Aileron: The control related to "Roll" movement of aircraft. Think of a horizontal axis which is run through the whole fuselage from nose to tail. The movement along this axis is "Roll". (Bank Left/Right)
Ailerons can be found near the trailing edge of main wings of aircraft. Control Surfaces on both side of wings move in opposite direction to achieve "Roll".
Elevator: The control related to "Pitch" movement of aircraft. Think of a horizontal axis which is run through the whole wing from left wing tip to right wing tip. The movement along this axis is "Pitch". (Up/Down)
Rudder: The control related to "Yaw" movement of aircraft. Think of a vertical axis which is run through the fuselage from belly to top. The movement along this axis is "Yaw". (Left/Right)
Throttle: The control which related to speed of Engine/Motor and so that the propeller mounted on it. It is used to increase or decrease the rotation speed of Engine/Motor.
Fuselage: The whole body/frame of aircraft.
Wings: The wing is responsible to generate lift force. that is how an eagle floats in air, without pumping her wings up and down.
Horizontal stabilizer: The horizontal tail surface which is coupled with Elevator control.
Vertical stabilizer: The Vertical tail surface which is coupled with Rudder control.
Flaps: This can be found on the main wings near ailerons. But these control surfaces moves in same direction to increase drag, Lift and slow down the aircraft. It is useful to decrease the speed during landing approach.
Leading Edge: The front most edge of main wings.
Trailing Edge: The rear most edge of main wings.
Wing Tip: The left or right most end of main wing. Left Wingtip is the left most while Right Wingtip is the right most end of wing.
Wing Span: The width of wings from one tip to another.
Wing Area: Either upper or lower surface area of wing including the portion hidden inside fuselage.
Airfoil: The shape of wing's cross section. This is how wing looks while seen from either left or right wingtip.
Angle of Attack: The angle of wing with the horizontal axis while seen from left or right wingtip.
RTF: Ready-to-Fly.
ARF: Almost-Ready-to-Fly.
PNF: Plug-&-Fly.
Kit: The package which needs to be assembled by buyer. All the Electronic parts or power system should be purchased separately and not included in offered price.
Balsa: A kind of wood which is light in weight but strong. It is very easy to work with if you have right tools. Mostly available as sheets and strips and comes in many sizes.
Foam: A very light, fragile but workable building material. There are various type of foam available today. Such as, Depron, EPO (expanded poly olefin) & EPS (expanded polystyrene). Depron is the most commonly used foam to make foam RC airplane models. It is hard to bend but easy to Cut, Glue, sand and tape. It cracks easily on an impact.
The EPO is very flexible, (almost impossible to break by bending) so easy to bend. Thus it is widely recommended for beginners they crash too much. It needs reinforcements to make strong structures.
The EPS is generally what we call high density thermocole. This is mostly used in disposable cutlery, plastic models, CD and DVD cases etc.
Fan Fold Foam (FFF) is also a kind of foam. There is no big difference in Depron and FFF. The FFF is called so just because it comes in 3/16 inch thickness, 4ft wide and 50ft length. This much of a length is not a practical thing with the storage and transportation point of view. So, these sheets are sold fan-folded back and forth various times into 4ft x 2ft size.
The RC airplanes made up of foam are commonly known as "Foamies."
Corrugated Plastic Sheet: These are plastic sheets with straight hollow lines running across the whole length between two walls of thin plastic. That is why it is also called twin-wall plastic. In RC aeromodelling, these are called as coro or coroplast. It is a very strong material and barely needs a reinforcement. The RC airplanes built using coro sheets is known as "SPAD (Simple Plastic Airplane Design)".
Polycarbonate sheet: It is very hard, smooth and mostly transparent material. Like the coro sheets, these too have straight hollow parallel grooves running across the whole length. Not a widely used material but worth knowing.
Balsa: A kind of wood which is light in weight but strong. It is very easy to work with if you have right tools. Mostly available as sheets and strips and comes in many sizes.
Foam: A very light, fragile but workable building material. There are various type of foam available today. Such as, Depron, EPO (expanded poly olefin) & EPS (expanded polystyrene). Depron is the most commonly used foam to make foam RC airplane models. It is hard to bend but easy to Cut, Glue, sand and tape. It cracks easily on an impact.
The EPO is very flexible, (almost impossible to break by bending) so easy to bend. Thus it is widely recommended for beginners they crash too much. It needs reinforcements to make strong structures.
The EPS is generally what we call high density thermocole. This is mostly used in disposable cutlery, plastic models, CD and DVD cases etc.
Fan Fold Foam (FFF) is also a kind of foam. There is no big difference in Depron and FFF. The FFF is called so just because it comes in 3/16 inch thickness, 4ft wide and 50ft length. This much of a length is not a practical thing with the storage and transportation point of view. So, these sheets are sold fan-folded back and forth various times into 4ft x 2ft size.
The RC airplanes made up of foam are commonly known as "Foamies."
Corrugated Plastic Sheet: These are plastic sheets with straight hollow lines running across the whole length between two walls of thin plastic. That is why it is also called twin-wall plastic. In RC aeromodelling, these are called as coro or coroplast. It is a very strong material and barely needs a reinforcement. The RC airplanes built using coro sheets is known as "SPAD (Simple Plastic Airplane Design)".
Polycarbonate sheet: It is very hard, smooth and mostly transparent material. Like the coro sheets, these too have straight hollow parallel grooves running across the whole length. Not a widely used material but worth knowing.
These are few important terminologies in RC Aeromodelling that you should know. I will keep adding more as soon as they click in my mind....
So, Keep looking....
