The Radio Control Club of Detroit

News Archive

2009 - 4th Annual Electrics Event

Our 4th annual Electrics Event was another resounding success. Fifty registered pilots brought and flew a wide variety of electric-powered aircraft. There were small ones and big ones; fast and slow; beat up and show quality; helicopters and powered gliders; WWI bipes and EDF jets. At a lunch time break, I counted 115 aircraft, but I may have missed a few - in vehicles, in the air, or otherwise out of plain sight.

Highlights of the day were demonstration flights by Keith Shaw, of two of his larger Aircraft, an 82-inch,14 lb, 1200 Watt Bearcat and a very rare Moeller Stomo. Using the PA system, Keith provided some details of both the full scale Stomo as well as the model. (thanks Keith for the e-mail follow-up)

"The original plane was designed and built by Hans Moeller, a 20 year old draftsman. He was an avid modeler who took some university aero design courses, and the Stomo was his first man-carrying plane. It competed in the local aero-competitions in the low horsepower class. It had a 25' span, weighed merely 560 pounds with pilot and 5 gal gas, and was powered with a horizontal twin motorcycle engine of 18 Hp! The plane won the speed event at 98 mph and the aerobatic class also. Later he upgraded it to a 40 Hp, 4 cylinder motorcycle engine that he modified to run inverted. It also won the aerobatics class and the speed at 121 mph. My model reflects that engine.

"The model is 28% scale at 84" span, 1050 sq.in., and weighs 7.5 lbs. It is powered with a geared Astro brushless 40 on 8 A123 cells turning a 15/10 APC prop. At full power it pulls just a little over 500 watts giving it excellent performance matched to a very efficient airframe. Aerobatic flight times are 9-10 minutes, 12-14 if I'm just sport flying it. At this point it is my favorite aerobatic "mount", unseating my long-standing Zlin 526 and Bucker Jungmann."

Keith believes there are only about 10 photos of the plane, and his may be the only model of the Moeller Stomo. Keith Shaw is well-known for his command of electric-powered flight. What impressed me is his command of the sticks: Take a look at the video of the Stomo in flight - how about that 8-point roll and the final slow roll? Thanks for the inspiration.

Chris Haas also flew a large Bearcat. These three aircraft show how far Electric propulsion has come.

The midday breeze may have grounded a few planes but otherwise the weather was almost perfect. All the pilots seemed to have a good time and for that we thank the hard work of the numerous club members that helped out under the leadership of CD Mike Pavlock. To the pilots of planes with smaller wheels, we apologize. Bob L went through extreme effort to get the tractor towed out of the mud to mow the runway on Saturday evening, but Michigan spring is what it is. After all the recent rain, the field was really tough to prepare despite Bob's extraordinary effort.. Most planes however, managed well.

A special thanks go to the generosity of our sponsors: Castle Creations who have supported us all 4 years; Prop Shop Hobbies; Flight Line Hobbies; Air Land and Sea Hobby; and Air Hobby RC. Please favor them when you are making your R/C purchases. (It's not hard to as they all have great service, great products and good prices too). See our "Links" page for access to their web sites.

njh

Be sure to click though the additional pictures the event - from the "Picture Shoe box" page.