tommygun32

I just randomly came up with a thought (don't ask me where this stuff comes from)

At what scale in planes, heli's, cars, boats, etc does the fuel consumption become scale to their 1:1 counterpart?

Or is this a completely unrealistic probability?

Thanks

jester_s1

Unrealistic, generally. Wings becomes more efficient as sizes go up, so you can't really replicate that in a model. Engines become more efficient in bigger sizes, along with allowing for more efficient designs such as fuel injection. Models also have to be overpowered compared to the full scale counterparts because the wind we fly in is so much faster relative to the size and speed of the airplane, not to mention the ability to pull out of mistakes that a full scale pilot would not have gotten into.

tommygun32

Thanks for that jester. Good points. [sm=thumbup.gif]

Sport_Pilot

Roughly to the cube of the size of the plane. So 25% would be .25*.25*.25 = .015625. So a full scale plane that burns ten gallons a scale model would burn .15 gallons an hour or 19 ounces of gas. Of course the scale model will do worse because it is a two stroke with some oil in the fuel. Also there are some inefficiencies due to the smaller size. So you could about double this. If glow about 4-6 times this. And again this is assuming that the power is scaled to the full size. We normally overpower our scale planes compared to the full scale..

tommygun32

Thank you Sport_Pilot

I know it was a weird question, however, I do appreciate the knowlegeable (?spelling?) responses.

Didn't realize there was a mathematical formula for it.

I understand that I'm presenting this question in the 'club house' which is more based on the aerial side of this addiction, but what about boat / car / etc scale? In your opinion, is there a possible difference?

Sport_Pilot

My spelling isn't that bad. Until RCU has a spelling checker I will be misspelling words from time to time.

cfircav8r

My Feedback: (1)

Sport I think he was questioning his spelling of "knowlegeable"

tommygun32

very correct cav8r...

Sport_Pilot

LOL sorry. But my spelling probably does need improvement.