On Sat, 02 Jan 2021 17:27:41 +0000, Jan Panteltje wrote:

> Model flying I did too, from 31 Dec last year in the EU you need a drone
> license...
>
Depends what you fly - I flew single channel RC for a year or to, then
discovered free flight competition models, sold the RC gear and never
looked back.

No license is needed for free flight if the model weighs less than 250g.

Also lots more exercise than just standing there holding a Tx, especially
if you fly F1A (tow-line launched gliders - the faster you run before
launch the higher it gets after release).

>  http://panteltje.com/panteltje/quadcopter/index.html
> have not got the license yet, so my fireworks (also forbidden now) was
> playing with a blue power laser 2 days ago.
>
I'd ban those (spoken with my pilot hat on) due to all the brain-dead
idiots who think shining them at aircraft is cool.

Oddly enough, the main use my scope got was checking the battery
condition for my Koster dethermaliser timers: These ran off a stack of
four 50mAh NiCds and were used to bring the model down out of a thermal
at the end a timed competition flight. They do this by putting 500mA
through a solenoid for 10 mS - this releases a catch on the tailplane
which puts the glider into a stable deep stall, turning it into a rigid
parachute so it drops out of the thermal and usually lands without damage.

Looking at the shape of the solenoid pulse was a great way of checking
battery condition. A good, new battery showed a nice bathtub curve- 1.5v
deep with an 8ms flat bottom and a 45 degree recovery slope. As the
battery aged, the flat bottom got shorter and the voltage drop increased,
eventually becoming a 4v deep triangle. I replaced batteries once the
voltage drop exceeded 2.5v - the time I put into designing, building and
adjusting a new model vastly exceeded the cost of a new set of batteries.


--
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Martin    | martin at
Gregorie  | gregorie dot org

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