Airplanes

I know I am going to cause confusion by having an RC model airplane page. Two types of airplanes are known as model airplanes. One is an RC model airplane that may or may not resemble a real airplane. It flies. The other is a scale replica of a real airplane from the past or present. It is a static model for display only and does not fly.

This page of my site is about the RC model airplane. For most people RC stands for radio controlled, although some insist that remote control is the right term.

The RC model airplane is guided by remote control. The flyer or pilot uses a transmitter with batteries to send signals to a receiver on the aircraft. It’s all very simple.

Flying an RC model airplane is a popular hobby and is becoming more popular. The radio systems have become cheaper as the batteries have become more powerful.

The engine on the RC model airplane is either electric (batteries) or internal combustion (gas).

The variety of models and styles today is amazing. You will find everything from miniatures to aircraft so large they can carry a passenger.

You can get your RC model airplane in different degrees of assembly. Ready to fly (RTF) aircraft are pretty much pre-assembled. Everything you need is, or at least should be, in the kit. You just stick the wings on. Your assembly time is only a few minutes.

An almost ready to fly (ARF or ARTF) will take a couple of hours to assemble. It will require some construction. You get a shell of an airplane and add your own engine, controller and servos.

Advanced users will construct an RC model airplane from a set of plans. They get all the tools and parts and put everything together according to the plans.

The ultimate users build a custom plane from scratch. They do it without kits or plans. They create their own plans. Some draw on paper and others use computer assisted design (CAD) software.

The RC model airplane will have a high wing, low wing or mid-wing design. The high wing plane has its wing above the fuselage (main body) of the plane. It is the easiest to fly and tends to be slower. It is the standard plane for a beginner.

The low wing plane is more difficult to fly. The wing position makes the plane rather top heavy.

The mid-wing RC model airplane is the hardest to fly.

Different airplanes have different numbers of things you can control. You will be able to control at least three things. Those are speed, up and down, and left and right.

I recommend simulation flights so you can get a feel for the controls before you go out and crash your new RC model airplane.