Later I started to build radio controlled models from my own plans,
like this 2 meter wingspan Fokker-look model equipped
with a 15 cc O.S. four cycle engine. Flying a low
pass-by is quite impressive.
A couple of color pictures about 'Vokker':
picture1
and
picture2.
However, radio controlled gliders have been always closer to my heart. This is a 3.3 meter glider, and this a 2.5 meter glider.
Although the city of Oulu is located at old sea bottom (very flat), some of the modellers are slope soaring enthusiasts. Here a couple of my friends are waiting for wind at Levi mountain, located 300 km (!) to the north from Oulu. The models in the picture are 'stone-breakers' made of veneer, foam and pine wood.
These slopers are for lighter winds, they have full-house controls and their weights are between 400 - 600 grams. The yellow (again) one is mine (The picture is not a Futaba advertisement :)
At the end of May there still exists some snow
at Levi. The model over the slope is my second kit-built, a 2.5 meter
Multiplex Bingo B4. It is a Pilatus B4 look-alike,
and flies really smoothly.
The previous picture was taken in a hobby exhibition, and the beautiful
aileron trainer (!) behind Bingo is made by Pekka Närhi.
Who is sitting in the cockpit of Bingo?
The predecessor of the above STOL plane was this 2 meter plane "Möykky 1". Thanks tio Antti Ruha for the naming that has continued in several models. The power source was O.S. 40 FSR (6.5 cc), which was more or less overpowered to this lightweight slow flying construction. But, it was a really relaxing sunday evening toy. Neither was this model very crash tolerant. The last flight ended sadly (but not in my hands!). Click here to see a plan for this model.
A couple of years ago I designed my first
electric
sailplane. The performance appeared to be very good: It goes up to
170 meters in one minute, thus giving almost half an hour flying time with
a full-loaded battery. Wingspan is 2.6 meters and it weights 2300 g. It
is powered by a Keller 40/10 motor using a Sanyo 1400 SCR 10 cell battery,
giving out about 220 W power. The direct drive propeller is an Ariane carbon
(13.5" x 7.5", if I remember correctly). The wing profile is S3021, and
the elevator SD8020. Speed control is Simprop E90, with no BEC.
This is a low fly-by, and here the model
is
landing, airbrakes opened.
NEW! Click here to see the plans for this
model!
My friend Jukka Liimatainen is a real glider and electric fanatic. Here
you can see the woodframe of a 3.2 meter electric
plane, that he finished just a couple of weeks ago (18.8.95). The total
weight with a 12 cell 1400 mAh battery is 1950g. Rises nicely with only
100 W of power. The finished glider is shown here,
and here is a gif version.
Here are two other shots of the woodframe of Jukkas glider:
woodframe picture 1 (here is a
gif version), and woodframe picture 2 (here
is a gif version).
Here are both mine and Jukkas electric gliders
(here is a gif version).
The local model airplane organization in Oulu (Lennokkikerho Laippa) has more than 50 members, who build models in several clubs. The total amount of modellers in Oulu area is perhaps hundred. We have a nice possibility to fly models in a small airfield located about 20 km from the city. In winter the frozen sea (here -25 C, 2:00pm) and lakes offer lots of space to fly. Here is the logo of Lennokkikerho Laippa (btw. 'laippa' means 'a flap').
Some other pictures:
Ari Sutinen built a electric powered model, that he first designed to be powered by a four-stroke engine. The performance of the "Sähö" with the Graupner 930-7 is probably comparable to the .45 four stroke, if not even better. 12 cells Sanyo 1700SCR provides the power, gearbox is Graupner 1:2.08 and prop is 12x8 APC. Wingspan 1.68 m, All-up weight is approx. 2.5 kg, flying time about 8 minutes. Here are two pictures about Ari's model:
I also got my yearly model project finished. The result is also a electric trainer, but much smaller than Ari's. It has similarities in the appearance with the above mentioned STOL-plane and is called "E-möykky". The flap and aileron design is much more sophisticated, thanks to Heikki Laine's advices. The flaps are slotted, and the ailerons drop their leading edge when aileron up is applied to achieveAri's electric trainer - "Sähö" Ari looking for empty runway
The model is powered by Speed 400/7.2 V and 3:1 Aeronaut gearbox. Prop is Aeronaut 10x8, a little bit too large for such a small model, but provides enough thrust with less than 4000 rpm. Battery is Sanyo 7x500AR, which is loaded with about 5.5 amperes current. The weight is 658 grams, wingspan 1.2 m, and the controls are aileron, flaps, elevator, rudder and throttle. Flies about 10 minutes. The first flights, where the pictures are from, were performed on the ice. Several square kilometers of smooth (but hard) landing area, nice! The ice conditions were exceptional because of no snow on it. Ice really looks like frozen wavy water! Here are the pictures:
Flying low and slow (gif) Flaps down (gif) A satellite view (gif) Happy owner having a break (gif) E-möykky with skis (22.2.1999 photo: Jaakko Viertola)
The first set is from a couple of visits to Levi-mountain. Tauno Knuuttila surprised us with a 'stealth-bomber', having no rudder at all.
Risto Bloigu managed to get a couple of nice flying pictures of the Bingo (see above for more pictures):
Jouni Pöytäkangas and Risto Bloigu made some experiments with flying wings in slope. They appeared to be successful, and source of lots of fun. Here are two pictures from Jouni's 'wings': A couple of other pictures from Levi:Risto Bloigu built Smiley, a twin-speed400 styrofoam model. It was flown succesfully in the Arctic Airshow'98 held in Rovaniemi, Finland.
I also felt lazy, and bought a ready made plane, namely Taube by Simprop. It is an indoor model, but rather heavy, weights 330 grams. Anyway, flies reasonably well and is a source of lots of fun. Most photos by Heikki Laine.Risto prepares himself for flying Towards the flying area (photo: Ari Sutinen) Flying in the Airshow (photo: Ari Sutinen)
And kit-building continued, the the result during last Christmas was Höllein's Wonder XXS, built in 10 hours. The kit was of superior quality, and flying really takes breath out of you. My model is equipped with speed 400 7.2 V, 7 cells Sanyo 500 AR and 5x5 CAM prop. Weight is about 430 grams.Taube indoors Taube outdoors Taube in a slooow pass-by Taube dropped an enemy plane Taube landed softly
And again, a collection of miscellaneous pictures:
Low clouds in Ylläs, Ari preparing for flying Hornet (no RC in this picture) by Jouni Pöytäkangas, to be electrically powered Diamant No Limit by Ville Salmi, a real slow-aerobatic machine, with 6.5 ccm engine (photo: Jaakko Viertola) Extra by Oskari Ketola (photo: Jaakko Viertola)
