April 23, 2011
AURA – successful maiden flight
Today is the day to remember in my life – Yes the day before EASTER holiday in Year 2011 is a good day in many ways.
The best being – AURA : My Scratch Built RC Plane had it’s maiden flight which is amazingly graceful and highly successful.
If a picture is worth thousand words, then how about a video of this flight ? – Check below.
After the maiden flight that lasted for about 4 minutes in the morning, I just snapped a quick shot – see below.
Thanks to MAC, DENNY, AHMED and all others for helping me in this nice hobby.
April 21, 2011
AURA Maiden flight – Take 1
Hmnn… Obviously it didn’t happen the way as I wanted it to be.
With the help of my fellow pilots at the park – found that the Trust is not enough for the wing.
So the little AURA (In-fact it has about 420 Sq In of wing area), could n’t pick up altitude…
So couple of options were suggested:
- Replace the 6 x 4 prop with a 8 x 4 prop
- Replace the 1300 kv brushless motor with a 2300 kv brushless motor and so on…
Already replaced the prop – waiting for Weekend to come for a test flight.
Also placed the order for two 2300 brushless motors from hobbypartz.com along with a 30 amp ESC and they are on their way to my location today.
Hoping for the best and all I would say is to wait and see what is coming out of this …
April 16, 2011
RC Plane – AURA: All ready for take off.
Finally, The day has come.
The electronics are all in place, the heart and spirit is in unison to fly “AURA”
Weather permitting , I will post the video of maiden flight and experiences in a few.
In the mean time – here are the few pictures taken before maiden flight.
April 15, 2011
RC Plane setup – Quick bits
Conduct a Ground Check
In order to complete a ground check make sure you do all of the following:
- Turn on your radio, and make sure you raise your antanne completely.
- If your radio is programmable for multiple receivers, make sure it is on the right setting.
- Plug in your battery.
- Look at your control surfaces (rudder and elevator). Make sure they are positioned properly. If you need to make minor adjustments, you can do this with your trim tabs.
- Test your motor. Make sure it’s not running in reverse. If it is, you can just swap any two of the 3 wires connecting the motor to the speed controller.
- Test your servos. When you pull back on the control stick, your elevator should point up. When you push forward, on the control stick, your elevator should point down. If you are standing behind your airplane and push the control stick to the right, your rudder should point to the right; and pushing it left should move your rudder left.
- Make sure you have sunglasses if it’s bright out.
- Make sure it’s not windy at all!!! As you get more experienced, you’ll probably enjoy flying in the wind, but now is not the time. Just walk away.
Basics for checking your radio response on your plane:
- Ailerons
- LEFT stick should move LEFT aileron move UP
- RIGHT stick should move RIGHT aileron move UP
- Elevator
- DOWN stick should move elevator move UP
Aileron Image
If you are a new rc airplane pilot, take a minute to review the following tips:
- Altitude is your friend.
- Don’t over-steer.
- Keep out of the wind.
- Keep your airplane in front of you and out of the sun.
Altitude Is Your Friend
Some people find this suprising. But, the reality is that if you make a mistake and you’re only 10-20 feet off the ground, you’ll probably crash. However, if you are 200 feet off the ground and you make the same mistake, you have several seconds to correct it. EZRC Airplanes are built in such a way that no matter how big of a mistake you make, you should be able to let go of the control stick; and your airplane will return to stable flight by itself! So, remember to keep your airplane at high altitudes while you are learning to fly; and if things get out of control, relax, let go of the congrol stick, and let the airplane straighten itself out for you.
Don’t Over-steer.
I have yet to see a new rc pilot that didn’t over-steer with the control stick until instructed to make small adjustments instead. The easiest way to steer your airplane while you are learning is to gently tap the control stick in the direction you want the plane to go, letting the stick return to its center position after the tap. You should avoid holding the stick in any position. Just steer the airplane by making continual, small adjustments by tapping the stick.
Keep Out Of The Wind
As you gain more experience flying, you might find that you enjoy flying in the wind. But for now, if there is anything more than a very gentile breeze; it’s best to walk away and wiat for better conditions.
Keep Your Airplane In Front Of You And Out Of The Sun
It’s easy to get confused if you’re turning in circles while you’re flying, and flying your airplane directly into the sun can lead to a crash. You should position your back to the sun if possible and try to keep your plane out in front of you while you fly. Also, remember to wear sunglasses.
April 2, 2011
RC Plane build – contd : April 2, 2011
Who ever said “Life is cool when it is slow and easy” is definitely a wise man.
After a series of travels for 4 weeks – I assigned myself onto this project.
Charles from Charlieshobbies.com helped me with electronic connections and color packing tapes from fast-pack.com came in this week.
All it is left now is to install all electronics including battery, check CG and give some Character to my “AURA” (which is the name chosen for this Home Built Model).
Once CG is checked – Things left to do are:
- Check CG again and again
- Apply color packing tape and make this beauty – beautiful and graceful
- Connect Battery &Â Receiver and all electronics as required
- Go out and do the maiden flight…
I will post the details on my maiden flight in a week or two based on my quick To-Do list noted above.
Go out and have fun now.
RC Plane build – Day 20: March 1, 2011
Hmnn… What was I doing not getting this plane to Fly ?
It is almost day 20 plus but still there were some operational delays. Well if Boeing cannot avoid them – a small fellow like me obviously cannot either.
But now  it all looks good and we are back on track. Thanks to Servos from HobbyPartz and the Orange 2.4 GHz receiver from Hobby King (Hong Kong warehouse) I am finally in possession of all nuts and bolts to get this going.
Here is the final version of the kit with servos installed. I will try give an update again once maiden flight is done (soon to come).
AURA - With Servos installed
RC Plane build – Day 10: Feb 20, 2011
“Necessity is mother of Invention” said some one. And I say “Laziness is the father of the same” – LOL.
Well, now onto Day 10 – when I thought I was almost done with the build, I figured out that some thing is missing. The elevator and the rudder are there but the Motor and the mount are not to be found.
There we go – after an hour of research and thanks to “Dunkin Donuts” gift card (tell me about branding …) I have a motor mount and an extended tail fin.
Hope that once I get electronics done, this is IT fellows.. Almost there.
Got to wait and see… That is the only way out.
AURA - RC Foam Build
RC Plane build – Day 7: Feb 17, 2011
- Alrighty — After couple of pain staking hours and using forgotten skill set, the plane is getting some shape. Atleast it looks cool as of now.
-
- 6 mm EPP foam sheets (www.rcfoam.com)
- X-Acto Knife set # 11 (www.officedepot.com)
- 2″ Carbon fibre mesh tape (www.homedepot.com)
- 3M – 90 all purpose heavy duty glue spray can (www.lowes.com)
- Strapping Tape (www.officedepot.com)
- 12″ Bamboo skewers (Local food store)
- Scale plans using AutoCad 2004 (In house)
The basic bill of materials include –
In Brief the material list include:
- While the basic shape and structure built to date counts to about 75 % of completion, we still need to connect electronics – servos, esc, motor etc along with required connecting rods to control surfaces.
- I will post additional pictures with more news later.
Got to go and relax now…
AURA - RC Build from scratch
RC Plane build – Day 1: Feb 10, 2011
Alright. So the RC bug bit me and there I started to test my skill set on making a foam plane.
Sorry – no pictures or videos yet… But soon may be…
By day one, the base wing is done and airfoils are glued in. All the time while I was working on this little project, I have my helper – My 5 year old DEV”.
After a painful 3 hours of cutting foam and assembling few pieces – he goes to me “Dad ! Is my plane ready yet ? I need to take it to VPK school tomorrow and fly it. …”
I have no words to say to my “MAHA-DUDE” and rather gave him a blank stare…LOL”
New Year brings in New Hobbies
| Welcome to the New Year 2011 and comes with it the new Hobby of RC Air Planes.
Words are not enough to explain the genuine feeling of flying an RC Plane in the air field. So for time being while I find some ways to express my views, check out one of the RC Videos here |
