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Newsletter #9 30 Nov 06
In this issue:
Thanks to all my existing Customers and Affiliates who kindly responded to my request for help in sorting out my shopping cart lists. The response was almost 100% and I really appreciate that.
Our own news about Model Airplane Secrets
A lead in to ....................recent review of ...........
The News roundup
..and the perpetual Pit Lane humour
Featured article: Understanding RC Airplane Propellers
Offers in stock at the Discounts shop.
A Review of the COX Brand Ultimate 40 Biplane .40 size glow ARF.
The Model Airplane News roundup
..and this issue's Pit Lane humour
Featured Article
How To Store Your Li-Po Battery For A Long Time Without Shortening Its Life
By : Tara Soonthornnont
Of all the innovation that paved the way to the rise of electric RC flying, battery technology plays one of the biggest roles. Today, modern batteries have a much better power to weight ratio than before. This allows RC airplanes and helicopters to stay in the air for a lengthy period of time - even as long as their nitro counter parts, or even longer. Amongst the types of batteries, Li-Po or Lithium Polymer rates as the best your money can buy. While they cost much less than they used to, it is always wise to make sure that your Li-Po battery will last for as long as it could. This article will provide some pointers as to how to store your Li-Po battery for long periods without sacrificing its overall lifetime.
If the Li-Po battery is brand new and you decide to keep it for a while before putting it to first use, contrary to common sense, it is best not to store the battery in its uncharged state. The best practice is to fully charge it and maintain it at 4.2 V per cell before storing the battery away for a long time. For example, if you bought a 3-Cell Li-Po battery rated at 11.1 V, when fully charged, the battery will hold 12.6 V. This will make it suitable to keep stored away for 3 to 6 months. However, after 6 months, the voltage will start to weaken. When this happens, fully charge it again, whereby giving another 6 months of storage time. While this procedure can be performed over and over, the battery shouldn't be kept without being used for more than 2 years.
If the Li-Po battery is fairly new and has been used no more than 70 times, has never reached temperature of more than 45 degrees, and never short circuited, the individual cells within the battery needs to be balanced before storage. This easily can be done through new versions of charger which has a "balance cell" function. Another method is to measure the voltage of each cell and set each cell to have an equal voltage to the least-voltage cell. The cells can be discharged using a simple-circuit light bulb making contact with individual cells, whereby slowly draining out each one. Once the cells are balanced, fully charge the battery, which will give each cell about 4.2 V. By doing this, the battery will be ready for a 2 to 4 month-long storage, upon which time the procedure must be repeated. Please note that ultimately, batteries of this condition stored using this procedure should not be kept for more than 1 year.
For batteries that are in a sorry state, such as having been used more than 70 times and have reached temperature higher than 60 degrees and has been short-circuited plenty of times, the first thing to keep in mind is to not hope for much. The procedure for storing these batteries still remains the same as the procedure above. Balance the cells first then charge the battery fully before storage. However, the result won't be great.
As for the storage, keep the battery in a zip-locked bag and place it in a padded aluminum or stainless container (such as a cookie box). Keep the box away from sunlight and humidity. The reason for the stainless box is to protect your house from fire which may be ignited by batteries short-circuiting. Better safe than sorry right?
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Author Resource:- Interested in the amazing hobby of Electric RC Helicopters?
Tara Soonthornnont is an Electric RC Helicopter enthusiast who maintains a website dedicated to it. Check Out http://www.electric-rc-helicopter.com
Model Airplane Discounts
In my last newsletter I featured a starter foamie that could be either a great starter for a little one or just downright fun for anyone. This month some more serious trainers. A couple of the best sellers from the store, one electric and one nitro, both thoroughly proven and reliable.
Bear in mind my advice from the Model Airplane Secrets ebook, you always get what you pay for and the more expensive NexStar comes almost fully assembled with a 4 channel radio, automatic recovery features and assembly instructions and simulator software on disk.
The less expensive Freedom Flyer also comes with a 4 channel setup that you can re-use with later models and is ready to go out of the box.
Hobbico NexSTAR Select RTF Nitro .46 Radio-Controlled Airplane SPECIFICATIONS |
Wingspan: 69 in (1745 mm)
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There's a great website that Hobbico put up dedicated to this airplane at http://www.hobbiconexstar.com/. They've put a lot of effort into this package. It comes pretty well fully assembled including the engine and radio installation and complete with a mini version of Great Planes Flight Simulator package on CD so you can learn to fly on the simulator (they recommend minimum 20 take-offs and landings before you try to fly the real thing).
So you're getting flight simulator software, a completely assembled airplane and a full 4 channel radio setup for the one price.
I can't tell you any more than they can - read the reviews...then if you want to buy then go to Model Airplane Discounts for the special price.
Sugg. Retail: $499.95
reduced by a $100 saving to just $399.95
Megatech Freedom Flyer 4 ch Electric Ready-to-Fly Park Flyer S P E C I F I C A T I O N S | |||
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| Length : | | 22.5" |
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| Wingspan: | 34" | ||
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| Weight: | 18oz | ||
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| Motor run time: | 7-15 min | ||
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| Requires: | 8 AA Alkalines (for transmitter) | ||
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| Charge Time: | 1-2 hours | ||
Sugg. Retail: $199.95
reduced by $50 at Model Airplane Discounts to just $149.95
Right click here to download a review.
Don't forget that if these prices are still a bit high for you despite the saving there's still lots more choice in the Discounts store at more affordable prices. So use any of the links above to go browse around the store and find something that suits you better.
 | Andrew Rosz's book, "Basic Flight Instruction" is a permanent feature of this website. I haven't found anything better for the beginner learning to fly either with an instructor or on your own. Even with simulator software available, Andrews methodical approach builds on your experience step by step. So click on "Basic Flight Instruction" right now and learn from the Master!
Yes, I know this picture looks like an encyclopedia but you're not really buying 5 lbs of paperweight. Andrew's book is delivered to you on a mini-CD so you've got a permanent copy as well as being able to upload it to your PC. |
Review - from RCGroups
Introduction
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| Wingspan: | 42" |
| Wing Area: | 598 sq. in. |
| Weight: | 5Lb 2Oz" |
| Wing Loading: | 19.7 oz/sq. ft. |
| Servos: | 3X Futaba s3004, 2X JR MN48 |
| Transmitter: | Futaba 7CAP |
| Receiver: | Futaba RD127 |
| Fuel: | Powermaster 15% |
| Engine: | OS .40 FX |
| Manufacturer: | COX Models |
With 60+ years of model aircraft experience under their belt, COX has thrown their hat into the ring of .40+ sized ARFs. Lets see how well their Ultimate .40 stacks up.
Volumes have been written on the history of the ultimate. I won't bore you with more of it here. Suffice it to say, this is a fantastically popular modeling subject for aerobatic bipes.
Kit Contents
The kit, and hardware came very well thought out, and complete. There was a pretty significant amount of wrinkling on the wings, and tail feathers. A heat gun shrunk the covering back to the ‘drum tight’ finish I like to see.
Overall, I found the ARF kit completeness, and quality more than satisfactory.
Kit Contents:
- Built-up fuselage, wings, surfaces, I-struts
- Laser Cut Wing Incidence Template(!) (COOL!)
- pre-painted cowl,
- pre-painted wheel pants,
- a clear blow-molded “dummy” cowl,
- spinner
- fuel tank, fuel tubing, landing gear, engine mount, wheels...
- pretty much everything you need to complete the ARF minus glue.
There’s even a laser-cut wing incidence template that came in handily when setting the wings (with their adjustable mounting lugs) incidence.... More on this later…
Assembly
After a quick photo-session, documenting all the “bits-n-pieces” in the box, I began to assemble the ARF. The manual is very well done, and has many pictures to illustrate the steps. Since the build went so smoothly for me, I won’t recite the entire build procedure here. Instead, I'll simply point out the changes I’ve made, or problems I encountered during the build. (Of which there was very few.)
Read the full Review by clicking here
News roundup....
Now, You Have To Believe That A Man Can Fly - At 187 MPH - Without ... This one is something else - you just have to read this - and watch the video.
Free Internet Press - New York,NY,USA
... He is sponsored by the German company that makes his engines, which are adapted from jets for model aircraft and unmanned military drones. ...
See all stories on this topic
That's what you call an engine!:
O. S. ENGINES New IL-300 DIA-STAR 4-CYLINDER 4-STROKE INLINE ENGINE
A scale 4-stroke engine for scale planes. Available early 2007.
The IL-300 Dia-Star engine replicates the look of a full-size Sirius engine from the 20’s and 30’s – right down to the exposed rocker arms. As impressive as it is distinctive, this new engine is capable of producing exceptional power for large-scale model aircraft. The inline design decreases the need for cutting the cowl to better preserve a plane’s scale lines.
It even looks good enough to display just by itself.
Specifications:
• Bore: 1.0 in (25.4 mm) • Stroke: 0.945 in (24.0 mm) • Weight: 5.07 lb (2300g) • Includes: single carb • Recommended Props: 20 x 10, 22 x 8
And a hefty price to go with a hefty engine: $2599.99
Pit Lane Humour...
The Top Twenty Flight Advertising Slogans
2. BadAir: We're Amtrak with wings.
3. Join our frequent near-miss program.
4. On our flights, every section is a smoking section. Not necessarily cigarette smoke.
5. Ask about our out-of-court settlements.
6. Our staff has had lots of experience counselling next-of-kin.
7. Are our jet engines too noisy? Don't worry. We'll turn them off.
8. Complimentary champagne during free-fall.
9. Enjoy the in-flight movie in the plane next to you.
10. The kids will love our inflatable slides.
11. If you think it's so easy, get your own plane!
12. Which will fall faster, our stock price or our planes?
13. Our pilots are all terminally ill and have nothing to lose.
14. BadAir: We may be landing on your street.
15. BadAir: Terrorists are afraid to fly with us.
16. Bring a bathing suit.
17. Some airlines are content to fly thousands of feet over landmarks. We try to get as close as possible for the best view.
18. That guy who crashed into the White House was one of our best pilots.
19. Fly BadAir and enjoy a free two-week hospital stay on us.
20. BadAir: A real man lands where he wants to.
Visit my blog
Don't forget to visit my blog from time to time. I've just moved it from Blogger onto my own website here. You can even take an RSS feed from there.
And click on the book graphic below to get an all encompassing round-up of model airplanes.
Bruce Bird 
Bruce Bird
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Basic Flight Instruction
Yes, I know this picture looks like an encyclopedia but you're not really buying 5 lbs of paperweight. Andrew's book is delivered to you on a mini-CD so you've got a permanent copy as well as being able to upload it to your PC.
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