Welcome to the wonderous world of indoor aircraft flying!
While the outdoor planes look pretty "normal" what you will see here is completely different. Indoor planes are
designed with one goal in mind: all out endurance. While outdoor models are strong and robust, indoor aircraft
are built as light as possible. There are no air currents indoor (or at least we hope not--shut the AC off!) to
damage them, so they can be built incredibly light. Most of the models you see here are no longer with us, but
they still serve as good examples of what indoor is like. My best indoor flights go over the 10 minute mark, but
the pro's have gotten flights of over 1 hour in large dirigible hangars! And now, may I present the airplanes: |
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This is an A-6. The "A" stands for Class A, which is 30 sq. in. of wing area, and the 6 refers to the 6" maximum
prop size and motorstick length. Though originally intended for a beginner's class, A-6 has become quite
advanced, with flights as long as 10 minutes. Even my best ones can't even approach that. This one is slightly
overweight at 1.3 grams (the mimimum is 1.2), but flies pretty well.
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This is an old Ministick of mine. Ministick is the smallest official competition class, with a maximum wingspan of 7". The record is over 15 minutes, flown in a large hangar in Lakehurst, New Jersey. Quite a while for such a tiny thing! |
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Two minis. The one on the left has a 4" span, the one on the right is 3".
Unfortunately, the 3" never flew quite right and finally hung up on the
ceiling. The 4"er really isn't too great either, but I'm started to get it tamed. |
The Mini-Wisp is my smallest model at a mere 3".
Its best flight is 2:37 under a 30' ceiling. I'm
amazed at its stability and the low weight of only
90 mg.
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Another ministick. This one came out a hair under weight, so
I had to ballast it up the the minimum of 425 mg. It's a good
flyer, best flight of around 5 minutes under an 8' ceiling. |
This is the SuperMite. It's a 12" parlormite. It's not for competition, just a
model to experiement with and try for really long flights. It's currently my
longest flying model, with a best time of 10:30. There's the potential for
longer, but I don't get access to really good flying sites that often. Even
so, 10 minutes seems like an eternity. This is by far my best indoor model
of all time...at least until I build a Micro-B EZB! |
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My newest indoor model is this AROG (Class "A" ROG) which weighs a
mere 300 mg. I have yet to go near its full potential, but it's flown for
almost 8 minutes on several occasions under low ceilings. I think that
under a higher ceiling it could fly for at least 15 minutes. I need to
brace the motorstick, though, because it bends to the side too much
at full power. |
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