Small Stuff Electric and CO2 Powered

Wright Flyer 1 1903-2003
Rubber Powered Free Flight model airplane
Specifications:
wing span 400 mm;
length 500 mm;
motor 200 turns;
4 strands 1/4 inch rubber;
precision counter-rotating duel propeller mechanism.





Paquette Biplane.

Once touted as the World's Smallest RC Biplane this 14.24 inch Paquette Bipe is powered with a Modela 270 cubic cm Motor. The tiny biplane is constructed entirely of 1/16 th sheet balsa and is 2 channel radio controlled, with rudder and elevator. The  very short 1.5 to 2 minute motor run time means that this iis not a very practical flier but it also allows for the use of the smallest radio batteries that can be found.


Russian Junior



I have tried quite a few different types of CO2 motors for powering my tiny flying model airplanes, some cheaper and others considered expensive, but I have found none better than this Russian made CO2 Engine for model airplanes up to 28 inch wingspan. With a displacement of 0.27 cubic centimeters it has a useful speed range of 3000 plus or minus 500 revolutions per minute turning a 178 millimeter propeller.


F4U-1 Corsair

F4U-1 Corsair

This battered old Flying Styro model airplane which was once flown with a GM 300 CO2 motor has been resurrected and converted to brush-less electric power. Using a 45 watt Indoor type Out-Runner motor teamed up with a 10 amp ESC and 400 ma 7.4 volt Po-Li battery. Radio controlled with Rudder, Elevator, and Motor control, using a GWS micro radio with two 50 gram servos, round out the set-up for this tiny 630 mm 24 in Wingspan RC model.

Guillow's Spirit of St. Louis NYP Model Airplane

This old Guillows stick and tissue model airplane, of the world famous 1927 Spirit of St. Louis aircraft, flown by Charles Lindbergh and credited with accomplishing the first non stop solo flight from New York to Paris. The Spirit was a highly modified Ryan M-2 Mail Plane. The model featured in the video clip, was once flown with a Cox .020 Pee Wee nitro engine and, has been resurrected and converted to brushless electric power. Using a 45 watt Indoor type, outrunner brushless motor. Radio Controlled with Rudder, Ailerons, Elevator, and Motor control, using a GWS micro radio with 50 gram servos, round out the set-up for this tiny 70 mm 34 inch WS model.....can hardly wait for the weather to warm, so that I can try flying it. The design is not that stable because of it's lack of wing dihedral angle and small tail surfaces. The Spirit was not always one of my favorite aircraft because of it's lack of windscreen or cabin windows. In time it's unique classic looks won me over and now I can say, it ranks away up near the top. I have a 7 foot WS model that I would fly from time to

time on special occasions (May 21), and as I recall it was a bear to control, requiring coordinated rudder, aileron and elevator just to get it to turn, without falling out of the sky. As for the Guillow's version, I have seen several videos on YouTube that demonstrate they are perfectly capable of controlled flight, and I have embedded one of them below, for as they say "your viewing pleasure."  



See One Fly by Clicking Here


Guillow's Me109 Model Airplane Converted to Brushless Power

This old Guillows stick and tissue model airplane which was once flown with a Cox .020 Pee Wee nitro engine has been resurrected and converted to brushless electric power.Using a 45 watt Indoor type Out Runner motor teamed up with a 10 amp ESC and 400 ma 7.4 volt Po-Li battery. Radio Controlled with Ailerons, Elevator, and Motor control, using a GWS micro radio with 50 gram servos, round out the set-up for this tiny 70 mm 27-1/2 inch WS model.

Fun Park Flyers

Flying for fun on a windy October afternoon just to WOW! the young ones

Click the object below to view a short video of a witch on a broom stick hop a ride on an Electric Powered RC Bleriot X1 Model Airplane just to wow the kids.

This Old Time diesel powered free flight model was converter to electric RC resulting in a relaxing Sunday Flyer.


Watch it flying here on a very windy day.




Small Electric RC Planes
250 Watt Size Motors

Guillow’s Me 109

I have built a number of these fine Guillow’s kit over the years and have had some success flying them freeflight using the Cox Pee Wee engine for power. Most of them survived and have been hanging from my workshop ceiling. I had the thought of converting them to electric power and add miniature radios and see how successful flyers they could be.

Park Flyers

Demoiselle




Alberto Santos-Dumont was the son of a wealthy Brazilian who experimented with aviation in Paris in the early 1900s during the dawn of aviation. His early achievements were in the field of lighter-than-air machines. After the Wright brothers' flights in 1903, Santos-Dumont began to experiment with heavier-than-air machines. He constructed a vertical-propeller model, and, in 1906, built a machine, the 14-bis, on the principle of the box kite. In October 1906, he won the Deutsch-Archdeacon Price for the first officially observed heavier-than-air powered flight in Europe, flying his canvas and bamboo biplane. In November 1906, he flew 725 feet (220 meters) in 21 seconds. In 1909, he produced his "Demoiselle" or "Grasshopper" monoplane, the precursor to the modern ultralight plane. I first viewed the Demoiselle in the 1960's, when it appeared a movie entitled “Those Wonderful Men and Their Flying Machines” An entertaining comedy that featured magnificent flying scenes for the aviation buff. The movie was roughly based on an air race in the early 1900's of which there were many in those days. The Demoiselle was one of the many pioneer replica airplanes that were built and flown in that movie. An interesting aside with this replica is the fact that it would not fly when tested and the experts were baffled until some research revealed that Dumont himself was a very small man, weighing less than 90 pounds. The problem was solved when a petite woman pilot was selected to fly the Demoiselle in the movie. This video clip features an Ikarus Demoiselle ParkFl yer flying equipped with a miniature 6 channel radio and powered by a brush-less out runner electric motor.




Park Flying the Demoiselle on a windy October day in restricted space.




Rare film footage of the original aircraft in flight





Fun Park Flyers

Flying on a windy October afternoon



Bleriot IX

Louis Blériot inventor of the conventional popular airplane configuration, tractor engine up front with a forward main mono-wing and the balancing empennage  at the rear. The Blériot XI sported a single pair of wings which would serve as the new model from which most future planes were derived.

He  was born in Cambrai, France on July 1, 1872, and studied engineering in Paris. He was an inventor, an aircraft designer, and a pilot. He is best known for his flight over the English Channel on July 25, 1909, the world's first flight over a large body of water in a heavier-than-air craft.

A prize being offered by the London Daily Mail for the first successful flight across the English Channel interested Blériot and encouraged him to develop his fourth monoplane and first truly successful aircraft, the Blériot XI. After setting a European endurance record of 36 minutes 55 seconds and winning a cross-country prize, Blériot felt confident about embarking on his cross-Channel trip. He made the trip in 37 minutes, delighting the French and worrying the British, who felt that they had suddenly become vulnerable to air attack.

The Ikerus Parkflyer is reminiscent of a earlier Bleriot design with a strange pod arrangement slung under the wing, but after a very strange accident where I managed to run over it with my wheel of my trailer. I straightened it out and added a few sticks to transform it into something roughly resembling  the famous XI aircraft.
Credits - Library of Congress

Watch the Park Flyer by clicking the object.

Rogallo Wing Project

Electric Powered Flying Witch with Rogallo wing.



Big Witch "WILGA" Gas Powered



Electric with hat brim wing

Float Flying

Electric float flying s not without it's risks. There is nothing that can fry expensive electronic components as fast as a few drops of water lodging on the circuit boards. Electronic Speed Controls are especially vulnerable in this case because of the large currents involved. Water proof sealants such as marine Goop is effective for sealing the open ends of the shrink wrap which is often used to wrap ESC's.

ARC Cessna 177 Cardinal Float Plane

The ARC Modelfly Cessna 177 Cardinal is constructed of 100 % ABS plastic and is sold complete with wheels and a set of floats. The ARF kit was purchased on the internet complete with a new Pico 61 engine and a set of 4 standard servos. The kit was so well engineered that the parts snapped together as accurately as if it were a Lego set. The plastic construction is very tough and of course waterpoof which makes the Cardinal ideal for float flying. The model proved to be so good to fly, that I spent most of the summer flying it and did not get around to flying any of my other float planes, including my new Piper Cub that was also built last winter to replace my old Cub, which was becoming too heavy and weak for float flying.




Carl Goldberg Anniversary Cub

Lazy Ace Biplane

Red Zephyr

The nitro version of the famous Lazy Bee when fitted with a pair of GWS floats proves that it can also be crazy bee when the taps are opened on its OS MAX 11 CZ car engine.
I purchased this model many years ago and flew if a few times with its not so reliable, Cox 09 RC engine before putting it aside and going on to other more flyable models. It was stored at my hanger (8X12 foot garden shed) at the lake for a couple of years before giving it a try as a float flyer. It was mounted on a pair of rather small GWS foam and plastic floats that were intended for a much lighter electric foamy Tiger Moth. Using a light weight 3 inch Dan Brown wheel on the tail to serve as a combination, tail float and rudder the Bee proved to be well at home on the water.
The powerful CZ engine gives the Bee sufficient punch to execute some snappy water take-offs and turn the lazy one, into something that can only be described as a crazy thing.
The engine itself was a pleasant surprise: easy starting; extremely reliable throughout its full speed range; and with an idle so sweet, that it was approached by a couple of baby otters while idling at the water's edge. The poor confused little guys must have though it was their mother calling them for dinner (too bad they were not caught on the video).