GWS Top Electric Flight FAQ

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FLIGHT RESOURCES

 

 

 

Web pages

http://www.ezonemag.com
The E Zone is the official home of the faq, and of the FLIGHT mailing list. There is also a thriving set of discussion groups (forums) hosted by the Ezone where you can get almost instant answers to most Electric Flight questions. Follow the "Discussion Groups" link on the main page.

http://members.aol.com/KMyersEFO/
Ken Myers electric flight page. Ken is the editor of The Amp
eer, a very popular electric flight newsletter. Back issues of The Ampeer are available at Ken's page, as well as some great advice and information for beginners. Recently added are several of Keith Shaw's article on electrics. These article have been made available to the Internet community with the permission of Tom Atwood at Airage Publishing (Model Airplane News.)

http://www.math.niu.edu/~behr/misc/RC/speed-ctl.html
Eric Behr has placed several plans for electronic speed controls on this page.

http://www.paranoia.com/~filipg/HTML/FAQ/BODY/F_Battery.html
Various battery-related information. Check out the Nicad faq!

http://loke.as.arizona.edu/~ckulesa/flight.html
Craig Kulesa's excellent silent flight web page. This page contains a table that matches the popular Astro electric motors to IC equivalents.

http://www.net101.com/dedola/conversion.html
This site has a lot of information related to english-metric conversion. Very useful if you want to build from plans that were drawn in units you're not too familiar with. (Thanks to Dennis Weatherly for this tip.)

http://asp1.sbs.ohio-state.edu/gifs/forecasts/ngm/vectors.gif
This site has 12 to 48 hour wind vector predictions. (Thanks to Corky Boyd, corky@mail.wwnet.com for this tip.)

 

 

Newsgroups

rec.models.rc.air
This is an internet newsgroup devoted to radio control aircraft.

rec.models.rc.soaring
This internet newsgroup is mainly concerned with R/C gliders but also contains some discussion about electric flight.

rec.models.rc.helicopter
The newsgroup for radio control helicopters including more and more about electrics.

At the time of writing (Oct 00) there is a proposal for a newsgroup specific to electric models. The current suggestion for a name is rec.models.rc.air.electric. Keep looking out for this new group.

 

 

Non-Electronics

Magazines

Sailplane Modeler is expanding its coverage to include electric powered planes of all sorts. The new name will be Sailplane and Electric Modeler. The following information came from Wil Byers.

It will cover all aspects of electric including electric sailplanes. Additionally, we will retain our sailplane writers, but the magazine is definately growing in the direction of electrics. So, please spread the word.

Also, you can subscribe to our magazine at:

Sailplane & Electric Modeler
P.O. Box 4267
W. Richland, WA 99353-0024

Further details can be obtained from the Sailpane and Electric Modeler website at www.semodeler.com

Electric Flight International is another excellent magazine for eflyers. The only English language magazine specialising solely in electric flight.

Published in the UK, here is the North American contact address:

Traplet Distribution, USA
3103 Tatman Court, Suite 105.
Urbana, Illinois, 61802
PH: (217) 328-4444
FX: (217) 328-2450

Again details can be obtained from the Traplet website at www.traplet.co.uk

RCMicroFlight is a newsletter/magazine specifically about indoor and slow flight. It is available in hard copy format and in electronic form.

Details from the website at http://www.rcmicroflight.com

Books

Electric Motor Handbook, R.J Boucher, published AstroFlight Inc.
Based on AstroFlight's motors naturally, but contains lots of useful information about how and why motors work, what motor constants mean and how to measure them, timing motors, propeller selection etc.

Entering Electrics, Harry Higley, published, Harry B Higley & Sons Inc.
A fairly generally modeling book useful for the novice. A bit out of date now but still has plenty of information about basic installation, wiring, motor selection and the essential differences between electric and glow models.

Fly Electric, Dave Chinery, published Nexus Special Interests (UK)
Recently updated this book contains a wealth of general information including the various types of motor and battery available, plenty on Electric Ducted Fans and other model types.