Electrics

All about e-power


Don’t cook your ESC!

Don’t cook your ESC!

Avoid these common power system mistakes Electric fliers all have one thing in common regardless of the size or type of models they fly—the electronic speed control (ESC). It doesn’t matter if you fly helicopters, airplanes, giant-scale, indoor, or micro models; at the heart of your power system is the speed control, and if it’s […]
Increase Battery Life

Increase Battery Life

When it comes to electric aircraft, one of the key components is your battery pack. It is the only power source to keep your aircraft in the air, requires constant maintenance, and if not watched it will most likely be the first thing that needs to be replaced. But with the right care and careful […]
Zipp Kits Report – Riot Planes “Gym Jets”

Zipp Kits Report – Riot Planes “Gym Jets”

Recently, I stopped to see my old friend Joe Petro’s, Zippkits.com booth while attending the 2015 Toledo Show. He had two new offerings, both easy to assemble, semi-profile foam board jets. The F-22 has a 16.75 inch wing span and the F-18 has a 17.75 inch span. Both are 24-inches long and the motors are mounted mid wing as a […]
The 65" long fuselage was drawn in Rhino 3D to verify fit for the internal mechanics.

AH-56 Cheyenne Project – Part 5 – CNC Machined Plug

This installment continues construction of my 700-size AH-56 Cheyenne, which began here. After a break to pursue some other projects, I’m back to work on the 700 size Cheyenne.  The next step was making the plug which I’d use to lay up the female mold for the fiberglass fuselage.  As noted in the first installment of […]
Electric Power questions: Soldering secrets

Electric Power questions: Soldering secrets

I was told that soldering a plug onto a LiPo battery could result in puffing the pack or even a fire. Is this true? Brent Paul [email]You can puff the battery by getting the wire too hot from soldering, but if you set it on fire, you might be better off never touching a soldering […]
The finished Strandbeest is ready to go.

Radio Control Strandbeest

Not long ago I became fascinated by Strandbeests.  These amazing walking machines are the brainchild of Dutch artist Theo Jansen, who has been designing and perfecting monumental scale versions for the past 25 years.  By all means visit Theo’s website to watch his captivating videos.  I found out about Strandbeests – Dutch for “beach animals” […]
AH-56 Cheyenne Project – Part 5 – Tail Controls

AH-56 Cheyenne Project – Part 5 – Tail Controls

This installment continues construction of my 700-size AH-56 Cheyenne.  The project begins here. Since the Cheyenne’s tail rotor is mounted at the end of a long extension shaft, I needed to fabricate a control linkage with a bellcrank,.  I’ve just gotten into having parts 3D printed by Shapeways.com, and this was a perfect application for their […]
The two tail servos were mounted in a tray milled from 2mm carbon fiber.

AH-56 Cheyenne Project – Part 4 – Tail Boom

This installment continues construction of my 700-size AH-56 Cheyenne.  The project begins here. With the Cheyenne’s powertrain and cyclic control issues resolved, next step for the project was completing the tail boom.  As noted previously, I’m stretching a Blade 600 X to 700 size, so I needed to fit a longer tail boom and torque […]
Photo by Gerry Yarrish

AH-56 Cheyenne Project – Part 3 – Powertrain and Cyclic Servos

Here we continue my Cheyenne scale heli project, introduced here.  The construction of the complex tail unit was covered here.   MAIN GEAR AND CYCLIC SERVOS: While I had good reasons to choose the Blade 600 X for my mechanics, there was one feature of this particular heli that cost me some extra work. You […]
The Cheyenne's most notable feature was the variable-pitch pusher prop. This and the small wings allowed the AH-56 to fly much like an airplane, hitting speeds up to 250MPH.

AH-56 Cheyenne Project – Part 2 – Mechanics

BUILDING THE MECHANICS: As noted in my intro posting, my first priority for my 700-size Cheyenne project was to build and test fly the mechanics. After all, if I couldn’t get the outrigger tail and variable-pitch pusher prop to work properly, what was the point? First decision was choosing the basic mechanics. Although this is […]
Wires out of control? Try this!

Wires out of control? Try this!

  Here are three simple ways to wrangle in those wild wires floating around inside your aircraft. From left to right: cable tie available in different sizes, Velcro cable ties and just some good old-fashioned electrician’s tape. Tidy Strips, available from Model Aviation Products (modelaviationproducts.com), are perfect for cleaning up wire (and air lines) in […]
1 2 3 … 5
Air Age Media ©
WordPress Lightbox