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MathteacherNC

New Member
Hello:

I am a high school math teacher in North Carolina and am starting an aviation club. To this end, I have been reading some aircraft design books. Since this club is linked to the math and science curriculum, I want the students to be able to make airfoil selections based on the Coefficient of Lift, measure thrust, calculate wing loading, thrust to weight ratio, drag polar, etc., so that they can do a decent analysis of aircraft performance characteristics.

i have also bought an RC flight simulator and 4 HobbyZone champs for the students to actually fly. I was thinking that training on the simulator would prevent nasty and damaging accidents. It didn't. the end goal is to have students design and fly their own electric rc aircraft.

I want to try a different approach to get the students to this point. I would like to buy decent sets of electronics (TX, RX, ESC, batteries, chargers, servos, hardware to hook up, etc) and have students mount the stuff on simple foam planes (flat plate airfoil or Kline-Foglman) and let them get the feel of rc flight before bumping them up. The stuff should be such that it can take student abouse and hopefully be reusable.

I'm better at the math and have NO hands-on experience with this. (You know the type).....I could really use some recommendations for the above electronic sets so that I can write a grant and get some sets purchased.

Please recommend which forum I should use to post.

thanks
 
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HumanPlow22

Member
Sounds like a great idea, however, I am recently new here, but I think you have came to the right place. The other guys (and gals) here really know their stuff. Welcome! :welcome1:
 
callsign4223

callsign4223

Staff member
You might want to check out the rc help trainer in the store. The plans are free to download, take about 2 hours to build if your taking your time, and are very robust and forgiving of crashes. You can outfit them with $40 worth of electronics and have a nice plane. I will give you a list of the electronics I have on mine when I get home.
 
callsign4223

callsign4223

Staff member
Exceed RC Rocket 2215-1050KV Brushless Motor for RC Plane

Exceed RC Proton 30A Brushless ESC Speed Controller

4 x
9G EXI Digital Servo D113F

Or if you want metal gears, personally I think the plastic gears are fine for this.
4 x
9G EXI Digital Metal Gear Servo D213F

And a rx of your choice. I'm using a Spektrum 6210 I had laying around, but a hobby king orange rx would be fine in this application.

I think the build takes about 3 sheets of dollar tree foam, and if you are building multiple planes you might be able to consolidate some of the smaller pieces and reduce it to 2.5 sheets per plane. I love the way this plane flies, and it is very forgiving of pilot error. This engine is powerful enough that if you get yourself in trouble you can give it full power and pull out of most trouble.
 
callsign4223

callsign4223

Staff member
You might want to check out the rc help trainer in the store. The plans are free to download, take about 2 hours to build if your taking your time, and are very robust and forgiving of crashes. You can outfit them with $40 worth of electronics and have a nice plane. I will give you a list of the electronics I have on mine when I get home.
 
P

pvolcko

Well-Known Member
You may want to check around locally to see if there is a RC Airplane and/or Heli club. Also check local hobby shops to see if they know of anyone that would be interested in helping out. The shop(s) may be interested in sponsoring and donating, too. Many clubs enjoy community outreach like this, to hopefully bring more people into the RC flying fold. Even with sim time there is a learning curve to real-world flight and there will be crashes, many crashes. Best way to avoid this would likely be to "buddy-box" so an experienced flyer can take over if things get too dicey. They'll also be able to provide guidance while in flight and even while training on the sim. Depending on how into building vs. flying they are, they may be able to guide you on the more technical aspects of what you're wanting to teach.

There's a lot of possibility here, but if you yourself don't have a lot of experience at this I'd highly recommend finding a couple individuals or a club locally that can help you out.

- - - Updated - - -

And welcome aboard! :)
 
Lee

Lee

Well-Known Member
Welcome to the forum. Look forward to seeing what you guys come up with.
I know of a similar group called MESA RCFF that do exactly what you are attempting. The kids design there own planes. They get a lot of support from the RC community and retailers with donations and equipment etc.
The most common size of motor for first time scratch build aircraft is around 50gram 1200/1600KV motors with matching ESCs and props. But once you know the size of your plane and the weight, you can find the correct size electric combo to power it.
Good luck.
 
wolfman76

wolfman76

Well-Known Member
welcome TO THE RC-HELP FAMILY!!! and as stated above i wish i had a teacher like you in my highschool when i was young would have made thing more fun good luck with your adventure and we will be here as you see already to help in anyway we can...
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
Welcome to the forum! I applaud you for what you are doing. It's a great feeling when you get kids involved in a hobby such as this.

The others have pretty much answered your question on what to get to put a plane into the air. The link was posted on the video series that I did on building the RCH Trainer and as stated, it uses the kfm3 airfoil for max lift, dihedral for stability, boxed fuse for strength and is pretty easy to put together.

No matter what the help, we are here to provide it. Ask away.
 
BOKI

BOKI

Member
Human Plow22; Welcome to the site & hope you can learn & get help here! Best in your flying!
 
Graham Lawrie

Graham Lawrie

Well-Known Member
Hi Mathteacher, Welcome from Scotland:) Very admerable what you are doing for the kids:) Math was not my favourite subject, but if you were my teacher I think it would be LOL:)
 
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