48 articles
Model aircraft
A model aircraft, also called a model airplane or model plane, is a small unmanned flying machine built for recreation, competition, education, or aerodynamic research.
MultiGP
MultiGP (short for Multirotor Grand Prix) is a grassroots drone racing league founded in 2015 by Chris Thomas. It claims over 30,000 registered pilots and 500 chapters worldwide.
Paper plane
A paper plane, also called a paper airplane, is a toy glider made by folding a sheet of paper, typically thrown by hand and flown without an engine.
Parrot AR.Drone
The Parrot AR.Drone is a consumer quadrotor drone made by the French company Parrot, controlled over Wi-Fi from an iPhone or iPad and released in 2010, credited with starting the consumer quadcopter craze.
Quadcopter
A quadcopter, also called a quadrotor, is an aircraft lifted and controlled entirely by four propellers, needing no tail rotor or swashplate, and used widely in aerial robotics research.
Radio-controlled aerobatics
Radio-controlled aerobatics, known to participants as Pattern, is the FAI-judged flying of radio-controlled model aircraft through precision aerobatic schedules; its main class, F3A, held its first world championship in 1960.
Radio-controlled aircraft
A radio-controlled aircraft, also called an RC airplane, is a model aircraft flown from the ground using a hand-held radio transmitter driving its control surfaces.
Radio-controlled glider
A radio-controlled glider, also known as an RC sailplane, is an unpowered model aircraft kept aloft on thermals and slope lift, and raced in FAI class F3.
RealFlight
RealFlight is a radio-controlled flight simulator for personal computers, first released in 1997 by Knife Edge Software and sold to Horizon Hobby in 2021, with RealFlight Evolution launched in 2022.
Scale model
Scale model: a physical replica built to a fixed ratio such as 1:72 or 1:35 of a real object. Used in engineering similitude testing, architecture, and the plastic kit hobby begun by Frog's 1930s Penguin.
Scale model aircraft competition (F4 classes)
Scale model aircraft competition in the FAI F4 classes judges flying replicas of full-size aircraft on both static accuracy and realistic flight, with world championships since 1970.
Servo control
Servo control is the method by which a radio-controlled servo converts a command signal into a held shaft position, using pulses of about 1 to 2 ms.
Space modelling competition (S classes)
Space modeling competition (S classes) is FAI model rocketry competition scored on altitude, duration, and scale, with classes from S1 upward and a first world championship in 1972.
Spektrum RC
Spektrum RC is a Horizon Hobby brand of 2.4GHz radio equipment for model aircraft, helicopters, and surface vehicles, which introduced DSM spread-spectrum technology in 2004.
The Spirit of Butts' Farm
The Spirit of Butts' Farm (TAM-5) was a model airplane that in 2003 made the first model aircraft crossing of the Atlantic, flying from Newfoundland to Ireland.
Torrey Pines Gliderport
The Torrey Pines Gliderport is a city-owned flight park on the sea cliffs of La Jolla, San Diego, where hang gliders, paragliders, sailplanes, and RC model aircraft share coastal ridge lift.
Wakefield Cup
The Wakefield Cup is a perpetual international trophy for rubber-powered free-flight model aircraft, first awarded in 1928 and now the F1B trophy at FAI world championships.
World Air Games
The World Air Games is an Olympic-style international air sports competition organized by the FAI, with editions held in Turkey (1997), Spain (2001), Italy (2009), and Dubai (2015).