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U R N A B Y L
A K E "Hood's Up" F L Y E R S |
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Hello
all. Rain, rain, rain and then some more rain. Anyone got cabin
fever? Here is how you can help If
you want to help in the creation of this newsletter each month please send
us few lines, photos, videos, etc. regarding our hobby and club activities.
This Months Spotlight In an attempt to better acquaint club members with one another, we have decided to put one member under the spot light each month. Here you will learn more about the faces you see at the field very often. How many times has it happened to you that you know a face, but you don't know the name of the person at the field? We may help each other if we just get to know each other better. So this month
the Spot Light has landed on Brad Trent. Hoods-Up: I know that you are with the club from the very beginning. Tell us something about those early Burnaby Flyers club days and your first RC steps, yourself. Brad Trent: I’ve been interested in RC planes from the time I first knew they existed , probably 50 years ago, but never had the combination of time and money to get involved until about 10 years ago. In 1997, for my Birthday, my wife said she’d take me to the hobby shop and buy me any RC trainer that I wanted. The choices were amazing, but for some reason, I was intrigued by an electric trainer, called the Goldberg Mirage 550. We bought that kit, and the covering, glue, radio set, battery packs (6 cell car packs) and charger needed to complete the build and get it airborne. While building, I revisited the shop for things I’d forgotten, and heard of a group of fliers at Burnaby Lake Park, who flew electric planes exclusively. I felt they would be the guys to get a new builder/pilot going on the right track, and found a friendly group of modelers, more than willing to help me out. Those people are now counted among my friends, and eventually formed the nucleus of what became the official club of which we are all now members. My instructors at the park were Mike and Neal Achilles, for the most part, with help from a few other fellows who no longer fly there. I arrived with my new plane ready to maiden at the end of Jan., 1 month after buying it, and Neal took it up for the first flight. It was a wonderful experience to see something that I’d built actually fly! It was, of course, very underpowered , with the supplied direct drive 600 can motor and 6 cell pack, but it managed a couple of circuits of the field, and I was delighted. I took it home, and made the modifications suggested by Mike, Neal, and others that saw that first flight, adding a seventh cell to the pack, and changing out the servo operated on-off throttle switch for a real ESC. The following week Neal was able to actually r.o.g. the plane, instead of having to hand launch, and he was able to trim it out and give me my first flying lesson. Needless to say, I was hooked, and haven’t missed many Sundays at the field in the decade since then. In late 1999, it became obvious that if our group of pilots wanted to continue flying at the park, which some of the group had been doing for over 30 years, it would be necessary to form a recognized club to deal with safety and scheduling issues with the Parks Dept., and to that end, several meetings were held, and an executive chosen, so that a MAAC club could be chartered. When asked to serve as the club’s first president, I decided to give it a go, and served in that capacity from 2000 through 2004, when I felt it was time to step down and let others pull the reins on our behalf. Hoods-Up:
I see you fly couple of planes at the moment. What do you fly right
now and which is your favorite one Hoods-Up: I noticed you always bring some new often “crazy” stuff. For example that Airhog AeroAce that we all got “infected” with started with you. Now you picked some hydrofoam, hehe. Where do you find all that stuff? Brad
Trent : I spend way too much time on aircraft modeling
forums, and get “infected “ by some of these new crazes.
I should spend less time online, and more time in my shop! Brad Trent : My sons were in their teens when RC cars first came on the scene, so the boys and I got into that to the extent that my back yard was an off road racetrack for several years, at least until the boys were old enough to drive “real” cars, and chase girls. Hoods-Up: It seems our field is busy sometimes so there is many safety issues. What do you suggest we can do to keep things safe but also preserve the fun and sense of freedom that RC flying offers? How do we all live together better, …… pattern pilots, 3D pilots, Glider pilots, heli pilots, trainer pilots, scale plane pilots, etc …………..? Brad Trent : There has to be mutual respect, and a sense of personal responsibility for safety, by every pilot at the field. Since 3D planes and helis tend to fly centered in front of the pilot, relatively close in, not in the established flight pattern, perhaps they should fly in separate “ time slots”, then land for a while and let the circuit pilots have the air for their turn. Not an easy system to implement or enforce, so co-operation of everyone is needed to make it work. As for training, we have used Wed. evening, during the Summer months for this purpose for a number of years, though it soon became a social event for all pilots. Perhaps this one night per week should be specifically reserved for trainees and their instructors, especially since the MAAC “Wings” training program is to be adopted by all clubs, to keep our national insurance premiums at a reasonable level, by showing “due diligence” to the underwriters. Hoods-Up: Say something politically incorrect. : ) I ask all spotlight guys this same question in the end. Brad Trent : That’s pretty hard for me to do. Though not always PC in my own thoughts and feelings, as a newly minted Assistant Zone Director for MAAC, I’d better keep my big mouth shut! ;-) I don’t want to alienate any of the people I may have to go to bat for. Thanks for letting
me get up on the soapbox for a few minutes,
For now you can talk to Jet Hobbies in Richmond if you want to order this helicopter. To my knowledge they are the only store that currently sells these helicopters in Lower Mainland. (RastaFly) Member's Projects Hey Guys, Here is another “pico” project. This project was directly inspired by Jeff Francini’s success with “pico Slow Stick”. My buddy Nenad and I (Rastafly) both being test pilots for Pico Stick decided to try something more powerful and more maneuverable. We thought if Pico Stick flew very nice by just being a scale down version of GWS Slow Stick that scaling down some 3D foamie would do the same trick. We were sort’a right. We had two attempts. In first attempt we decided to scale down E-flite Tensor. We used following photo to start with.
Ugly uh? Yes it was just an ugly small image that we used to scale to appropriate size. We were shooting for 14-15 inches since Nenad insisted that plane should fit in his 10$ Canadian Tire tool box. Right there I thought,….. this is not how you design airplanes and it turned later on I was right. The weight to
wing span ratio was not working in our favor. The plane felt quite
heavy for it size. I guess with all the experience I have now I
was able to tell that something was wrong. I knew it would fly but
it’ll act as “rock” and “no throttle”
glide downs would be out of the question. Eventually we
built it. Here is what we put in it. NOW ……
I have to admit something sad and funny at the same time. Actually
both Nenad and I should. We’re both quite experienced flyers
and we managed to make a stupid mistake only an RC novice would
make. We packed up
and went back to my place, As I was doing some trimming I figured
what IDIOTS we were. We had reversed ailerons. After almost 2 years
of RC flying I managed to screw this up. I was very embarrassed
about this. I guess we were both so excited that we simply didn’t
notice. We decided to
try to make a scale down version of Shockwave Charger Bipe that
I purchased from John Mrazek long ago. This is by far my favorite
3D foamie capable of just about anything. We took shots
of my foamie and scaled it down to little less than half. We printed
everything on simple Ink Jet Printer but in parts since some elements
needed stitching due to small paper format used.
We had to change the design of Schockwave since the original has 4 servos and we needed to use a servo for both ailerons. We decided to put it on top with 180 degrees arm sticking out on both sides
After the first
test flight that went very, very smooth and predictable we decided
to add the carbon rod to the lower wing for additional rigidity.
On the second flight I managed to knock off the propeller from the
center of the motor shaft. I heard some weird sound on taking off
but I paid no attention. Later, in attempt to hover the prop came
off the shaft and I crashed but quite gently. (RastaFly) RC Flight Simulators - G3 Why Buy a Simulator? One of the biggest improvements in radio control technology in the last few years is the RC Flight simulation software that has made learning to fly a lot less expensive. Now it is possible to learn to fly, test new maneuvers, or try new types of aircraft without risking the real investment. Another advantage of the simulator is that you can fly when the weather won’t permit the real thing. When I first flew radio control planes in the 1970's I spent the entire first season trying to get to the point where I could take off and land with confidence. This year I have witnessed new pilots earning their wings after 6 flights because they spend dozens or even hundreds of hours flying in the simulator first. When I was contemplating getting back into the RC game last year, my first purchase was the RealFlight G3.0 simulator. This system comes complete with software and an Interlink tm controller which is identical to a 7 channel transmitter. This controller plugs into a USB port on your computer. The package also includes cables that allow you to use your own transmitter or have two people fly at once in a split screen. If you have an older computer then be aware that the optimum system requirements are: - Intel Pentium
4.0 Ghz or equivalent You can get away with a less powerful computer but check if your video card is supported at http://www.knifeedge.com/rfvc_compatibility.php RealFlight G3.5 In October 2006 RealFlight released version 3.5 and I was pleasantly surprised that the upgrade from version 3.0 to version 3.5 was free when downloaded from their software site. I suspect that 3.5 was released to compete with the Hangar 9 FS One simulator software which first hit the market in the middle of 2006. Please note the Norburn hobbies has both the RealFlight G3.5 and the FS One software running in the store for you to try. RealFlight G3.5 Comes with 40 airplane models that include fuel and electric models, gliders and even a blimp. For the helicopter enthusiasts there are 23 different models. If you don't see the particular aircraft that you want then you can also purchase add-on volumes. These include additional planes, helicopters and flying fields. There are currently two expansion packs and five additional volumes available. See http://www.realflight.com for a complete listing.
For flying venues RealFlight includes both photorealistic flying fields and image based fields. Night flying is new to G3.5 but is limited to only 2 fields. The flying fields include objects that interact with the aircraft. You can for example run into objects or bounce off them rather realistically in the case of the canopy tents.
RealFight G3.5 comes with a variety of tools to aid in the training process. Flight Failures - Random flight failures can be enabled that include real world events such as radio interference and stuck servos. Wind - Wind speed and direct can adjusted although the wind is constant and is therefore not too realistic. Sun - The sun's position in the sky can be altered. Events - Special events allows players to sharpen their skills. Events include Autorotation/deadstick landings, free style, pylon racing and spot landings. MultiPlayer - Using your own transmitter permits two players to fly at once. You can also fly with another player through the internet. The screen is split but you can see and interact with the other aircraft Recordings - You can record your flight to share with others. Training - There are two types of training provided. The interactive training uses aids to sharpen your skills. These include helicopter orientation and hover training and airplane hover training. The virtual flight instruction provides demonstrations from professional pilots such as Jason Shulman. The training system is a great way to see how complex maneuvers are performed.
Other Gadgets - The screen can include navigation guides displaying the current altitude, direction, speed, and the amount of fuel left. The camera position can be altered including the cockpit view. You can also display the radio stick position and a binocular view.
Customize It One of the biggest differences between the RealFlight software and other simulator systems is the level of customization that can be applied. This customization includes the ability to modify and add new airports or aircraft. At http://www.knifeedge.com/forums you can find customized (existing) and brand new planes and airports for download. I was able to download a copy of the E-flite Brio 10 which is a plane that I currently own. For the really technical users you can also download the GMAX software to build your own planes from scratch.
Within the G3.5 software you can make modifications to existing aircraft and re save them into the custom folder. This can be anything from minor changes such as changing throws and exponential values or major alterations including changing the shape of the wing, using a different motor or size of battery. I have found customization capabilities very useful for testing real world issues. Recently I was having some problems with my Hyperion CAP 232 and I suspected that it had to do with the center of gravity. I was able to adjust the center of gravity for a similar aircraft in the G3.5 software and reproduce the issue. This saved me a lot of modification with potentially disastrous results at the field. How Real Is It? How does the RealFlight G3.5 software simulation compare to flying the real thing? Overall it is pretty close in the physics of flight and the characteristics of the particular aircraft but it is a perfect world. No simulator software on the market (yet) can mimic the randomness of the field on takeoff or the gust of wind in the opposite direct just before landing but it is still challenging. The perspective from the pilot's point of view is very realistic. I like the photorealistic fields better than the image based ones because they look more realistic. Overall I find the G3.5 simulator very useful for sharpening my skills and especially handy for trying new moves without risking crashing the real thing. Remember in the simulator you can just hit the reset button!
The club executive
is preparing set of rules and recommendations that we will let you
know about as soon as they are available. Meanwhile PLEASE use common
sense and follow these general rules: Fall/Winter Flying Schedule These are our
official, (scheduled) allotted times. No one else may use the fields
during these times other than flyers and your executive worked hard
to get these days for you, make sure that they’re used!!! Coming Events: Nothing on horizon,
at least not locally. Fun Stuff - NEW GALLERIES Here is some
nice airliner paint jobs. To download the archive of all photos
(10Mb) click here.
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