH purchase on the Hitec X4 and other computerized chargers.”