Flying – Page 2 – Radical RC Workbench

Chance To Fly At Huffman Prairie Aero Carnival

Please Tweet, Post or do whatever you can to help me the the news out to pilots that might want to fly their early aviation models at the Wright Aero Carnival at Huffman Prarie.

I am working with the National Parks to bring demonstration flying of early aircraft to the Wright Aero Carnival at Huffman Prairie. The Carnival is a celabration of the Wright Brothers and early aviation. Models may be brought for demonstration flying of any aircraft through 1916. All models are welcome, not only Wright machines. You may bring any aircraft, Curtiss, Langley, Bleriot, many WWI aircraft qualify, even controversal or failed aircraft are welcome. Essentially anything the Wrights might have read news accounts of, hear rumors of, anything that might have been part of the what was going on in the development of flight up to 1916. All of these aircraft help to tell the story of early aviation and that is the point of participating in the event. Flying will be from 10am to Noon and 1pm to 3pm on Saturday August 18, 2012. The public will be in attendance. It’s is a very special and rare opportunity to get a photo of you and your aircraft flying at the worlds first airport, Huffman Prairie.

Aircraft need not be museum scale. Stand off scale, is welcome also. Models of any size are welcome. We will be flying over the same grass as the Wrights flew over. A paved road ajoining the field is available for a runway. I plan to be there with my 1905 kit which is stand off scale. Won’t you bring your model an help fill in the story of early flight?

Flying is not allowed at Huffman Prairie at any other time.

Please contact me if you can come. davthacker77@aol.com (remove the 77, it’s there to foil spam email spiders) There is a limit of 10 pilot slots for this event.

This rare opportunity to fly at Huffman Prairie is also a great way to set a positive example for modeling with the US Airforce and the National Parks Service. Decision makers within the National Parks Service across the country will be reading accounts of this event. What you do here in Dayton on August 18 could have a big impact on modelers elsewhere in the country.

View Larger MapMap showing overall area including I-75, I-70 & I-675 highways.

View Larger Map
On the day of the event, you’ll enter at the Golf Course and follow the signs in. (zoom the map 1 level + to see the road names) On the map above, the west end of Pylon Road will be closed. You’ll drive around the field by following Hebble Creek to right on Marl to right on Symmes to right on Pylon. Our pit area will be between the replica launch derrick and Pylon road at the turn circle.

The view from the flying area of our pit area.

Man Flys With Self Built Flapping Wings

Ok, all in all I am thinking this is big hoax rivaled only by the Global Warming hoax. However, on alot of levels it is every interesting. If it’s faked, it’s very well done. You can visit his website an do some reading for yourself. Of course he’s not flying right now because he’s taken it appart for some repairs and the weather and yadda yadda yadda. There is also an interesting mention of duck tape. Decide for yourself.

I don’t know if I should call him a Pilot or a Perp, but here is his website: Human Birdwings

Motion Induced Blindness

Crazy Eyes
I received a forwarded email from my good friend Archie Philips in Harvest Alabama. It says in part:

“You may find this interesting, it explains how drivers pull in front of motorcycles and say ” I didn’t see him”. Lack of motion Induced Blindness (pilots and drivers too)

Good info and demo. Lack of motion Induced Blindness was presented as a flying issue, but one can also miss things (pedestrians, motorcycles, other cars) while driving, so, keep your heads and eyes moving. The below link is a great illustration of what was taught about scanning outside the cockpit when military pilots went through training they were told to scan the horizon for a short distance, stop momentarily, and repeat the process.

This was the most effective technique to locate other aircraft. It was emphasized repeatedly to not fix one’s gaze for more than a couple of seconds on any single object. The instructors, some of whom were combat veterans with years of experience, instructed pilots to continually “keep your eyes moving and head on a swivel” because this was the best way to survive, not only in combat, but from peacetime hazards (like a midair collision) as well.”

Actual author unknown

Here is the link to the visual demonstration of this effect:
Montion Induced Blindness”

As an RC pilot, I am wondering how many pilots who fly into trees, flagpoles, barns and other objects are suffering from the same effect. I’m not suggesting you should “swivel” your eyes away from your aircraft, just be aware of what can happen. Your gaze if fixed on your aircraft may cause the stationary things in your view (things near you) to disapear or become less aware to you with the background zipping around behind your aircraft. Just a thought. Dave, Radical RC

About The Area Around Radical RC

Fred from Cary, NC asks:

Hi, just for fun, I googled your address (Google Maps View), and see some very interesting things near you.
You are across from Wright Field (Wiki). That could be fun. Do they let you fly RC stuff over there?
And behind you….looks like a park with lots of long slender ponds. Is it a park, or why did they make all that water? At first the satellite view made it look like a golf course, until I zoomed in, and realized it was water.

Thanks for your help…. Fred

Fred,
I fly & test small field models in the field out in front of the shop. Every kit we manufacture has been flown there many times. You can’t fly on the museum grounds (across Springfield St inside the museum fence). Behind the Air Force Museum (official website) is a large runway and towards the north end of it there is a club, you must be active or retired military to fly there and join the club. Each year on labor day weekend they hold a large fly in called “DOGS”. Where anybody can fly there. Occiasionally there are other events there like last summer the World Jet Masters were held there. I’ve seen kite contests out in front of the museum also. In fact they used to hold the Dawn Patrol out front. This was great as we’d see nearly full scale replica’s flying over the shop and landing in the field out in front of the museum. However, that event has moved out back on the runway. But, if you stick up an electric model, the ask you to shut it down. Which is sad in a way. What a nice thing it would be for visitors to see people poking around in the sky as your walking into the Airforce Museum.

We get modelers in all the time that are in town visiting the Air Force Museum. Almost every modeler in the USA or Canada if given a chance will visit it at some time in their lives. It’s a great location from an aviation point of view for sure.

The lakes you see directly behind (west of) the shop and north are part of the well fields. There is an Eagles nest (or maybe 2 now) and people with long range lenses in Eastwood Lake park are photographing them all the time. Eastwood is open to the public and the lake south west of Wright Brothers Parkway (Harsman Rd, Woodman Drive).

Here is a virtual tour of the US Airforce Museum.

Dave, Radical RC

RadicalCast #002

[display_podcast] Cast topics, What’s going on at the shop – Multi Rotor Aircraft, Understanding voltage ratings of servos/ignition systems and “Nominal” voltage specifications. How to tame those bouncy landings and we begin a series about understanding electric power motor systems, important concepts are covered.

Show notes: KK Multicopter boards.