Indoor remote control airplanes
One of the complaints you used to hear about remote control was you needed a place to run them. With indoor remote control airplanes, that is no longer the case.
Remote controlled aircraft have always been scale models of the original full size versions. The scale has varied but there has always been a limiting factor to how small the plane could actually be. The plane had to be able to carry the motor, the receiver, and in the case of electric planes, the batteries. The resulting planes needed a fairly large area to take off and land. Even more area was needed for flight. This separated planes from other remote control models. The planes needed to be flown outdoors.
Remote control helicopters were one answer to this problem. The helicopter needed less take off and landing space, and was able to fly in a much more confined space. It was possible to fly the remote control helicopters inside a large building such as a workshop or gymnasium. This opened up the Hobby to year round fun as hobbyist began to move indoors during bad weather to fly. Yet, helicopters, despite their fun, were not airplanes.
It was the ability to produce miniature components that ushered in the era of the remote control indoor airplane. The receiver was a major issue, but the advent of microcircuits allowed small and light receivers. It was now possible to fly remote control airplanes inside buildings along with helicopters. Indoor flight clubs began to open and quickly grew in popularity. Just about any building with some open space was now a potential flight area.
The Micro Flyer Wattage Indoor remote control Electric Airplane is an example of the genre. It is a mere 8.2 inches in length with a 9 inch wingspan. Its small battery pack allows it to fly up to six minutes on a single charge. The controller operates off 6 AA batteries. The remote control indoor planes such as the Micro Flyer can also be used outdoors. They are much more susceptible to high wind due to their light weight, but can perform outdoors in calm weather just as well as indoors.
The ultimate expression of the remote control indoor airplane may well be the Plantraco 3.6g Butterfly. This miniature plane has a 0.4 gram Micro900 Receiver and a GB05 4mm 5:1 gearbox. This tiny and light aircraft needs a mere room at least 12 feet by 16 feet in order to operate. This is roughly the size of a good sized living room. Micro sized remote control toys have been part of the Hobby for some time with cars used for table top and indoor racing leading the way. Now, it is possible to fly remote control airplanes in your living room.
