RE: Maybe a silly question: side thrust - why we need it ?
Pull up and the airplane turns left, push down and the aircraft turns right. Its called gyroscopic precession. You probably studied it in 10 grade physics. Another force known to turn the aircraft is called P-factor. If the aircraft is travelling through the air mass at a positive angle of attack, then the prop is also. In this case the decending blade's pitch is greater than the accending blades pitch. The decending blade is on the right side of the engine and thus turns the plane left. There is also a third force working here. Torgue. The engine is spinning one way. The airplane wants to spin the other way, left. Fly any real airplane and you will learn that you must retrim the airplane when you change speeds. If the airplane has a very large speed envelope, then there might be a good deal of trim changes as you speed up or slow down. The airfloil also plays a role. Flat bottom airfoils require much more tirm changes as speed is changed. Symmetrical foils require less trim changes throughout their envelope. High wing aircraft are much, much more susceptible to large trim changes with throttle changes than are low wing aircraft. Down thrust helps reduce the trim changes throught the speed envelope . Thats why we use it.
Posted on: 8/15/2009 1:21 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9018351

RE: AMA, Whos Intrested in promoting the hobby
The AMA is not the hobby. Promoting the hobby is not the same as promoting the AMA. I think many people get that confused.
Posted on: 8/11/2009 12:41 AM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "AMA Discussions"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=9006716

RE: College RC Pilot
I was lucky, there were several colleges near my home, so I was able to keep my shop at my parrents house. And one of my friends from college also used our basement as his shop since he didn't have room in his dorm. I'm not so sure our friendship was really good for us. We spent alot of time building and flying when we should have been studying. Back then, virtually no one could afford ARFs. We couldn't. We did fly some foam 1/2 A's that were really cheap and fun. Anyway, my point was that a local flyer might have room for you in his shop.[:)]
Posted on: 8/7/2009 11:54 AM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8997481

RE: trainee etiquette
Your enthusiasm and excitement is graditude enough.[:D] You will see when you instruct some day.
Posted on: 8/5/2009 10:12 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8993578

RE: How far into the fuel tank should the clunk go to?
I've had trouble with engine starving on the down leg maneuvers when the clunk was placed all the way at the back of the tank. So I started locating my clunks at about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way back.
Posted on: 7/25/2009 2:00 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8962887

RE: RC Report Magazine!!!
To be honest, kit reviews/ ARF reviews don't cut it. I need those old school articles which were either original designs or scratch built scale projects. Anything less seems lame. In that regard, RCR sold out the same as the other mags. I don't understand the fan loyalty. The "how to" articles ? RCR might use an extra 500 words to right a "how to" article, but in the end, the "how to " articles are almost always for neophites. Rarely does a "how to' article contain any new information for the experienced modeller.
Posted on: 7/25/2009 10:19 AM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8962484

RE: Good Handheld Rotary Tool
My Dremel is 35 years old. IT still works great. Gets a little hot.
Posted on: 7/23/2009 10:07 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8959155

RE: !2 minute epoxy gone, nit, nada.....
O Rieley's autoparts has various speed epoxies including 60 seconds. Also check Ace hardware.
Posted on: 7/23/2009 9:43 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8959088

RE: RC Report Magazine!!!
[quote]ORIGINAL: bigdanusa If they included the plane, engine and radio it may be worth it. If only the plane, no way would I do one. My time is more valuable than that! They're putting peanuts in your mouth while you are feeding them steaks from the review! At a big bird fly-in there were 3 futaba reps with their fancy futaba shirts on that flew their planes like they were professionals! The one guy was doing 16pt rolling circles 5 feet above the ground with a 40% plane. I asked the guy... ''Not to be nosey, but does futaba give you guys much money for representing them with your flying skills and advertising for them by wearing those shirts?'' The guy told me... ''Futaba doesn't hardly give us Sh??! [/quote] Dude, they were paying 400 bucks for SCRATCH BUILT SCALE model articles. Maybe 2% of the RC community was even capable of doing these. I learned more reading one of those scratch scale articles than I could reading a lifetime's worth of kit reviews .
Posted on: 7/23/2009 3:01 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8958031

RE: RC Report Magazine!!!
[quote]ORIGINAL: Gray Beard When any new kits came out they tried to do a build review, if there are very few kits to be reviewed what should they write about? There last couple of years I was watching it happen even to them. Anyone remember when MAN had a build article every month and you could order the plans?? Thing of the past, no one is desingning for plans builders any longer. Bad Shirt tried to do as many builds as he could and the magazine ended before he finished his last build. As to getting all the information you need here on RCU. Good luck with that!![8|] [/quote] There was a very good reason that people stopped doing those construction articles. Those ariticle were a pain in the butt to do and they paid about 400 bucks for them. 400 bucks for six monthes of work. Taking photos and writing text added work to the projects which usually added up to hundreds of hours, and they offered 400 bucks. Now, I'm not saying that a person should be paid a living wage for documenting their hobby. But those construction articles were the heart and soul fo all the magazines back then. The mags essentially asked you to write their main story. The magazine that month was you and your project. The 400 bucks was an insult, a slap in the face. One by one, all the regular contributors decided it wasn't worth it and walked away. So don't cry for the magazines. Don't cry that construction articles faded away. That was a business decision that all of the magazines made , by design or by incompentencey. I tend to think they did it by incompentencey and didn't realize that it meant their eventual demise. What is left to write about ? "How to's" for the neophites ? That cuts the demographic down considerably. Good luck to them. But, I doubt they are somehow up to reforming a dying media with new ideas. I've seen their new ideas.[:'(]
Posted on: 7/23/2009 10:50 AM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8957460

RE: RC Report Magazine!!!
Oh well, the site doesn't work for me. They must be down again.
Posted on: 7/22/2009 8:55 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8956020

RE: Flying Fields Lost and Why
Since the beginning of time ? You are funny !![:D] The first field that I can remember being lost was in Kingsport Tn. It was an old drag strip. The property was sold to a radio station. 3 huge antennas went up along with about 100 guide wires. So much for flying there. That was either 1979 or 1980. But Eastman Kodak came to the rescue. Gave the club a 100 hundred year lease , ( for one dollar ) for a very nice field. They paved a runway and built a shelter and a gravel road. So things worked out OK for that club. I have seen many parking lots, (3),( used with permission ) become out of bounds as soccer fields and round ball games encroached the areas. Here in Humble, our AMA club was actually kicked out of the landfill for a softball field. We had been there for years before the ball players came along. That was in 1991 or 1992. So that is 5 that I have had experience with during the past 30 years. Nationally, it must be thousands.
Posted on: 7/22/2009 4:14 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "AMA Discussions"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8955226

RE: Anyone Hum ?
Apparently I make airplane noises in the shop. You know when you have been working on the airplane all day. Then you decide to piece it together as much as possible and see how it looks. Then you look at it and make engine noises like its flying by. YYYYYYYYrrrrrrrrrroooooooooommmmmm
Posted on: 7/19/2009 11:09 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8947509

RE: I want one of these!
Wow. It would take about 10 safety officers to keep my fingers out fo those blades !
Posted on: 7/17/2009 12:20 AM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8940122

RE: City or County R/C Parks
I am very proud of my home town, Johnson City. The city really came through with a beautiful flying field atop a capped city land fill complete with runway and a jet on a pedistal. Way to go fellows !!!! www.flyjcrc.com
Posted on: 7/16/2009 7:29 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "AMA Discussions"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8939417

RE: Most Skill Required To Fly Well?
I think any "type" of airplane has its own characteristics. If you fly that type of airplane regularly, then you become familiar with that "type's" behavior and techniques for flying them. The trick is to shake it up. Keep a fleet of very different types. Constantly change from one type to another form session to session. Keeps the hobby fresh and makes you a better pilot.
Posted on: 7/16/2009 12:52 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8938412

RE: Aeromodeling Tiers, OK cause voluntary?
Oh why , oh why couldn't lawyers buy Bonanzas ?[:D]
Posted on: 7/14/2009 10:31 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "AMA Discussions"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8934232

RE: Aeromodeling Tiers, OK cause voluntary?
I see the weekly accident/incident reports. This weekend it was an Edge that crashed, a Glassair and something more traditional, I forget what, 4 fatalities in all. So, yes, I am looking at much newer data. The spike I referred to was mentioned by a co-worker, I don't know exactly where they got that data, I assume from the weekly summaries. Like I have tried to explain to NORDO, people are loosing proficiency mostly because of the economy. Its just getting more and more expensive. Last summer was brutal. The costs were insane. Lots of people parked them or sold them. And now everyone is rusty. OR they are living the really good life and buying hot aircraft . Thats what we are seeing in the weeklies. Its always RV6's or Lancairs. Its alway some little rocket ship. Usually they are VFR. The summaries don't actually give the cause. They don't have enough data for that. I would expect things to even out soon. This might even be such a mild spike that it is within the normal variance.
Posted on: 7/14/2009 6:53 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "AMA Discussions"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8933509

RE: Aeromodeling Tiers, OK cause voluntary?
[quote]ORIGINAL: Sport_Pilot [quote]A lack of proficiency is not a burden placed upon you by someone else. In fact, I think you have the entire situation reversed. Pilots with little proficiency are a burden to controllers and a safety concern to the entire flying public. [/quote] Did you bother to read my post? I did not say that GA pilots do not stay proficient, I said that airliner pilots fly more often so as an average they are more proficient. Almost no private pilots and very few GA commercial pilots fly IFR as much as an airliner pilot. [/quote] If you want to hear someone, you must stop transmitting first.[:D] GA IFR accidents have increased because of low proficiency and not because of some crushing burden from the FAA/ATC. You do not need to be an ATP to be profiecient. No one is saying that. But you do need to be proficient to fly IMC in the system. I hope that clears things up for you.
Posted on: 7/14/2009 5:53 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "AMA Discussions"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8933128

RE: Aeromodeling Tiers, OK cause voluntary?
[quote]ORIGINAL: Sport_Pilot They imburden private pilots who do not fly constantly as airline pilots and do not usually fly as high with the same cumbersome system and complex rules. At least that goes for IFR. [/quote] A lack of proficiency is not a burden placed upon you by someone else. In fact, I think you have the entire situation reversed. Pilots with little proficiency are a burden to controllers and a safety concern to the entire flying public. Lately crash statistics for private pilots has jumped. Because they are buying Columbia 400s, now the Cessna 400, (once called the Lancair 4), they are buying Sirruses and they are building RV6's and RV8's. These are all hot little airplanes. Low time pilots are buying these types of airplanes and , yes, they are killing themselves.
Posted on: 7/13/2009 5:42 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "AMA Discussions"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8929921

RE: Trains
I was all trains until i found RC !!! No more living in the basement for me !!!! Sunshine and friends !!
Posted on: 7/13/2009 12:11 AM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "RC Scale Aircraft"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8928021

RE: Aeromodeling Tiers, OK cause voluntary?
GA was killed by 1.) product liability insurance, 2.) cheap tickets on deregulated airlines, and 3.) interstate highway system. Although I am a big fan of Burt Rutan, nothing will allow more airplanes to land at DFW or ORD or ATL except more concrete. Rutan's ideas are good, but only address the enroute problem and he ignores the arrival rate problem of the hub and spoke. Carriers were scheduling 300 arrivals per hour into airports that they knew could handle only 240. (with good wx) I do agree with Rutan that the next generation of automation should be cellular and not a ground based system. As you mention, there is no empire and no fortune to be made with that type of system. I think a centralized ground based system is ludicrous. But thats what they are getting ready to build. As for the actual numbers of GA aircraft, I don't have any good data, I think it was peaked at about 600k in the late 1970's. Currently ? I would guess under 150k GA aircraft. Its very sad indeed. The FAA gets blameed for everything. I have had flight crews confess to me that they could be sitting at the gate and that mainenance could have removed both wings. The announcement to the passengers is that we are experiencing an ATC delay. Everyone uses us as an excuse because we aren't in the room. Your bill is so big because of the regs. And so on and so on. Its not always true. In fact, its become a bit of a joke. And yes, the Nazis have taken over. Flying isn't as fun as it once was. (still pretty fun) But tell me this. Could your kids get away with the things you did as a teenager ? The world has just gotten less tolerant of fun.
Posted on: 7/12/2009 11:40 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "AMA Discussions"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8927943

RE: Aeromodeling Tiers, OK cause voluntary?
[quote]ORIGINAL: Sport_Pilot The FAA has all but killed GA and there is almost no planes to collide with, and fewer models. [/quote] A Bonanza is nearly a million dollars and gas was recently over 6 bucks a gallon, but the FAA killed GA . LMFAO ![:)]
Posted on: 7/12/2009 1:15 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "AMA Discussions"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8926576

RE: Microballoons and Milled Fiber
The milled fiber makes a very strong joint. This stuff is great for gluing bulkheads into a fiberglass fuselage. It makes a very strong joint, stronger than epoxy alone. The micro-balloons are a light weight filler that add no strength. They would be used to create wing fillets and other shapes that don't require as much strength. They add lots of volume with little weight.
Posted on: 7/12/2009 10:49 AM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8926296

RE: wing loading
The wieght that a wing can carry depends on the size of the wing. A small model with a wing loading of 12 oz/ sq ft might be a hand full. A big bird with a loading of 50 oz/ sq ft might be a kite. Keep in mind a LearJet carrys about 55 lbs / sq ft. Some jumbo jets might carry close to 100lbs / sq ft. So the larger the wing, the more it can carry and still have a light wing loadinng. Its exponential. 40 oz/ sq ft on one wing isn't the same as 40 oz/ sq ft on a wing with a different size.
Posted on: 7/11/2009 2:36 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8924330

Inverted 4 strokes as much trouble ?
I got my first ever big bird, the 96" Hangar 9 Cessna 182. And to pull it around I bought my first ever 4 stroke, a Saito 150. I found Pitts style mufflers on the Slimline site. They make 2 styles. One for an engine mounted inverted. And one for an engine mounted sideways. If inverted, do 4 strokes load up at idle like 2 strokes ? Or is that a non-issue ? And if you have any other info about that engine/muffler or engine/airframe combo, then lets hear it...
Posted on: 7/10/2009 10:30 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8922985

RE: Painting Monokote?
The red stripes are Rustoleum. The plane is nearly 6 years old now and looks fine...
Posted on: 7/10/2009 10:17 AM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "ARF or RTF"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8921402

RE: Can anyone identify this bipe ??
I'm just guessing, but since this is obviously an older Ultimate, I'll guess that Hobbico or even EZ manufactured it. I'm guessing its from the early 1990's when the Ultimate was very popular, but it could be newer than that. The Ultimate is by no means an obsolete design. The metal engine mount makes me think its older and from one of those companies. You should be able to find a fibergalss cowl for it fairly easily for around 25 to 30 dollars. Good luck.
Posted on: 7/8/2009 6:36 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8916996

RE: maintaining the vitality of a club
[quote]ORIGINAL: galorin When they ask about getting new, younger people involved, I am singularly the most qualified to comment on that area.  I am new with little flight experience.  The bar for entry has been made unnecessarily high for people wanting to see if they want to come out again.  They knew, in advance, that I would be there.   There was no buddy boxes ready, no trainer that he was willing to let me fly.  The expectation is, that I will buy a used kit off a member and start, or buy a new kit.  Nothing was in place for me to get my feet wet without a financial outlay that is, let's face it, irresponsible in these economic times, especially with the uncertainty of a new hobby. If this is their expectation, then they will keep the club small.  Not by failing to publicise themselves, but rather by putting a wet blanket over those interested. [/quote] With that kind of whining you will never have any influence at all with the club members. Youactually expect other people to pay for your hobby ! Thats amazing.[:'(]
Posted on: 7/7/2009 10:30 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Questions and Answers"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8914884

RE: Safe engine mods
[quote]ORIGINAL: bruce88123 Most reliable mod is to get the mounting bolts really loose. Then jerk that loser engine out and throw it away. Then buy and install a decent engine. Problem solved. [:D] [/quote] Delicately spoken, oh fellow Tennessean.[:D]
Posted on: 7/7/2009 10:05 PM by Author "PilotFighter" in the forum "Beginners"
http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/fb.asp?m=8914798