Aviones a radio control y aeromodelismo en Costa Rica

Pixelito: Even Lighter Helicopter

 

This Pixelito helicopter hand-crafted by Alexander Van de Rostyne is pretty amazing. The frame is a single, twisted tube of 1mm carbon (fiber?), minus the tail boom which is 1.33mm in diameter, powered my a 6mm motor from the inside of a pager. It's remote controlled by infrared, and weighs in at a total 6.9 grams (stupid Most Bestest Whatevers titles beside,the Epson robot is 12.3 grams, although it has more features, too).

The Pixelito is the pinacle in a long line of tiny helicopters Alex has designed, but he is starting to question how much smaller they can go, due to the difficulty modellers will have constructing small machines. I'm confident that love will find a way, however.

 

Sources:

http://gizmodo.com

http://www.youtube.com

 

What plane to recommend as a 1st plane

Thanks to http://plawner.net

The Top 5 criteria to select a plane

What a pleasure to enter a RC Plane Hobby Shop or some Web shops on the Internet. Due to this big choice, it is not easy to differentiate what to buy, in order to avoid getting a wrong plane to start with. We will try here to show the important sides that one should look at, in order to select a 1st plane.

We found the 5 categories, explained below, that matter for purchasing a plane. We will in the methodology, dig in each of them, to create related sub-categories.

  1. Not too much money invested as who knows if you will remain in the hobby
    Around $200 is required as a first investment so knowing that you have a plane that will survive your crashes, as well as possible, is for a beginner a big advantage. You actually realize how important this is after you first few crashes.
     

  2. Easiness, in general. Easy to build, fly, repair, carry, etc...
    New comers don't need any extra pain as all the first necessary steps, are more than enough already. So for example, when selecting a plane, the fact that the User Manual is easy to understand, in your own language, is a plus. Building steps should also be clear, and simple and so on.
     
  3. Toughness
    Maybe one of the most important criteria, as beginners will for sure crash their plane. How easy will it be to continue, after a crash is highly related to the toughness of the plane, in many cases. Of course, a vertical full speed crash will hurt most planes, but most crashes are not that deadly, so toughness is the key to survive here. This is also why EPP/Elapor/Carbon reinforced planes are leading the most, in this category.
     
  4. Look
    Not critical, to say the least, despite that many beginners find it important. You later understand it is not important for your first plane, as anyway, crashes will damage any good look it used to have... But this is already after sometimes into the hobby that you realize that.
     
  5. Price
    Price is not only important to start but we also included in it, the fact that you can re use the parts you put in your first plane, in future planes. This decreasing significantly the price for your second plane.

Few more aspects to consider

Now that we already covered some ground, there are still few questions you need to ask yourself. Your initial budget, how much you think you will want to invest, in time and efforts, in shorts, what are your goals ? Is it just an season hobby, and you are used to switch hobbies often, or do you find yourself usually investing in what you start ? It is also true that before you try it, it is not easy to anticipate how much fun you will have and by the way, a lot of the fun you will have, is based on your initial choices here.

To be or Not to be ARF ?
Some people will tell you how important it is to build, as part of the learning phase, which will help, when you will also need to repair your planes. Other will tell you that not everyone likes to build or have the talent and time to do it, and ARF is the solution, and repairing is a MUST while building is just an option. Also, many people love to build, like a work of art almost.
And it is not like if it is made of foam/EPP/Elapor, you won't have to build and if made of balsa, you will. Some balsa planes are extremely ARF while some EPP/Foam who claim they are ARF are just NOT. So, just decide for yourself how much time you think you want to dedicate for building and go for that.
Recommendation: Go for as ARF as possible, for your first plane. Learning how to build well is not trivial and requires time and patience. A badly build plane won't fly well, so since it will be your first plane, go for limiting the variables that may impact your flight.

Foam or Balsa ?
That's again an ongoing open discussion. Many people think Balsa flies better, has a cleaner shape and is easy to repair. Others think that EPP/Elapor/Foam has enough good shape for a 1st plane, and there is no need for perfection at this point, they also report excellent flight behavior and easiness to repair so what to decide ?
Recommendation: We said that we consider for this article that you learn alone, and Balsa planes, even ARF, when they require repairs, need some good knowledge, for the repair, and then for the covering of the broken part. Just decide for yourself if you want to go this way and actually make the building part of your learning phase. I personally would prefer strong EPP/Elapor planes, as easiesr to repair, in cases of crashes

Glider or Regular Electric Plane ?
Some RC pilots don't think a glider is in the league for training someone. An Electric standard Plane would usually look fine, would behave with some level of nervousness and would require some motor as it won't glide too well which means that Flight time is more limited. They also usually have good responses to pilot's inputs.
Glider are slower, glide well meaning require less battery and can usually remain airborne longer. Their landings require more space as well as the area to fly in compared to Regular planes.
Recommendation: Because it is easier to have a slow plane, which remains in the air longer and have easy landings, I would recommend a glider to start with. Now, many "Regular Planes" share these "gliding" characteristics as well, but are not categorized as Gliders so the search maybe be a little tricky here but the concept remains. Get a Plane which is either a glider, or has the positive characteristics of it.

  • Planes with 2 or 3 Axes ?

Tough to provide an answer to this question, as there are pluses and minuses in each one, for someone who starts. For this reason, we will enumerate some of points for each category

2 axes (Rudder + Elevator):
- Faster and easier Learn
- Less parameters to control
- Concentration and coordination levels less needed
- Easier to learn, when alone
- Will require, when moving to 3 axes, some more work
- Possible to have to switch Stick controls when moving to 3 axes
- Less Tendencies to react promptly at a wrong and fast input

3 axes(Rudder + Elevator + Ailerons):
- Longer and more difficult to lean
- More parameters to control
- Requires more coordination and concentration
- Some people say it is more difficult to learn on 3 axes, others disagree
- Won't require more work, to learn later 3 axes
- Cleaner trajectories of the plane
- Possible risks of having the plane rolling fast, if the pilot over control the plane. Most crashes happen here

Few tips about other parts needed for a plane

Since this article is focused on selecting a 1st plane, we won't dig into each of these sections, but just provide general points as you will be facing them, while purchasing your first plane.

  • Lipo, Nimh or Nicd ?
    Lipoly are much lighter than Nimh which are lighter than Nicd
    Lipoly batteries are without any doubt, a revolution. Their downside is that they cost more than Nimh or Nicd, and require special knowledge and attention for uses and charges. It is also said that they handle less well, crashes, compared to the other 2.
    Now, the Nimh batteries do offer for a little extra money, less weight than Nicd. They also have advantages like no memory problems like you'll find on Nicd.
    Recommendation: Get Nimh Batteries, and actually, and if possible, 2 sets of batteries as while flying 1, you could recharge the second one.

Brushed or Brushless ?
You will crash your plane. That is a given for anyone starting into the hobby (and not starting...).
A brushed motor is pretty cheap, can be controlled by a relatively cheap speed controller. It won't be optimized, and many of the energy will be lost in various manners and a brushed motor has a limited lifetime depending on how you use or abuse it. A Brushless motor is expensive, compared to brushed, but more powerful for the same size. It is more efficient, should work a lifetime (a little less, maybe...) but requires a special, and more expensive ESC.
Recommendation: Unless money is really not an issue for you, get a brushed motor. For most initial planes, they deliver more than enough power needed to learn.

ESC BEC or ESC OPTO ?
ESC BEC means that the ESC is the motor controller and the BEC is the Servo/Receiver alimentation source, all in 1 piece of hardware and 1 single battery for all. An OPTO version means that you need an extra battery to provide energy to the servos and receiver.
Recommendation: OPTO will be necessary later, maybe, but to start, ESC BEC is the choice as simpler to use. If you get a plane that the seller tells you, you must use an ESC OPTO, that is not a good sign that the plane is intended for a beginner. I would even recommend to not purchase the plane then.

Standard servos or smaller ones ?
Servos react according to your radio inputs, in order to move the surfaces they control. So if a Servo is not strong enough to move a surface, while flying, you will have serious trouble to fly the plane.
Still, lighter is in general better. Standard servos maybe look better as it may feel that bigger is stronger. Sometimes true but in cases of our Electric planes, most smaller servos deliver more than enough power to control what is needed. Just make sure you select adapted servos, with enough strength, for your plane. Just don't over do, as it will be on the expense of weight and size and select a servo, able to handle small crashes as well.

Receiver ?
One of the sensitive device in the Electric Plane: this device received, decodes and re-assign the information send by the Transmitter to the plane servos, and motor.
FM or AM, Dual conversion or single one ? FM delivers longer control range, than AM. Dual conversion works on the signal twice to filter it.
Recommendation: Get a FM receiver, and it does not matter if it is dual or single conversion. What matters is how well the signal is treated. Some single conversion receivers are at least as good as Dual Conversion receivers.

Charger ?
You could decide to purchase only what you need to charge the batteries, for the plane you chose. It will work. It is usually a charger that you can plug on your car battery, and has a peak detection system for the number of batteries you plan to use.
Recommendation: Buy a charger that will either serve you well, if you decide to remain in the hobby or that you will be able to sell easily to other hobbyist, if you decide to quit. What is this beast ? Something that can accept up to 8 cells, with automatic peak detection and up to 3 or 5 Amp charge would be a good choice

Radio ?
FM or AM, computerized or not ?
We won't be getting into much details here as it would be a complete article by itself. FM has a longer control range and computerized offer wider options
Recommendation: Get a cheap FM Radio. AM is also harder to resell. No need for a computer radio initially. You only have 1 plane, so just go for a good, cheap, reliable 1st radio. Just make sure it has enough channels for the model you intend to fly. If you decide to remain in the hobby, you'll have plenty of time to decide which advanced radio you'll need.

Minimum tools to buy, to facilitate your successful entry into the hobby
It is scary to hear what some people bought, when they start in the hobby, and this is due mainly to few bad sellers but mainly due to people who feel safer by purchasing more than needed, in the case if .... (I know, I was like that)
With time, you discover how much money was wasted, when you understand better how things work.

Recommendation:

  • Get the glue needed for your first model only

  • Set of 3 to 4 screwdrivers max.

  • Soldering iron (40 W is good enough) and related equipment

  • Plugs to connect the components. So many different plugs around. I recommend the ULTRA DEAN or SERMOS. 3 males and 3 females should get you going for your first plane then 1 more female for each battery you plan to get. If your plane All Up Weight is below 700gr (24.7 Oz), these plugs will be a little too big and heavy for your plane, so you may look in some alternatives or maybe connect the ESC to the Motor, without plugs (soldered) and only use these plugs between the battery and ESC. Most important, get plugs that can handle the Current you intend to have. Deans and Sermos will take anything.

  • Cutter

  • Scissors

  • Transparent Hobby Tape for little surfaces, and if you intend to get a big plane, then a wider one as well, to eventually protect the bottom of the fuselage, if there is no landing gear.

  • That should do it, unless your model has specific requirements, which will then be written in the manual.


More info http://plawner.net