Author: B. Kopski
Edition: Model Aviation - 1988/09
Page Numbers: 54, 55, 144, 145, 146
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Radio Control: Electrics

Bob Kopski

25 West End Dr. Lansdale, PA 19446

This is a very special issue for me because it represents my fifth year of association with Model Aviation. It's hard to believe it, but my first Electric writing appeared in the September 1983 issue — and it seems just like last week!

The September 1983 issue had the first installment of MA's Electrics, "All About Electrics." Originally intended as a four- or five-part effort, the project grew to a total of ten installments, wrapping up with the June 1986 issue. Magazine editors asked me to continue with a regular monthly column, and thus began the regular "RC Electrics" column in July 1986.

Along the way there also appeared two construction articles: "Spectra" (November 1984) and "Mods to DC-DC Super Charger" (September 1987). Another feature article, "KRC Electric Fly," appeared in January 1985.

Throughout it all, I've always tried to share Electric fun and success with you. Fun is what the hobby is for, and for many, Electric fun has its own special appeal. I'm particularly indebted to Model Aviation for giving me this opportunity, and I'm equally grateful to all the modelers/readers who have written with thanks and encouragement. Without you there is no purpose to the writing.

What follows is probably the most difficult piece I've written: an attempt at a five-year index to the above writing. Many readers have asked for such an index, so here it is — in celebration of this anniversary!

This index is a bit unusual. Basically, it's a chronological listing of sorts — but organized within topical areas. Only main topics are given alphabetically; the subtopics are more or less in time-spread fashion. This means you may have to look under more than one topic to find what you want. I've tried hard to include everything and to get everything right; please forgive any errors.

Constructing this index forced me to reread five years' worth of material. WHEW! That's a lot of stuff. What came out of this effort was the realization that just about all of it is still timely. Much of what appeared in 1983 is still contemporary. As I wrote in October 1983: I don't want this series to become dated; I want it to continue to be of basic value in the understanding and utilization of whatever new and better products come along.

So, with no further rambling, here it is:

Bob's five-year Electric index (September 1983 to September 1988)

  1. Basic electricity
  • Part One — voltage and current (3/85)
  • Part Two — Ohm's Law, power (4/85)
  • Practical example (5/85)
  • Part Three — electric terms, "sizes" (7/85)
  • Part Four — meters, basic (8/85)
  • Part Five — using a multimeter (10/85)
  • Part Six — using a multimeter (12/85)
  • Part Seven — using a multimeter (2/86)
  • Part Eight — other multimeter parts (3/86)
  • Part Nine — a high-current shunt (3/86)
  • Part Ten — special multimeter functions (5/86)
  • Part Eleven — meter effect on circuit (7/86)
  1. Batteries, chargers, charging
  • Kinds (12/83; 6/84)
  • Cooling (12/83; 7/86; 2/87; 10/87)
  • Connections/connectors (12/83; 7/85; 2/88; 7/88)
  • Capacity/size (12/83; 4/87; 8/87)
  • Power (12/83; 7/85)
  • Configurations (12/83)
  • Heat (12/83; 3/85; 4/85; 5/85; 7/85; 8/85; 10/85; 12/85; 2/86; 3/86; 4/86; 5/86; 7/86)
  • Life (9/84; 12/84)
  • Charging — various articles and dates (12/83; 9/84; 1/85; 3/85; 5/85; 6/85; 7/85; 10/85; 12/85; 5/86; 9/86; 10/86; 12/86; 12/87; 9/87; 10/87; 4/88; 5/88; 7/88)
  • Assembly (1/85; 3/86; 12/84)
  • Charger connections (3/85; 9/86; 10/86; 12/86)
  • Timer maintenance (1/85; 12/85; 12/86)
  • Advanced (5/86; 12/87)
  • Sernos connectors (10/86; 12/87)
  • DC-DC Super Charger (10/86; 9/87; 10/87; 12/87)
  • Sanyo "Extra" (12/87; 4/88; 7/88; 8/88)
  1. Construction
  • Spectra (three-in-one airplane design) (11/84)
  1. Electric (overview)
  • Advantages, disadvantages (9/83)
  • Easy, economical, entry-level electric (8/86; 12/86)
  • Elation (3/84; 4/84; 5/84; 6/84)
  • Safety and related topics (3/84; 4/84; 5/84; 6/84; 8/84; 9/84; 10/84; 2/85; 3/85; 3/86)
  • Flight "intensity" (4/88)
  • Clubs (7/85)
  • Trivia (5/88)
  1. Electric design and flight examples
  • Kraft Shoestring (11/83)
  • Hundreds of flights (four planes) (3/84)
  • "Performance" (5/84; 11/84)
  • Mono/pop/plane combinations (5/84; 6/84)
  • Wanderer 99 (8/84)
  • Solar-powered glider (9/84)
  • Giant Electric, Scale American Eagle, semi-scale (10/84)
  • Eureka, large sport (10/84; 10/85)
  • KRC Electric Fly, variety (11/84)
  • Wasp (11/84)
  • Kits, various (11/84)
  • Playboy, balance point (1/85; 3/85)
  • Spectra — power experiments (1/85)
  • Exiter 40 (10/85)
  • ARFs (9/86; 7/88)
  • Gee Bee (9/86)
  • Leisure Larzo Bomber (12/86; 2/87)
  • Helicopters (7/87)
  • Calypso (7/87; 8/87; 10/87; 2/88)
  • Sleitinus (12/87; 4/88)
  • Amphibian (9/87; 12/87; 2/88; 6/88)
  • Great Planes ElectriCub (5/88)
  • "Sportique" (6/88)
  1. Electric publications
  • Books (8/84; 6/85; 8/87; 12/87)
  • Magazines, references (10/84; 11/84; 6/85; 8/85; 9/86; 5/87; 8/87; 9/87)
  1. Fuses
  • Discussion, sizes, amounts (2/84; 8/87; 9/87; 3/88)
  1. Illustrations, diagrams, sketches
  • Motor, exploded view (10/83)
  • 6 x 4 "prop power" (11/83)
  • Spectra, exploded view (11/84)
  1. Motor installation and wiring (installation, templates, wiring diagrams, etc.)
  • Motor installation (1/84)
  • Battery installation (1/84)
  • Templates, cooling hole (1/84)
  • Wiring diagram, airframe (2/84)
  • "Prop-stop" (2/84)
  • Author's 1982 flight (3/84)
  • Spectra — four flight bits (3/84)
  • Prop notes (3/84)
  • J-3 flight histogram (3/84)
  • Playboy flight histogram (3/84)
  • Wing and fuselage construction (3/84)
  • Motor power vs. model weight (6/84)
  • Charge systems, schematics (5/85; 6/85)
  • "Charge-splitter" accessories (7/85)
  • Volt- and current-meter schematics (12/85)
  • High-current shunt, pictorial (4/86)
  • Twin wiring diagram (6/87)
  • DC-DC Super Charger modification (9/87; 10/87)
  1. Meet(s) — comments and coverage
  • Boeing Hawks (11/84; 6/85; 7/86; 7/87)
  • SAM 76 (1/85; 7/85; 8/85; 11/85)
  • KRC Electric Fly (11/84; 1/85; 6/85; 1/86; 7/86; 1/87; 6/87)
  • International, Canada (6/85)
  • South Shore, MA (6/85)
  • Sparks, Houston (6/85)
  • Daniel Boone Silent Flyers (8/85; 2/86; 7/86; 10/86)
  • Astro Champs (8/85)
  1. Clubs, events, and regional coverage
  • MAC of Huntsville (9/85)
  • 86 F3F meet (3/86)
  • Suggestions (5/86)
  • Largest (?) (5/86)
  • Folk County Soaring (8/86; 12/86; 7/87)
  • Eagles (1/86)
  • EMF/Choice (7/86; 9/87)
  • CASA (10/86)
  • Union Lake (6/87)
  • Eastern Free Flight Conference (6/87)
  • Harbor Soaring Society (7/87)
  • Midwest Electric Fly (6/87)
  • WES (7/88)
  • Lehigh Valley First Annual (7/88)
  • Winston-Salem (7/88)
  1. Miscellaneous
  • Reader mail (6/84; 6/85; 5/87)
  • Series review, overview (6/84)
  • "Things I'd like to see" (8/84)
  • Flight logbook (8/84)
  • Stopwatch, transmitter mount (8/84)
  • MA Electric series, errors (8/84)
  • Twins (2/85; 6/87; 7/87)
  • Cold-weather flying (2/85; 8/87; 3/88)
  • Robbe (1/85)
  • Electric suppliers (3/85; 12/85; 4/88)
  • EAA (3/86; 12/86; 6/87)
  • Newsletters (6/86)
  • Flight records (6/86; 8/86)
  • High-current motor service (7/86)
  • Dwight Holley (7/86)
  • Personal statements (6/87; 7/88)
  • Electric Flyer Patch (10/87)
  • Graupner Electric products (12/87)
  1. Motors
  • How they work (8/83; 5/87)
  • Mounts, mount assembly (8/83; 1/84; 7/84; 2/87; 6/87; 7/87; 8/87; 10/87)
  • Vents (8/83; 4/85)
  • Brushes, commutators (8/83)
  • Break-in (8/83)
  • Bearings (8/83)
  • Prop adapters (8/83; 4/85)
  • Features (3/85; 4/85)
  • "Size" (8/83; 4/85; 4/87; 6/87; 7/87; 8/87)
  1. Testing
  • Power input/output (8/83; 4/85; 4/87; 6/87)
  • Efficiency (8/83; 4/85; 4/87)
  • Flux rings (8/83)
  • Comparison (8/83)
  • Speed reducers, belt and gear (8/83; 5/84; 3/87; 3/88)
  • "Hot-wind" (4/83)
  • Large motors (6/83; 3/86; 4/88; 5/88)
  • Controls/speed controls (7/88)
  1. Propellers
  • Sizes (11/83)
  • Effects of pitch on power (1/83; 5/85; 8/88)
  • "Prop stops" (2/84; 11/84)
  • Folders (3/86; 3/87; 3/88; 6/88; 8/88)
  • Prop "slots" (3/87)
  1. Radio
  • Choosing for electric (1/84)
  • Installation (11/84)
  • Motor noise (6/85; 8/86; 8/87)
  • Range (6/85)
  • Glitching (6/85; 6/87)
  1. Rules, competition
  • Discussion and proposals (1/84; 1/85; 2/85; 3/85; 8/86; 10/86; 12/86; 6/87; 4/88; 8/88)
  1. Rules of thumb
  • Power needed to fly (4/84)
  • Power to ROG (4/84)
  • Power/system weight (4/84)
  • Wing weight (4/84)
  • Weight, importance of (4/84)
  • Kits, examples (4/84)
  1. Switches
  • Toggle (2/84)
  • Microswitches (2/84; 1/85; 8/87)
  • Relays (2/84)
  • Lites (2/84; 6/88)
  • Master (arming) (2/84; 9/87; 6/88)
  • Electronic (9/87)
  1. Tables
  • Effects of propeller size (11/83; 4/85)
  • Plane power systems (11/83)
  • Planes, power system weights (3/84)
  • Spectra motor statistics (3/84)
  • Percent statistics (3/84)
  • J-3 statistics (3/84)
  • Battery statistics (3/84)
  • Prop statistics (3/84)
  • Fuselage structures (4/84)
  • Recommended motor (5/84)
  • Motor/prop/model (6/84)
  • Battery performance (8/86)
  • Electric soar flight time (8/85)
  • Large motor performance (4/85)

So ends another column — albeit somewhat unusual. I hope you find it useful. In doing this I couldn't help but think how useful a master index for all Electric articles in all magazines for the last 15 years (or so) would be. Would that ever be a "killer" project!

Next month: back to a more normal column format. Please forward any comment, question (with SASE, please), or photo to me at the address given at the top of this column.

Thanks for five years of fun, everyone.

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.