Model aircraft as a Hobby
Like every other sport/hobbies, this is pretty interesting. For those who have not discovered model aircraft as a hobby here is some information for you. A model aircraft is a small sized unmanned aircraft or, in the case of a scale model, a replica of an existing or imaginary aircraft. Model aircraft are divided into two basic groups: flying and non-flying. Non-flying models are also termed static, display, or shelf models.
Now the question is how do practice model aircraft as a hobby? As discussed earlier this hobby can be practiced in two ways one with assembling static models of aircraft and to level up dealing with the dynamic models of aircraft having limit flying capabilities. Now when it comes to flying models there are different model aircraft made of different materials having there respective level of assembling for easy to hard. Hard once having pats for every detailed feature of aircraft. Flying models range from simple toy gliders made of cardstock or foam polystyrene to powered scale models made from materials such as balsa wood, bamboo, plastic, styrofoam, carbon fiber, or fiberglass and are skinned with tissue paper or mylar covering. Some can be very large, especially when used to research the flight properties of a proposed full-scale design.
Static model aircraft
Static models range from mass-produced toys to white metal or plastic to highly accurate and detailed models produced and requiring lots of work hours. Many models are available in kit form, typically made of injection-molded polystyrene.
Flying model or dynamic model aircraft
It is also called as the pastime aeromodelling this flying aircraft model resembles scaled down versions of full-scale aircraft, while some are built with no intention of looking like a real aircraft. The reduced size affects the model's Reynolds number which determines how the air reacts when flowing past the model, and compared to a full-sized aircraft the size of control surfaces needed, the stability and the effectiveness of specific airfoil sections may differ considerably requiring changes to the design.
Now these flying aircraft are generally controlled through three of the methods
• Free flight (F/F) model aircraft fly without external control from the ground. The aircraft must be set up before the flight so that its control surfaces and weight allow stable flight. Most free-flying models are either unpowered gliders or rubber powered. This type of model pre-dates manned flight.
• Control line (C/L) model aircraft use cables to tether a plane to a central point, either held by hand or to a pole. The aircraft is then flown around the point in circles. Usually, two cables are used, one tethering the aircraft and one controlling the elevator.
• Radio-controlled aircraft have a transmitter operated by the controller, sending signals to a receiver in the model which in turn actuates servos which manipulate the model's flight controls in a similar manner to a full sized aircraft. In traditional aircraft, the radio has directly controlled the servos. However, modern aircraft often use flight controlling computers to stabilize an aircraft or even to fly the aircraft autonomously. This is particularly the case with quadcopters.
Learning to fly is not as easy as you might believe, but once mastered this can often turn into a lifelong and very rewarding pastime with many different specialist areas to progress into such as helicopters, scale models, aerobatic models, float planes, gliders etc.
Related hobbies: Model building, Flying
