TAM 5
| TAM | |
|---|---|
|
|
| Type: | Record model airplane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: |
Maynard L. Hill |
| First flight: |
1999 |
| Commissioning: |
2002 |
| Production time: |
1999 to 2003 |
| Number of pieces: |
28 |
TAM 5 (TransAtlantikModell) is a remote-controlled model airplane with autopilot function of the TAM series by Maynard L. Hill ( USA ) and his team Barrett J. Foster and David G. Brown. The machine of this type, called TAM 5 - The Spirit of Butts Farm , crossed the North Atlantic from 9 to 11 August 2003 in non-stop flight . The autopilot function also makes it an unmanned aerial vehicle .
history
In his short web autobiography Two Sunsets & Still Flying , Maynard L. Hill describes that he had been pursuing the goal of a transatlantic flight with a model airplane since 1996 . By then he had set several FAI long-range records for model airplanes. The concrete construction and production of the Trans-Atlantik models began in 1999. Initially, five copies were built for flight tests. In the following years, 23 more machines were built, which were intended to fly in the components and for the record attempts. With machine number 19, it was named TAM 1 , the first attempt to record was made on August 8, 2002. This attempt as well as three others failed. The TAM 5 machine , serial number 25, was successful. The additional name "The Spirit of Butts Farm" given by Hill for TAM 5 is intended on the one hand to recall the Spirit of St. Louis of the first solo Atlantic crossing as well as R. Beecher Butts, a supporter of the project.
Record flight
The plane took off on August 9, 2003 at 6:00 a.m. from Cape Spear near St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. After an initially unsettled flight with a tail wind at flight speeds of up to 88 km / h (48 kn ), the model stabilized, as the data transmitted by satellite showed, at the planned speed over the ground of 69 km / h (37 kn). The flight model reached Mannin Beach near Clifden in Ireland after 3,030 km and 38.5 hours of flight . Dave Brown took control of the model from the ground and landed it at 2:08 p.m. local time, to the applause of numerous spectators, just a few meters from the landing cross. The high-tech model was controlled by an autopilot for more than 99 percent of the flight time. After landing, there was still 0.043 kg (1.9 percent) of the initial quantity of 2.261 kg in the tank.
TAM 5 was handed over to the American National Model Aviation Museum after the flight .
FAI record entry
- Category F8: Autonomous Flight
- Sub-class F8 Open (airplane, piston engine)
- N ° 907: Duration: 38 h 52 min 19 sec
- Date of flight: 11/08/2003
- Record holders: Maynard L. HILL (USA), Barrett J. FOSTER, David G. BROWN
- Course / place: Cape Spear, NF (Canada) - Mannin Beach (Ireland)
The FIA-CIAM record was officially held from 2003 to 2009. In 2009, the FIA's International Aeromodelling Commission decided at its meeting on March 23 and 24 in Lausanne to no longer recognize the F8 Autonomous Flight category as a model flight. The records have been canceled. Instead, Maynard L. Hill received a special award from the FIA-CIAM.
construction
The machine was specially designed by Hill and his team for the record flight across the Atlantic. The model was built in the traditional way from balsa wood and hardwood with a covering of mylar foil . With a distance of around 3,040 kilometers to be overflown and a given fuel consumption of the 10 cm³ engine, the model had to reach a speed that was sufficient for an overflight given the amount of fuel available. The entire fuel was in a 330 mm (13 in ) long and 114 mm (4.5 in ) wide tank with 3 chambers, which was also the load-bearing component. Since the model only had to fly straight ahead except for takeoff and landing, the rudder and right ailerons were omitted to save weight . The machine belonged to the FAI class F8 Open.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| length | 1.88 m (74 in ) |
| span | 1.83 m (72 in) |
| height | 0.42 m (16.5 in) |
| Wing area | 0.716 m² |
| payload | 0.00 kg |
| Empty mass | 2.65 kg |
| Takeoff mass | 5.00 kg |
| Cruising speed | 78.7 km / h, average, v g |
| Altitude | 304.8 m (1000 ft ) |
| Range | 3040 km (1641 nm ) |
| Engine | OS FS61 four-stroke engine, 10 cm³ |
| propeller | 14 × 12, wood sealed with epoxy resin |
| Fuel supply | 2.261 kg |
| Fuel composition | Mixture of 45-50% solvent naphtha , 45-50% aliphatic petroleum distillates , 2% xylenes , 2% toluene |
| Fuel consumption | 70.225 cm³ / h (57 g / h) |
Individual evidence
- ↑ Two Sunsets & Still Flying ( Memento from September 11, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Technical data (accessed on September 25, 2013)
- ^ National Model Aviation Museum
- ^ Years 2000–2009 - FAI Aeromodelling Commission - CIAM . Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Archived from the original on July 29, 2010. Retrieved on August 7, 2010.
- ↑ On the pictures of TAM 5 it can be clearly seen that the right aileron has been omitted. However, some technical drawings for the TAM series show the aileron on the right.
