TSA
Before we give you some recommendations, please note that YOU are responsible for making sure that your aircraft conforms to this year’s rules and regulations. Please check dimensions carefully before you place your order. You can easily reduce wingspan by cutting down a few sticks, but modifying other dimensions takes some considerable skills.
In order to compete in an indoor or outdoor powered model aircraft flight competition, you will need three things:
– a decent competition aircraft
– extra rubber string (a rubber band motor becomes “tired” after you wound it a few times, hence you need extras to practice and you want new rubber motors for competition day)
– a winder ( you can at least triple the amount of winds that you can normally wind by hand by using a winder because you can stretch the motor as you wind. Triple the winds means roughly triple the flight time.)
If you have no experience with powered aircraft, we recommend you start with the AF-11 Smart as it will teach you the basic building and flying skills required to compete. The Smart is very rugged and is able to absorb hard landings.
Our competition aircraft for the TSA competition this year is the Super Vee AF-19. It has been designed to maximize flight performance for the parameters given by the competition rules.
Make sure you get the ultra light competition prop like KI-9 or KI-12 in your arsenal of choices. These props can easily be cut down with scissors to maximum propeller diameter allowed. The KI-95 needs to be shaped as well and should only be used by very experienced competitors.
Our new 5 to 1 winder with integrated counter is the ticket (Accessory 51C). It runs super smooth and you do not need to remember to count. We now use this winder since it eliminates errors in counting. We have many other winders to choose from. Please check out our accessories page.
You should of course have a choice of rubber string widths so you can match the motor size to your aircraft/propeller and ceiling height. Our CF-M1 motor pack is the right choice.
Good luck, and have a lot of fun!!