Introduction to Indoor flying

By Chris White | November 18, 2021

Every year we run a members only indoor flying event at a local venue. Its a very popular with the members. If you are new to the club and interested in having ago ( which is possible for all pilot skills) then below is a list of suppliers and components required.

Going down the ARTF (almost ready to fly-or ready to fly) is quick and easy. A good introduction into indoor flying is the E-flite Vapor. (pictured above)

https://www.robotbirds.co.uk/default/e-flite-umx-vapor-lite-hp-rtf-eflu6800.html

Here are a list of model manufactures to search for

Rc factory
TechOne
Multiplex
Microaces

Build your own

Nadmas indoor flying in Newbury October 2017

Indoor rc planes are usually built from 3-5mm foam and balsa and with today’s light weight micro and nano size rc electronics the size of models are endless. Even small free-flight kits can be converted. Most planes are either 1s (3.7v or 2s 7.2v) size batteries with a capacity between 30mha to 500-700mha for a aerobatic model .

Receivers need to be light, there are a number of branded and compatible receivers on the market, but a word of warning, always check what servo connectors they have as there is a number of types that manufactures use. Its not a real big problem but you may need a soldering iron to swap the connectors over. Please see our post on connectors here.

http://www.nadmas.org.uk/indoor-flying/connectors-for-servo-and-battery-power-leads/

Servos for indoor flying generally need to weigh no more than 4-9(max) grams for the 2s size batteries and 1.9grams for most 1s battery range.

ESC (electronic speed contollers) range between 3amps to 20amps on average. Indoor models use both brushed and brushless motors, although brushed tends to be used on the every small micro models.

Motors will be either brushed or brushless. Brushed are used on the vapor type model and are very small. You often find the speed controller built onto the receiver board and are rated around 3Amps current. Brushless motors will need a specific speed controller. A 6amp to 12amp esc would likely to work for most general models around 200 grams all up weight.

Batteries and Chargers
Batteries for the the Vapor model are tiny at around 70mha and the chargers supplied are for these batteries only. For model around 60grams to 300grams batteries will range from 180 mha 2cell (known as 2s ###mha) to 500mh and special lipo battiery chargers are used.

The Model Above is hand build from 3mm foam Sheet. Its uses a 10gram motor with 6amp speed controller, 3x 3gram servos, a 2s 300mha battery and a micro reciver