RC Modeling

I've been fiddling around with microcontrollers for years and have built a number of useful projects based upon them. So, since I recently returned to radio-controlled modeling, it seemed only natural that I'd eventually dream up a project to bring these two interests together. That project is a data logger to record electric power during flight. Now, commercial data loggers are readily available for this purpose, but what's the fun in just buying one when I can design and build my own?

About a year and a half ago, my brother gave me a 3D profile electric plane for my birthday. Made by Hyperion for extreme 3D aerobatics, it was a lot of fun and got me back into RC modeling after many years away. However, after subsequently building and flying my UK Aerobat, I was unhappy with the Hyperion's lack of stiffness. So, I retained the original symmetrical wing and tail feathers, junked the flat plate fuselage, and designed & built a new one. The result I call Hyperion II and I'm very pleased with it!

A few months ago, I was looking for plans for a small electric aerobatic plane and stumbled upon Flymodels.co.uk. There, a Brit by the name of Philip Rawson described a speed 400 electric aerobat he'd designed that looked and sounded like just the ticket. He provides a PDF version of plans for download and a series of photos and description for some of the construction details, but other than that, you're on your own. Construction looked straightforward enough, so I decided to give it a try. If you're not reasonably comfortable with scratch-building techniques and meager instructions, I suggest perhaps trying something else first. However, this is a fun build for someone with at least some experience.

Building