Gliders in Europe

In the 9th century, at the age of 65, the Muslim Andalusian polymath Abbas Ibn Firnas is said to have flown from the hill Jabal al-'arus by employing a rudimentary glider. While "alighting again on the place whence he had started," he eventually crashed and sustained injury which some contemporary critics [12][13] [14] attributed to a lack of tail. However, the only source describing the event is from the 17th century. Between 1000 and 1010, the English Benedictine monk Eilmer of Malmesbury flew for about 200 meters [14] using a glider (c. 1010), but he too sustained injuries. The event is recorded in the work of the [15] [14] eminent medieval historian William of Malmesbury in about 1125. Being a fellow monk in the same abbey, William almost certainly obtained his account directly from people there who knew Eilmer [14] himself.

Leo:
Some six centuries after Ibn Firnas, Leonardo da Vinci developed a hang glider design in which the inner parts of the wings are fixed, and some control surfaces are provided towards the tips (as in the gliding flight in birds). While his drawings exist and are deemed flightworthy in principle, he himself never flew in it. Based on his drawings, and using materials that would have been available to him, a prototype [16] constructed in the late 20th century was shown to fly. However, his sketchy design was interpreted with modern knowledge of aerodynamic principles, and whether his actual ideas would have flown is not known. A model he built for a test flight in 1496 did not fly, and some other designs, such as the fourperson screw-type helicopter, have severe flaws. Following a step by step method, discovering aerodynamic forces then controlling the flight, the brothers built and tested a series of kite and glider designs from 1900 to 1902 before attempting to build a powered design. The gliders worked, but not as well as the Wrights had expected based on the experiments and writings of their 19th century predecessors. Their first glider, launched in 1900, had only about half the lift they anticipated. Their second glider, built the following year, performed even more poorly. Rather than giving up, the Wrights constructed their own wind tunnel and created a number of [25] sophisticated devices to measure lift and drag on the 200 wing designs they tested. As a result, the Wrights corrected earlier mistakes in calculations regarding drag and lift. Their testing and calculating produced a third glider with a larger aspect ratio and true three-axis control. They flew it successfully hundreds of times in 1902, and it performed far better than the previous models. In the end, by establishing their rigorous system of designing, wind-tunnel testing of airfoils and flight testing of full-size prototypes, the Wrights not only built a working aircraft but also helped advance the science of aeronautical engineering.

The Wright Flyer: the first sustained flight with a powered, controlled aircraft.

The Wrights appear to be the first design team to make serious studied attempts to simultaneously solve the power and control problems. Both problems proved difficult, but they never lost interest. They solved the control problem by inventing wing warping for rollcontrol, combined with simultaneous yaw control with a steerable rear rudder. Almost as an afterthought, they designed and built a low-powered internal combustion engine. Relying on their wind tunnel data, they also designed and carved wooden propellers that were more efficient than any before, enabling them to gain adequate performance from their marginal engine power. Although wing-warping was used only briefly during the history of aviation, when used with a rudder it proved to be a key advance in order to control an aircraft. While many aviation pioneers appeared to leave safety largely to chance, the Wrights' design was greatly influenced by the need to teach themselves to fly without unreasonable risk to life and limb, by surviving crashes. This emphasis, as well as marginal engine power, was the reason for low flying speed and for taking off in a head wind. Performance (rather than safety) was also the reason for the rear-heavy design, because the canard could not be highly loaded; anhedral wings were less affected by crosswinds and were consistent with the low yaw stability.

Before World War II

Aeromodelling taken care of in FAI General Conference by delegates most of whom had little or no knowledge of aeromodelling. In the pre-WW-II years several important international contests were held under FAI-rules. Among them the yearly Wakefield Trophy contest. This trophy was donated by Sir Charles Wakefield in 1927 and intended for rubberpowered aeromodels. The pre-WW-II Wakefield contests were held every year until 1939. In 1937 the first international contests for model-gliders were held both in Austria, organized by ISTUS, the later OSTIV (a scientific organization for full size gliding). Another important contest was the King Peter Cup, donated by King Peter II of Yugoslavia. It was intended to be held every year, alternately for gliders and rubber-powered models. First contest in 1938 in Ljubljana (Yugoslavia) for rubber-powered models and in 1939 for gliders in England from 19-24 July; 8 countries with 76 models participating.

1936
In the June issue of both Aeromodeller and Model Aeroplane Constructor has been reported that the FAI has established rules for International Records for Model Aircraft.

After World War II 1946

FAI General Conference in London, September 10-12 Great Britain, France, Netherlands, Switzerland and Sweden put Aeromodelling items on the Agenda. All items on Free Flight. Mention of specific Model Commission, Commission pour les Modles Rduits dAvions (CMRA). No mention of Chairman or other Officers. This Model Commission, with a few exceptions, did not consist of practical aeromodellers. With reference to the last pre-war FAI General Conference in 1939 the British aeromodellers were complaining about the rules for timing duration record flights approved at that conference. This rule says timekeepers should move to follow the model during its flight by all means of location available to them and also make use of optical instruments.

This impractical rule could be adopted because most countries belonging to the FAI have not, in the past, gone to the trouble of sending an aeromodeller to attend the Model Commission meeting, but left this in the hands of one of the representatives for full size aircraft. No practical aeromodellers, except a very few, have up to now served in the commission. The delegates have to be educated in what is actually required and should be clearly informed of what the difference is between the conditions required for models as compared to those for full size aircraft.

1947
Meeting of FAI Models Commission in Geneva (September 16-19) Model specifications revised: Smax = 150 dm2; W/Smin = 12 g/dm2; W/Smax = 50 g/dm2; Wmax = 5 kg; min. fuselage cross-section S/100 cm2 (glider), S/80 cm2 (rubber and power). Definition of surface area (projection, fuselage area included). Indoor models considered of little use for aeromodelling, so no separate class. Also no separate mentioning of Control Line. Mr. Alex F. Houlberg (GBR) elected president of Aeromodelling Committee. FAI A, B, and C Certificates introduced. Introduction of FAI Aeromodelling Contest Calendar. Model contest rules included in FAI Sporting Code extensively revised, effective January 1st 1948 (see above). French name for Aeromodelling Committee: CIMR, Commission Internationale des Modles Rduites; in English: CIAM, Commission for International Aeromodelling. In the beginning CIAM Meetings have always been attended by the FAI Director General. In the early years it was Mr. Gillman. Meetings were mostly both French and English spoken and the D.G., in particular Mr. Gillman was a great help by translating English into French and vice-versa. Some delegates, who could speak German as well, were often translating English into German for German-only speaking delegates (e.g. Austria). From around the beginning of the seventies all discussions took place in English only. First after WW-II International contest for gliders and power models in Frauenfeld, Switzerland, June 21-23, with 11 countries participating.

1948
FAI General Conference in Paris, September For aeromodelling new record classes were introduced viz. Tailless Gliders, Control Line (speed with models powered by piston motors and by reaction motors), and Indoor Models.

1949
FAI Conference in Cleveland, USA, September 2-8 Aeromodelling Committee met under presidency of Alex Houlberg with representatives from France, USA, Netherlands, Monaco and Turkey. Circular Flight (Control Line) speed rules. Max. flying height 5 m, speed pylon and yoke for putting in wrist of steering hand. General rules for conduct of international contests. C/L Aerobatics to be regulated.

RECEIVER

Receiver (abbrev. 'Rx')

Above: a MHz Rx, left, and a 2.4GHz one, right

The receiver is located inside the model and is directly connected to each servo, and electronic speed control (ESC) in EP planes, by small wires. A thin single wire antenna extends from within the receiver to outside of the model, typically this is 2 or 3 feet long for traditional MHz receivers. As with transmitters though, there is a significant difference between the length of MHz and GHz receiver antennas; typically a 2.4GHz one is about an inch long! The long antenna of a MHz receiver should never be cut or looped up to reduce its length. By doing this the ability of the Rx to receive the radio signal from the Tx is drastically reduced and this usually has disastrous consequences. The model will very quickly fly out of radio range, and you'll lose complete control. Once that happens a crash or a lost airplane is inevitable! In the same way as a normal radio or TV receives the signal from the broadcasting station, so a radio control Rx receives the signal that is emitted by the transmitter when you move a stick or flick a switch. These signals are then passed through to the servos, or ESC, which respond appropriately. The number of connection slots on a receiver depends on the number of channels i.e. a 5 channel Rx will have 6 slots - one for each channel plus one for the battery pack connection. More complex receivers will have more slots.

TRANSMITTER

Transmitter (abbreviated to 'Tx')

The transmitter, also often just called the radio, is the main box that you hold and use to control your rc aircraft. There are several different types of transmitter available within the radio control hobby in general, the common ones are shown below and are, from left to right, traditional MHz 4+ channel, single stick 3 channel with slide motor control, two-stick 2 channel and pistol grip 2 channel (commonly used with surface vehicles):

For the purpose of this page we'll focus on a traditional multi-channel (4 or more) rc airplane transmitter because that's the type you'll most likely use as you get in to the hobby, be it a MHz or GHz one. Such a Tx consists of two control sticks, trims and switches and possibly rotating dials on the face and top of the transmitter body, so as to be within easy fingertip reach. These switches and dials are used for any channels over and above the primary controls, for example retractable landing gear and flaps - but they can of course be used for any purpose. On a MHz transmitter there is also a collapsible antenna on top of the Tx, while a 2.4GHz Tx has a much shorter antenna which doesn't collapse - it's only about 6" (150cm) long compared to the 3' or 4' long MHz antenna. This difference in length is because 2.4GHz radio waves have a much shorter wavelength and so require a shorter antenna, and also because 2.4GHz technology is much more efficient. Depending on whether or not the transmitter is computerised or not, there will be a LCD screen to display all the relevant information to the pilot - programmed settings, menu options, battery voltage, timer etc.etc.... If the Tx isn't computerised then there will be a simple battery voltage meter or indicator lights on the face of the Tx, and no LCD display screen. The majority of transmitters these days are computer ones, and only the most basic Tx's are non-computer. The main features of a 6 channel MHz computer Tx are shown below...

On a 4+ channel transmitter both sticks move up & down and left & right to enable two functions to be controlled with each stick. These are the 4 basic channels, and the switches/dials make up the other channels - 5th, 6th etc. The transmitter trims are essential for fine tuning the flight characteristics of the airplane, and to iron out any unwanted tendencies that the model may have in the air; they work by moving the respective control surface by a very small amount, and in effect they are used to reset the neutral position of that control surface. Trims are essential during a maiden flight but if a lot of trim was needed during the flight then it's common practice to make adjustments to the airplane when it's back in the workshop, so that less trimming at the Tx is needed with subsequent flights. Having said that, it's quite normal for minor trim changes to be made during every flight, for one reason or another. Transmitter trims can be analogue on the older radios, whereby small tabs need to be slid one way or another and are held in place by a ratchet, or more commonly on modern computer radios they are digital; buttons replace the tabs and when depressed each electronic 'beep' represents one click of a traditional ratchet trim. When any input is made by the pilot, be it moving a stick, flicking a switch or rotating a dial, a radio signal is sent out via the transmitter's antenna and is picked up by the receiver, located inside the model. That signal passes from the receiver directly to the servos and the end result is a proportionalmovement of the airplane's control surface, throttle or whatever. By proportional we mean that the movement of the control surface is a direct representation of how much movement was applied at the transmitter - a small stick movement will mean little movement of the control surface, while throwing the stick to its maximum position will mean full deflection of the control surface (with default travel adjustments in place). With the exception of basic toy rc transmitters, all radio control Tx's are proportional to give us full control of our models. Hopefully...

It's also important to mention transmitter modes but rather than talk about that subject on this already-long page, you can read about them through that link.

PARTICULARS:
MHz or GHz - without a doubt 2.4GHz. MHz radios, although still used and perfectly fine, are on their way out. Number of channels - you'll be hard pushed to find a new radio with less than 6 channels these days, but how many you need depends on how seriously you want to get in to the hobby. If you're quickly going to get in deep with more complex models, then you might soon outgrow a 6 channel radio and an 8 channel one might suit you better.