The RC Pilots’ Source
JULY 2017
F EEATU AT UR RE PSS SlOPING
BUILD: DHC-6 TWIN OTTER
EXCLUSIVE:
2017 B E I J I N G MODEL EXPO COVERAGE
• FIESELER FI 156 STORCH • GLIDER SETUPS BASICS • VAN’S RV-14/14A PLAN
UMX A-10 BL
REVIEW
USA & CANADA $6.49
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TABLE OF CONTENTS DEPARTMENTS
10 LEADING EDGE 86 ADS INDEX 87 MYSTERY PLANE Photo by Simon Cocker PSS Soaring at Abersoch, United Kingdom.
FEATURE
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POWER SCALE SOARING SEE HOW AIRCRAFT ARE ADAPTED FOR SLOPE SOARING AND HOW THEY PERFORM IN LIFT. Simon Cocker
EVENT HOBBY 26 BEIJING EXPOSITION 2017 GO INSIDE THIS ANNUAL EXPO WITH US TO SEE WHAT IS NEW AND COMING FOR THE 2017/18 SEASON. Wil Byers
BUILD
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SUPER SPORTSTER 60 FINISHING LEARN A FEW TRICKS AND TIPS THAT WILL MAKE YOUR MODEL LAST FOR MANY SEASONS TO COME. Jeff Troy
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HAVILLAND DHC-6 42 DE CANADA DISCOVER HOW TO BUILD A TWIN-MOTOR-POWERED AIRPLANE FROM A SET OF PLANS AND WOOD. Henrik Grane twitter.com/rcflyernews
JULY 2017
HOW TO
3-VIEW
TRIM & SETUP 54 GLIDER PROCEDURES
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MASTER THESE METHODS AND YOU’RE GOING TO END UP LANDING YOUR MODELS IN THE WINNER’S CIRCLE. RCF Staff
FIESELER FI 156 STORCH LEARN WHY THIS LONG-LEGGED BEAUTY MADE WWII HISTORY BOOKS. Hans-Jürgen Fischer
PLAN
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VAN’S AIRCRAFT RV-14/14A THIS LOW-WING AIRPLANE PLAN IS ONE YOU’LL DEFINITELY WANT TO BUILD! Wendel Hosteller
REVIEWS
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E-FLITE UMX A-10 EDF JET TAKE A LOOK AT THIS LITTLE TWIN-DUCTEDFAN POWERED JET TO SEE HOW IT PERFORMS. Wil Byers
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FEATURE
PSS SLOPING POWER SCALE SOARING GETS UP YOU CLOSE AND PERSONAL BY SIMON COCKER
This is the pinnacle of PSS — a day with idyllic lift conditions. Here I’m flying with best buddy Phil Cooke. We’re practicing our formation flying over the Bay in Wales, with EPP T-33s from Wade Kloos’ company.
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P
ower Scale Soaring needs no introduction. This niche of our sport has blossomed again in recent years. Although PSS over the past thirty years has never become a mainstream like scale sailplanes or electric-powered airplanes, it has dedicated enthusiasts. New pockets of PSS followers have emerged too. The main PSS scene in the UK takes place on the Great Orme in Llandudno in Wales. It is led by Phil Cooke. He organizes a number of Power Scale Soaring Association (PSSA) events each year. Depending on the wind’s direction and speeds in Wales, the slope lift can be phenomenally powerful and smooth. PSS is dependent on good lift. In good conditions, the models really rcflyernews.tumblr.com
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EVENT
Each year the Beijing Model Exposition is held in the city’s Exhibition Center, which was built in 1954 and includes three rather large halls, which get filled with vendor booths.
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BEIJING MODEL EXPO 2017 MADE IN CHINA
BY WIL BYERS
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ach year for the last 20 years or so, Beijing has played host to model buyers from around the globe. The show is held at the Beijing Exhibition Center, which was built in 1954 and includes three rather large halls. The annual event showcases products made by Chinese manufacturers for the RC hobby from air to sea. What was once a rather small show has become quite a large one, now pretty much filling all the halls. Even so, I was somewhat disappointed in the showings this year. I was because in the past this show, and other Chinese trade shows,
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BUILD
SUPER SPORTSTER 60 FINISHING DETAILS TO MAKE IT LAST BY JEFF TROY
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Every flying model’s exposed areas of wood must be adequately protected from dirt, fuel, and cleaners. I use a Hobbico® throwaway epoxy brush to coat these areas with Aero-Gloss Dope.
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For added protection in the engine compartment, I apply a topcoat of Bob Smith Industries (BSI) Mid-Cure Epoxy. This isn’t necessary for the landing gear slots or cockpit interior.
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After cutting the CA hinges from the material provided in the Great Planes SS60 kit, I like to cut angles from the corners to help the hinges insert into the wood more easily.
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Insert the hinges to their halfway point into the control surfaces, then apply a small drop of BSI thin CA to tack them in position. One aileron is shown here.
M
y Great Planes Super Sportster 60 has been a fun-filled project. I hope you were able to use one or more of the building and covering suggestions I’ve shared here. This final SS60 installment will give you all of my remaining tips for completing the model. The SS60 is not electric powered. It uses a glow engine, so thinking about how to keep the model protected from raw-fuel and fuel-residue damage is important. MonoKote® seams seal extremely well when the material is properly applied, but how about the areas that can’t be so easily covered with film? The SS60 has a few of these, and they include the cockpit area, the engine compartment, and the slots in the landing gear blocks. rcflyernews.tumblr.com
After sealing the covering down over the edges of these areas, I suggest a coat of Aero-Gloss Dope to cover the bare wood. Use a 3/4-in. camelhair brush or a Great Planes throwaway epoxy brush to apply the dope. Brush on a fairly wet coat, and be sure to slightly overlap the edges of the film covering to prevent seepage along the seams. Give the dope at least 24 hours to dry, although 72 are better if you want to be sure the solvents have dissipated. Mix a batch of 15- or 30-minute epoxy — I use Bob Smith Industries (BSI) Mid-Cure or Slow-Cure (bsiinc.com) — and apply a light, even coat over the dope in the engine compartment. Doing this isn’t necessary in the cockpit because the SS60 wears a full canopy. Also,
applying it inside of the landing gear slots can ruin the fit of the gear legs and prevent them from fully seating. Just do the engine compartment, and if you chose the trike version of the Super Sportster, as I did, be sure to coat the nose gear opening in the chin block. Epoxy tends to drip and run if applied too heavily, so prevent any potential damage to your work surface by placing a length of wax paper under the nose of your model while the epoxy cures. Set the fuselage and wing aside for now, and prepare the hinges for installation into the control surfaces. Control surfaces are the ailerons, elevator panels, and rudder. You’ve already used the Great Planes Slot Machine to cut hinge slots into these pieces in a previous issue of RCSF, so Subscribe @ RCSportFlyer.com
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BUILD
THE De Havilland DHC-6 Canada Twin Otter
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IN A SEARCH FOR A NEW STABLE, HIGH-WING, SCALE MODEL, I FOUND THE VERY LIKABLE TWIN OTTER. BY HENRIK GRANE
The Full-Scale Airplane The Twin Otter was designed and developed in the beginning of the 1960s by the aircraft factory De Havilland in Canada. The Twin Otter is one of the most ideal airplanes for use in the most remote places of the world, — far away from the established airports — due to its sturdy construction and STOL (Short takeoff and landing) capabilities. Large areas of Greenland would still be inaccessible and unknown without the Twin Otter. This versatile aircraft has other uses as well; for example, the air forces of several countries use the Twin Otter for different purposes, and in Maldives, the Twin Otter is equipped with floats and flies tourists from the main island out to the surrounding holiday islands. rcflyernews.tumblr.com
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HOW TO
GLIDER TRIM & SETUP SUCCESS IS FOUND IN PROPER SETUP BY STAFF
Proper setup and tons of practice is what it takes to win, as it was for Brendon Beardsley with his Royale glider in Visalia, CA.
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L PRE-MAIDEN SETUP
et’s begin by underscoring that the key to successful competition glider flight is repeatable setup and trim! This article will provide a basic procedure for setting up your glider to be competition ready. If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at: news@rc-sf.com Flaperons : ≈15 – 20 mm up and down deflection (both sides symmetrical) Rudder : ≈10 – 15 mm left and right deflection (symmetrical) Elevator : ≈10 mm up, max down deflection Brakes : ≈45 – 60 degrees down deflection Center of : as per manufacturer’s Gravity (CG) specification Flight modes : as per your preference
Hand Toss We recommend that every new glider first be trimmed to fly straight and level following an overhand toss. Trim for Launch, Thermal, Speed, and Cruise modes Once the glider has been trimmed for level and stable flight from an
overhand toss, you’ll want to add the launch flight mode. We recommend about three millimeters of up elevator trim. The launch mode is momentary, used to pitch the glider upwards during a launch. It is terminated after a fraction of a second — as soon as the glider reaches its climb angle. Test the launch mode carefully. Add power gradually to ensure the glider is trimmed safely. Center of Gravity (CG) Aircraft CG position is a personal preference. However, a forward CG is the best place to start. Why? Because a forward CG provides a stabile flight condition. As such, the pilot has the ability to auto-correct small inefficiencies in the glider’s flight attitude, but without constant pilot input, which can rob energy from the glider’s flight. It, therefore, increases the overall flight efficiency while reducing the pilot’s load. When the glider is trimmed for stable flight, you can pay attention to how it reacts with its environment. Consequently, you’ll have a more accurate ‘feel’ for the glider’s air. Also, as the pilot’s workload decreases, you will also
have more time to observe other gliders in flight, as well as the pilots’ strategies being implemented by others around you. The Dive Test We recommend you set your glider’s CG by first setting your glider to fly in speed mode, in level flight. The glider must be high enough to perform this maneuver, say, roughly 25 meters or above. While in speed mode, add enough down elevator control for the glider to enter roughly a 45-degree dive. Then neutralize the down-elevator control. If the glider pulls out of the dive by itself, it is nose heavy. If the dive steepens by itself, the glider is tail heavy. Add or remove nose weight, trim again, and retry. You are seeking to have your glider remain in a dive at a constant angle while in speed mode, or pull out of the dive ever so slowly. Set up in this way, the glider will have a very slightly nose-heavy condition, which lends is best for a forward CG preference. When the CG is set in this fashion it will be a good starting point for further trimming for thermal soaring.
Pilots at the F3J World Champs in France are walking out for their next round of competition. It’s time to measure up! rcflyernews.tumblr.com
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3-VIEW
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. FEBRUARY SPORT FLYER 2017 RC RC FLYER NEWS • July 2017 - Digital
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FIESELER FI 156 STORCH
IT’S A LONG-LEGGED BEAUTY WITH STOL PERFORMANCE PLUS BY HANS-JÜRGEN FISCHER
T
he Fieseler Fi 156 Storch (Stork) was a German designed liaison aircraft. It was built by Fieseler before and during World War II. It is famous for its outstanding short-takeoff-and-landing (STOL ) performance. History In 1935, the Reichsluftfahrtministerium, Reich Aviation Ministry (RLM) tendered several companies for a new Luftwaffe aircraft suitable for liaison, army rcflyernews.tumblr.com
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PLAN
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VAN’S AIRCRAFT, INC. RV-14/14A A LOW-WING AIRPLANE DESIGNED FOR 120-CC POWER
BY WENDELL HOSTETLER
T
he RV-14 and 14A is manufactured as a kit airplane by Van’s Aircraft, Inc. in Aurora, Oregon. RV-14s were designed by Richard VanGrunsven. It was debuted to the public at AirVenture in July 2012. It improves on Van’s other successful side-by-side series of twoseat kit aircraft, the RV-6, RV-7, RV-9, and RV-12. The new RV-14 aircraft is designed to provide upright seating positions, with a large bubble canopy to provide superb visibility in all directions. The 14’s cabin is big and roomy, with lots rcflyernews.tumblr.com
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REVIEW
UMX A-10 GET ON TARGET WITH THIS WARTHOG BY WIL BYERS
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airchild Republic’s A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, low-wing, twin-turbofanpowered, jet aircraft developed for the United States Air Force. The A-10 was designed for close-air support, to attack armored vehicles and tanks, and for quick-action against enemy ground forces. It entered service in 1976. The E-flite UMX A-10 will not attack enemy forces, but it will put you in the pilot’s seat of a fun-to-fly, twin-powered electric-ducted-fan
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(EDF) model. It will do it in a hurry too — without costing you much in the way of hobby money. Plus, the A-10 comes with AS3X® stabilization technology built into its receiver, which means you get a copilot that is there working for you all the time. Needed • Full-range, 4+ channel DSMX®/ DSM2® transmitter • 450 – 800-mAh 2S LiPo battery • 2S LiPo charger • Intermediate pilot
Assembly What assembly? The UMX A-10 comes in a box that doubles as a carrying case. You simply bind the model to your respective transmitter (a Spektrum® DX6E), charge the 800mAh 7.4-volt 30C LiPo battery with a Dynamite charger, check the control throws for proper directions, and your model is ready to fly. I recommend you check that the model rolls straight and true on a smooth, level surface because you may need to adjust the nose gear before the model’s twitter.com/rcflyernews
Ysha shows off the bold, meant-for-business lines of the E-flite UMX A-10. The model sports a 22.1-in. wingspan and gets power from two 28-mm electric ducted fans. rcflyernews.tumblr.com
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