bruce_lee

Hi i need any plane that can fly in high wind conditions, is it bigger the wing span the more it can take? , im new to rc planes and i would like to do some areial video , but it's a bit windy here most days, any idea's?

sbd-5

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basically you can fly r/c in windy weather unless light aircraft are advised not too.25 - 30 mph winds.not rwally the size but the design and weight.when i learned to fly my trainer was /is a falcon 56 that weighed 5 1/2 pounds.it could fly in any wind conditions due to the wing loading and the semi symetrical airfoil.flat bottom wing and light wing loaded airgraft get blown around like a feather.look for a semi-symetrical or fully symetrical wing in a size that you are comfortable with.i learned to fly faster than other due to the fact i could fly in windy weather that would keep kadets an h rays on the ground.

bruce_lee

would you recomend me a plane that will be ok for learning please.. ive been looking at yours..

khodges

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Not necessarily the bigger wing, but overall weight and wing loading that make the plane"friendlier' in the wind. A lightly loaded plane with a lot of wing area is probably the worst plane to fly in wind; a heavier plane, such as a 1/4 scale something-or-other in the 15-20 lb range will fly fairly well as long as its wing loading is higher than,say, 20-25 oz/sq.foot. ANY plane, regardless of size, will be affected by the wind; it's just another aerodynamic fact. The pilot's skills and experience will be the biggest determinant of how well the plane will fly in windy conditions.

What are the average wind speeds you're looking at?

ArtW

I fly at a field that is right on a bay by the ocean. There is a lot of wind. If you can't fly in wind, you can rarely fly. If you can't fly in wind, you can never fly in the summer. We have a wind meter that tells speed and direction over the phone. The minimum this summer was 10 mph with gusts. There were many days where the wind was strong enough to close your car doors.

My advice is several fold.
1. Get a RC simulator and practice landing in wind, wind with gusts, cross winds etc. You will crash many, many times in 10-15 mph wind with 5-10 mph gusts on the simulator. Eventually you will learn to keep your speed up when landing. You will learn to transition through ground effect. etc. The simulator is the key to learning how to land in the wind.

2. My best plane for high wind was a Delta Vortex by BTE Engineering (Bruce Tharpe). The plane is a symetrical flying wing. It ignores cross winds. It has tricycle gear which make take offs and landings in a cross wind much easier. The flying wing design is incredibly strong and not easily damaged by poor landings. I recommend a plane with reasonable wing loading, symetrical airfoil, tricycle gear, no dihedral, that is strong. There is great advantage of no fusalage for avoiding cross wind issues.

3. Practice slope soaring on a hill with a EPP foam glider. Once you have flown an EPP glider on a hill in 30+ MPH wind, your experience with wind will be vastly improved and it won't be an issue. The EPP foam slope soarers tolerate hideous landings with no damage. They are perfect for learning how to deal with wind.

bruce_lee

well today wind speed is 18mph but yesterday it was 8..

bbbair

I would agree with the previous comments, in general the larger the plane the better it handles the wind.

That having been said there is a trade off with beginers as you normally do not want to spend a lot on a first AC as it usually has a rather 'Short lifespan'.

One fellow I delt with had a unique solution (it was also a mistake that worked) he made a 40 sized AC - built it VERY HEAVY and then covered it with fiberglass and several coats of resin.

The .46 engine powered it along adequately but when he cut the power, it sunk rapidly (a very predictable glide slope).

This logic could be used to get you in the air (windy conditions) in a controlled fashion, check with your local building experts and good luck!

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

18 mph??!! I thought you said wind!! Sorry, bad attempt at a joke. Honestly, here in Oklahoma 18 mph is a normal flying day. We don't consider it "windy" until it's 25+. A lot of the problems you may be having aren't the plane, just that you're not comfortable flying in the wind yet. I was the same way when I learned to fly, and I found that I was losing a lot of flying time to the wind so I learned to fly comfortably in the wind.

As for the plane and having a stable platform, the bigger the better. Smaller lighter planes will get bounced around more than a plane with some weight to it. Also, thicker wings will be more stable in the wind.

Ken

bruce_lee

thanks for all the feedback.. i will look into this at my locval hobby shop ,i think i know a club near by i see them flying every sunday..

bruce_lee

any one know where i can get a rc simulator from..?

Lightfoot

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Try Tower Hobbies.

Stripes

My Feedback: (19)

The SPAD Debut is what I pull out on high wind days. Its' low cost and ease of hand launch make it a good choice under questionable conditions.

bruce_lee

cool thanks..anymore ?

EDIT: the building plans are not detailed enough, needs some pics

bruce_lee

ok i would like some more info on these spad planes.. are they good at flying, and do they fly like a normal plane? im thinking of building the SPAD BUHOR

Big Ugly Hell on Rails

because it looks very easy to build and i could get everything needed to build it.....

cheers, lee

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

[link=http://www.spadtothebone.com]Spad To The Bone[/link]

Ken

BillS

When it is to windy for anyone else, I fly a Kougar.

Bill

old bird

Bruce Lee, You have already got good advice here, bigger, heavier and get away from the flat-bottom airfoil of most trainers as soon as possible. My recomendation is the World Models 40-size T-34. I have spent most of the summer flying ours, learning how to land in the gusting winds at our airfield. The WM T-34 is not a trainer, but a great second airplane which can do a lot, including advanced landing training in gusting cross-winds. Our club has several race days with this plane, my son and I are trying to work our way up to race level. It is fairly fast, IMHO good for training for the faster warbird class planes, but still with tricycle gear for good ground handling.
every airfield has its own pecularities as to wind, here in the high desert of the American west, we have the dreaded "dust-devil", forming on hot afternoons. These are miniature tornadoes which usually do no damage to structures etc, but are famous for stealing hats off of the unsuspecting visitor. The dust-devil will take a model airplane and do strange things to it and then spit it out the opposite side in an unpredictable attitude, lots of fun. Most of the time you can see them coming due to the dust that they suck up, but sometimes not. Sometimes they form up right on the black top of our runway. The WM T-34 is the only plane I've flown that has sucessfully penetrated a dust devil on final approach and survived to a good landing, with me at the controls. All luck, but impossible without a good airplane. I highly recomend this plane for post solo self training.

Best regards from old bird.

britbrat

Most of the advice is here is good -- high weight, high wing loading, large size. Lots of power also helps & little or no dihedral is a good thing for wind birds.

However, I take issue with the suggestion that flat-bottomed wings don't work well in high winds. Cow poop --- they work very well, particularly if the other recommended suggestions are implemented. I suspect that the bad rap for flat bottomed wings may come from relatively inexperienced pilots flying lightly loaded trainers in gusty winds. Even then, flying a trainer in high winds is a blast, especially if it has a healthy dose of power.

Flypaper 2

Shimming up the trailing edge of the wing on any trainer plane closer to 0-0 decalage will be able to handle a stronger wind than stock but its a trial and error method for your instructor to set up.

RCaeroguy

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SPAD Debonair

50+AirYears

Get lots of practice any way you can. As a member of a Topeka, Kansas flyer told me, if you're afraid of wind, find a new hobby. At the time, he was flying a single channel plane in 22 knot gusting conditions.
Worst conditions I ever flew in, after about 4 years of learning, (24 years later I find I am still learning) was at a club fun-fly. Some one had a wind speed indicator that showed occassional gusts to over 50 mph. 14 people took part in 3 events. only one crash, and that was a plane that flipped over on the taxi back to the pits. My 15 powered Quick Stick had trouble at 4 pounds and 450 sq" area. It's max speed was less than some of the gusts, so I sometimes had to park it in the air untill the wind slowed down, or a couple times actually backed up.
The better you can handle the wind, the better you'll probably be able to fly on calm days. Just don't try to build up too fast, and don't get overconfidant. And always think ahead of the model, until it's on the ground and parked.