DIY RC Airplanes from Scratch


Book Description

BUILD YOUR OWN REMOTE-CONTROLLED AIRPLANES QUICKLY, EASILY, AND INEXPENSIVELY! Take to the skies with a majestic motorized model aircraft you create and pilot yourself. Written by the founder of the Brooklyn Aerodrome, DIY RC Airplanes from Scratch shows you how to build a Flack (Flying + Hack) delta wing from the ground up using widely available, low-cost materials and tools. You'll also learn the skills you need to get your plane into the air and keep it there. By the end of the book, you'll be able to create your own customized designs. The sky's the limit! Discover how to: Select the components you’ll need and get them at a low cost Build a sturdy deck and secure all of your airplane's electronics to it Construct the airframe with the proper trim and center of gravity Learn to fly--one crash at a time Diagnose and repair your airplane Decorate your aircraft for dazzling daytime flights Illuminate a night flyer with otherworldly effects Experiment with unique airframe shapes, including the Flying Heart, the Bat, and the Manta Ray Learn the basics of aerodynamics Devise, build, and fly your own unique designs Companion videos available at http://brooklynaerodrome.com/bible




Scratch-building R/C Airplanes


Book Description

Author Rich Uravitch guides readers through the entire construction process including: how to "read" plans, selecting materials, tool requirements, making templates, engine and radio installation, covering, and much more!




Basics of R/C Model Aircraft Design


Book Description

A comprehensive guide to designing radio control model airplanes. Andy Lennon presents a thorough and comprehensive introduction to the intriguing world of model aerodynamics. Whatever your modeling background, this book will be a valuable reference source in your R/C library and will never be outdated. Fully illustrated.




RCadvisor's ModiFly


Book Description

Experience firsthand the joys of building and flying your very own model airplane design. Put into practice the lessons from my previous book, RCadvisor's Model Airplane Design Made Easy. Follow along as we design, build, and fly a modern radio-controlled model airplane. Lofty Design Goals Incorporating the latest innovations and research results, the design looks deceptively simple. However, 20 prototypes had to be built before one finally met all the design goals: Build it in just one day for less than $5. A joy to fly with no bad habits. Build either a park flyer or an indoor slow flyer. New pilots can fly it without ailerons. Sturdy enough to survive hard landings. Easy to build for new scratch builders. Kid-friendly free flight glider version. Use inexpensive electric power systems and radio gear. Great starting point for your own unique designs. You can easily find the construction materials for the airplane at local discount or craft stores. So what are you waiting for? An Inside Look at the Design Process The book starts by describing the goals and the long prototyping process that led to the final design. Along the way you get to see firsthand the challenges that creating an innovative design presents. Learn the reasoning behind all the decisions that led to this unique design. A stand-alone book, it is complemented nicely by RCadvisor's online model airplane calculator and my first model airplane design book. Picking up where that book left off, it takes a very pragmatic approach to the entire design process. Carlos Reyes founded www.RCadvisor.com in 2007. He's had a life-long love affair with aviation, building and flying model airplanes since childhood. He holds a Private Pilot-Glider license and is the Vice President of his local model airplane club. ADVANCE PRAISE "Carlos Reyes is quickly building a reputation as a talented and experienced RC model aircraft expert and author. His first book, titled RCadvisor's Model airplane Design Made Easy, set the stage for what I'm sure will be a series of books that will allow a rank beginner to get a start and then progress to any desired level in our wonderful hobby. The amount of detail in this new book is incredible and will certainly apply to many other aircraft that you build as you grow in the hobby. Carlos Reyes has a truly enjoyable style of writing. Fun to read while you are learning so much at the same time! This new book is excellent for any age group be they young or old. This is absolutely A MUST READ! I can only imagine (and look forward to) what book number three will be like!" - Bob Aberle, AMA 215, Technical Editor, Model Aviation magazine "I was really hoping Carlos' next book would be informative, entertaining, helpful, and have a brilliant educational aspect for RC flying hobbyists. However, this book didn't quite do this; it was BEYOND these expectations! Carlos kicks out another winner with this one. Yes, you can have entertaining and helpful media in RC other than podcasts!" - Jamie Burke, Host, www.AllThingsThatFly.com "Invading the mind of a designer is an intriguing adventure. After reading just the first chapter about the goals, along with what did and didn't work on the prototypes, I was eager to read on to see how the modified design worked out. Carlos continues by explaining what considerations were used, and how they were derived, to pick a "Winner" from the many prototypes. I carefully studied Carlos' ideas and techniques and learned a lot about designing this type of plane. I am so excited about the design that I just have to build one to try it out. - Ken Myers, Editor, The Ampeer




RCadvisor's Model Airplane Design Made Easy


Book Description

Build and fly your very own model airplane design. Using clear explanations, you will learn about important design trade-offs and how to choose among them. The latest research and techniques are discussed using easy to understand language. You will discover: The special challenges faced by the smaller models and how to overcome them. How to choose the right material for each part of the airplane. Easy rules for selecting the right power system, gas or electric. When it makes sense to use one of the innovative KFm airfoils. Pros and cons of canard and multi-wing configurations. A step-by-step design process that includes goal setting and flight testing. In-depth discussions of important topics like airfoils and wing design. The sources of air drag and how to minimize their impact. ADVANCE PRAISE "This book is a joy to read! The writing style and wit add dimension in a way that is rarely found in today's reference materials. If someone has considered designing their own airplane and been put off because of complicated formulas, vocabulary and reference style that would bore even an engineer, this will convince them to go ahead and try it. Written with real people in mind and not engineers - and I mean that in a good way. This is a book that will reside along the other favorites on my bookshelf. Carlos really managed to produce a book that will last a long time and become one of the standards for modelers." - Greg Gimlick, Electrics columnist, Model Aviation magazine "RCAdvisor's Model Airplane Design Made Easy is the ultimate model airplane design book for both beginning and experienced modelers." - Richard Kline, Inventor, KFm airfoils "RCadvisor's Model Airplane Design Made Easy is a real contribution to the world's literature on the subject. It provides an excellent bridge between full scale aviation and aeromodeling, showing the relationship between the two, for better understanding of the differences and similarities which should be applied for good model performance. While thorough in detail, the book is also easily readable so that the information is simple to understand. It is a very good combination of theory and practical application. Nicely illustrated, the book is also full of common sense explanations and references to other sources of information." - John Worth, former President and Executive Director of the AMA "Carlos Reyes personably leads the reader through some basic aerodynamics, materials considerations, electric power system planning and a practical application of theory as it is applied to a finished flying model. The background history of various types of aircraft shows the development of aviation and how it relates to the models that we build and fly today, as well as how models have influenced general aviation. It is always exciting to find some 'new to me' concepts and theories, and there were several in this well-written narrative." - Ken Myers, Editor, Ampeer electric flight newsletter "No matter how long you've been aeromodelling, or what your interests are in our great hobby, the greatest thrill of all is standing behind a unique model that you've designed and built yourself, from a blank sheet of paper - or even a blank CAD file - and preparing to make that first take off. So sit yourself down in a comfy chair, read RCadvisor's Model Airplane Design Made Easy and set off on aeromodelling's greatest adventure. Let Carlos Reyes - an aeromodeller of long standing and great talent - take you through the mysteries of how to arrive at the point that every lover of model aircraft should experience." - Dereck Woodward, aeromodeller, designer and magazine writer for the past fifty years







DIY RC Airplanes from Scratch : The Brooklyn Aerodrome Bible for Hacking the Skies


Book Description

BUILD YOUR OWN REMOTE-CONTROLLED AIRPLANES QUICKLY, EASILY, AND INEXPENSIVELY! Take to the skies with a majestic motorized model aircraft you create and pilot yourself. Written by the founder of the Brooklyn Aerodrome, DIY RC Airplanes from Scratch shows you how to build a Flack (Flying + Hack) delta wing from the ground up using widely available, low-cost materials and tools. You'll also learn the skills you need to get your plane into the air and keep it there. By the end of the book, you'll be able to create your own customized designs. The sky's the limit! Discover how to: Select the components you’ll need and get them at a low cost Build a sturdy deck and secure all of your airplane's electronics to it Construct the airframe with the proper trim and center of gravity Learn to fly--one crash at a time Diagnose and repair your airplane Decorate your aircraft for dazzling daytime flights Illuminate a night flyer with otherworldly effects Experiment with unique airframe shapes, including the Flying Heart, the Bat, and the Manta Ray Learn the basics of aerodynamics Devise, build, and fly your own unique designs Companion videos available at http://brooklynaerodrome.com/bible




Radio Control Foam Modelling


Book Description

This manual quickly takes the newcomer to radio control foam building techniques up to expert level. This completely revised edition describes the choice of foam, materials for strengthening and covering, tools and glues to create not only wings but also fuselages, cowlings, moulding and much more.




Democratizing Innovation


Book Description

The process of user-centered innovation: how it can benefit both users and manufacturers and how its emergence will bring changes in business models and in public policy. Innovation is rapidly becoming democratized. Users, aided by improvements in computer and communications technology, increasingly can develop their own new products and services. These innovating users—both individuals and firms—often freely share their innovations with others, creating user-innovation communities and a rich intellectual commons. In Democratizing Innovation, Eric von Hippel looks closely at this emerging system of user-centered innovation. He explains why and when users find it profitable to develop new products and services for themselves, and why it often pays users to reveal their innovations freely for the use of all.The trend toward democratized innovation can be seen in software and information products—most notably in the free and open-source software movement—but also in physical products. Von Hippel's many examples of user innovation in action range from surgical equipment to surfboards to software security features. He shows that product and service development is concentrated among "lead users," who are ahead on marketplace trends and whose innovations are often commercially attractive. Von Hippel argues that manufacturers should redesign their innovation processes and that they should systematically seek out innovations developed by users. He points to businesses—the custom semiconductor industry is one example—that have learned to assist user-innovators by providing them with toolkits for developing new products. User innovation has a positive impact on social welfare, and von Hippel proposes that government policies, including R&D subsidies and tax credits, should be realigned to eliminate biases against it. The goal of a democratized user-centered innovation system, says von Hippel, is well worth striving for. An electronic version of this book is available under a Creative Commons license.




First Flight


Book Description

It's a lot easier to fly RC planes now than it used to be. There's been a revolution, thanks to the miniaturization and lower cost of tiny electronics and rechargeable batteries. These days you can buy a ready-to-fly plane, charge the battery, and be in the air within an hour. And that's part of the problem. Now it's so easy to get into the air, you can get there long before you're ready. Through trial and error, I've discovered which planes are the best for novice RC pilots. There are dozens of choices, but relatively few have earned a place in this book. I've purchased and flown all of the planes mentioned here (along with other planes that didn't make it into this book). My recommendations are based solely on how the planes perform, the quality of the materials, and the manufacturer's customer support.