You guys aren't going to believe this!

[Chris Card]

Ok, you guys really aren't going to believe this!

I don't know how, and I don't know why, but today I spent a whole hour at a model flying field in 2038!  I know, I know - I said you wouldn't believe it, but read on.

I noticed as soon as I walked into the park that something had changed.  I'd only gone down there to pick up something from the club shed, it was far too wet and windy to fly but upon entering the park all was calm.  The sun was out and buildings I didn't recognise lined the outside of the park.  A school was there for the first time ever - how.... on.... earth....??!

The whine of a fullsize plane on the Heathrow flightpath attracted my attention but it wasn't a type I had seen before, the strange configuration looked more like a spaceship than an airliner with a lifting body design and the engines plainly above the wings.  Unless my hearing was defective, they could only be electric ducted fans from the wailing sound.  Although pretty disoriented by all this I could see models flying in our patch so bounded over to see who was down - I needed someone to talk to about the strange sights I had seen.   

As I neared the pits I saw that what I had assumed were 3D helis from a distance were in fact fixed wing electric planes, although their rapid direction changes and dance-like moves around the sky seemed to defy the rules of fixed wing flight as I knew them.  I stood gaping upwards and my sense of dislocation was increased as I realised I knew none of the flyers - had the club membership changed so much in the week since I was last here?

I pulled myself together pronto and played it cool as some guys at the edge of the pits area noticed me and wandered over.  Although I didn't know what was happening, I was sure that I could make a real fool of myself if I wasn't careful so I played my cards close to my chest and assumed the role of interested but ignorant spectator.  This was an excellent ploy, even if I say so myself, because they proved to be very happy to show me their models and gear and explain how it worked.  I think they anticipated recruiting me as a new member given the interest I was showing.  The hardest thing for me was to contain my enthusiasm at what I saw - boy do we have a lot of fun to look forward to!  If you think 2.4GHz is the zenith of radio control and there is nothing more to invent, read on!

The first thing is that I saw no sign of nitro, petrol or any other sort of IC engines.  When I mentioned that my Dad used to have a glow powered model plane they just laughed and said it was more than 10 years since they'd seen stuff like that, and it had been in a model flight museum

The planes that were on display fell roughly into 2 categories - scale and aerobatic, so not much change from a normal 2008 club day there, except everything was electric powered.  Fear not scale lovers though as the sound those electric planes produced was unreal.  Or rather it was very real, authentic even.  My hosts explained that the covering material doubles as an acoustic actuator and with the whole plane becoming effectively a big loudspeaker, the wavelength of the sound produced allows for a really good facsimilie of the engine note of the full size article, unlike the onboard sound systems I had previously heard.  It really was uncanny watching a 1.5m span electric powered Spitfire start up with the growl of a Merlin engine!

 [continued below]

[Chris Card]

The clever covering material serves double duty though, a semi transparent outer sheen is photovoltaic and is wired in parallel with the flight pack to provide a top up during flight.  Not enough to keep the plane up indefinately, but enough to extend the flight by a few minutes apparently.  Not everyone uses this film though as joining adjacent strips to ensure continuity of positive and negative across the whole plane makes for fiddly edge details so they tell me.

Seeing a plane being prepared for a flight I thought I'd ask a few technical questions, to show them that I wasn't entirely unfamiliar with the principles of electric flight.  I think I might have embrassed myself though as they found my question about the voltage of their flight pack a bit odd.  To them it's a strange idea that a battery has a fixed nominal voltage.  They patiently explained to me (as if to a child!) that the crystalline rhodium battery senses the current drawn as the propeller spins up, and thanks to the wireless data connection the battery has with the transmitter (which they called the "flight manager") the battery voltage is adjusted to hit the sweet spot of maximum efficiency of the motor.  The battery's capacity increases or decreases as a result of the voltage the flight manager chooses (the lower the voltage, the higher the capacity).  The batteries are pretty much indestructable they tell me and my host was happy to demonstrate this by holding his screwdriver across the terminals so that it sparked and glowed briefly orange before the battery was out of juice.  The fact that I jumped out of my skin and told them I thought the battery might explode drew howls of laughter!

The aerobatic planes were like nothing I'd ever seen - no propellers in sight, just tiny holes visible in wingtips, nose, tail and along the top and bottom of the fuselage.  It quickly became apparent that these were gas nozzles and that the planes were flying on some kind of rocket propellant with a control system allowing the gasses to be directed to the outlets at the extremities of the plane to perform manouevers.  The degree of control afforded by this arrangement has clearly opened up a whole new realm of possibilities and to see those planes dance around was breathtaking. 

Pilots walking to the take off box each dilligently flipped down a sun visor which I took to just be a fashion thing but as I sidled up next to my new friends I saw that it wasn't a sun visor at all, but a head up display!  A transparent LCD screen with a number of statistics and live data displayed.  I could see that altitude, heading and speed were among them with an artificial horizon and further messages flashing up from time to time.  I'm sure I saw "stall warning" and "proximity alert" in the brief time I was standing there. 

[Chris Card]

I wished I could have asked more questions at this point but I didn't want to distract a beginner who was under instruction further down the flightline.  As I watched him I had the nagging feeling that something was missing, but couldn't place it.  It was only when his transmitter (sorry, "Flight Manager") announced in a clear, confident voice "Today Tom we will be learning about trimming the plane, I'll take off and hand control to you when we have a safe altitude" that I realised that it was the instructor that appeared to be absent.  Even as I goggled at this the plane began a perfectly executed take off run with the student's fingers nowhere near the sticks.  The swish looking, shiny silver Flight Manager box provided a running commentary of its control inputs and then provided the student with a briefing before allowing him to take control.  I didn't stay watching long enough to see it happen but they tell me that in the event of difficulties, the flight manager will take control from the student and level the plane quicker than any human could.

Turning back to my friend the experienced pilot I wondered if he was loosing his nerve as the sticks on his Flight Manager began to shake.  I needn't have doubted him though as it turns out this is yet another feature of the system - force feedback to shake the sticks as the stall is approached.  After landing, even the experienced pilots were seen to be sitting down staring at the LCD screen of their flight manager reviewing their flight in "analysis mode" to gain tips to improve their flying!  Meanwhile Tom the learner was wandering back to the pits while behind him his plane auto-landed.  In the future it seems the computers will really be in the driving seat....

Just when I was starting to get a feel for how those guys operate I looked up and saw the lumbering shape of a Boeing 747 on finals into Heathrow.  Surely they couldn't still be flying those old babies in 30 years time?  Alas no, the inclement weather was another signal that whatever wormhole I had dropped into had spat me back out, and I was only just starting to understand their technology. 

The worst thing?  I want to play with that stuff!! But it's still 30 years away 

[Myron Beaumont]

I like it !   I think ?    Well done Peevie  You never know do you ?.Myron in deep thought Must go & check my home fusion power supply & now switch over my solar panels into "moon" mode

[Tim Mackey]

I reckon more like 20 years at most. Nice one peevie

[nicolas browne]

I'll be 65 then just in time for my retirment, great i cant wait!, but in the mean time have you looked into fpv flying its so cool stick a camera in your plane with a transmitter on the ground you have a video receiver and a pair of goggles the you can fly your plane as if you were sitting in it, also you can fit a gps with a head up display to give you live data, i've got mine setup in a twinstar and can fly for about half an hour on a big lipo, check out fpv flying on youtube

[Keith]

Weird story that peevie. When the jumbo came over I would have fallen out of bed & woken up !

[Chris Card]

Glad you like it guys.  Funny how it's hard to recall all the details in one go when you've had an intense experience like that.  Having slept on it I can now remember a few more things I saw there: 

 With the wings off the Spitfire I was a bit puzzled as to where the servos were, but didn't want to ask any more silly questions so I thought I'd have a look at the tail and spot the control horn then follow the line of the pushrod back to see where the servo might be.  That was the next surprise - no horn and no pushrod...?  I really couldn't figure it out, so in the end I did ask the newbie question of how the tail surfaces move.  With a smile my host reached into his flightbox and pulled out a small while object which he thrust into my hand.  It looked exactly like a hinge with flat serrated edges and just the hint of a bulge around the pivot and a pair of thin, flexible metallic tapes attached.  This, I was told, was a servinge and was used on all moving surfaces.  It was explained to me that the only connections were via the thin tapes which stretch far enough to pick up the "power bus" which runs throughout the plane on the metallised edges of all wing spars and longerons.  With power closely adjacent to the servinge and a wireless radio link direct to the flight manager (no separate receiver in sight in these planes) there's no clutter, just a control surface that moves in direct response to the sticks.

"No receiver?" I enquired cautiously, "But how does the speed controller receive a signal?"  [Blank looks].  "You know, the ESC"? I probed.  Everyone was confused.  Again I regretted trying to get technical with people who were way ahead of me in that department.   I was rescued by one of the senior flyers who said he just about remembered speed controllers from the old days, and that I must be really out of date because it's all built into the motor now.  There's just a plus and minus connection from battery to motor and the motor picks up the signal from the flight manager for throttle control.

 One last thing which came back to me.  The logo emblazoned across the top of that clever shiny silver "flight manager" box:  "Spektabaplex"!

[David Ashby - Moderator]

One of the best things I've read for a long time Peevie - superb stuff.

I like the way you've taken todays technology and built on what we know now, rather than fall into the old prediction trap of trying to come up with something completely new which normally ends up seeming silly.

Believable and well written, the future looks bright.  

I wonder if I've bought my last can of glow fuel?

[Alan B]

I would like a bit of what Peevie's on !!   Seriously though  Nice piece of work, entertaining and very well written. Well done !!

[260 Flyer]

Peevie

Can you please tell me which country you were in at the time? As you probably know all forms of radio control equipment were outlawed in the former United Kingdom, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 2011.
The flying of any form of model aircraft, including kites finally went the way of DIY and other dangerous pastimes, and was banned in the European state of England in 2016 on health and safety grounds.

Although I regularly fly my VR planes but I would love to fly a real plane once more. I still have an unlicensed craft knife in my possession and know someone who may have a source of illicit Depron. Many times I have been tempted to build a simple plane, if I can only work out a way to avoid detection.

Yours enviously,

Rob

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Tim Mackey]

Rob Crewe wrote (see)

Peevie

Can you please tell me which country you were in at the time? As you probably know all forms of radio control equipment were outlawed in the former United Kingdom, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 2011.
The flying of any form of model aircraft, including kites finally went the way of DIY and other dangerous pastimes, and was banned in the European state of England in 2016 on health and safety grounds.

Although I regularly fly my VR planes but I would love to fly a real plane once more. I still have an unlicensed craft knife in my possession and know someone who may have a source of illicit Depron. Many times I have been tempted to build a simple plane, if I can only work out a way to avoid detection.

Yours enviously,

Rob

[260 Flyer]

Timbo - forum moderator wrote (see)

I was being semi-serious due to my wonderful local council banning the flying of all model aircraft and kites on the common where I used to fly, on the grounds of safety!

On an afternoons flying I would be lucky to see one or two dog walkers in the distance. Perhaps they're trying to protect me from myself!

[001]

Best set of posts for a long time, very perceptive. I remember an article in an American Magazine trying to predict the future, but it was on the lines of improving the transmitters and receivers and motors that we have today. I do not  think that it even predicted 2.4 ghz.

I think that feedback from the receiver of control surface forces and stall warnings will not be far off, but I am not sure if they will have any real value.

[Former Member]

[This posting has been removed]

[Rick Tee]

Rob Crewe: Ooh dear, sounds like Dartmoor where powered flying has been reduced to 2 small areas 1 and 1/2 days per week as its all needed for football. Though i rarely see anyone playing football there i regularly see ppl practicing golf in contravention of another national park rule. Same here with the local and county council, all flying is banned, yet no action is taken against the children riding full blown motocrossers in parks and the local woods. The Coop spent a fair bit of money putting in gravel paths, steps and maintaining some very nice paths through a local green belt and wooded area, ideal for kids to play and ppl to walk their dogs etc. Unfortunately its not safe as there is no way of knowing when you are likely to be rundown by very aggressive children on motorcycles

[Keith Lewzey]

Back to the original subject, nice stuff peevie, but I plan to enjoy every facet of the evolution/revolution you predict over the next 30 years. It's not just the getting there but the journey that counts

[Rick Tee]

Nice idea Ron, round here all the schools are fenced the gates being locked out of school times. I thought schools were council property in which case even the head's permission would leave one flying against council rules, at least here. Currently the National Parks do not have any rules regarding gliders, the rule states 'No powered flying' which presumably encompasses rubber too, and we have a fixed wing power club which rents a field from a farmer which is not too far away (09:00hrs till dusk 365 atm.) As long as the farmer is happy with the arrangement we're good.

[Chris Card]

Thanks for all the nice comments guys, I must confess that despite my protestations it was of course merely a "flight of fancy", but it could come true.... or could it?  If I can remember this thread in 2038 (should I be so lucky as to still be around) then I will be happy to compare reality with my predictions.  Perhaps RCM&T magazine (Radio Control Models & Telemetry) would be so kind as to reprint my posts in 2038 as a reminder...?

I hope this thread continues to develop with ideas from even more people about the way in which the hobby might evolve.  I think some of the imagined technologies are so logical that they couldn't fail to happen.  For example servos incorporating their own receiver circuit.  Already Spektrum will sell you a high end receiver system with multiple satellite units to help spread the radio system around the plane and counter the danger of a radio signal being blocked.  It makes complete sense to me that with multiple receivers and multiple servos the two would eventually combine and the servos would effectively "compare notes" by communicating between them to ensure that the received signal is valid. 

Similarly I think the head up display with live data sent back from the model is an inevitable development and probably a lot closer than 30 years away.  We can already receive live video back from our model and at least one current 2.4GHz system was originally marketed that it would include a return data channel from plane to transmitter (although I think it fell by the wayside).

Other predictions are a bit more speculative - will planes ever be covered in solar panels to generate their own electricity?  Can an onboard sound system ever really do justice and replace the sound of a meaty 4 stroke?  Could a servo be combined into a hinge to provide enough torque from the pivot point - with such a small turning moment, I don't know!

[Chris Card]

David Ashby - RCM&E wrote (see

I like the way you've taken todays technology and built on what we know now, rather than fall into the old prediction trap of trying to come up with something completely new which normally ends up seeming silly.

Interesting - I suppose I extrapolated from what I already know because it's all I could do - it's all I know.  I think history might suggest that's no way to predict the future.  In the 1930s I'm sure people predicted the full size planes of the future would have larger, more powerful, lighter piston engines and propellers, because that was the way aeroplanes had always developed to date.  The arrival of the jet changed all that.  Sometimes technology develops in a revolutionary rather than evolutionary way and I would guess that my attempts to predict the future will be similarly compromised by my own lack of knowledge of the "next big thing".  It'll be fun finding out, eh?

Rob Crewe wrote (see)

Peevie

Can you please tell me which country you were in at the time? As you probably know all forms of radio control equipment were outlawed in the former United Kingdom, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 2011.
The flying of any form of model aircraft, including kites finally went the way of DIY and other dangerous pastimes, and was banned in the European state of England in 2016 on health and safety grounds.

I hope it doesn't pan out that way, although legislation could certainly play a big role in the future of the hobby.  I worry about the potential misuse of FPV (as featured in RCM&E this month).  It doesn't take a lot of imagination to see how a remotely controlled plane with onboard video and a suitable long range radio setup could be used to guide an explosive payload to a remote target.  I just hope it never happens, because that really will spell trouble.

[Jack Bagley]

Wow Peevie, cool or wot! Luv it all. Reminds me of an article once read in Amerian Modeller in the late sixties even where a prominent modelling author wrote a very long epistle that imagined that all things modelling were banned. If I remember correctly, he even went as far as to imagine state troopers setting up anti model watches etc. All very George Orwell I'd say. Best wishes to you all, Jack

[BB]

Excellent Peevie. 

[Simon Chaddock]

Nice one

Personally I think we (but probably not me) will still be flying in 2038 but surely the "head up display" will be a view from the model with full flight instrumentation showing as well.    

[David Ashby - Moderator]

Conversely, look back at how we flew in 1978 and then check the differences compared with today. 35MHz has replaced 27MHz but for many flyers not a lot has changed with electric flight and 2.4GHz simply not appearing on their interest radar.

I think poeple will still be flying .40 sized WOT4s in 30 years time alongside perhaps/maybe what Peevie has described above.