Mechanical model airplanes and helicopters are less popular than their RC and static brothers and that's a great reason to look deeper at them. You know, what's less popular is usually more worlthwile ;)
The simmplest mechanical aircraft models don't have any gears - they have just good aerodynamic shape which lets them keep flying for some time when they are thrown with a hand. Such models are often called "free flight model airplanes". They are simple, cheap and you can make such ones yourself.
I'm however more interested in the ones that use some gears. For example the rubber band powered model airplanes and helicopters - they can fly longer, don't need to be thrown away and observing their work is really educative. Rubber band model aircraft is also appropriate for making yourself - you need some basic skills and tools, balsa wood or plastic and of course high quality rubber band.
But the mechanical wonders in model aviation don't end here. There are airplanes and helicopters that are powered by complex cam and crank mechanisms, winded up with keys or powered by springs. It's not easy to find such ones, not to talk about building yourself. However I have found some sites about mechanical retro toys which explain in detail the principles behind this type of mechanisms.
I'll be very interested to see pictures of model airplanes with gears. If you hve such, please post them here in the comments area.
What is your favorite type of model aircraft? Do you like the mechanical ones or do you prefer the modern electric RC toys? If so, why? Do you prefer to collect or make? Do you prefer helicopters, airplanes or rockets? Let me know, this is a topic which deserves to be discussed. There are so many kinds of model aircraft, one can easily get lost in them.
петък, 24 юли 2009 г.
Types of model helicopters
I'm sure if you love the model airplanes you will also love the model helicopters. The helicopters are wonderful machines that have a lot of advantages over the airplanes - most important they can lift and land on much smaller area.
Same is valid for the flying model helicopters - it's much easier to fly such one in a small area or even indoor, than it is to fly an airplane.
Let's see what are the main types of model helicopters that you can have.
Static model helicopters:
These can't fly - just like the static model airplanes. They however contain many details, can follow and exact scale and can be quite hard to build yourself. Most static model helicopters are made of plastic or balsa wood.
Mechanical model helicopters. There are some flying model helis which can fly based on gravity forces (when thrown with a hand), or other mechanical forces - for example powered by rubber band. Such aircraft can't fly for too long, but they are simple and kids love to play with them.
Electric RC helicopters. This is probably the most popular type. They are powered by very light rechargable batteries and can fly for several minutes. The remote control is relatively easy to use after some practice. Some electric RC helis are so little and precise that you can land one on the table next to your coffee cup. These are usually made of plastic.
Gas RC helicopters. The gas powered aircraft is for real enthusiasts. They are usually more expensive, harder to use, require more maintenance and are less easy to fly. But the experience flying such a model aircraft is really awesome and much closer to flying a real helicopter.
I'd recommend you try all of the types - they are not very expensive and playing with them or collecting them is really anjoyable.
Same is valid for the flying model helicopters - it's much easier to fly such one in a small area or even indoor, than it is to fly an airplane.
Let's see what are the main types of model helicopters that you can have.
Static model helicopters:
These can't fly - just like the static model airplanes. They however contain many details, can follow and exact scale and can be quite hard to build yourself. Most static model helicopters are made of plastic or balsa wood.
Mechanical model helicopters. There are some flying model helis which can fly based on gravity forces (when thrown with a hand), or other mechanical forces - for example powered by rubber band. Such aircraft can't fly for too long, but they are simple and kids love to play with them.
Electric RC helicopters. This is probably the most popular type. They are powered by very light rechargable batteries and can fly for several minutes. The remote control is relatively easy to use after some practice. Some electric RC helis are so little and precise that you can land one on the table next to your coffee cup. These are usually made of plastic.
Gas RC helicopters. The gas powered aircraft is for real enthusiasts. They are usually more expensive, harder to use, require more maintenance and are less easy to fly. But the experience flying such a model aircraft is really awesome and much closer to flying a real helicopter.
I'd recommend you try all of the types - they are not very expensive and playing with them or collecting them is really anjoyable.
вторник, 30 септември 2008 г.
How to Build Model Airplane from Scratch
Here is one excellent article from Wikihow:
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
This page has been nominated for deletion with the reason of:"Not a how-to. Article does not appear to be how-to / instructional in nature". Please comment on the discussion page as to whether it meets our criteria for deletion. Continued edits are appreciated, but please do not remove this tag. This article will be reviewed at least 1 week after 2008-09-29.
Everyone can build a model airplane by using an ARF (almost ready to fly) kit. The real adventure and challenge however is the build the airplane entirely from scratch - using your hands, imagination and eventually a model airplane plan.
Check out also this squidoo lens!
How to Build Model Airplane from Scratch
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
This page has been nominated for deletion with the reason of:"Not a how-to. Article does not appear to be how-to / instructional in nature". Please comment on the discussion page as to whether it meets our criteria for deletion. Continued edits are appreciated, but please do not remove this tag. This article will be reviewed at least 1 week after 2008-09-29.
Everyone can build a model airplane by using an ARF (almost ready to fly) kit. The real adventure and challenge however is the build the airplane entirely from scratch - using your hands, imagination and eventually a model airplane plan.
Steps
- Choose the airplane type. Before building you must have an idea about the type of the model you are going to build. The free flight models are very different than static scale models for example and require completely different set of skills.
- Select a model. After you know whether you are going to build static, flying or remote control airplane, you can decide on the exact model.
- Download plans. It's recommended that you download a professionally designed plan for your model. This is essentially for the flying models because they may not fly without keeping the symmetry and proper measures. It's a must for the static models too because they must represent a real airplane in exact scale.
- Choose material. Some model airplane plans may be tied to a specific material, but many will let you choose yourself. Most model airplanes are made of balsa wood or plastic, but you may decide to use robust paper or clay for the static models.
- Cut the parts. This is the most important part of the work. Make sure you properly measure and cut the different parts of the airplane.
- Build the parts together Carefully assemble the model together. If there is an engine (when building an RC aircraft) make sure it's properly installed.
- Paint it. Painting is easy and fun stage but still requires patience and good taste.
Tips
- You can create a plan yourself if you have some knowledge about aeronautic.
- If this is your first model, better start with paper one.
- You can find a lot of model airplane plans for free or very cheap. Don't pay too much for model plans.
- Allow your kids take part in the process. They will enjoy it.
Warnings
- Don't try to build static scale models if you don't have the exact measures of the real aircraft
- If building with paper, don't choose too complex model.
- Don't forget the safety measures when cutting and working with paints and clue.
Sources and Citations
Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Build Model Airplane from Scratch. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.
Check out also this squidoo lens!
вторник, 19 август 2008 г.
Plastic Model Airplanes Rock!
How poor have been our grandparents having only wooden and paper airplanes! At the time they have been kids, mahagony models have been the greatest thing they have ever been able to think about. Mahagony models are great, but are they everything? No, of course.
We are lucky to be able to play, built and collect plastic model airplanes. Why is plastic so great? I will share with you:
1. It is very robust material. Plastic is hard to break and sustains long time and all kind of air conditions. So even if you fly your model aicraft outside in the rain, there will be no problem.
2. Plastic is very light. In many cases plastic model airplanes are lighter than the aircraft made of wood. Often they can comoare in weight with paper airplanes. This means your powered model can fly much longer with less battery usage.
3. Plastic can come in different colors. If you buy a good kit of plastic model aircraft you may not even need to paint it. Of course some kits come with gray parts which need to be painted, but plastic can have any color you want.
4. Plastic is very appropriate for all kind of model airplanes. You'll find static ones, miliraty aircraft, helicopters, civilian airplanes, commercial model aircraft, spacecrafts, rockets - simply everything.
Some people will say that the only real models are those made of wood. I like the wooden models especially those from balsa wood, but I still cannot agree with them. Plastic is a great material for aviation models especially when the parts are created from high quality plastic.
Maybe the only problem is that it's harder to find raw plastic and build your models entirely from scratch. For scratch builders maybe the better option is to create paper or balsa wood airplane models.
Read more about the plastic model airplanes.
We are lucky to be able to play, built and collect plastic model airplanes. Why is plastic so great? I will share with you:
1. It is very robust material. Plastic is hard to break and sustains long time and all kind of air conditions. So even if you fly your model aicraft outside in the rain, there will be no problem.
2. Plastic is very light. In many cases plastic model airplanes are lighter than the aircraft made of wood. Often they can comoare in weight with paper airplanes. This means your powered model can fly much longer with less battery usage.
3. Plastic can come in different colors. If you buy a good kit of plastic model aircraft you may not even need to paint it. Of course some kits come with gray parts which need to be painted, but plastic can have any color you want.
4. Plastic is very appropriate for all kind of model airplanes. You'll find static ones, miliraty aircraft, helicopters, civilian airplanes, commercial model aircraft, spacecrafts, rockets - simply everything.
Some people will say that the only real models are those made of wood. I like the wooden models especially those from balsa wood, but I still cannot agree with them. Plastic is a great material for aviation models especially when the parts are created from high quality plastic.
Maybe the only problem is that it's harder to find raw plastic and build your models entirely from scratch. For scratch builders maybe the better option is to create paper or balsa wood airplane models.
Read more about the plastic model airplanes.
вторник, 29 юли 2008 г.
Model Airplane Kits
I often write about building model airplanes on your own. It's really a lot more exciting than just buying a ready model and putting it somewhere.
The problem with building model aircraft is the complexity. The static scale models don't need to fly, but they must be exact scaled versions of real airplanes. This is a tremendous effort in measuring and requires high precissness.
The flying model airplanes on the other side require a lot of though in aerodynamic. If you want to build a flying model yourself, you may find out that it's much harder than you may have thought.
The solution to these problems are model aircraft kits. They are simplifying the building process while leaving you the joy and excitement of building an aircraft yourself.
You can find all kind of model aircraft kits on the market. Pre-cut, die-cut, plastic kits, RC aircraft kits, wood kits, even some metal ones. Some of the kits are almost ready to fly and require only painting. Other come entirely in parts and you need to build everything. Some are cheap, other - very expensive.
There are model kits for everyone and if you want to build an airplane but never done it before, I strongly recommend you to try with a model airplane kit. This way you will make less mistakes, will waste less materials and time and will build a good tested model airplane.
Once gained experience with kits, you can always go ahead and try building your next static or flying model entirely on your own. Don't forget that there are also plans available so you don't need to be an engineer. Of course designing your own plan is also very exciting, but that's entirely another matter.
The problem with building model aircraft is the complexity. The static scale models don't need to fly, but they must be exact scaled versions of real airplanes. This is a tremendous effort in measuring and requires high precissness.
The flying model airplanes on the other side require a lot of though in aerodynamic. If you want to build a flying model yourself, you may find out that it's much harder than you may have thought.
The solution to these problems are model aircraft kits. They are simplifying the building process while leaving you the joy and excitement of building an aircraft yourself.
You can find all kind of model aircraft kits on the market. Pre-cut, die-cut, plastic kits, RC aircraft kits, wood kits, even some metal ones. Some of the kits are almost ready to fly and require only painting. Other come entirely in parts and you need to build everything. Some are cheap, other - very expensive.
There are model kits for everyone and if you want to build an airplane but never done it before, I strongly recommend you to try with a model airplane kit. This way you will make less mistakes, will waste less materials and time and will build a good tested model airplane.
Once gained experience with kits, you can always go ahead and try building your next static or flying model entirely on your own. Don't forget that there are also plans available so you don't need to be an engineer. Of course designing your own plan is also very exciting, but that's entirely another matter.
четвъртък, 17 юли 2008 г.
What model airplane to gift?
Many people like to buy model airplanes not for themselves but to make a gift to sometone. This is exceptionally cool idea - one model aircraft is a really original gift. Depending on the aircraft type and the gift receiver it could be also educational or entertaining item. Let's see what kind of model airplanes are apporpriate for gifts and for what people:
Static model airplane: The static models are of very high quality and usually quite expensive. However they are not very exciting for children and teenagers. Static model airplanes are most apporpriate gifts for older people who have the habbit of placing beautiful items in their homes.
RC Model aircraft. The remote control airplanes are excellent gifts for kids over 8 ages, teenagers and even active young people. They are great toys and can give them a lot of enjoyment and long hours of nice play.
The free flight model airplanes are great for everyone and maybe the most appropriate gift for smaller kids. Because there is almost nothing to go wrong with them, you can safely let young children play. The free flight airplanes are of course a good gift for everyone else.
Kit model airplanes. The kits are for people who like to learn and build new things. You should be careful when choosing such model airplane as a gift - many people may not value it enough. But for those who love building things themselves, a model kit airplane can be one of the greatest gifts they have ever received.
The model airplanes are excellent gifts, just put some thought what exactly is most appropriate for the specific case.
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Static model airplane: The static models are of very high quality and usually quite expensive. However they are not very exciting for children and teenagers. Static model airplanes are most apporpriate gifts for older people who have the habbit of placing beautiful items in their homes.
RC Model aircraft. The remote control airplanes are excellent gifts for kids over 8 ages, teenagers and even active young people. They are great toys and can give them a lot of enjoyment and long hours of nice play.
The free flight model airplanes are great for everyone and maybe the most appropriate gift for smaller kids. Because there is almost nothing to go wrong with them, you can safely let young children play. The free flight airplanes are of course a good gift for everyone else.
Kit model airplanes. The kits are for people who like to learn and build new things. You should be careful when choosing such model airplane as a gift - many people may not value it enough. But for those who love building things themselves, a model kit airplane can be one of the greatest gifts they have ever received.
The model airplanes are excellent gifts, just put some thought what exactly is most appropriate for the specific case.
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понеделник, 7 юли 2008 г.
Static Model Airplanes
The static model airplanes are luxury accessoires for people who like well touched things. As the name suggests, the static model aircraft does not fly. It just stays out there and makes your room, working cabinet or office looking great.
Most static model airplanes are made of balsa wood, but recently some appear made from plastic or even various metals. All static models should be painted well and should be exact copies of real world airplanes. That's why they are also called static scale models.
Many people start collecting models and then become passionate about building static scale models themselves. You should be very passionate, skilful and wiling to learn to make such models good. Keeping the right scale and building even the smallest details of the aircraft takes a lot of effort.
Most probably your first tries to make static scale models yourself will be disastrous. To avoid thta it's highly recommended that you start with model aircraft kit. Using a kit will save you from the hardest measuring work and working on the small details.
Static scale model airplanes and helicopters are very appropriate for gifting. Don't hesitate to buy such a gift even for people who are not very interesting in aviation - you may get surprised to see them buying their own models very soon after that!
Most static model airplanes are made of balsa wood, but recently some appear made from plastic or even various metals. All static models should be painted well and should be exact copies of real world airplanes. That's why they are also called static scale models.
Many people start collecting models and then become passionate about building static scale models themselves. You should be very passionate, skilful and wiling to learn to make such models good. Keeping the right scale and building even the smallest details of the aircraft takes a lot of effort.
Most probably your first tries to make static scale models yourself will be disastrous. To avoid thta it's highly recommended that you start with model aircraft kit. Using a kit will save you from the hardest measuring work and working on the small details.
Static scale model airplanes and helicopters are very appropriate for gifting. Don't hesitate to buy such a gift even for people who are not very interesting in aviation - you may get surprised to see them buying their own models very soon after that!
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