Useful Formulas
used with Flying Model Aircraft
The
formulas presented on this page should be helpful to newcomers to the hobby.
These are fairly basic and easy to calculate formulas that will give a good
indication of what to expect from an aircraft before flying it for the first
time.
Some of these formulas depend on a rudimentary understanding of
Trigonometry. I have
attempted to explain just what you need to know as
simply as possible.
In this series
Please note that the above articles do not describe how to choose
the correct parameters for your
model aircraft
design. The series teaches you how
to do the math to convert angles to measurements, calculate areas, etc.
If you want to learn how to determine the correct amount of side thrust,
the correct wing dihedral or similar information then you will need to
consult a trim chart.
Before you can even begin to trim your model you must locate the
correct Center of Gravity. If you fail to do this then any
other trim adjustments you make will be wrong.
Trimming a Radio Control Model Aircraft
These links to external websites are provided to help you determine how to
properly set up and trim your radio control models.
Additional information sources
-
An
excellent unit converter by Josh Madison. This is a freeware
program that will convert just about any unit to any unit.
-
Another way to convert units is to simply type
your question into Google. I found this by accident by simply
deciding to try it. Go to the Google homepage and type the number of
units and the unit type into the search box. Then type "to" and the
units you want to convert.
-
Beginner's Guide to Aerodynamics — The
NASA site contains theory and fun projects for kids.
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