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ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

ABOUT RADIO CONTROLLED


AIRCRAFTS

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Contents

1. INTRODUCTION 4
1.1 WHAT IS AN AIRCRAFT 4
1.2 HISTORY OF AVIATION 4
1.3 CLASSIFICATION OF AIRCRAFTS 4
1.3.1 LIGHTER THAN AIR 4
1.3.2 HEAVIER THAN AIR 5
2. BLUFF BODIES 6
3. LIFT GENERATION 7
4. AIRFOILS 7
5. ANGLE OF ATTACK 11
5.1 RELATION BETWEEN ANGLE OF ATTACK & LIFT 12
6. HIGH LIFT DEVICES 13
7. CONTROL SURFACES 16
7.1 AXES OF MOTION 17
7.1.1 LATERAL AXIS 17
7.1.2 LONGITUDINAL AXIS 17
7.1.3 VERTICAL AXIS 18
7.2 PRIMARY CONTROL SURFACES 18
7.2.1 AILERON 18
7.2.2 ELEVATOR 18
7.2.3 RUDDER 19
7.3 SECONDARY CONTROL SURFACES 19
7.3.1 SPOILERS 19
7.3.2 FLAPS 20
7.3.4 SLATS 20
7.3.5 AIR BRAKES 20
8. WING CONFIGURATION 21

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9. ASPECT RATION 23
10. DIHEDRAL ANGLE 23
11. ELECTRONICS 24
11.1 MOTORS & PROPELLERS 24
11.2 ELECTRONIC SPEED CONTROLLER 27
11.3 BATTERY 28
11.4 SERVO 30
11.5 LINKAGES 31
11.6 TRANSMITTER 31
11.7 RECIEVER 32
12. REFERENCES 34

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1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 WHAT IS AN AIRCRAFT

An aircraft is a machine that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general from
the atmosphere of the planet. It counters the forces of gravity by using either static lift or by using
the dynamic lift from the wing or in some cases a downward thrust from an engine.

1.2 HISTORY OF AVIATION

Flying model craft and stories of manned flight go back many centuries, however the first
manned ascent and safe descent in modern times took place by hot-air balloon in the 18th
century. Each of the two World Wars led to great technical advances. Consequently the history
of aircraft can be divided into five eras:

Pioneers of flight, from the earliest experiments to 1914.


First World War, 1914 to 1918.
Aviation between the World Wars, 1918 to 1939.
Second World War, 1939 to 1945.
Postwar era, also called the jet age, 1945 to the present day.

1.3 Classification of Aircrafts

1.3.1 LIGHTER THAN AIR AIRCRAFTS


As the name suggests the lift is produced due to buoyancy which is an
upward force a fluid exerts on an object less dense than itself in other
words it is the property of a fluid to exert an upward force on a body
that is wholly or partly submerged in it.

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Hot Air Balloons: One of most ancient and the
first aircraft that took man high in the air
worked with the concept of buoyancy. A simple
thought that the density of air changes with
temperature brought the dream of flight to
reality.

If hot air can produce lift then why not lighter than air gases. Gases like hydrogen, helium,
nitrogen, neon and others can also be used to produce lift based on the same principle of
buoyancy. All these gases have lesser density than that of the surrounding air.

Aerostat: It is a balloon like structure filled with a lighter than air gas and has large fins in their
tail. These are designed to stay suspended in air without changing its orientation. Tethered to a
point the large fins at the tail end of the aerostat helps it to withstand the external disturbances
caused due to harsh winds and maintain the same orientation as it was when deployed. It largely
serves as a replacement for tall military surveillance towers.

Airship: It is similar to aerostat in principle of working but different in purpose and shape. It has
smaller fins that provide adequate stability and has control surfaces on them. The airship, as the
name suggests, is designed to move in air. It can carry people (payload), but for the large volume
it has, the payload it can carry is very less. Unlike aerostat it has propellers that can be used to
move in any direction.

1.3.2 HEAVIER-THAN AIR AIRCRAFTS

All the other forms of aircrafts starting from a paper-plane to big rockets are classified as
heavier-than-air aircrafts. These fall freely under the effect of gravity. But when given some
external forces they fly under the principle of Bernoulli. The velocity of the wind flowing over
the wing will produce some pressure difference which will result in an upward force.

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2. Bluff Bodies

Bluff Body in mechanics means any object through which when a fluid is flown across its
boundaries, the fluid does not come in touch with all the boundaries of the object. Example a
Square or Circle.

In other words, if the cross section of the body is significantly perpendicular to the flow
then its termed as a Bluff Body. Wind moving past the Skyscrapers or flow over a moving truck
or a car are perfect examples of Bluff Bodies.

Because of the nature of shape of these bodies there exists a significant area behind
them where the flow is observed to slow down. This region is termed as Wake. Due to existence
of this wake, bluff bodies experience Drag. Sometimes large vortices are periodically shed
behind body. This phenomenon is called as vortex shedding.

The Drag encountered by Bluff bodies are of two types: Frictional drag also called
Viscous Drag and Pressure Drag also called as Form Drag or Profile Drag. Frictional Drag is the
drag experienced between the fluid and the surface over which it is flowing.

The Pressure Drag is due to the surface pressure distribution over the entire body.
Therefore in general the drag co-efficient of a body can be expressed as

= , + ,

Whether the pressure drag or the friction drag dominates totally depends on the shape of the
geometry. Generally when the friction drag is dominating we call the body as Streamlined and
when it is dominated by Pressure Drag we call it as Bluff Body. A streamlined body looks like a
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fish or an airfoil at small angles of attack and a Bluff body looks like a brick or an airfoil at
large angle of attacks.

3. LIFT GENEREATION

The lift generation theory can be labeled the "Longer Path" theory, or the "Equal Transit Time"
theory. The theory states that airfoils are shaped with the upper surface longer than the bottom.
The air molecules (the little colored balls on the figure) have farther to travel over the top of the
airfoil than along the bottom. In order to meet up at the trailing edge, the molecules going over
the top of the wing must travel faster than the molecules moving under the wing. Because the
upper flow is faster, then, from Bernoulli's equation, the pressure is lower. The difference in
pressure across the airfoil produces the lift.

4. Aerofoil/Airfoil
As discussed a Streamlined body like that of a fish makes it easier for the fish to swim against
the waves in the sea. Similarly if we require an object to fly with very little effect of drag on it a
streamlined shape is required. For the aircrafts, this shape is called as an Aerofoil (British
English) or an airfoil (American English).

An aerofoil is basically a cross-sectional shape of a wing. Aerofoils are also found in


propellers, Fans, Compressor blades etc. An object inclined to a moving fluid, such as a palm
when placed outside a window in moving car, or a flat plate, or a deck of the bridge will

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generate an aerodynamic force (LIFT) perpendicular to the flow. Aerofoils are most efficient
lifting shapes, which generate large lift with less drag.

Aerofoil Design plays an important role in aerodynamics of the Plane. Asymmetric foils
will generate lift at negative angle of attacks while symmetric foils only at positive angle of
attacks. Understanding the terminology for the airfoils helps one to better designing of the
airfoil. Following are the basic terms related to an airfoil.

1) The suction surface (upper surface): generally associated with high velocity and low static
pressure.
2) The pressure surface (lower surface): generally associated with low velocity and high
pressure.
3) Leading Edge: point at front if the airfoil that has maximum curvature.
4) Trailing edge: The rear point or the end point of the airfoil.
5) Chord Line: The straight line connecting the leading and trailing edge.
6) Mean camber line: defined as locus of points midway between the lower and upper
surfaces. Its shape depends on the thickness of the distribution of the chord.
7) Thickness: Measured along the chord. It is measured in two ways.
(a) With respect to mean camber line.
(b) With respect to chord line.

Figure below represents the above terminologies.

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Aerofoil designs at the starting of aviation history was more of arbitrary based. Designers had
no specific formulae or guide for designing them. They relied on past experiences with known
shapes and experimentation with modification to those shapes. Few years down the line,
methodology began to change. The establishment of National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics (NACA) bought with it a series of designs of Aerofoils called as 4-digit; 5-digit etc.
which are generated using analytical equations that describe the camber (curvature) of mean
line of the airfoils section as well as the thickness distribution along the length of the airfoil.

For Example:

The NACA four-digit wing sections define the profile by:

1. First digit describing maximum camber as percentage of the chord.


2. Second digit describing the distance of maximum camber from the airfoil leading edge
in tens of percents of the chord.
3. Last two digits describing maximum thickness of the airfoil as percent of the chord.[2]

For example, the NACA 2412 airfoil has a maximum camber of 2% located 40% (0.4 chords)
from the leading edge with a maximum thickness of 12% of the chord. Four-digit series airfoils
by default have maximum thickness at 30% of the chord (0.3 chords) from the leading edge.
The NACA 0015 airfoil is symmetrical, the 00 indicating that it has no camber. The 15

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indicates that the airfoil has a 15% thickness to chord length ratio: it is 15% as thick as it is
long.

Selecting the proper airfoil design plays an important role in defining the type of
aircraft one is designing. Following details will help in better understanding for the selection.

Family Advantages Disadvantages Applications

1. Low maximum
4-digit 1. Good Stall 1. General Aviation.
lift co-efficient.
Characteristics
2. Relatively High 2. Horizontal Tails.
2. Small Centre of drag.
pressure movement 3. High Pitching
3. Roughness has little Moment.
effect

5-digit 1. High Maximum Lift 1. Poor Stall 1. General aviation.


Co-efficient. behaviour.
2. Piston powered
2. Low Pitching Moment 2. Relatively High bombers.
drag.
3. Roughness has little 3. Commuters.
effect.
4. Business jets.

6-series 1. 1. High Maximum Lift 1. High drag 1. Supersonic jets.


Co-efficient. outside operating
2. Business jets.
range.
2. Very low drag.
3. Jet trainers.
2. High pitching
3. Optimized for high
moment.
speeds
3. Poor Stall
behaviour.

7- Series 1. Very Low drag. 1. Reduced Seldom used.


Maximum Lift.
2. Low Pitching moment
2. High drag.

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Today, airfoil design has in many ways returned to an earlier time before the NACA families
were created. The computational resources available now allow the designer to quickly design
and optimize an airfoil specifically tailored to a particular application rather than making a
selection from an existing family.

5. Angle Of Attack (AOA)

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Angle of Attack (AOA) is the angle between the oncoming air and a reference line on the
airplane or the wing. Most commercial jet liners take the Fuselage center line as the reference
line. In most cases the AOA is confused with the patch angle and Pitch angle.

Pitch angle is the angle between the longitudinal axis and the horizon. The angle is indicated in
the altitude indicator in an aircraft.

Flight path angle is the angle defined as the angle between the flight path and local
atmosphere.

AOA is the difference between the pitch angle and flight angle.

5.1 Relation between the angle of attack and Lift

The lift coefficient of a fixed-wing aircraft varies with angle of attack. Increasing angle of
attack is associated with increasing lift coefficient up to the maximum lift coefficient, after
which lift coefficient decreases. As the angle of attack of a fixed-wing aircraft
increases, separation of the airflow from the upper surface of the wing becomes more
pronounced, leading to a reduction in the rate of increase of the lift coefficient. The figure
shows a typical curve for a cambered straight wing. A symmetrical wing has zero lift at 0
degrees angle of attack. The lift curve is also influenced by wing plan form. A swept wing has a
lower, flatter curve with a higher critical angle.

At small angles of attack, the boundary layers on top and bottom surface experience only mild
pressure gradients and remain attached along the entire chord length. Thus the viscous friction

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is dominated. Now as the angle of attack keeps increasing the pressure gradients on the airfoil
increase as well. The pressure gradients are more towards the top rear portion of the airfoil.
Due to this, flow separation occurs and increases the size of the wake and thus the pressure
losses also increases. At higher angle of attacks a large fraction of flow over the surface of
airfoil may be separated and the airfoil is said to have stalled.

6.High Lift Devices


Sometimes additional devices can be used to produce higher lifts in aircrafts. Most commonly
used are the Flaps and the Slats.

Flaps are devices used to improve the lift characteristics of a wing and are mounted on the
trailing edges of the wings of a fixed-wing aircraft to reduce the speed at which the aircraft
can be safely flown and to increase the angle of descent for landing. They shorten take-off and
landing distances. Flaps do this by lowering the stall speed and increasing the drag.

Extending flaps increases the camber or curvature of the wing, raising the
maximum lift coefficient the lift a wing can generate. This allows the aircraft to generate as
much lift, but at a lower speed, reducing the stalling speed of the aircraft, or the minimum
speed at which the aircraft will maintain flight. Extending flaps increases drag, which can be
beneficial during approach and landing, because it slows the aircraft. On some aircraft, a
useful side effect of flap deployment is a decrease in aircraft pitch angle, which improves the
pilot's view of the runway over the nose of the aircraft during landing. However the flaps may
also cause pitch-up depending on the type of flap and the location of the wing.

There are many different types of flaps used, with the specific choice depending on the size,
speed and complexity of the aircraft on which they are to be used, as well as the era in which
the aircraft was designed.

1. Plain Flap

2. Split Flap

3. Slotted Flap

4. Fowler Flap

5. Junkers flap

6. Gouge Flap

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7. Fairey-Youngman Flap

8. Zap Flap

9. Krueger Flap

10. Gurney Flap

11. Leading Edge Drop

12. Handley-Page Slot.

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Slats: may be confused for flaps, but are mounted on the top of the wings' leading edge and
while they may be either fixed or retractable, when deployed they provide a slot or gap under
the slat to force air against the top of the wing, which is absent on a Krueger flap. They offer
excellent lift and enhance controllability at low speeds. Other types of flaps may be equipped
with one or more slots to increase their effectiveness, a typical setup on many modern airliners.
These are known as slotted flaps as described above. Frederick Handley Page experimented
with fore and aft slot designs in the 20s and 30s.

Spoilers: may also be confused for flaps, but are intended solely to create drag and not lift. A
spoiler is much larger than a Gurney flap, and can be retracted.

7.Control Surfaces

Aircraft flight control surfaces allow a pilot to adjust and control the aircraft's flight attitude.

Development of an effective set of flight controls was a critical advance in the development of
aircraft. Early efforts at fixed-wing aircraft design succeeded in generating sufficient lift to get

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the aircraft off the ground, but once aloft, the aircraft proved uncontrollable, often with
disastrous results. The development of effective flight controls is what allowed stable flight.

7.1 Axes of motion

An aircraft is free to rotate around three axes that are perpendicular to each other and intersect
at its center of gravity (CG). To control position and direction a pilot must be able to control
rotation about each of them.

7.1.1 Lateral axis

The lateral axis passes through an aircraft from wingtip to wingtip. Rotation about this axis is
called pitch. Pitch changes the vertical direction that the aircraft's nose is pointing.
The elevators are the primary control surfaces for pitch.

7.1.2 Longitudinal axis

The longitudinal axis passes through the aircraft from nose to tail. Rotation about this axis is
called roll. Rolling motion changes the orientation of the aircraft's wings with respect to the
downward force of gravity. The pilot changes bank angle by increasing the lift on one wing
and decreasing it on the other. This differential lift causes bank rotation around the
longitudinal axis. The ailerons are the primary control of bank. The rudder also has a
secondary effect on bank.

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7.1.3 Vertical axis

The vertical axis passes through an aircraft from top to bottom. Rotation about this axis is
called yaw. Yaw changes the direction the aircraft's nose is pointing, left or right. The primary
control of yaw is with the rudder. Ailerons also have a secondary effect on yaw.

It is important to note that these axes move with the aircraft, and change relative to the earth as
the aircraft moves. For example, for an aircraft whose left wing is pointing straight down, its
"vertical" axis is parallel with the ground, while its "lateral" axis is perpendicular to the ground.

7.2 Primary Control Surfaces

7.2.1 Ailerons

Ailerons are mounted on the trailing edge of each wing near the wingtips and move in opposite
directions. When the pilot moves the stick left, or turns the wheel counter-clockwise, the left
aileron goes up and the right aileron goes down. A raised aileron reduces lift on that wing and
a lowered one increases lift, so moving the stick left causes the left wing to drop and the right
wing to rise. This causes the aircraft to roll to the left and begin to turn to the left. Centering the
stick returns the ailerons to neutral maintaining the bank angle. The aircraft will continue to
turn until opposite aileron motion returns the bank angle to zero to fly straight.

7.2.2 Elevator

An elevator is a moveable part of the horizontal stabilizer, hinged to the back of the fixed part
of the horizontal tail. The elevators move up and down together. When the pilot pulls the stick
backward, the elevators go up. Pushing the stick forward causes the elevators to go down.
Raised elevators push down on the tail and cause the nose to pitch up. This makes the wings fly
at a higher angle of attack, which generates more lift and more drag. Centering the stick

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returns the elevators to neutral and stops the change of pitch. Many aircraft use a fully
moveable horizontal stabilizer called stabilator or all-moving tail. Some aircraft, such as
an MD-80, use a servo tab within the elevator surface to aerodynamically move the main
surface into position. The direction of travel of the control tab will thus be in a direction
opposite to the main control surface. It is for this reason that an MD-80 tail looks like it has a
'split' elevator system.

In the canard arrangement, the elevators are hinged to the rear of a foreplane and move in the
opposite sense, for example when the pilot pulls the stick back the elevators go down to
increase the lift at the front and lift the nose up.

7.2.3 Rudder

The rudder is typically mounted on the trailing edge of the vertical stabilizer, part of
the empennage. When the pilot pushes the left pedal, the rudder deflects left. Pushing the right
pedal causes the rudder to deflect right. Deflecting the rudder right pushes the tail left and
causes the nose to yaw to the right. Centering the rudder pedals returns the rudder to neutral
and stops the yaw.

7.3 Secondary control surfaces

7.3.1 Spoilers

On low drag aircraft such as sailplanes, spoilers are used to disrupt airflow over the wing and
greatly reduce lift. This allows a glider pilot to lose altitude without gaining excessive airspeed.
Spoilers are sometimes called "lift dumpers". Spoilers that can be used asymmetrically are
called spoilerons and can affect an aircraft's roll.

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7.3.2 Flaps

Flaps are mounted on the trailing edge on the inboard section of each wing (near the wing
roots). They are deflected down to increase the effective curvature of the wing. Flaps raise
the Maximum Lift Coefficient of the aircraft and therefore reduce its stalling speed.[3] They are
used during low speed, high angle of attack flight including take-off and descent for landing.
Some aircraft are equipped with "flapperons", which are more commonly called "inboard
ailerons"[citation needed]. These devices function primarily as ailerons, but on some aircraft, will
"droop" when the flaps are deployed, thus acting as both a flap and a roll-control inboard
aileron.

7.3.3 Slats

Slats, also known as leading edge devices, are extensions to the front of a wing for lift
augmentation, and are intended to reduce the stalling speed by altering the airflow over the
wing. Slats may be fixed or retractable - fixed slats (e.g. as on the Fieseler Fi 156 Storch) give
excellent slow speed and STOL capabilities, but compromise higher speed performance.
Retractable slats, as seen on most airliners, provide reduced stalling speed for take-off and
landing, but are retracted for cruising.

7.3.4 Air brakes

Air brakes are used to increase drag. Spoilers might act as air brakes, but are not pure air
brakes as they also function as lift-dumpers or in some cases as roll control surfaces. Air brakes
are usually surfaces that deflect outwards from the fuselage (in most cases symmetrically on
opposing sides) into the airstream in order to increase form-drag. As they are in most cases
located elsewhere on the aircraft, they do not directly affect the lift generated by the wing.
Their purpose is to slow down the aircraft. They are particularly useful when a high rate of
descent is required or the aircraft velocity needs to be retarded. They are common on high
performance military aircraft as well as civilian aircraft, especially those lacking reverse thrust
capability.

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8.Wing Configuration
Fixed-wing aircraft can have different numbers of wings:

Monoplane: one wing plane. Since the 1930s most aeroplanes have been monoplanes. The
wing may be mounted at various positions relative to the fuselage:
Low wing: mounted near or below the bottom of the fuselage.
Mid wing: mounted approximately half way up the fuselage.
Shoulder wing: mounted on the upper part or "shoulder" of the fuselage, slightly below
the top of the fuselage. A shoulder wing is sometimes considered a sub-type of high
wing.
High wing: mounted on the upper fuselage. When contrasted to the shoulder wing,
applies to a wing mounted on a projection (such as the cabin roof) above the top of the
main fuselage.
Parasol wing: raised clear above the top of the fuselage, typically by cabane struts,
pylon(s) or pedestal(s).

In aviation, a planform is the shape and layout of a fixed-wing aircraft's fuselage and wing. Of
all the myriad planforms used, they can typically be grouped into those used for low-speed
flight, found on general aviation aircraft, and those used for high-speed flight, found on
many military aircraft and airliners.

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The planform may also refer to the projected area of the wing. From a top view perspective, one
can extend the lines from the leading and trailing edges on the left and right side of the
fuselage until they meet at the centerline of the aircraft. The area of the wing along with this
projected area is commonly referred to as the planform area. The general types of Plan Form
found in present industry are as follows.

1. Wing Sweep: Wings may be swept back, or occasionally forwards, for a variety of
reasons. A small degree of sweep is sometimes used to adjust the center of lift when the
wing cannot be attached in the ideal position for some reason, such as a pilot's visibility
from the cockpit. Following image shows the different forms of Swept back wings.

2. Chord variation along Span: The wing chord may be varied along the span of the wing,
for both structural and aerodynamic reasons.

3. Delta wings: Triangular planform with swept leading edge and straight trailing edge.
Offers the advantages of a swept wing, with good structural efficiency and low frontal
area. Disadvantages are the low wing loading and high wetted area needed to obtain
aerodynamic stability.

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9.Aspect Ratio
In aerodynamics, the aspect ratio of a wing is essentially the ratio of its length to its breadth
(chord). A high aspect ratio indicates long, narrow wings, whereas a low aspect ratio indicates
short, stubby wings.

For most wings the length of the chord is not a constant but varies along the wing, so the aspect
ratio AR is defined as the square of the wingspan b divided by the area S of the
wing planform, which is equal to the length-to-breadth ratio for a constant chord wing.
2
=

10.Dihedral Angle

Dihedral angle is the upward angle from horizontal of the wings or tailplane of a fixed-wing
aircraft. "Anhedral angle" is the name given to negative dihedral angle, that is, when there is
a downward angle from horizontal of the wings or tailplane of a fixed-wing aircraft.

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Dihedral angle (or Anhedral angle) has a strong influence on dihedral effect, which is named
after it. Dihedral effect is the amount of roll moment produced per degree (or radian)
of sideslip. Dihedral effect is a critical factor in the stability of an aircraft about the roll axis
(the spiral). It is also pertinent to the nature of an aircraft's Dutch roll oscillation and to
maneuverability about the roll axis.

The dihedral angle contributes to the total dihedral effect of the aircraft. In turn, the dihedral
effect contributes to stability of the spiral mode. A stable spiral mode will cause the aircraft to
eventually return to a nominally "wings level" bank angle when the angle of the wings is
disturbed to become off-level.

Fig. 1 fig. 2

If a disturbance causes an aircraft to roll away from its normal wings-level position as in
Figure 1, the aircraft will begin to move somewhat sideways toward the lower wing. In Figure
2, the airplane's flight path has started to move toward its left while the nose of the airplane is
still pointing in the original direction. This means that the oncoming air is arriving somewhat
from the left of the nose. The airplane now has sideslip angle in addition to the bank angle.
Figure 2 shows the airplane as it presents itself to the oncoming air.

11.ELECTRONICS

11.1 Motors
There are two kinds of motor that are used in the RC hobby, brushed and brushless motors.
Brushless are the most common and used most of the time in RC. Brushed motors are used in

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electric drills, grinders and pretty much everything that you use in your day-to-day life. They
pretty much extinct in RC hobby as they are heavy and inefficient.

Brushed motors are powered by DC, which means they have two wires and can be directly
connected to the battery to spin. The way they work is, they have a coil of wire that spins inside
a can lined with permanent magnets. Brushes are used to alternate the current transferred to the
coil, hence making them to rotate in the magnetic field created by the permanent magnet. Since
they use the brush they are called as brushed motors. This is very inefficient and waste a lot of
power. Also brushed motors generally have more torque and not very much speed of rotation.
On the other hand brushless motors are powered by AC and has three wires coming out from
them. A brushless motor has a stationary coil of wire with the magnet spinning around them (in
the case of an out-runner) and because it is powered by alternation current, the coils of wires
can draw the magnets across the distance in micro-seconds, hence making them rotate a lot
faster and more efficient than brushed motors.
There are several numbers to classify a motor by its size and rotational speed. The first set of
numbers will be a two two-digit numbers that will be separated by a dash, for example 28-36.
These numbers correlate to the dimensions of the motor casing. The first number is the diameter
of the motor and the second number is the height of the can (all measurements in mm).
The second number you have is the kV rating which stands for RPMs per volt. Say if you have a
1800 kV motor, running with a 12V battery, then the maximum speed at which the motor will
rotate is at 1800 X 12 = 21,600 rpm.
Something else you will find when looking for motors is the suggested prop size. This is the
propeller that the manufacturer recommends to use with that motor, which would give you a
specific amount of thrust.
Before we go any further, it is important to know how important a propeller is to an RC scratch
build. They are so important because they are the starting point from which you choose your
electronics.
When you have an idea how big your plane is, then you have to pick a proportionate prop to go
with it. It means that you dont want to pick a 12 prop for a plane with 20 wing span and you

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equally dont want a 4 prop for a 6 wing span plane for obvious reasons. Once you select your
prop, you can choose the motor to go with it.
The propellers are numbered with a series of numbers to explain their specs. For example a
propeller can be labelled with 8 X 3.8. The first number is going to be a one to two-digit whole
number, which is the diameter of the prop in inches. The second number is also going to be a
one to two-digit number, but it is most likely to have a decimal place after it. This is the pitch of
the propeller. The pitch is measured by how many inches the propeller would move forward in
one revolution under perfect circumstances. So an 8 X 3.8 prop will have an 8 inch diameter
and moves forward 3.8 inches in one revolution.
Another thing that you will see when you are looking for a propeller is a puller and a pusher
propeller. Now this simply means counter-clockwise or clockwise rotation of the prop to produce
thrust. It doesnt matter which one you get, because the motors rotation can be reversed about
which you will know more when we discuss how to connect the electronics.
Even though there are many combinations of prop diameters and their pitch, there are only two
main types. These are the small diameter high pitch props and the large diameter low pitch
propellers. Even though both of these can produce about the same amount of thrust, each one
has very different characteristics.
Large diameter shallow pitch props:
Because they are big they are hard to spin hence they are paired with motors with low kV rating
since they have a higher torque that can spin the large prop. Also since they have a large surface,
they can produce large thrust at low rotational speeds. This also means that a large prop can
grab the air and pull the aircraft forward.

11.1.1 Limitations:
Good for only slow flying aircrafts. This is because, at high rpm the propeller will create a disc
in front of the plane that will counter the thrust produced. This means that planes with these
props has limited speed and can only go so fast under their own power, just like a bike in its first
gear.

Small diameter high pitch props:

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Because they are small they can be spun with less power, hence paired with high kV motors.
Small props are very good at speed. Think of it as the higher gears of a bicycle.

They have little static thrust, which means if you keep them stationary and spurn it up they will
produce little force when compare to large propellers because of the low surface area. Hence
they are a bit hard to hand launch, but once they are in the air they compound the fast moving
air around them and move forward and the only limiting factor on how fast they can move is
how fast they can be spun.

Both these props can be powered by motors of the same size but what happens when you have a
large diameter and a steep pitch. Well, then you have a large motor that can produce much more
thrust. Similarly, if you have a small diameter shallow pitch prop, then you have a small motor
for a very small plane.

Finally, the amps rating. Amperes is the measure of electricity that you put into something. With
differences in kV, size and prop specs the current drawn by a prop and motor combination can
vary dramatically. This amps rating for a particular motor prop combination will be specifies in
the datasheet by the manufacturer. But in general the higher the amp rating the shorter the
endurance of the flight as it draws a lot of power from your battery. This amp rating will help
you choose your Electronic Speed Controller (ESC).

11.2 Electronic Speed Controller (ESC)


These convert DC power coming from the battery to AC power going to the motor. They also
control the amount of current passing to the motor. Because there is lot of power going through
them, ESCs do get hot. That is why it is important to have a little airflow inside your airplane.

There are several wires in an ESC. The three wires from one side go to the three from the motor.
On the other side there are two main wires on the other side. These connect to the positive and
negative of your battery. And then you have the servo lead which goes to the receiver and gives
it power and also allows you to control the motor. Once you have a particular amps the motor
prop combination draws then you can choose your ESC to go with it. For instance, if a motor
prop combination draws 25 amps, you wouldnt want to choose a 20 amps ESC cause then the
motor would pull so much power through it and the ESC would get over heated and burn. You
also wouldnt want to choose a 25 amps ESC, as there is a margin of error with these motors. The

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prop test done by a manufacturer were done on a work-bench but an actual motor prop is going
to work out in the open, moving faster drawing more power. For this reason it is recommended
to use a 30 amps to 35 amps ESC. So try to choose an ESC that is 5 to 10 amps higher than what
is required by a motor prop combination.

Another thing that the ESCs do is supply power to your recievers and servos on your plane. They
do this with something called a BEC. The reason why ESCs have them is because back when gas
RC planes were the only thing out there, you had a battery that powered your receiver and servos
and then the fuel would power the motor. But when the electric planes started to come into the
picture, they had one battery to power the receiver and another to power the motor. Well this
was heavy and the Battery Elimination Circuit (BEC) came into existence. So all they do is convert
the high voltage coming from the battery to a constant 5V supply that goes to the receiver,
supplying power to the servos.

11.3 Lithium Polymer (Li-Po) Battery:


These power RC models, so obviously they are very important. There are several numbers that
classify a Li-Po battery, the milli amp hours (mAh), the c-rating and the cells of the battery. The
mAh rating is how much power can be stored in the battery in relation to time. So theoretically
a 2200mAh battery running at about 1100 mA will run for about 2 hours. Of course an RC
aircraft will draw much more power than in this example.

The c-rating or capacitance rating is the measure of how much power can be dumped into
something per unit time. Say, if we have a 20c battery that is not going to dump that much energy
to support a powerful motor. To power a high kV motor you will need a 30 to 35c battery. Any
less, the motor will be less responsive and will take a while to update. Powering a motor with less
kV, 15 to 20c would suffice.

Finally the s-rating, which is how many cells a battery has. All batteries are made of cells and Li-
Po are no different. An individual Li-Po cell has a base voltage of 3.7V and a fully charged voltage
of 4.2V. So by using this it is easy to figure out the rest of the voltages for your battery. Say, if you
have a 3s battery, which is most common Li-Po you will find cause their standard voltage is
around 12V, has a base voltage of 3 X 3.7 = 11.1V and a max voltage of 3 X 4.2 = 12.6V. Apart
from planes 3s batteries can be used in transmitters and other electronics that dont fly.

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There are also 2s batteries which can be connected directly to some receivers and to power other
electronics. 1s batteries are used for micro planes. 4s batteries are used for speed planes and the
cells of the battery can move up to 12 or more or anywhere in between. Because of the different
combinations between the mAh, c-rating and the number of cells, Li-Po are available in tons of
different shapes and sizes.

The Li-Po batteries are the heaviest part of an airplane, so it is used to balance the plane. Say, the
balance point on your plane is slightly back, then probably you can move your battery slightly
forward to balance out your plane. Normally you dont want to add weight to your plane, you
just have to move the battery to get a proper balance.

There are two sets of wires in the battery. The first is the main wire, these are two large diameter
red and black wires and they go to a connector. Never let these two contacts touch, if they do, it
will damage the battery. And then you have the balance plug. For a 3 cell battery we have 4 wires
coming out of it. It depends on how many cells you have in your battery. This is just a direct
connection to the individual cells of a battery. The balance plug when plugged into a charger
will balance or charge individual cells, so that the battery can maintain an equal voltage which
will result in the increase in the battery life.

When your battery is drained, you will need to charge them. The charger that we recommend is
a Turnigy Accucell 6 programmable charger. It has a lot of built in safety features. If you have
any Li-Po we recommend that you use a programmable charger. Now why are we even talking
about the safety of these batteries? It is because some have been known to explode, this only
because of the misuse of the batteries. But if you follow a few simple steps, you can prevent any
mishaps from happening.

Polarity: Always know your polarity. If the wires get switched in a Li-Po battery, it might
malfunction and the battery might explode. This is one of the only ways you can make a
Li-Po battery explode, except for physically damaging the cells. Programmable chargers
will detect that the polarity is wrong and will not give any power.
Charge Rate: Never charge too fast. If you are charging at a c-ration higher than the
battery is actually rated for, then you can damage the battery. Some batteries can be

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charged at 2c but it is always safe to charge you battery at 1c. Getting on to the field
faster is not worth the risk.
Supervise Charge: Watch your batteries while they are charging. Occasionally touch
them and make sure they are not warm, if they are, disconnect them immediately. When
you are flying never drain the battery all the way down. When your ESC starts to slow
down, it is regulating input trying to warn you that the battery is running low. Land the
plane. If you drain the battery all the way down to zero percent, it will damage the battery
and the individual cells start to puff up. If you happen to drain the battery all the way
down, put it on to the charger immediately. This will help to save it.
Storage: once you have charged your battery, put it in a safe climate controlled area
which you can monitor. Occasionally check on them to make sure that they are ok.

So far we have talked about how to give thrust to your plane. Now a plane that cannot be
controlled is good for nothing, we need something called as servo motors to control your control
surfaces which in turn will move your plane.

11.4 SERVO
Servos are made up of small brushed motors, and a potentiometer and a couple of gears. The
potentiometer regulates the movement of the motor and allows the servo to move exact amount
of degrees. A servo can rotate a 180 degrees mechanically. But under its own power it can only
move 90 degrees. If you take out the pot and fixed resistor then you have a continuously rotating
servo.

There are two main types of servos, analog and digital. They are both the same with the physical
parts, except for the digital servo has a microprocessor that takes input from the receiver. This
allows them to be more accurate and faster. Because of this they do take up a higher power,
however, it is not going to be very significant.

Next set of classification is if the servo is either metal or nylon geared. Obviously metal gear
servos are a lot durable and a lot stronger.

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Next classification is the weight. A 9g servos are the most common as they are used in foam
airplanes. There are also other types of servos that are characterized by weight and size. 9g are
considered to be micro servos. There are also sub-micro and standard size servos. There are
couple of other servos but you probably only deal with micro servos in foam modelling.

Voltage is also a factor. Most servos run on a 3V to 5V. Some high voltage servos run on 7.4V or
a 2s Li-Po pack, and these are for larger planes that require more torque. But you really shouldnt
worry about the torque case in a foam plane any small motor will be able to push and pull the
control surface. And metal geared servos will be good for any application.

11.5 Linkages:
There are a couple of thing you need for this, a servo arm, a pushrod and a control arm. Servo
arm goes on the servo, control horn on the control surface and the pushrod spans the gap
between these two surfaces and allows the servo to push and pull the control surface. There are
different types of attachment methods for the control horn and the servo arm sides. The Z-bend,
which is the simplest and requires no extra hardware, the L-bend which requires an extra piece
of snap on to lock it in place, the clevis and the screw lock. These can be combined in either side
of the push rod to hold it in place.

If you connect this pushrod to the top most hole of the servo arm and the bottom most hole of
the control surface, then you will have maximum deflection of the control surface with low
resolution. The other way round will give you low deflection and high resolution.

Servos can be mounted flat on the surface with their arms facing away from the surface. They
can also be embedded on a surface with the servo arm parallel to the surface. You can
mechanically reverse a servo by flipping the servo or changing out the linkage of the arm. You
can also do it electronically by changing the polarity of the servo.

None of these are going to work unless you tell them what to do. Thats why you need a
transmitter.

11.6 TRANSMITTER:
All basic radios will have at least 4 channels- the throttle, the elevator, the aileron and the rudder
channels. A basic aircraft need only three channels-elevator, throttle and aileron- to control it.

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Anything after that are accessories such as a gear switch a flap switch and a couple of other ones.
Other radios channels go from 6, 9, 10, 11 and 12 channel. The gear and the flap switch need
not necessarily be used for landing gear and flaps alone. They can either be used for bomb drops
or air brakes. Its up to you to decide what to use it for. And those are very expensive radios for
very expensive planes that do a lot of things.

Radios operate on different frequencies and widely used and fairly new one is the 2.4 GHz radio.
They have short black antenna and its easily available everywhere in the market today. 2.4 GHz
is more reliable and more people can fly at the same time with it.

Dual rate: this is having multiple settings for the distance of movement for your control surfaces.

Well the transmitter doesnt do any good if you cant talk to the plane. Thats the job of the
receiver.

11.7 RECIEVER:
These take the signal from the transistor. The ports on the receiver corresponds to those on the
transmitter. But which channel corresponds to which control can be easily remembered if you
remember AerotriX.

A aileron channel 1

E elevator channel 2

T throttle channel 3

R rudder channel 4

On a 6-channel transmitter, the basic four remain the same but the others can be used to do
some extra things. The number of channels the receiver has does not have to be same as that of
the transmitter and vise-versa. As long as they are of the same brands the number of channels

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on the receiver and transmitter doesnt matter much. The only thing that will happen is the extra
channels just wont be used.

If the receiver has to read what your transmitter says then first you have to bind them. Receivers
get their power from the BEC from in the ESC. The ESC is connected to the third channel where
we control the throttle of the aircraft.

The servo leads are connected to the receiver with the signal cable facing upwards where the
text is. The signal wire on the connector will be either yellow or white. The middle wire is always
power so its red and the bottom wires are black or brown and they act as ground.

While placing your receiver in the plane you first keep the antennas straight, this will make sure
you have proper signal going on to the receiver. You can mount the receiver on the top or on the
bottom or any other place in the aircraft as long as it is in line with the plane. Please dont place
your receiver close to the ESC cause the ESC sometimes sends out signals that can interfere with
the receiver. For park flyers this isnt very important, but its always good to be safe.

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12.References
1. https://www.princeton.edu/~asmits/Bicycle_web/blunt.html
2. http://mae.osu.edu/labs/afcad/research/bluff-body-wake-control.
3. http://people.clarkson.edu/~pmarzocc/AE429/The%20NACA%20airfoil%20series.pdf.
4. http://www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagazine/aero_12/whatisaoa.pdf.
5. http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/airplane/wrong1.html.

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