Categories
- Aerial Photography
- Balsa
- Biplanes & Triplanes
- Boats & Watercraft
- Build Threads
- Building
- Cars & Trucks
- Combat
- Crashes
- Custom & Modified
- Electric Ducted Fans (EDF)
- Equipment
- FAQs and Tips
- Flying
- Flying Wings
- FPV
- Gyros
- Lessons Learned
- My Fleet
- My Planes
- Night Flying
- R/C Helicopters & Quadcopters
- R/C Planes
- RC Chat
- Repairs
- Retired
- Scratch Built
- Uncategorized
-
Recent Posts
Tags
Equipment Crashes FPV Electric Ducted Fans (EDF) Cars & Trucks My Fleet Flying Retired Flying Wings Gyros Boats & Watercraft Build Threads Uncategorized Scratch Built Lessons Learned Night Flying Custom & Modified R/C Planes RC Chat Combat funbat Building R/C Helicopters & Quadcopters Aerial Photography Balsa FAQs and Tips Repairs Biplanes & Triplanes My Planes
Category Archives: FAQs and Tips
Making a camera ‘wedge’ or ‘ramp’.
Sometimes, you want the camera to point further down (or up) than the default mount allows for. My solution for this is to build these simple, fixed wedges from foam and ultra-thin plywood. This one holds the camera at about … Continue reading
Posted in Build Threads, Equipment, FAQs and Tips, RC Chat
Leave a comment
Cling wrap paint masking
I was stumped on how best to paint the cockpit canopy on my P-51 rebuild, so I went to my local hobby store and talked to the guy there who seems to know about painting models and such. He recommended … Continue reading
Posted in Building, FAQs and Tips
Leave a comment
How I mount my cameras.
I mount my cameras to my planes with Scotch Heavy Duty Fasteners. Here is one of the mounts on my Parkzone SE5a: Here are 3 of the 4 mounts on my Tiger Moth, Ella. Camera #4 is mounted under the … Continue reading
Posted in Aerial Photography, FAQs and Tips
Leave a comment
Scotch Heavy-Duty Fasteners
Scotch Heavy-Duty Fastener is the only Velcro-type fastener I use on my planes. It’s very strong; I’ve never lost a camera or battery in flight and, in fact, they stayed attached thru some pretty surprising crashes.
Posted in Building, Equipment, FAQs and Tips
Leave a comment
Computing Surface area with Photoshop
Computing the area of a plane’s wings can be complicated, involving lots of geometry and assorted arithmetic. This method requires none of those, beyond some very simple multiplication, and handles any shape, no matter how convoluted. Here’s how it works: … Continue reading
Posted in Building, FAQs and Tips
1 Comment
Coroplast vs. Dollar Tree foamboard vs. Dow blue fanfold foam (FFF)
I’m starting a build using Coroplast election signs and, man, does this stuff feel heavy. I compared it to a sheet of Dollar Tree foamboard with its paper on and confirmed that, sure enough, Coroplast’s more than twice as heavy. … Continue reading
Posted in Building, FAQs and Tips, Scratch Built
1 Comment
What’s the deal with propellers?
The two primary measurements are the prop’s diameter, and its pitch. Diameter is self-explanatory. Pitch is the amount of twist each propeller blade has, and how much air it will scoop up as it turns. A propeller with a pitch … Continue reading
Posted in FAQs and Tips, RC Chat
Leave a comment
Reversing the direction of a brushless motor – it’s easy!
Fixing a backwards brushless motor is easy-peasy. Switching any two wires of the three wires will reverse the motor’s direction. Really. It doesn’t matter which ones. How can this be? Imagine that each wire is numbered. The speed controller is … Continue reading
Posted in FAQs and Tips
Leave a comment
How can I get started in RC, and what does it cost?
Like most sports, hobbies and avocations, R/C flying can cost anywhere from a little to more that folks like you and me can imagine ever spending on a sport, hobby or avocation. The good news is you can be up … Continue reading
Posted in FAQs and Tips, R/C Planes, RC Chat
2 Comments
What does a motor’s kV number mean?
What does kV mean? Simply put, kV is just a measure of the speed with which the motor turns. (Less simply put, kV is the “unloaded RPM of the motor at 1 volt.”) Let’s look at a 1000kV motor. Its rating … Continue reading
Posted in FAQs and Tips
Comments Off on What does a motor’s kV number mean?