Become a Rock Star

What is Rock Racing?  Just as regular off-road racing has ROAR & IFMAR to promote & sanction races.   U4RC promotes and sanctions R/C races.  Rock Racing can be as loose as meeting with a bunch of buddies at the park, or as defined as any other organized R/C racing competition.  In an official U4RC race these basic rules apply;

  • All power must be electric.
  • Electronics on your vehicle must be hidden.
  • You must have a 4WD drive train.
  • Suspension, tires, body, tube chassis, interior and drivers must all be to scale.
  • Remember Rock Racing is more about scale than performance.
  • Vehicles must be rock racers or scale trail rigs, no short-course trucks, monster trucks or basher-styles vehicles are allowed.

There are six different classes defined by 1.9 or 2.2 inches of tire size, and if you have an independent or a solid axle suspension.

The race director will decide which class to put your vehicle in.

If you don’t have a local track nearby you can make one!  Just invite a bunch of buddies on Facebook, all takes are a little sweat and time.

Reference: www.u4rc.com

Good Luck and Good Racing!

rrrc-rock-racer

 

6 Jobs Where You Can Fly a Drone

While lawmakers may spend the better part of the next year (or longer) debating who rules the drone-filled skies of America, those on the ground will be jockeying for position at the remotes. Drones of all types, but mostly those equipped with cameras, have become increasingly popular as a cheap mode of air transport or entertainment. So the big question is, how can you get a drone job in 2016? Here are some places to start looking:

6 Jobs Where You Can Fly a Drone

Package Delivery

In 2014, Amazon announced it was exploring drone delivery for its packages. Shortly after, it put out a job listing for a drone pilot. While the listing isn’t active any longer (it was filled in early 2015), the requested qualifications give some insight into skills you’ll need to make it in tomorrow’s go-go drone pilot market. Experience (in terms of 4+ years) of drone piloting, with a bonus if you have actual airplane pilot experience as well, is helpful.

Movie Filming

A lot cheaper than an hourly helicopter rental, and easier to zip into small, urban, or even remote spaces, drones plus small HD video cameras (think GoPro) are a match made in cinematic heaven. (Just check out this homage to Chicago, below.) Just practice a lot before you get close to areas you’re not supposed to crash a drone, like the White House or a skiing competition.

Agriculture

Drones have immense potential for easily gathering data on crops throughout the season. Want to survey acres of crops from the comfort of your front porch? Got it. Want to see where your cattle are across that ridge? Keep the horse in the barn, the drone is on it. Check moisture, diseases, storm damage, and more all with the help of your handy flying robot device. And because farms are mostly in isolated countryside, farmers don’t have to worry about peeping in anyone’s windows or violating any privacy laws. Forbes noted back in May that “the legalization of commercial drones will create more than $80 billion in economic impact (such as revenue, job creation) between 2015 and 2025, and that precision agriculture will provide the biggest piece of that growth.”

Utilities

The Wichita Lineman may be able to sleep in one day, thanks to drones. Companies can use remote aircraft to survey storm damage and look for downed lines without trying to thread a giant truck through fallen trees and debris. Or, solar companies can use drones to find that one damaged panel in a sea of sun-sucking energy makers. Once deemed safe by the FAA, drones could be making renewable resources less expensive to consumers, as well as adding some cool jobs.

Real Estate

Have an attractive tract of land you’d like to promote to a buyer out of the state (or even the country)? Make a lovely drone video of it and post it online! It doesn’t even have to be a video of your country estate, as long as you follow all local laws regarding video-enabled drones, and make sure you’re not taking any nude beach videos. Smaller-sized real estate listings have had some success with drone footage, especially in competitive markets.

Military

We’d be remiss to not mention military drone jobs in this list. Some of the most controversial drone uses are by the military. Often these very large drones are used for either surveillance or bombing runs, and of course, they come with a load of potential moral.

 

RRRC Drone girl

The ABC’s of Drone Flying

Drones have gained a reputation for hunting terrorists and spying on both foreigners and Americans alike. So it’s easy to overlook the fact that these hovering, loitering aircraft have quite a following in the hobbyist world as well. To the people who build and fly them recreationally, modern unmanned aerial vehicles (the terms drone and UAV are pretty much interchangeable) are just a technological advancement of the radio-controlled planes and helicopters that amateurs have been flying for years. The Federal Aviation Administration is still struggling to work out the rules for operating UAVs commercially, but for private use, the agency’s regulations are remarkably lenient (“Drone Skies,” September)—no license is required, and so long as you keep your drone below 400 feet and don’t do anything dangerous over densely populated areas, you’re free to fly around as you please.

The ABCs of UAVs

Like many hobbyist toys, drones have a sliding scale of sophistication and cost. The more you spend, the more a drone can do, and the more a drone can do, the harder it is to learn to fly reliably. Drones come in two flavors: fixed-wing aircraft that operate like airplanes, and multi-copters that take off vertically and can hover like helicopters. You can build a drone yourself with kit parts from online merchants such as Hobby King, 3D Robotics, DJI, or Team Black Sheep, or you can do as I did, and pay a little extra to have one of these manufacturers build it for you. There are also several open-source movements designing flight-control and autonomous-flight software for UAVs, including Open Pilot, APM: Copter, and APM:Plane—although not all software works on all hardware.

Large RC planes and helicopters are typically powered by combustion engines and can be difficult and (as the death of an RC hobbiest in Brooklyn, N.Y., this August demonstrates) sometimes dangerous to fly. But a new breed of small and accessible aircraft uses digitally controlled electric motors and high-discharge, rechargeable, lithium-polymer batteries. These are not your average cellphone batteries. Li-Po batteries are powerful and highly volatile, have specialized connectors, must be charged carefully, and have a vocabulary all their own (see “Anatomy of a Battery”). Most importantly, many hobbyist drone aircraft don’t come with a battery—which can throw your weekend plans in the ice bath when you excitedly open the box of your first drone, only to find you’ve got another online order to place before the fun times begin.

thYIG8LUX8

Do I Need a License to Fly My Remote Controlled Drone?

RRRC Drone girlDo I Need a License to Fly My Remote Controlled Drone?

Drones have gained a reputation for hunting terrorists and spying on both foreigners and Americans alike. So it’s easy to overlook the fact that these hovering, loitering aircraft have quite a following in the hobbyist world as well. To the people who build and fly them recreationally, modern unmanned aerial vehicles (the terms drone and UAV are pretty much interchangeable) are just a technological advancement of the radio-controlled planes and helicopters that amateurs have been flying for years. The Federal Aviation Administration is still struggling to work out the rules for operating UAVs commercially, but for private use, the agency’s regulations are remarkably lenient (“Drone Skies,” September)—no license is required, and so long as you keep your drone below 400 feet and don’t do anything dangerous over densely populated areas, you’re free to fly around as you please.

 

By Glenn Derene

 

 

Assembling Your New ARF

Although modern ARF aircraft are remarkably complete right out of the box, there are still many steps that require some workmanship to complete the model. This weeks article will cover some of the different techniques to finish the airframe assembly, allowing you to match your efforts to the kit’s high quality.

RE-SHRINKING COVERING

I recommend a covering iron for smoothing the wrinkles in your first fw ARFs as it is much easier to control the heat.
 1 Hobby Iron

Your model was almost assuredly built and packaged in a different temperature or humidity than where you live. It was also likely loaded on a ship for a journey across an ocean before reaching your door. As wood can be significantly affected by differences in climate, the model will likely change as it normalizes to your locale. The most noticeable effect is usually a slackening of the covering material in the form of wrinkles or bubbles. If you don’t own a hobby iron and protective fabric sock, you’ll want to pick both up the next time you are at your local hobby shop.

Start at a relatively low temperature on the iron, slowly testing the wrinkles for activation of the covering. Find the minimum temperature that will shrink the covering and place a mark on the dial for future reference. You’ll want to do this testing in open areas, avoiding seams. The most common mistake is using too much heat on the seams between two colors. This can cause the edge to release and create a wavy line or even a gap between the two. Work slowly, and avoid the seams if at all possible.

A heat gun can shrink the covering much faster than a covering iron, but you also run the risk of melting through your covering or having seams open up.
 heat gun

I also use a heat gun, but its proper use takes some practice and skill, so approach heat guns with extreme care. You will want to practice on scrap material with a heat gun, as it is very unforgiving. Once you’re comfortable with it, though, a heat gun is much quicker than an iron. The best technique I’ve found is to move the gun relatively quickly holding it at an angle to the part so you can instantly see the shrinkage. Varying distance and speed will allow you to adjust the heat that reaches the surface almost instantly. The heat gun is even less forgiving around seams, so avoid them completely. Placing wet paper towels over the seams can protect them from excess heat that might release the edges. I’ve also used pieces of cardboard as masks when using a heat gun.

RC Airplane girl