Tag: aviation

Conquering flight: The flight of Claudius (Part 10)

Santino G.

The temperatures have continued their gentle decline as planet Earth’s geographic north pole has strayed farther and farther from the sun. Nevertheless, the warmth provided by sweaters and experimental aircraft kept all of us comfortable that morning. Indeed, with the confidence I felt in the upcoming flight, I might have mistaken the season as spring. Embarking soon after sunrise, we arrived in step with the large morning attendance and immediately started to unload the newest iteration of the 3-channel RC plane. With its new weight-reducing features, Claudius was the lightest aircraft I had ever built. Some notable improvements were the … Continue reading Conquering flight: The flight of Claudius (Part 10)

Conquering flight: Claudius (Part 9)

Santino G.

One problem has pervaded all of my previous RC planes: weight. While I have been trying to minimize this one parameter in every plane since Augustus, it was only after I flew my third RC plane, Caligula, that I understood a more aggressive approach was necessary. This blog describes the construction of my fourth 3-channel RC plane, Claudius. Beginning with the fuselage, I maintained the same design used on the previous two; that is, foam board cut and folded so as to feature a square cross-section. It was, however, slightly shorter than Caligula’s. (This wasn’t an intentional decision; I simply … Continue reading Conquering flight: Claudius (Part 9)

The state of the RC hobby

Santino G.

Over the past four months, I have been designing, building, and flying radio-controlled (RC) planes. While many of my blogs regarding this topic focus on the construction and testing of these model aircraft, this blog summarizes the progress I have made and future plans I have. Essentially, this will reflect on the state of my RC hobby. Augustus… Named after the first emperor of Rome, this plane was flawed by the following: Being my first 3-channel model aircraft, mistakes are likely to abound, but the lessons were directly proportional with these. As for Augustus’ flight, this photo says it all. … Continue reading The state of the RC hobby

Conquering flight: The flight of Caligula (Part 8)

Santino G.

Although the construction phase of Caligula ended in late August, its flight was grounded for multiple weekends by bad weather and packed schedules, thereby pushing its launch all the way into the middle of September. With both the atmosphere and our timetables aligning on a cool Sunday morning, we set out to the field in hopes to witness the successful flight of my third RC plane, Caligula. When we arrived at our local RC club’s runway, we were immediately greeted by the corn’s fall colors as well as by a couple of seasoned hobbyists who were eager to look over … Continue reading Conquering flight: The flight of Caligula (Part 8)

Conquering flight: Tiberius (Part 5)

Santino G.

Building and testing Augustus taught me many hard lessons, including the importance of the center of gravity’s position, the proper design of a rudder, the consequence of excessive weight, and to name a few. Implementing what I had learned, I set upon constructing another 3-channel RC plane, Tiberius. Lighter, longer and sleeker, its future was promising. This short blog describes the construction process and design decisions I made. For the fuselage, I wanted to avoid the squished square design Augustus had, so while defining each side, I cut lines down the foam board that constitutes the fuselage but made both … Continue reading Conquering flight: Tiberius (Part 5)

Conquering flight: The ‘flight’ of Augustus (Part 4)

Santino G.

Weeks of hard labor have culminated to this moment, I reminded myself. The registration process was frustrating (you can expect a blog on it), but the plane finally earned its numbered sticker. At 9 a.m., my father and I drove to the AMA-certified RC field. It was a cool morning, if memory serves, and was the day Augustus would take its first steps into the air and the pages of history. The notion that this plane was perfectly constructed would be wrong. With a fuselage shaped into a lopsided square prism and the center of gravity out of wack from … Continue reading Conquering flight: The ‘flight’ of Augustus (Part 4)

Conquering flight: Augustus (Part 3)

Santino G.

With the proof of concept finished, the 3-channel RC plane could then be tackled. I meticulously studied successful designs, learned of all the possible wing configurations, and practiced flying on a simulator. Construction commenced. The materials I used were foam board and hot glue; the electronics were a transmitter and receiver, a motor, ESC, and servos. I should clarify, however, that this blog is not a direct tutorial; it simply describes the general process I followed. The first part of construction was the fuselage. For this, I took my foam board and cut in straight lines so that it could … Continue reading Conquering flight: Augustus (Part 3)

Conquering flight: Basic aerodynamics (Part 2)

Santino G.

In building a 3-channel RC plane, I found it was necessary to learn the basics of aerodynamics. Not for constructing the plane itself, but to make sense of why I keep crashing it. This blog will document everything I learned in this regime of knowledge. (Courtesy Pilot Institute) There are four main forces that act on a plane (RC or otherwise). These are thrust, drag, lift, and weight. Thrust is the forward force produced by the motor and propeller. Lift is the upward force generated by the wings. Weight is the downward force due to gravity. Drag is the force … Continue reading Conquering flight: Basic aerodynamics (Part 2)