Radio Control Model Airplanes

            When you think of Radio Controlled model airplanes, what is the first thing that comes to mind? They’re small, electric powered toys you could get at a RadioShack.  While that is part of the realm of model airplanes, that is the tip of the iceberg for the universe of model aviation.  There are many airplanes being built today that are 10 feet long, weigh 40 pounds and have engines in them that can develop twice that amount of thrust. Many of the aerobatic RC planes today can perform maneuvers that would not be possible with a human inside it because of the violence of them.

            Radio control model airplanes originally evolved from free flight airplanes, when people sought to control those airplanes on the way up.  Eventually, the government set aside certain radio frequencies for model aircraft pilots to use.  The downfall with this was that only one radio was allowed to be on the same frequency at the same time. If another pilot turned his/her radio on when another one was in use, the airplanes would suffer interference and could result in crashing.  Now thanks to technology advances, radios now transmit under 2.4 GHz frequencies.  This allows virtually an unlimited amount of airplanes to be flying at the same time, and doesn’t interfere with other planes in flight.

            Over the years, with the introduction of more powerful engines, and servos, the aerobatic side of model aircraft has been able to perform maneuvers full size airplanes can only dream of performing.  Many airplanes are able to hover inches above the ground and climb vertically out of the hover.  They can also roll at a dizzying rate such that even the highest performing airplanes can’t reach.  These same airplanes are also able to just twist, spin and tumble within their own axis depending on the skill of the pilot in control of that airplane.

            Scale aircraft of today can be built to look just like their full scale counterparts.  In fact, in the movie, The Aviator, many of the flying scenes were shot using giant-scale models of Howard Hughes’ airplanes.  The reason being is that even model airplanes look more realistic compared to computer generated animation.

            There are a variety of different quality powerplants to choose from when flying R/C.  The standard choice is the nitro powered engines. These engines are internal combustion engines and the fuel is typically a mix of nitromethane, oil and methanol. They can range in size from .10 cubic inch to 2.00 cubic inches. There’s also gas powered engines.  These are very similar to the type of engine you find in chainsaws and weedwackers, just built and timed differently.  These engines can range in size from 10cc all the way up to 200+cc with multiple cylinders.  Another increasingly popular form of propulsion is electric.  They work exactly how they sound, through batteries and electricity.  Those can range from the smallest toys all the way up to the giant scale airplanes.  The final method of propulsion is also the most expensive, jet engines.  These jet work the same way as the full size jet engines, run on JetA fuel and are very expensive.

            Radio Controlled model airplanes are a very exciting and rewarding hobby. You can get performance today that even exceeds today’s full sized airplanes, and can learn how to fly them very quickly.

Matthew Colan

Handy Chevrolet

St. Albans, VT