Power to weight ratio of RC planes

[MSimon]

Stiffness to strength ratio goes down as the second power of size. Or is it the fourth power. I'd have to look it up.

The limiting value in most large structures is not strength. It is stiffness.

[Tom Ligon]

I have a Typhoon 3D 4-channel electric ARTF RC prop plane sitting above my computer. It used to be able to take off straight up, with a thrust/weight ratio greater than 1, before I landed it on its nose one too many times. Broke something in the motor speed controller. I'd fix it, but then I'd embarrass myself even more with my poor RC flying skills. My Cessna flying skills are good enough that I know better than to try taking off straight up in a C152 or C172.

The endurance of the Typhoon on the original batteries was supposed to be 20 minutes. I never reached that limit ... I either crashed or was a nervous wreck within 5 minutes. The newer model upgraded to lithium batteries and is even better.

I think the next RC craft I buy with be a quad-copter with a mount for a Go-Pro Hero, one of the smart ones that can fly and hover autonomously, acting as a flying camera crane. This, by definition, means it has a thrust to weight ratio greater than 1, because they fly on thrust, not lift.

[GIThruster]

The newest quad copter drones come with the camera installed and you can fly them from your smartphone, though a dedicated controller will give you more range. I'm regularly amazed at what is available, and for years I was telling everyone I knew these LiPo batteries were going to change all of RC. They're amazing. 2KW planes as small as a serving platter that go 200+MPH. That's just astonishing. Check out the TwinJet, MicroJet and Funjet vids on youtube. (I'd grab one now but my link is too laggy.)

And they'll wear you out in less than 5 minutes. Flying a Cessna is far easier.

[krenshala]

My tiny little quad (Estes 4606 Proto X Nano R/C Quadcopter, number four on this review page) is all of 2 inches on a side. Its got a small LiPo that gives it 5 to 10 minutes of flight time, usually closer to 5 with my flying.

Its funny watching the cats eye it uneasily as it buzzes near them. They come running to see what the noise is, but stay out of reach. Until it shuts down, then they have to check it up close.

If I pop the throttle to quickly I can easily have it jump from floor to ceiling and bounce downward again in a very short time. Thankfully replacement blades are relatively cheap, and the drone itself was only 30$ at a local hobby store.

[GIThruster]

Cheap, but I don't think this has a transmitter aboard. It just takes HD that it stores to a card.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Syma-X5C-1-2-4G ... 1253331703

Great way to shoot fireworks though. Those vids are amazing.