[FARC] more on Trans Atlantic Model aircraft flight...

[Eric Gammeter]

Model-Airplane Buffs Aim for Transatlantic Record

Brian Handwerk
for National Geographic News
August 5, 2002


The history of transatlantic aviation could see a new milestone this week,
as an ambitious group of model-airplane makers launches an 11-pound
(4.9-kilogram) ultra-light craft on a journey from Newfoundland to Ireland.
If successful, it would be the first Atlantic crossing by a "true" model
airplane.

The craft, named Spirit of Butts Farm, will try to make the flight on only
5.5 pounds (2.5 kilograms) of fuel. While its designer, Maynard Hill, is
confident of success, he acknowledges that the plane could be "drowned" in a
squall or could exhaust its meager fuel supply and plunge into the sea.


Maynard Hill, Joe Foster, and Roy Day work on the Spirit of Butts Farm.


   After guiding the craft�named for Beecher Butts, an 88 year-old aviation
enthusiast�to its cruising altitude, Hill will put the plan on autopilot
and, from his safe seat in Newfoundland, anxiously await its arrival in
Ireland. Pilot Paul Howey and others will be in Ireland waiting for the
plane to appear on the horizon. They will head out to the bog and, if the
plane comes in, take over manual control and land it. FAI officials there
will be able to certify the record achievement as well.

Hill heads the Society for Technical Aeromodel Research (STAR), founded
expressly to fly a small radio-controlled model plane nonstop across the
Atlantic. The Newfoundland-to-Ireland feat�four years in the making�would
set a new world record for straight-line distance by a radio-controlled,
piston-powered model airplane.

A veteran aeromodeler, Hill is chiefly responsible for designing and
developing the plane's model and engine. In more than three decades of
flying model planes, he has established 23 different world records under the
rules of the hobby's governing body, Federation Aeronautique Internationale
(FAI).

Hill's world bests include marks for altitude (26,990 feet/8,226 meters),
duration (33.67 hours), and speed in a closed circuit (167 mph/269 km/hour).
"It's just been a lifetime occupation to set these records," he said, "but
this one has turned out to be a really, really big challenge."

A successful flight by Spirit of Butts Farm would be the first Atlantic
crossing by a "genuine model airplane," which, as specified by FAI, can
weigh no more than 11 pounds (4.9 kilograms) and have an engine with no more
than 10cc displacement (a measure of the volume of each engine cylinder).

A previous transatlantic crossing was made in 1998 by an unmanned aircraft
launched by the Insitu Group and the University of Washington, but it
weighed nearly 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms).

Design Constraints

Spirit of Butts Farm is made of balsa wood and has a 6.5-foot (1.9-meter)
wingspan. Its engine is a four-stroke with 10cc's of displaced volume.

It will be launched�weather permitting�at about 8:30 p.m. August 7 off the
rocky shores of St. John's, Newfoundland, where the flyers are stationed at
a Royal Canadian Air Force base. The destination is Round Stone bog in
Ireland.

The STAR crew said they chose the model plane's route in tribute to the
first full-scale Atlantic crossing. In 1919, a Vickers Vimy World War I
bomber flown by Royal Air Force pilots John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown
made a tough landing at Round Stone after crossing the sea from
Newfoundland.

After the plane is guided by remote control to a cruising altitude of 500
feet, it will be put on autopilot, to be steered by GPS signals and an
onboard microprocessor. Hill said 500 feet is an optimal cruising altitude
because "there won't be any airplanes that low or ships that tall, so the
path should be clear."

The 11-pound weight limit made fuel capacity a big challenge. The plane's
weight is evenly divided between structure and fuel. Shaving ounces off the
plane's structural weight was crucial, said team member Roy Day, the former
deputy director of NASA's shuttle program. "Every ounce of structure is an
ounce of fuel that you cannot carry," he said.

Fuel consumption is a tricky issue. Hill must set the rate of fuel
consumption by trickling a "whiskey shot," or two ounces of fuel an hour,
through a small hole that can change size because of temperature or
humidity. If the plane uses too much fuel per hour, the engine will run
fine, but they will run out of fuel. If it uses too little, the engine can
stall out, and if it does the plane will crash.

"There's been a lot of effort in modifications to the engine, the fuel
system, and the carburetor to get absolutely the best efficiency out of the
engine and still have it run reliably," Hill explained. "If the amount of
fuel is too small the engine may quit. It's a delicate balance between using
as little fuel as possible and still having a reliable engine."

The flight route, of about 1,900 miles (3,057 kilometers) total, is expected
to take about 36 hours to complete, but much will depend on head winds and
tailwinds.

The plane generally cruises at 42 miles per hour, but tailwinds could boost
its speed to 60 mph or more. It can fly in head winds of up to 30 mph, but
would burn fuel too fast to make it to the Irish coast.

Because bad weather over the North Atlantic could mean big trouble for such
a small craft, Hill and his colleagues have been tracking the weather for
three years to aid forecasting. "It determines when we go, and how long it
will take," said Hill. "We'll watch for days when we have good weather
blowing towards Ireland."

Steady Tracking

Hill and his STAR team will take four model planes with them to
Newfoundland. If they are unable to track the first plane 40 hours after
takeoff, they will launch the second one, followed by the others if
necessary, until one of them has reached Ireland�or until all four have
disappeared.

The team is confident that such a complete loss will not happen.

Software expert Joe Foster has been designing and developing the plane's
autopilot and navigation systems for four years. The performance of two
onboard custom-built computers is crucial to the flight's success. "If we
put the right way points in there," says Hill, "and the machine and
propeller keep pulling, the steering system will take it where we need it to
go."

The crew will track the plane's progress across the Atlantic. "The plane has
a transmitter that sends up a burst of information every minute, including
its position, altitude, how fast it's traveling, engine rpm, and other
control functions," said Hill.

Orbiting communications satellites will receive the information, which team
members on both sides of the Atlantic will be able to access.

"Knowing the positions of the plane and its speed, we'll be able to predict
it's arrival, so there should be no surprises," said Hill. "When we get to
our destination it just goes into a loiter condition."

The plane will circle until the pilot in Ireland, Paul Howey, switches off
the automatic system and brings the plane down manually.

Check National Geographic.com after August 9 for an update on the attempted
transatlantic journey by Spirit of Butts Farm.

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