5 FLIGHT TESTS NORTHEAST SAILPLANE PRODUCTS ...

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LEARNING TO FLY A HELICOPTER 0ft TRYING NEW MANEUVERS can be a time-consuming and expensive venture. When machine and earth meet for an unscheduled arrival, the dirt always wins. Enter flight simulators, which have evolved from primitive wire-frame models that flew against a stark blank background to what they are today: highly detailed models that fly exceptionally well in a variety of realistic venues. Aerofly Professional Deluxe (AFPD) has taken the flight-sim world by storm, and after I logged some hours on it, it was easy to see why. AFPD offers 15 helis that range from the fixed-pitch Piccolo Fun micro hell to multi-blade scale ships to all-out 3Dcapable mounts. No flight sim can completely capture the actual RC experience, but AFPD comes very close—especially with helicopters. Let's take a took. m Here, our virtual pilot hovers the Three Dee Inverted. The Raptor 30 is a great heli for learning the basics of hovering. After I loaded the program but before I started to fly, I had to assign the channels to match my transmitter. You'll find the channel-assignment screen under the Control option on the main menu. I used a Futaba 9C, and this procedure was pretty straightforward. Next, click the Advanced button on the bottom of the window and activate the heli-specific functions such as cyclic, pitch, tail rotor, etc. With this basic setup, you're ready to fly; however, if you want to maximize the flight sim's capabilities, you have to go one step further. At the top of the Advanced menu screen are four bar graphs that move in sync with the throttle stick. Disable numbers 2, 3 and 4 by changing the default value from 100 to 0. Doing that allowed me to use the radio's idle-up throttle-curve programming. Now you can fine-tune the virtual model's performance by using the programming features available in your transmitter. I flew all of the available helicopters and found all of them to be fun to fly and realistic. They can be grouped in three categories: scale, electric-powered and aerobatic/3D. All six of the scale machines have that characteristic heavier feel to them, and if you've ever flown a scale heli, you'll feel right at home. Two of the scale helis, the Eurocopter EC135 and the MD900 Explorer, have flybar-less, multi-blade heads. Most multi-blade hells tend to pitch up in forward flight and when exiting turns. AFPD minimizes this tendency, and that makes the helis a lot easier to fly. My favorite scale heli is the MD900 Explorer; it's stable and solid, and it can do mild aerobatics if you're so inclined. What about a little competition? In the Contest menu, you're able to set the scene for a pylon race or a drag race, or a spot landing and balloon-popping contest, and you can adjust the time limits. Go into the Graphic menu, and you can control visual elements such as exhaust, smoke and the aircraft's surface reflective qualities. Add fog and clouds, or change it to rainy cloud cover. For an added bonus, several of the scenery choices are photo-realistic. These do come at a price, though; you can't fly in the follow or the cockpit-view modes. So there you have it. With the Aerofly Professional Deluxe, you If you like scale hells, the MD900 Explorer will really whet your appetite. If you're into electric power, AFPD has you covered; it offers four models, including the popular ECO 8. It's available in a brushed-motor version and, for more skilled aerobatic pilots, a brushless option is available. Here's a tip to get the most performance from the electric helis, especially if you plan to do aerobatics: access throttle-curve idle-up 1 or 2 in your radio's programming, and change all of the points in the curve to 100 percent. Now when you do maneuvers, the power wont sag as you apply negative pitch. For all-out 3D antics, there are five models to choose from—all sparkling aerobats. If you're a fan of the Raptor 30, you're in luck; AFPD's rendition is very good. For the big boys, you can choose from Miniature Aircraft's flagship the Fury or Robbe's popular Millennium 60. My favorite, though, is the Three Dee; if the actual model flies anything like the virtual model, I want to get one! Talk about outstanding performance, this heli can do it all! I learned very quickly how to do maneuvers with this heli that I couldn't do with other helis on other flight sims. What more can I say? As you can see, Aerofly Professional Deluxe has a lot going for it. The models look and feel great, and I really like using my own transmitter to program and adjust the models' flight characteristics. I can't wait to amaze my flying buddies with the new tricks I've learned! —Rick Bell truly are lord and master of all you survey! You can adjust the qualities of the graphics, fine-tune the airplanes to your liking fly virtually anywhere. For the serious aerobatic pilot who wan to hone his precision or the sport flier who simply wants to fly the middle of winter, Aerofly Professional has a tremendous amount to offer. It is not only entertaining and exciting but als valuable learning tool for improving your flying skills. I highly recommend it to pilots of all skill levels. See the Source Guide on page 151 for manufacturers' contact information.
Air SCOOP Soaring the Neutral Zone If an enemy battle-star launches an attack on your local slope-soaring site, you can be on full-alert patrol to repel the aggressor with the new Toucan 60R—a larger version of the original Toucan from DCU Models. With lower wing loading and higher Reynolds numbers than the original 43-inch version, this 60-inch-span version flies like a dream. If you liked the original, you're going to love this one. The kit features a fiberglass fuselage, foam-core/balsa-sheeted wings and all the hardware to make the wings removable. The wing area is 470 square inches, and it weighs 30 to 32 ounces. Separate elevator and aileron- control servos are used, and mixers are unnecessary. Contact DCU Models, 45 Steel Rd., Wylie, TX 75098; (214) 429-0440; fax (214) 442-1899. These limited-production aviation Signature Collection Cards are made of fine-quality aluminum. Some of the finest and most famous figures of aviation in the past 60 years, including test pilots, record-holders and Aces, are represented with the planes they flew. On the front of each card is an action photo of a history-making aircraft and an inset photo of the famous pilot and his or her signature. The plane's specifica- tions and a short informative paragraph are on the back of each card. Signature cards sell for $5.95 (S&H included). A percentage of each sale will go to the Flight Test Historical Foundation for the construction of an aviation museum at Edwards Air Force Base. For more infor mation, contact Aerospace Marketing, P.O. Box 850, Victorville, CA 92393; (800) 440-5095. Flair now offers the venerable deHavilland Tiger Moth in their Quarter Scale Classic Series of kits. This impressive DH-82 Tiger Moth has an 88-inch wingspan and is sure to be a crowd-pleaser at an IMMA event or at your local field. Flair promises superb engineering and a long list of scale details and innovations made possible by the model's large size. Here are just a few examples: sprung and dampened telescoping undercarriage; durable lightweight wheels with deHavilland-logo hubcaps; stainless-steel flying wires with terminators; complete closed loop (pull/pull) control system for rudder and elevators; die-stamped steel bracket; die-cut, lite-ply parts; fiberglass cowl and external detail moldings. Power requirements are .90 to 1.20 2-stroke or 1.20 to 1.50 4-stroke. For more information, contact Hobby Supply South, Inc., 5060 Glade Rd., Acworth, GA 30101; (800) 250-3683, (770) 974-0843; fax (770) 974-6243; email: hss@hway.net; homepage: www.hway.net/hss. WORLD RECORD HOLDER In 1949 this freeflight helicopter, built by Taiwanese modelers Wang Kung and Liu Li- Tien, set a world record for duration of 22 minutes, 27 seconds. They later set a distance record of 18.038 kilometers with a model of the same type.
Page 1 and 2: DIGITAL SERVOS MORE MUSCLE FOR YOUR
Page 3 and 4: Precision control BY DEBRA CLEGHORN
Page 5 and 6: first in Static and then, after all
Page 7 and 8: 1/4-scale Fokker D.VIII John Fergus
Page 9 and 10: PARKZONE WILD HORSE P-51D The most
Page 11 and 12: GWS FORMOSA 3D The GWS line of spor
Page 13 and 14: GREAT PLANES MODEL MFG
Page 15 and 16: SUPER CHIPMUNK-BALLERINA WITH AN AT
Page 17 and 18: Air SCOOP Soaring the Neutral Zone
Page 19 and 20: "... from scale flying to high-iner
Page 21 and 22: The battery goes In this easy-to-ac
Page 23 and 24: "This is a UNIQUE, WELL-DESIGNED ST
Page 25 and 26: IN THE AIR The Beaver is a spirited
Page 27 and 28: Smokin' aerobat I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN
Page 29 and 30: ered balsawood block that is bolted
Page 31 and 32: "... The Uproar ARF is an excellent
Page 33 and 34: for attaching the adjustable engine
Page 36 and 37: THE DIGITAL ADVANTAGE On the outsid
Page 38 and 39: Mike McConville smiles for the came
Page 40 and 41: The JR Matchbox and Futaba M5A-10 a
Page 42 and 43: This turbine-powered Learjet is a b
Page 46 and 47: A new player in the "more power" ga
Page 48 and 49: ENGINIEREVIEW TUNED PIPES OFFER ANY
Page 50 and 51: M A K I N G S L I D I N G C A N O P
Page 52 and 53: SCALE TECHNIQUES I-beam back and fo
Page 54 and 55: Nothing flies better than a well-tr
Page 56 and 57: HOWTO>THE ART OF AIRCRAFT TRIMMING
Page 58 and 59: "FLIGHT TRIMMING involves making ma
Page 60 and 61: On May 21 and 22, 2005, Air Age Med
Page 62 and 63: An electric powered jet that really
Page 64 and 65: This vacuum-formed canopy can be us
Page 66 and 67: Ted Ruffo holds up the second proto
Page 68 and 69: PRODUCT SLOFLY Prop Saver Flexible-
Page 70 and 71: MODEL AIRPLANE NEWS CLASSIFIEDS RAT
Page 72: FINAL APPROACH BY MOLLY O'BYRNE > P

5 FLIGHT TESTS NORTHEAST SAILPLANE PRODUCTS ...

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