cjmdjm

What is the range of most radios used on RC planes? It never says on any of the websites that i have looked at, and i was wondering what the range was. It would have to be quite long i would think, considering many of these planes have top cruise speeds of 65+ mph at full throttle, at that speed you could be out of a 1000 foot radio range in under a minute, so i guess i'm guessing most have ranges of miles or more.

Also, do glow plugs need to be heated before/while starting the engine or something? Whats up with that?

Dewey2

My Feedback: (24)

the range is about 4800 to 5200 foot up a friend went up to 5600 foot and had a very weak and not soild control of the servos. so don't whery about running out of range if its tuned good . you heat the glow plug with a glow starter you put it on when your cranking the engine .

rctrax

Most modern radios will give complete control out to as far you can see it amd well beyond. If you can't see it you can't control it.

RichD

I asked a guy at a local field the same question... he said, It can be over a mile, but you cant see it that far, so who cares? haha

then he said exactly what above poster said.... If you cant see it, you cant control it.

Woodsy

it depends a lot on the type of radio, resistance to interferance, frequency and area you fly in.

In Aus (36Mhz band) the latest FM duel conversion set ups used in flat country areas (less interferance) are good for about 3 miles.

basicaly there a LOS (line of sight) set up if you can't see it (distance, trees, hills, buildings) you cant control it, and even if you can whats the point if you ccant see it.

at the other end of the scale is the park fly type AM and low power FM set ups, in some cases there only good for 500 yards and less in some cases (special super light indoor gear)

aeajr

My Feedback: (2)

Range

Be aware of range and how far out you are likely to fly your plane. This is
partially a function of how big your field is and what you are flying.

Here are some thoughts:

Indoor flyers will no likely exceed 500 feet and 300 is probably enough.

Slow flyers, small parkflyers, say speed 300 class and below, are probably OK
with 500-1000' range

For two meter sailplanes and larger faster parkflyers above the 300 class, as
well as small to medium size glo planes, half a mile/2500 feet, would probably
be OK. The sailplanes tend to get high and the others are fast enough to eat
up ground quickly.

For larger glo planes, 3 meter plus sailplanes you want the 1 mile class of
equipment.

There is no such thing as having equipment with too much range, but a three
meter sailplane can exceed a half mile transmitter because it is large enough
to be easily flown that far away. You don't want to be flying at the edge of
your equipment's range. Weak batteries, interference and such can shorten the
range resulting in you losing control when you seem to be with the working
range of your equipment, so when in doubt, bump it up some.

AM, FM, 72 MHZ and 27 MHZ do not directly impact radio working range, though
there are typical ranges for each, so be aware of it. Depending on the
specific equipment:

27 mhz airplane radios are typically 500-2500 feet.

AM about 1000-3000' feet.

FM/PCM/PPM are offered all across the range board from

300 feet to over a mile depending on the equipment.

Geistware

My Feedback: (16)

My range is only about 500ft.
After that, I can't see it so it is hopeless.