June 13, 2001
Took the RFFS-100 out of the Micro IFO and trashed it. I need to compress my planes for moving. This one had to go. Once I set up my new shop I'll put the RFFS-100 in something new.
March 19, 2001
In anticipation of moving my RFFS-100 system to a new airframe, my Micro Se5a, I asked my friend Tucker to take a few movies of my Micro-IFO before I removed the RFFS-100 system from it. Files are 4-6 MB or so each and require apple's quicktime plugin for your browser. Please be patient while downloading.
March 13, 2001
I wanted to do something different with my Dynamics Unlimited RFFS-100 system so I decided to try an IFO-style plane. I wasn't expecting any acrobatics, but the design would protect my motor/gearbox and would stand up to some abuse. Also I thought the IFO design would give me the maximum amount of 'wing' area for the minumum amount of weight.
Span at the rear end is 22 inches, with a 'chord' of 10 inches. Estimated surface area 190 square inches. Total weight with 4-cell 120 mAh NiMh battery is 39 grams. I used 1.7mm CF rod for the outside and 1.3mm for the center stick and motor crosspiece and landing skid. There's a tiny bit of nyrod tubing on the CF landing skid to prevent the CF from being abraded by landings.
I haven't flown it inside yet. Outside under the lights after dark in dead calm I got plenty of controlled flight. It flys fine from 1/3 to 2/3 throttle but over 2/3 I get control surface flutter. I guess I need more forward area on the control surfaces' aerodynamic balance.
This may not be the best use for the RFFS-100 system, but it's was a fun experiment and only took about 4 hours start to finish. I'll fly it this way for a while, then move the RFFS-100 to something else.
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