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beepee -> RE: 100KM cross country flight. (7/3/2012 10:17 AM)
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This comes from my experience participating in cross-country competitions in Texas. These were timed events, not races. They were usually 3-leg circuits of maybe 50-60km/leg. Thoughts and recommendations:
1) Obviously, you will have to plan your battery and fuel capacity. The good thing is that you can do some testing to validate your estimated requirements.
2) Run gas. It has the highest power density for weight carried. I flew big stuff with either a Quadra 42 on magneto, or US41 on CH ignition. I carried about 1.5 ltr of fuel and had plenty. We ran some pretty fast legs to keep up with the times.
3) A large stable aircraft will make the handling easier. Big is easier to see at the distances the bird will be from the truck. You can't always be in close. I flew with a 1/4 scale Cub, or similar sized Super Decathlon. They worked.
4) Make sure the seats for the pilot and co-pilot are firmly attached to the truck. You don't want to be jostled around during truck maneuvers. We placed a piece of plywood in the bed cut to fit, then tied down the chairs with HD tie-wraps.
5) I strongly recommend goggles in the back, though I never used them (should have). The air gets very brisk back there and can make your eyes water to the point of hampering your vision.
6) Carry small 2-way radios between truck cab and flyers. Nice to have a co-driver to help in this area. Very important for the flyers to advise if they need to slow down or speed up to regain control for some reason, or if the driver needs to let the flyers know that a turn or stop is coming up.
7) Last point, I promise - on our last event I installed a Futaba Co-Pilot (the optical flight stabilizer), because there was a short section in which the plane flew over a canopy of trees and the pilot was IFR for about 5 seconds. 5 seconds that felt like 2 hours! The CP helped with this and anytime there was a loss of sight connection. You must be cautious if you use one though. They are not designed for long straight flight legs. Because the sun is usually to one side or the other, the CP will tend to lean the aircraft away from the sun. If you resist this with aileron, over time the CP gets confused and counteracts the steady aileron input. There was some real excitement getting through that bit of education, I can tell you. To counteract the CP, you have to input rudder. This results in a small amount of sideslip during the flight but gives you full and centered aileron control throughout.
I wish I could come down and take part. Cross-country flying is the most fun I have ever had flying RC, BY FAR!
Good luck,
Bedford
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