Building and Flying a Model Plane Through the Years
Today you can design, build or purchase a ready to fly model plane
1910 Wakefield free flight model airplane replica
Flying a model plane is a hobby enjoyed by thousands over the past 100 plus years. There is a special sense of accomplishment seeing a model plane take to the skies on a successful flight. A great deal of enjoyable effort goes into aviation modeling activities. With gains in knowledge taking place almost daily, there is no telling what innovative model aircraft projects will be developed for future flying fun.
Achievement in model aircraft flight is closely linked to advances in technology. Model airplanes need to be accurately built. The combination of suitable construction materials, glues, control schemes, covering methods and power systems all have a direct bearing on how well your model plane flies.
Today, we have access to just about any item of information needed to make a well flying model airplane. This was most certainly not the case in the early days of model aviation.
At the turn of last century, people were just starting to try and figure out the best layout and construction method for both full scale and model planes. Aircraft building methods were at a rudimentary stage, often borrowing techniques from the ship building business. These early flyers, usually built from plans, combined inefficient motors with a lack of basic aeronautical design and flying knowledge. It is amazing many of these early pioneers of flight ever left the ground.
Gas powered free flight model from the 1930s
Evolving construction techniques
Early modelers used light grades of hard wood and fabric covering for their rubber band powered designs. The biggest advance for these model planes was the adoption of lightweight balsa to build the structure. Achieving a low flight weight is the most important item an airplane designer can accomplish to ensure optimum performance.
Early model airplane gas engine
As model plane design theory advanced, the next step for longer flights lay with the power system. Small gas engines became common in the 1930s. The aircraft of the day were quite large to accommodate these early engines. The airframes had to be able to handle the motor’s weight, shock and vibration. It must be acknowledged that these evolving designs produced some remarkable flights. They set the ground work for the next step forward in model aviation, incorporating the revolutionary concept of remote control flight.
Rapid advances in electronics technology led to the first successful flight of a radio control model plane in 1939 by the Good brothers. Their Big Guff gas powered plane was essentially a free flight design that used a single channel of rudder control to more or less land at the same spot where it took off.
Good brothers with their Guff RC plane
First radio control flights
These early RC flights were a monumental achievement. With today’s ready availability of affordable high performance radio control sets, it is just about impossible to imagine the barriers these early RC pioneers had to overcome.
Cox .049 engine U-control model plane
After World War II concluded in 1945, hobbyists returned to a variety of model plane activities. Free flight models remained popular, with various classes of rubber band and gas powered designs setting new records. Radio control electronics continued to develop.
Many modelers took this time to try U-control models. U-control offered an affordable alternative to RC flight, and allowed pilots to operate in a confined space. With U-control, the pilot stands in the middle of a circle. The pilot holds a control handle with two lines going to the model for elevator control. The model plane flies in a circle with the pilot controlling pitch, as well as throttle in more advanced designs.
Kraft radio control set from the 1970s
Affordable radio control electronics
Practical consumer radio control sets became widely available in the 1960s. While these RC electronics were expensive, modelers quickly sought them out to enjoy the new world of full control radio control flight. RC pilots for the first time could completely match full scale aircraft controls in their model planes. Proportional control, where the servos moved the same percentage distance as the transmitter control sticks, was the final technical hurdle overcome by 1970. A model aircraft could now offer rudder, aileron, throttle, elevator, and even flap controls for realistic flight.
Plans built Eindecker model airplane
Advances leveled off for a while. A trip to an RC club flying field in 1970 would offer much the same aircraft lineup as a visit in the 1990s. The model planes were more or less the same, as were the components and gas engines.
Ready to fly out of the box Mosquito RC fighter plane
Beginning in 2005, rapid advances in manufacturing techniques produced quality ready to fly aircraft, high performance electric motors and truly miniaturized RC electronics. All these combined to allow for everyday indoor micro RC flight. Ready to fly indoor planes such as the ParkZone Cessna 210 and Micro Ultra 4-Site provided the feel and handling characteristics of larger models. Smaller RTF micro models such as the Air Hogs Aero Ace and Havoc Cyclone offered an affordable RC flying experience for modelers of any age.
Model plane pilots today can fly any aircraft type or design envisioned. Whether you enjoy long flights, fast models, helicopters or indoor flight, there is a quality product available. Pilots can even adapt model aircraft power systems and control electronics to their own original designs, such as the Finch. There truly are no boundaries or limitations to what you can achieve in today’s world of model aviation. Give it a try!