One
advantage for me of having a hobby like radio control models is that since wireless technology is used for
commanding the airplane, helicopter, boat, car, etc., any interesting application qualifies as a legitimate topic
for RF Cafe articles. Such it is for this video of an R/C Superhero (formally spelled "RcSuperhero") model
designed and built by Greg Tanous, of Portland, Oregon. The model shown is 78 inches tall, has a 47" wingspan
(armspan) weighs about 3.3 pounds, and is propelled by a high-power brushless motor that generates more than 5
pounds of thrust; that is why RcSuperhero is able to take off straight up. Carbon fiber spars are used to stiffen
the foam structure. Radio control is via a spread spectrum system that operates on the license-free 2.4 GHz ISM
band (although a 72 MHz FM system would work equally well). According to Greg, RcSuperhero builds and flies as
easily as an advanced trainer. Plans and entire kits for this 78" tall version and a 57" tall version can be
ordered from his
rcsuperhero.com website. If I had more
time, I'd build one that looks like Stark Industry's
Iron Man - that would be really cool. Hobbyist Gary Gunner has created a flight simulator model for
RcSuperhero that can be
downloaded for free.
I would like to suggest that the U.S. military fund a project to develop a version
that looks like the god of certain terrorists who believe they have been commanded to kill all infidels. Maybe
upon seeing it they will kill themselves instead, thereby hastening their own ushering into paradise to meet a
specified number of virgins, sheep, or other promised rewards. Compact, field-deployable
UAVs are already in daily use
on the battlefield. I'm open for nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize (we won't have to fire a shot) for that idea
if anyone cares to do the paperwork.
This archive links to the many video and audio
files that have been featured on RF Cafe.
RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling
2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed
formulas and reference material while performing my work as an RF system and circuit
design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet) was largely an unknown entity at
the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity. Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps
while tying up your telephone line, and a lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail"
when a new message arrived...
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All trademarks, copyrights, patents, and other rights of ownership to images
and text used on the RF Cafe website are hereby acknowledged.
This archive links to the many video and audio
files that have been featured on RF Cafe.