Remote Controlled Jets


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Terence

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Nov 16, 2003
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Just came back from a recent RC Jet Fly In in California. Wow! Those things are amazing. Got some shots to share, the flying shots were not easy to shoot since the jets are so small and super fast.

You can check em out here.
 

What's amazing is that these are powered by mini turbine engines, producing from 20 - 25 lbs of thrust. Some of the jets are twin turbined, and some even have a smoke system to dispense trails of smoke like the jets in aerobatic teams. Simply amazing to watch.

Was waiting for the formation team to perform but they never did. Also witnessed 4 crashes that day, one of which was a total loss. Must have been thousands of dollars lost in one crash.
 

I seen a few of these while I was canoeing in the Kallang Basin. Once, the plane crash smack into the middle of the canal, ripping off its wings, and we helped to mount a 'rescue' operation and brought back the shattered parts to the owner...
 

desmondwong said:
never knew Sg had model RC jet engine enthusiasts too!

According to my friend who brought me to the show (I myself am not a RC enthusiast, I just went along for the photo opps), there are only 3 RC jets in S'pore. The limited number is due to the high cost and the extra large airspace needed to fly the jets. They do fly and sound like the real thing. Especially so with the replicas with the actual paint, weathering, detailing or the jets they are supposed to replicate. In some shots, you would be hard pressed to tell a model from a real airplane if not given something to reference its size with.
 

i've seen model glider planes over bedok reservoir but never approached them.
 

Wooh!! There's even flying model of F117 nighthawk, the real aircraft is built to be unstable and need complex computer program to aid the pilot fly the machine. The model jet must be very expensive to build also.

Also have the Rafale, all the model look like real one man.

From the pics I can almost hear the engine winding up, smell the fuel and feel the heat.
 

Aton said:
Wooh!! There's even flying model of F117 nighthawk, the real aircraft is built to be unstable and need complex computer program to aid the pilot fly the machine. The model jet must be very expensive to build also.

Also have the Rafale, all the model look like real one man.

From the pics I can almost hear the engine winding up, smell the fuel and feel the heat.


You're right about the F117. A lot of the parts needed to be custom built, especially around the exhaust area which are very thin slits. It didn't fly very long, did 2 rounds of the circuit before landing, about 2 minutes of flight time. I don't think it was meant to fly seriously, the guy at the controls didn't dare to do any real moves with it.
 

real impressive! the planes definitely look more expensive than many motocycles on the roads here... :think:

and they are allowed in singapore in the first place? :bigeyes:
 

Hmmm....there's even a Me-262 there.:)
Maybe they should mount paintball guns on them and have some sort of mock dogfight. :bsmilie:
 

I saw a few RC Jet at the air show at Malacca, Air Fomosa end last year. A few S'porean were actually there to fly.

Not cheap and it's crash easily! It had been in the market for some time but the size of turbine use to be big and heavy. It has been improved over the years and now much more compact & powerful.
 

Zerstorer said:
Hmmm....there's even a Me-262 there.:)
Maybe they should mount paintball guns on them and have some sort of mock dogfight. :bsmilie:

The Me-262 was one of the more spectacular flying displays that day. It took off, did two circuits and on the third one as it was making its upwind turn, the left wing suddenly detached itself and flew off in a complete opposite direction (the turbine on the wing was still powered). Too bad it crashed in some bushes, I would have loved to see it impact the ground. When the Whambulance(a small Nissan lorry turned into a cute recovery vehicle) came back with it, it was packed into a few black trash bags... it was like recovering body parts. It looked really pathetic. It was a scale replica (down to the landing gear, cockpit detailing etcc) and I estimate the loss at about US$5000 easily. some parts may be salvaged though.
 

Stefen said:
real impressive! the planes definitely look more expensive than many motocycles on the roads here... :think:

and they are allowed in singapore in the first place? :bigeyes:

I think if you don't fly em in the vicinity of the airports and not go too high, you'd be ok. They do climb like rockets, and can easily go up to a 1000ft or more. But you need to keep it in sight and being so small, you can lose sight of them easily. Thats why the ones with the smoke system is great. You lose sight of em, just turn on the smoke and there it is.
 

sure does bring back memories.
First time I ever saw one flew was back in the mid sixties at the then Changi airbase (prior to Changi Airport)...it's that long ago :bigeyes:
RC planes were flown at the runway on sundays.
Saw this replica Meteor jet...took off after about an hour of coaxing the engine to life :eek:
as it lifted off...a strong breeze flipped it over..landed upside down :)
..then refused to start again despite numerous efforts by the pilot and asisstants :bsmilie:
 

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