TheJester

What is the current record speed for an RC airplane of any size? Scale/real MPH?

HighPlains

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Sub-class F3 Open (Aeroplane, piston motor)

N°145: Speed : 343.92 km/h

Date of flight: 21/09/1971
Record holders: Vladimir GOUKOUNE (USSR), Valery MYAKININE
Course/place: Klementyeva (Russia)


213.7 mph

TheJester

and electric flight?

HighPlains

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http://records.fai.org/models/

soarrich

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I saw a video of a DS sailplane doing 306 mph.

Kaos1

The military has flown jet powered drones, spy planes, the "Aurora"? for years that far exceed these numbers. They are remote controlled.
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/pages/aurora.html

RC? Any size? Scale/real?

Kaos1

HighPlains

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If it does not meet the FAI criteria, then it is not an official world record for a model airplane. For propeller models, you are limited to a 10 cc engine, as well as weight and loading allowed. Otherwise anybody could make bogus claims (and many doubt the validity of the 1971 claim).

Erik R

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My Super Bandit will exceed 300mph any day of the week.You didn't specify prop planes.Guys have exceeded 350,and I'm sure someone will hit 400,if it hasn't been done already.I love my fast prop planes,but there's nothing like a jet.

Erik

huey-pilot

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The military converted some full scale F-4 Phantoms to radio control and used them as drones to be shot down, these airplanes are supersonic with a top speed of Mach 2.2.

HighPlains

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I don't know Erik,Soarrich, Kaos and Huey, did ya happen to notice the forum is titled "extreme speed PROP planes"? And as far as the fastest man made object nothing comes close to Voyager 1 which is also radio controlled and kicking along at around 39,000 mph. Mach who?

No1pylon

FAI F3D if let to go in a straight line will exceed 220mph and for electric F5D are moving at similar speeds to F3D

daven

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220 is possible with an F3D plane, I wasn't aware the electric F5D went that fast though. I would have thought in the 180 mph range, similar to Q40 speeds, but smaller.

HighPlains

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That 369 kmh blast (229 mph) over in Germany was done with an F3D.
But it kind of depends on the direction of that straight line. Diving adds so much of the energy required to achieve this speed. Easy to add over a third more power from just the dive which increases the terminal velocity by 10%.

badz

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Every F-4 in the US Military is a drone,with the exception of a few used for Air Shows, to be used for air to air combat training and ABDR training when shot down.

Troy-RCU

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I offer some practical data from real world stats. First off, a standard F3D is not going to hit 220mph unless it is put into a serious terminal dive... It's not been proven to hit 220mph straight and level. They're not propped for it and they don't run enough nitro to hit that mark. The unofficial record holder in Germany used an F3D airframe with retracts and a seriously tweaked motor system and he pulled off 225mph from a diving entry. There is no substitute for RPM and pitch speed to hit that speed and I believe he was up to 12" of pitch while a standard F3D is 7.5" to 8" of pitch..... which is a balance of pitch speed and acceleration. Haulin' butt is haulin' butt...but numbers are numbers and everybody likes to add a few mph's for bragging rights.

Having said that, it's true F5D planes are approaching lap times of F3D planes, but there's still a gap in top speed. I have radared several times with a top quality radar-gun for on course speeds in the neighborhood of 175mph-185mph on course and are capable of hitting 200mph in general sporting around. The F3D's are pushing into the 190's on course and sporting around are definitely hitting 200mph+.

That may seem like splitting hairs but it takes a huge amount of power to go that extra 20mph to live up to the claims of 220mph straight and level.

daven

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The fastest radar reading I saw from an F3D plane was 216, so I assumed 220 was possible.

Your speed readings on F5D are similar to what I've seen.

bob27s

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I'd have to see the FAI rules of engagement for speed record attempts, but can someone quickly tell me if they limit the fuel ??

Sure seems to me that a good f3d airframe (or purpose built equivalent) with some 25-40% nitro running through a properly setup engine, and a prop selected for straight line speed, it would easily push well beyond what the FAI racing setup is capable of.

I too have seen some of the f3d planes up over 210 mph on the radar (dive entry). It does take a huge amount of power increase to get that extra 10-15 mph up to 225 or better. But with some effort, and perhaps that same airframe with a different engine, I believe it can be done.

Troy-RCU

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And I believe that...but I hear and read a lot how F3D's "go 220mph if they go flat and level" and I've not been convinced.

I recently participated in a "for fun" foamie speed run where I saw Zagi-type foam wings do 170mph. This was basically a dive from speck height and the speeds suffered 20-30mph if they leveled off even slightly. My buddies did a foamie with a wing from a DS plane and a monster 3 kilowatt power system and it did 188mph from basically level flight. The plane had some CG issues which kept them conservative in their entries. Both fast, both deserving of respect...I just like to see stuff going fast from a straight and level perspective because gravity is an easy cheat. Just one man's humble opinion.

I like fast stuff period...and I am impressed by different types of planes doing their thing. I like the speed trap concept that the German Speed Cup does on a flat measured course that forces minimal dive entries.

Getting an official FAI record requires some serious planning and men in white coats it seems, unless it occurs at an FAI event...... but there are no FAI sponsored speed events so it's open game.

compound_goose

the weston magnum should hit 200 with out too much trouble...so if you were to bump up the engine size with one of them than youd go past 217. plus the gas turbine people go waaaaaaaaaaaay over the 200mph barrier

MJD

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Folks this side of the pond are having trouble being convinced that a Magnum will actually hit 200 mph; nobody that I recall has been able to duplicate that feat and get it on radar. This is despite Weston's claims to have hit well above that ( I was actually told that their demo team had clocked one at over 240..). It is not a particularly clean airframe compared to a state-of-the-art F3D model. One would have much better luck overpowering a composite pylon airframe than a Magnum I think.

MJD

Troy-RCU

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Maybe 240km/h
Seriously, the amount of drag from the cylinder head and pipe alone is emense compared to a good F3D airframe. I don't buy it. I wonder what that magic "laminar" airfoil is? Laminar flow is like woofer dust in this region of reynolds numbers.

Razor-RCU

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I never believed that the Weston Magnum combo could hit 200- but I concede that for $99 the ARF is quite fast for most of us... (I have only seen videos to this point)

I met a gentleman at the Revvers function whose F5D was radared at 205MPH a couple weeks ago-

Rocket

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troy-rcu, not to burst your non-believing bubble but i was there, in france, at the worlds and 220 mph is not only duable but common. no dives just 10 clean laps, level flight, no nitro, mb motors turning 6.5 diameter x 8" props. 34+ thousand rpm's. more common were the 218 mph laps. oh yeah that was exiting turn 3 where we were gunning from. straight-away speeds were a higher but we didnt have the oppertunity to go out there and stand behind turn 2 to see what they were. fai legal F5D planes are nowhere as fast as F3D planes. 180 mph in F5D is world class speed, but there getting there. just my 2 cents. RR

hello dave and bob..

bob27s

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Hey there RR..!! good to see ya!! Good input too.

Just for info... I received an email not long ago from a gentleman over in Europe who will shortly be using one of Dub's fai "practice" engines. He is pretty excited. On 5-10% nitro, the engine runs somewhere between our side exhaust QM40 engines and a full-blown FAI Nelson or MB. Turns the APC carbon QM props an extra 2000-3000 rpm or so from what the Q-40 engine can. Runs the same FAI pipe, and tends to be pretty well behaved. Not too bad. Its not going to run with the big dogs, but it is definately good enough to get one's feet wet with an F3D aircraft and fly some FAI laps without worrying quite as much about the engine.

MJD

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For the average cat, the Magnum is plenty fast enough. I was flying mine on a 9-6 the other day (the "trim flight" prop) and a flying buddy who had never seen it was blubbering "holy cow, that is the fastest R/C airplane I have ever seen. etc." Obviously he has had no exposure to pylon racers or turbines, but my point is compared to the average club field stuff it's a rocket. A good part of the excitment is that it is such a *^%$^%$ to see with that ^%$#^%$# color/trim scheme.. [:'(]

I like the motor.

MJD