Electric R/C Airplanes
I’ve been building and flying electric R/C model airplanes since 1994, starting with an electric conversion of a Goldberg Gentle Lady sailplane. As an inveterate tinkerer, I’ve designed and built a lot of my own support equipment, such as electronic speed controls and NiCd chargers, much of which is documented here. From 1997 to 2004, I wrote for Quiet Flyer magazine, and many of those articles are found below too. I’m also the author of MotoCalc, the popular program for choosing and optimizing electric model airplane power systems.
Construction Projects and Reviews
- A Speed 400 PuddleMaster Flying Boat
- Electrifying the Great Planes SlowPoke
- Flit! A Speed 280 Four Channel Aerobat
- GravelMaster – A Cheap Tough Speed 400 Fun Plane
- Sig LT-25 Twin Electric Conversion
- Sig Riser 100 Electric Conversion
- Spectra-V: A Modified Great Planes Spectra
- Trials and Tribulations of an Ace Pacer Electric Conversion
Power System Selection
- Choosing an Electric Flight Power System
- Electric Flight Rules of Thumb
- Electric Power for Sailplanes
- Electric Powered 3D Aerobatics
- Fourteen Cell Fun
- Model Aircraft Power System Selection Using Your Computer: A Tutorial Introduction to MotoCalc
- Speed 400 Upgrades
Motors, Gearboxes, and Propellers
Batteries, Speed Controls, and Connectors
- An Electronic Speed Control Primer
- Electric Flight Power Connectors
- Electric Flight Wiring
- NiCd and NiMH Battery Care
- On Fuses in Electric Flight
- The Battery Eliminator Circuit
- To BEC or Not To BEC
- Using Sanyo 1100AAU Cells for Speed 400
- What About the Wires?
Design and Construction
- Always Ready to Fly
- ARF Upgrades
- Building and Installing Skis on Your R/C Plane
- Conversion from Glow to Electric
- Electric Aircraft Battery Mounting Methods
- Model Airplane Electric Motor Mounting Methods
- Scale Electric Airplane Design
Electrical Techniques and Theory
- Electric Flight Terminology
- Electromagnetic Interference Reduction
- How Electric Motors Work
- Let’s Do the Twist
- Measuring Up
- More Electric Flight Terms
Flying and Field Equipment
- Aviator Sunglasses
- Caring for Your Lead-Acid Field Battery
- E-Flying at High Elevations
- What to Put in Your Field Box
- Winter Electric Flight
Electronic Projects
- BattMan II: Computer Controlled Battery Manager
- High Speed NiCd Charger for Electric R/C
- Low Cost Thermal Peak Detection NiCd Charger
- Miniature High-Rate Speed Control with Battery Eliminator Circuit (BEC)
- Miniature High-Rate Speed Control with Brake
- Versatile Miniature High-Rate ESC with BEC and Brake
- Analog Bar Graph Expanded Scale Voltmeter
- LED Bargraph Optical Tachometer
- On/Off Motor Controller with Brake
- Getting the Most from Your Radio Control System
R/C Aerial Photography
- A Collection of Aerial Photographs
- Summer Aerial Photos of Our Farm
- Winter Aerial Photos of Our Farm
Electric R/C Events
Miscellaneous Electric R/C
