This weekend, the North London Flying Club celebrated the 65th anniversary of the first flight of the DCH-1 Chipmunk! This full-size aircraft association is based out of the Panshanger Aerodrome in the UK. The DCH-1 trainer was actually designed by the Canadian branch of deHavilland, and 1283 Chipmunks were produced in total. The next celebration [...]
Now, let’s talk about proper linkage setup. Many advanced airplanes take advantage of ball-links to attach given pushrods to a servo arm, control horn, etc. Using ball-links in these areas guarantees to improve linkage geometry and allows a given surface to move freely. While using a clevis works if servo and linkage geometry are correct, [...]
Clarence, I have a OS BGX-1 mounted inverted in a one-fifth scale Pica P-40. I am using a J-Tec muffler.This engine is very hard to start. I usually have to turn the plane over, place in a cradle, then it starts, by hand, easily. I then shut it down, put the plane back on its [...]
The latest in Boeing’s lineup of unmanned airborne systems, the Phantom Ray completed its first flight at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California. During the 17-minute test flight, the Phantom Ray reached speeds of 178 knots. Craig Brown, program manager for Phantom Ray, notes, “The first flight moves us farther into [...]
Unbroken: A WW II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand There’s not much better than being in the middle of a great book: it’s a treat meant to be savored but one that I sometimes end up gobbling in just a few sessions. At the moment, I’m just a few chapters into Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, and [...]
In my 22 years of flying radio-control airplanes, I have learned that time must be taken when both building and setting up your aircraft. For example, let’s talk about control surface deflections. Over the years, I’ve seen some cases at the flying field where pilots simply “eyeball” various control rates and often blame their aircraft [...]
I tried Colman fuel on my Fuji BT-32B and my Zenoah G62 with C & H Electronic Ignition. Both engines ran fine with the Colman fuel and Evolution Synthetic oil mixed 35:1. I have on the BT-32B a relay kill switch that shorts the magneto and on the Zenoah G62 I have a electronic kill [...]
Check this out: the smaller DC-3 in the foreground is actually a 14-inch-span Buffalo Airways diecast model, and the larger plane is an RC model built from an old Royal kit! The project was a collaboration between Jack Yablonski, who provided the kit, Wilf Ansel, who built it, and Robert Yablonski, who will fly it [...]
