| A |
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| Aileron |
A movable control surface, usually attached to or part of the trailing edge (back, rear facing edge) of the wing, used to cause the plane to roll to the right or the left. With standard ailerons, raising the left aileron and simultaneously lowering the right aileron will give a bank to the left.
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| Airfoil |
The shape of the wing, as seen from the side or profile. The three main airfoil types are flat-bottom, semi-symmetrical and symmetrical.
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| Amps |
Amps or current is a capacity measurement number. Amp hours refers to how much flow can be sustained for how long. It is used as a way of measuring how much electricity is in the battery. Like how many gallons of gas in your tank.
Amps refers to flow, like gallons per hour. You can have flow at low pressure and you can have flow at high pressure.
Amps and milli amps? We are just moving the decimal point around.
1 amp, short for ampere-1000 milliamps (milli means 1/1000). (See our Knowledge Section for more specific information on power systems.) |
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| ARF (Almost-Ready-To-Fly) |
An airplane which is largely prebuilt at the factory and and may require some preparation of the parts, glue may have to be used and radio equipment must be installed. The usual difference between ARF and RTF is that the transmitter is usually not included as part of the kit as purchased as well as a motor (and possibly other varying parts) and it is wise to confirm with the dealer what the kit actually comes with or without. Often times, pilots who already own a transmitter from another kit may save some money purchasing an ARF version of a kit and simply use their existing transmitter assuming it is compatible with the electronics. |
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| B |
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| BEC (Battery Eliminator Circuit) |
It eliminates the need for a separate battery (in electric-powered models) to power the receiver and servos by producing the right voltage to operate them. This can either be a separate electronic circuit or come built-in as part of an ESC. |
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| Brushed motor |
A type of electric motor where current is supplied by a mechanical sliding contact between magnets on the bell or case, and the rotor (armature) which turns or spins inside the case. The most common and least expensive form of electric motor used in model airplane propulsion. If an electric motor is not designated "brushless" then it is almost certainly a brushed motor.
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| Brushes |
A part of brushed electric motors, they convey current to the rotating element (the armature) and mechanically affect the switching on and off of these magnets which, in turn, cause the armature to rotate. |
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| Brushless motor |
A type of electric motor where current is supplied without a mechanical sliding contact. Tends to be more powerful, longer lasting, and more expensive than comparable brushed motors. Also requires a specialized controller (not compatible with a brushed motor setup or esc).
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| C |
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| CA |
An abbreviation for "cyanoacrylate," it is the main ingredient in a type of fast-setting glue widely used in building model planes. |
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| CG (Center of Gravity) |
The balance point of the plane. Generally speaking the cg should normally be located approximately 1/3 ? of the way back from the leading edge of a wing. An unbalanced rc airplane will fly tail heavy or nose heavy which could lead to a crash. |
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| Clevis |
A small part made of plastic or metal, which is used to attach a pushrod to a control horn or to a servo arm. Typically, it screws onto the pushrod and clips onto the control horn so that at the field, the position of the control surface can be easily adjusted by unclipping the clevis from the horn and screwing or unscrewing it to adjust the length of the pushrod assembly. It is not completely necessary, however, if you use a “z bend” on a pushrod, you can connect the pushrod directly into the control horn or servo arm. However, it usually makes it easier to adjust the distance of “throw” or movement of a control surface on a wing or tail more easily than having to “rebend” the wire or pushrod to get the appropriate length on the pushrod. |
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| Control horn |
A plastic or metal “lever” firmly attached (screwed in or glued) directly to a control surface and usually perpendicular to it that allows a pushrod or cable to move the surface. Connects the pushrod to the control surface eg: rudder, elevator, ailerons |
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| Control surface |
Any external moveable part of an aircraft designed to help it change orientation or speed (not including the propeller.) The most commonly used control surfaces are ailerons, elevator, rudder, flaps, and spoilers. They are each movable surfaces on a plane designed to change the plane’s direction. May be used alone, or in combination with one another. |
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| D |
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| Dihedral |
The upward angle or bow of the wings, as seen looking head on from the nose. Dihedral enhances stability. “Trainers”, or planes built to train pilots to fly, tend to have high dihedral, but aerobats, or planes built for acrobatic maneuvers, have little or none. |
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| E |
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| Elevator |
A hinged movable control surface connected to the back (trailing) edge of the horizontal stabilizer. The movement of the elevator causes the airplane to rotate up or down (pitch) about a horizontal axis (makes the plane climb or dive.) |
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| ESC (Electronic Speed Control) |
On an electric rc airplane, this device regulates the battery voltage going to the motor. This device plugs into your receiver, and connects to both the battery and the motor, allowing you to control motor speed from the movements you make on the transmitter joysticks. The esc increases or decreases the motor and propeller speed, as well as the thrust. An ESC often includes a BEC (see BEC). |
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| F |
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| Fixed (Landing) Gear |
Landing gear that cannot be moved (not retractable like most commercial jetliners) and remains in take-off/landing position throughout flight. (See also Retractable Landing Gear.) |
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| Flaps |
The control surfaces on each wing closest to the fuselage. Move up or down, to increase lift or drag. |
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| FM (Frequency modulation) |
A method of encoding control signals in a radio transmission. Considered superior to AM in some applications. |
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| FPV (First Person View) |
The ability to control an rc craft from the point of view or angle that the craft actually sees in front of it. Similar to looking out the windshield of a car/boat/plane as if you are piloting the craft, but usually done through an onboard camera mounted to the front of a craft facing the direction the craft is traveling and transmitted to the remote tv or video goggles of the pilot.
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| G |
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| Glow Fuel |
Same as nitro fuel. It’s called “glow” because the engine uses a glow plug instead of the spark plug found in gasoline engines.
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| H |
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| Hammerhead |
An aerobatic maneuver in which the aircraft begins by ascending vertically. At the top of its ascent it rotates only on its yaw axis until it is heading vertically downward. The upward and downward lines must be within a wingspan, and the closer the better. This maneuver is also called a "stall turn." Think of a person doing a cartwheel on the lawn, this is a similar movement at the top of a vertical climb and right as the plane stalls, it does a cartwheel until it spins to face downward and then it increases speed due to gravity and recovers flying normally. |
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| Horizontal Stabilizer / Stab |
Part of the airplane’s tail. Stabilizes the aircraft against pitching motions. The portion of the tail that includes the elevator(s), which control the plane’s up and down movement. |
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| I |
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| Inverted |
Simply means flying "upside down.” |
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| J |
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K |
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| Kit |
An aircraft that requires the builder to do most or all of the building work. This can mean there is actual construction, such as in wooden balsa kits or it can simply mean that the aircraft, unlike an ARF or RTF, comes without any electronics (motor, batt, esc, servos, receiver) or radio equipment. Packages included with planes vary widely in quality and completeness. See also ARF, RTF, BNF and PNP. |
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| kV |
kV is the symbol for kilovolt.
kV is a number that relates to how many RPMs a given motor will spin based on applied voltage. You will see specs on motors where it says kV=860. That means that the motor will spin at 860 rpms if you apply one volt to it. If you apply 7 volts it will span at 6020 rpms.
Manufacturers use different wire winds to produce different kV results. If the manufacturer takes the same motor he can wind it so that it will have a lower kV rating, which typically produces more torque, so these are typically used with large propellers that will be turned slower. These are very popular on gliders, for example, where climb angle and climb rate is much more important than top speed.
Take the same motor and wind it differently and it will have a higher kV rating producing higher speeds for a given voltage. These are typically used with smaller props for higher top speeds. Or they can be used with gear boxes to handle those big props, providing a similar result to low kV motors. Sometimes a gear box works better in the installation.
You would also take kV into consideration based on what battery you plan to
use.
(See our Knowledge Section for more specific information on power systems.) |
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| L |
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| Landing Gear (Gear) |
The wheels and supporting structures on an airplane. The two main types are tricycle and taildragger gear. See also: main gear or retracts.
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| Leading Edge |
The front edge of forward facing edge of the wing to tail. |
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| LiPo Batteries (Li-Poly) - Lithium - polymer (LiPo) |
These are rechargeable batteries which have technologically evolved from lithium ion batteries. The lithium salt electrolyte is held in a solid polymer composite such as polyacrylonitrile. Thus these batteries are less hazardous if mistreated although still highly flammable if punctured. Furthermore, since no metal battery cell casing is needed, the batteries are lighter with an energy density over 20% higher than that of a Li-Ion battery and about 50% higher than NiCD or NiMH while about 50% lighter. |
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| Loop |
A basic aerobatic maneuver in which the plane starts from a straight, level path and climbs up, around and over, until it returns to the original flight path. The plane is inverted or flying upside down at the top of the circle and as it completes the circle it rights itself as it pulls out of the loop. |
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M |
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| Main Gear |
The two landing gear “legs” located under the wings. Also referred to as mains. |
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| N |
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| Nickel-Cadmium batteries (NiCd) |
An abbreviation for Nickel Cadmium. A kind of rechargeable battery often used to power transmitters, receiver packs in RC airplanes, and as motor batteries. They are becoming obsolete and are being replaced by the lighter NiMH batteries and by still lighter Lithium batteries. Nickel-cadmium batteries contain toxic metals (mercury, etc.) and must be disposed of as hazardous waste. These batteries are generally described by their capacity to store power (measured in milli amps), and/or number of cells, i.e., 1700mAh NiCd, 4-cell, 800mAh NiCd. |
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| Nickel-Metal Hydride batteries (NiMH) |
A kind of rechargeable battery often used to power transmitters, receiver packs in RC airplanes, and as motor batteries. An abbreviation for Nickel Metal-Hydride. Like NiCds, they are generally described by their storage capacity (mAh) and/or number of cells they include. |
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| Nitro |
Refers to gas engine fuel containing Nitromethane. Sometimes refers to just the nitromethane ingredient itself, as in “this fuel contains 15% nitro”. |
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| O |
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| P |
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| Prop (Propeller) |
Attached to the engine or motor, this spinning piece creates thrust that pulls the aircraft forward. May be carved from wood, or molded from plastic or made of fiber glass or carbon fiber, among other materials. For foam electric aircraft the plastic props are popular, for larger gas powered models the wood, thicker plastic or fiber glass props are more popular, generally speaking. |
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| Pushrod |
The rods that connect servos to movable parts of the plane from the servo arm to the control horn. |
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| Q |
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| R |
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Radio Transmitter / Radio / Tx
(see also Transmitter) |
The part of a radio system that a pilot operates to transmit control signals to a receiver. The pilot holds this device normally and uses the joysticks to control the aircraft from the ground. |
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| RC |
Remote control (control from a distance away from the moving object, as opposed to being inside the plane or car as in real life.) |
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| Receiver |
The radio component that receives the transmitter signal and relays its command to the servos and esc. Much like your car radio, the receiver gets radio waves sent through the air. These waves contain instructions for the servos that move the rc airplane's controls. It also tells the speed control (esc) how much to increase or decrease the power to the motor. |
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| Receiver Battery |
The radio receiver’s power source. |
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| Retractable Landing Gear / Retracts |
Landing gear that can be retracted up into the fuselage and/or wings, for reasons of improving looks, aerodynamics or both. The alternative to fixed landing gear. |
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| Roll |
A roll is a basic aerobatic maneuver, in which the plane rotates around an imaginary centerline that runs from the center of the prop shaft through the end of the fuselage. However, roll can also be used to describe an unwanted tendency of a plane, i.e., to roll without pilot input. Aircraft that only have controls on the tail such as elevator and/or rudder but no control surfaces on the wing such as ailerons, are unable to do rolls as a maneuver. See also pitch and yaw. |
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| Rpm |
Revolutions Per Minute. Used to describe an engine’s operating range and the amount of times the armature or shaft rotate within the case of the motor, thus turning the prop a certain amount of Rpm. |
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| RTF (Ready-To-Fly) |
A term used to describe a plane which requires very little or no work or building to prepare for flight. All parts that ae required for flight are included, such as the major electronics are in place and (the installed software is) configured already, including the transmitter, receiver and all required electronic parts thus the aircraft is virtually ready to fly when you take it out of the box.
To be classified RTF, the motor (if there is a motor), radio equipment, and all accessories should be installed by the manufacturer. It should require only attaching the wing and possibly the fasteners that take only a few minutes to install, and require very minor assembly such as adding the wing, tail and perhaps the propeller and then you are ready to fly. RTF kits usually include the transmitter. You may have to charge any rechargeable batteries for the transmitter or aircraft prior to flight. |
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| Rudder |
The movable control surface at the back of the vertical fin. This causes the airplane to rotate left or right (yaw) about a vertical axis (that moves the plane’s tail to the right and left.) |
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| S |
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| Scale |
A term with two meanings. Scale may mean the relationship in size between a model and the original, for instance, “1/12 scale or 1/12 the size of the actual aircraft, etc.” However, scale can also refer to the model’s trueness to the original’s looks and/or features. Exact scale models are rare; most scale models include at least some design compromises. |
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| Servo |
Each servo is a small motor inside a small box shaped case which a servo arm can be connected to with a screw and with a wire that can be connected to the receiver. If given instructions to do so by the transmitter, the servo moves a certain amount, which also moves the aircraft control surface that is mechanically connected to it thus controlling the direction and speed of the aircraft. |
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| Servo arm |
Usually a plastic “arm” that is screwed into the servo and holds the pushrod. It connects the servo to the pushrod either directly with a “z bend” to the wire or with a separate fastener or connector that can screw on or snap on generally speaking. |
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| Span |
Short for (wing) span. See also: wingspan. |
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| Spin |
A stall combined with rotational motion. Could create a crash, or if done correctly, a fun aerobatic maneuver! |
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| Stabilizer / Stab |
See Horizontal Stabilizer, Vertical Stabilizer. |
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| Stall |
A condition of flight where a lifting surface, such as a wing, stops producing a useful amount of lift and the aircraft starts to fall. Stalls are always due to attempting to operate the flying surface (usually the wing) at too high an angle of attack. In other words by moving the elevator too much it can slow the plane to such a degree that it can no longer maintain a minimum speed to stay afloat and it will “drop from the sky” without a degree of control by the pilot. This, in turn, is always caused by overuse of the elevator control. Airplane flies too slowly for the wing to produce upward lift. A bad stall near the ground is a common type of crash especially for beginners (in other words, try to fly as high as possible when learning to fly as you will have more time to recover from a stall without crashing to the ground) and for all pilots in general.
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| Symmetrical |
Describes an airfoil which has the same shape on either side of an imaginary horizontal center-line. |
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| T |
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| Tachometer |
A device for measuring the number of times a shaft rotates, usually calibrated in "revolutions per minute," abbreviated "rpm." The most common use of this in modeling is to measure motor speed. Most model digital tachometers operate optically, by being pointed at the rotating propeller when powered fully for several seconds to measure the maximum Rpm. |
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| Tail |
The part of the airplane located on the rear of the fuselage. Includes both the Vertical Stabilizer (rudder) and Horizontal Stabilizer (elevator).
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| Taildragger (Gear) |
Landing gear that includes two main gears (usually located under the wings) and a rear tailwheel attached to the underside of the fuselage near the rear of the plane. Holds the plane in a nose-up attitude while on the ground. Also used to describe a plane, i.e., “I have a taildragger I made last month...” This is in contrast to the tricycle gear style where the two main gears have a third gear just slightly in front and near the nose of the plane to the tail and nose stay roughly horizontal and level without having a nose-up or tail-up attitude. |
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| Thrust |
The amount of force a motor gives to an aircraft to propel it forward. Usually measured in grams or ounces and used to calculate which electronics setup including motor, battery and speed control are the right size for a particular aircraft in order to not only lift it off the ground but also for it to achieve a certain amount of maneuverability and even acrobatic stunts depending on the lack or abundance of thrust available to a given combination of the electronics. |
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| Trailing Edge |
The rear edge of the wing. |
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| Transmitter (Tx) |
This is the battery powered box with joysticks that you hold, and use to send commands to the rc airplane. |
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| Tricycle (Landing) Gear |
Landing gear that includes two main gears (usually located under the wings) and a nose wheel. Often found on trainers, it holds the plane roughly level and provides very stable ground handling. |
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| Trim |
A term with two meanings. Trim (in relation to finishing) refers to additional decorative elements (graphics, lines, etc) added to an existing finish. Trim (in relation to flying) refers to making mechanical adjustments that will allow the plane to fly predictably and well.
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| Trim Scheme |
The entire range of decorative elements added to a plane for appearance’s sake. This may include covering, paint, lines and designs.
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| U |
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| V |
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| Vertical Stabilizer / Fin |
Part of the airplane’s tail piece. Stabilizes the aircraft against yawing motions. The portion of the tail that provides side-to-side stability. The hinged portion of the vertical stabilizer is called the rudder. Wing —The large, horizontal surface that creates lift (the force that carries a plane into the sky) as it moves through the air. |
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| VTOL |
Abbreviation for "Vertical Take-Off and Landing." This classificaiton includes fixed-wing aircraft that can hover, take off and land vertically as well as helicopters and other aircraft with powered rotors, such as tiltrotors. Autogyros, balloons, airships and rockets are not normally considered VTOL. Besides the helicopter, there are currently two types of VTOL aircraft in military service: craft using tiltrotor, such as the Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey, and aircraft using directed jet thrust such as the Harrier family. |
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| W |
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| Watts |
A derived unit of power measuring the rate of energy conversion. It is named after the Scottish engineer James Watt. Watts (power) are calculated by multiplying amps (current) by volts (voltage.) (See our Knowledge Section for more specific information on power systems.) |
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| Wing Area |
The total surface area of the wings, as measured in square inches or square centimeters (or millimeters...). General rule: the more wing area, the more lift produced. |
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| Wing Chord |
The depth of the wing, from the front (leading) edge to the back (trailing) edge. |
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| Wing Root |
The place where the wing joins the fuselage. (Opposite of the wing tip) |
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| Wingspan |
The length of the wing, as measured from one wing tip to the other. |
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| Wing Tip |
The end of the wing furthest from the fuselage. (Opposite of the wing root.) |
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| X |
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| Y |
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| Yaw |
An undesirable characteristic in airplanes. A plane that yaws is one in which the tail or nose (or both) will make undesirable side-to-side movements away from the desired flight path. See also pitch and roll. |
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| Z |
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| Z-bend |
A shape often used to connect a control rod to a servo. So named for the two 90
° bends that make it look like a letter “Z.” |
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