smallest r/c aircraft? this has to be it!

I'm speechless...WOW! I'll say it again, backwards, WOW! Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!"

Certainly has to be close to the smallest if it isn't it! Pretty neat! Now that would be a scale to fly indoor combat with! Think DB would allow that?

I was doing some research on the UAV industry a couple of years ago. I came across an outfit that built a 1/1 scale R/C model of the Monarch Butterfly. Wings flapped and all. Can't recall the company or web site anymore but it sure was interesting.

Chuck

Check this out, it's even smaller!

looks similar in size and lighter. lacks proportional control, if i assume that "magnetic" acuation of the controls surfaces is a binary sort of thing.

If I understood correctly, the first mentioned model also is a scale = model, while this one is not.

Hiran

"w.a. manning" schrieb im Newsbeitrag = news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...

w.a. manning opined

The actuators are very interesting. Using memory alloy wire opens up all sorts of possibilties.

-ash Cthulhu for President! Why vote for a lesser evil?

Can someone please explain how these are controlled by radio? Is there a receiver?

thx, m-m

The magnetic actuators ARE proportional actually

I believe that these ultralight models use IR instead of radio, as the radio reciever alone would way a gram or two

Can't quite beat the size --

But the University of Florida won the Micro Aerospace Vehicle this past Spring with a 4.75" (max dimension in any direction). The model has to be capable of flying out to a target more than a quarter mile away and sending back a clear TV photo of a target on the ground. Yup, this 4.75" model is E-powered, has servos, and a TV camera and transmitter. If interested, send me a note and I'll send some photos.

Then they are not really RC

m-m

That depends... RC = Radio Control, or RC = Remote Control? ;-)

Anyhow, it's amazing that anyone can build a powered and controllable airplane that small...

/Lars

That depends on what one considers to be a radio! Isn't IR in fact part of the frequency spectrum?

Right. I will not argue the semantics. But I would like to know how you can remotely control this airplane whether it be IR or radio signals.

IR like a TV remote? Makes some kind of magnet move?

m.

Hi

This idea is not new. I can remember reading about something similar here in the UK about 10 years ago - possibly a lot more (RCM&E perhaps). Whether it was merely theoretical at that time or had actually been done I can't remember, but this plane sounds identical as far as the idea is concerned.

From memory I seem to recall that the wire acting as the "servo" was a specific length "tuned" to the radio frequency. One end was fixed and the other connected to the control surface. Transmitting a signal heated up the wire, which expanded and moved the control surface.

I seem to think that it didn't actually need a receiver - just wire of the correct tuned length; presumably for 4 function all you would need is 4 different length pieces of wire, no batteries, no Rx, nothing!!!!

Perhaps somebody else can drag out the article or can remember more details - we moved house a few years ago and had a ruthless clear out, including my older RC magazines.

Regards KGB

I don't know all the technical details, as I only use radio control in my models. But from what I have read, there is a Infrared receiver on the plane (like in a TV) and some kind of powerful Infrared transmitter attached to the normal two stick radio transmitter, using the trainer cable.

The IR receiver then controls the motor and magnetic actuators with "regular" electronics (much smaller than normal ofcourse, as the currents are much smaller). The magnetic actuators is, simply put, a double wound coil with a small permanent magnet suspended inside. When a current flows in the coil, the magnet turns based on the power and polarity of the current. A rod is then attached to the magnet, and this is then attached to the rudder. The power of a magnetic actuator is _much_ less than the power of a regular servo, but enough to move the rudders of these ultraligth models.

/Lars

Does RC stand for 'radio controlled' or 'remote controlled'? In the latter, an infrared remote control is a remote control as well.

Hiran

"M-M" schrieb im Newsbeitrag = news: snipped-for-privacy@newnews.netaxs.com...

The problem with definitions is that they don't always mean what you think. Many people look at RC (aircraft type) as Remote Control. The little toys with the cable running to the controller is also known as remote control. RC aircraft are almost universally controlled by redio waves.

Hiran

"M-M" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@newnews.netaxs.com...

M-M scribed in :

go and read the flipping thing mate. it SAYS it uses muscle wire for control. muscle wire is an alloy that changes it's size dramatically when heated. repeatably. you can heat it by putting enough current through it. that is what they are doing. 2 Hz control rate. good thing the plane is stable (-:

swarf, steam and wind

-- David -:- the email address is real but not forever /"\