ONE WHOLE DAY: WORLD RECORD RC ENDURANCE
Reported by John E. Patton
SUCCESS! At 12:06 p.m. on June 3, 1992, at the Pegasus RC Club field near Hagerstown, Maryland, a radio-controlled aeromodel, designed by Maynard Hill and developed by a team that included Paul Howey, Tien-Seng Chiu, and M. Scott Hill, was launched on a flight that lasted 24 hours, 4 minutes, and 15 seconds.
The model was certified to meet all the regulations of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), and the data has been submitted for homologation as a new world record for FAI category F3A-20, Duration.
The previous official record, which has now been surpassed, was 22 hours, 19 minutes, and 15 seconds, set in 1987 by Gian Maria Aghem of Molinella, Italy. FAI rules require a flight time of only two percent above this figure (i.e., 22 hours, 46 minutes, 19 seconds) to claim a new record, but Hill's team had set a goal to fly one whole day.
Aircraft and equipment
- Takeoff weight: slightly under 11 pounds, including fuel.
- Wingspan: 8.5 feet.
- Engine: 10 cc displacement, four-stroke, single-cylinder model engine, modified to burn gasoline instead of alcohol. The engine proved extremely efficient; it was intentionally stopped after 24 hours and, after landing, the fuel tank was still nearly half full.
- Guidance and telemetry: an electronic device aboard the plane kept the model in the vicinity of a ground-based radio-frequency beacon. A small telemetry transmitter on board reported useful information to the ground crew, including engine rpm, altitude, rudder position, and battery voltage.
Team and flight operation
- Designer and pilot: Maynard Hill of Silver Spring, Maryland. Maynard controlled the model throughout the entire flight. FAI rules permit team development of the model but prohibit assistant pilots during the record flight.
- Development team: Paul Howey, Tien-Seng Chiu, and M. Scott Hill, among others.
Maynard Hill has previously set 18 world records for RC aeromodels in categories of altitude, speed, distance, and duration. He has stated that he believes it is technically feasible to develop an RC aeromodel that could fly nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. Maynard is also a past president of the Academy of Model Aeronautics.
After landing the record-setting model, he said (in reference to the envisioned trans-Atlantic flight), "Well, okay, I'm a dreamer, but that's a strong step toward proving I'm not a crazy dreamer!"
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
