Rage R/C Spirit of St. Louis
A micro ready-to-fly aviation icon
The Ryan Spirit of St. Louis is one of the most famous and iconic aircraft in aviation history. Charles Lindbergh’s solo flight across the Atlantic from
New York to Paris captured the imagination of the world while giving a much-needed boost to the fledgling aviation industry.
The new Rage R/C micro Spirit of St.
Louis, distributed by Hobby Recreation Products, is a great way to experience the excitement of the historic flight of “Lucky Lindy.” This lightweight, nicely detailed model looks as if it belongs in a museum since it’s detailed to a level unheard of in this category of RC models. Molded out of Depron-type foam, the Spirit of St. Louis weighs in at an astonishingly light 1.5 ounces ready to fly. Everything needed to fly the model is included in the box, so you can be airborne as soon as the battery is charged.
THE ATTENTION TO DETAIL IS AMAZING FOR SUCH A SMALL MODEL, AND WHEN NOT FLYING, IT MAKES A GREAT DISPLAY MODEL.
UNIQUE FEATURES
The first thing you’ll notice about the Spirit of St. Louis is how complete it is and the amount of scale detail the model has. The 9-cylinder Wright Whirlwind dummy engine is nicely detailed, and the area right behind the dummy engine has the iconic cowling swirls just like the full-scale plane. Other features include molded wing ribs, fuel vents, and stringer details in the fuselage. The complicated landing gear and wing struts are also nicely executed—and strong, as several grass landings haven’t caused any damage to it. Rage R/C also provides a scale-shaped propeller and spinner, but the finishing touch is the factoryapplied graphics. Instead of the usual stick-on vinyl that you normally see, Rage R/C uses waterslide decals. The detail and sharpness of the markings make you think that they’re painted on. Just amazing!
When I unpacked the model, it was obvious that the plane was ready to fly; all components are installed, and you only need to put in the supplied AA batteries in the 4-channel transmitter. The Spirit is powered by a single 1-cell LiPo battery, and you charge it by using the built-in charger; it takes approximately 20 minutes to fully charge the battery. The battery is installed into a molded-in recess on the bottom of the nose and uses a magnet to keep it in place, which I thought was clever. The battery also brings the center of gravity to the right place. The brushed motor is geared and provided good thrust and flight-time duration; I was easily getting six to seven minutes of flying time. Spare parts are also readily available should you have an incident with terra firma. When you power up the Spirit, the control surfaces will wiggle
to let you know that the receiver and transmitter are bound. Make sure that you save the packaging the model comes in as it makes a great way to store and carry the plane.
IN THE AIR
For its light weight, the Rage R/C Spirit of St. Louis is a nice flier, and it handled the gentle morning air easily. Being that my main flying area is grass, hand launches were mandatory and easy as there’s plenty of power on tap. Landings required some power all the way to touchdown, and I landed the model in the tall grass alongside the runway to prevent any damage. If you have an indoor venue, doing takeoffs and landings from a hard surface would be fun. I did try flying the plane in some moderate wind, and it was doable, but this gem is best suited for calm conditions or indoor flights.
GENERAL FLIGHT PERFORMANCE
Stability: As the Spirit of St. Louis is more of an indoor flier, it’s surprisingly stable.
Tracking: You would think with its scale-sized tail surfaces, the Spirit of St. Louis would have a hard time with tracking, especially in yaw.
The Spirit, however, tracks very well as it flies majestically through the air.
Aerobatics: The Spirit of St. Louis isn’t an aerobatic model, and I didn’t attempt to do any maneuvers, especially as the plane only sports rudder and elevator control. In calm conditions, however, there’s plenty of control response for loops and steep wingovers.
Glide and stall performance: Being a very light scale model, the glide performance requires that you keep the nose down some to maintain airspeed. Stalls are gentle and easily flown out of with the application of some power.
BEFORE WE BEGIN
For a maneuver like the inverted circle, the “low-rate” settings recommended by the factory will generally prove to have enough control throw. If your aircraft did not come with an instruction manual, however, start off with 15 degrees of control-surface deflection on all control surfaces.
During the inverted circle, you may feel that you are only briefly touching the elevator input to initiate the maneuver and the airplane responds more quickly than you’d like. Adding exponential to the elevator will soften the plane’s response and make it feel smooth and more connected to your input. Add this percentage in small amounts, then take to the skies and pay attention to how the aircraft responds.
Now that the control throw and exponential values are set, let’s take a look at the center of gravity. For a maneuver like this, if the plane’s center of gravity is too far back, it will have a tendency to climb while inverted. This flight characteristic is highly undesirable as the airplane will become rather unstable at times. If this is the case, shift the flight battery forward in small increments until the airplane reacts exactly as desired. I like to fly parallel to the runway at full power and then roll the airplane to inverted to take note of the tracking. If the airplane dives slightly, the center of gravity is perfect. If it dives excessively, it is nose-heavy and the flight battery should be moved rearward. If it climbs, the flight battery should be moved forward as the aircraft is tail-heavy.
INVERTED CIRCLE OVERVIEW
With the aircraft flying upright and parallel to the runway at a moderate speed, perform a half-roll before it passes you. Then input a little aileron to initiate the bank, followed by down-elevator to start the circle. You’ll need to vary the amount of elevator and aileron input to maintain a constant bank angle and altitude. It is important to reach the cardinal points of the circle, and some rudder input may also be needed to keep the turn coordinated (i.e., keep the nose of the aircraft in the turn). Once the airplane is directly in front of you and has completed the 360-degree turn, it can be rolled to upright level flight. Now, let’s divide this stunt into four separate steps:
Step 1. Orient the aircraft so that it is parallel
I like to fly parallel to the runway at full power and then roll the airplane to inverted to take note of the tracking.
to the runway and approaching you (i.e., the “center” position). At about 100 feet before the airplane reaches center, apply 60% power and begin the half-roll to inverted flight. In this example, a left half-roll will be executed, so a touch of left aileron will be applied to roll the airplane inverted.
Step 2. When ready, bank the airplane by applying a touch of aileron input. Since the airplane is traveling from left to right and rolling left, bank it 15 degrees and then input elevator to start the circle. After the first cardinal point is met, the nose of the aircraft should be pointed out 90 degrees from where it began. Apply elevator and aileron input to maintain a constant bank angle and to maintain altitude until the second cardinal point is met.
Step 3. The maneuver is now 50 percent complete. Continue a constant bank angle and apply throttle as needed to maintain airspeed. For the best aerobatic presentation, constant speed is mandatory. Also, depending on the bank angle of the aircraft, rudder input may be needed to maintain altitude.
Step 4. As the airplane approaches the last cardinal point, it should be directly in front of you. At that point, roll the airplane to inverted flight by applying a touch of aileron input in the opposite direction of the bank. This will get the airplane back to inverted flight and parallel to the runway. You can then either stay inverted or perform a half-roll to upright level flight.
Like all maneuvers, practice is mandatory. A maneuver like the inverted circle can become somewhat tedious as the orientation of the airplane may become difficult at times for the aerobatic newbie. Most will experience some orientation issues when the aircraft nears the 75 percent completion point as the airplane will be headed toward you. At this point, it is important to know proper roll directions and what elevator input is needed to maintain altitude. Keeping the airspeed somewhat low and having a generous amount of altitude is beneficial and will give you time to respond to various corrections that may be needed.
YOU CAN BRING THE MANEUVER DOWN TO JUST INCHES FROM THE GROUND AT HIGH SPEEDS TO IMPRESS THE CROWD.
FINAL THOUGHTS
You have now learned not only how to properly program and set up your plane but also how to perform the inverted circle. When you’re familiar with your airplane, its orientation at all stages of the maneuver, and the inputs needed, you can bring the maneuver down to just inches from the ground at high speeds to impress the crowd. Inverted flight is always a showstopper.