sll914
3 HN mentions · mentioned in 3 months, 2018–2020
1:14 · 314K views · Jun 11, 2018
A one-minute clip of Spencer Lisenby setting a 545 mph speed record in an RC glider, the Transonic DP, using dynamic soaring. No motor is involved.
HN cites it as the surprising example that the fastest RC aircraft is an unpowered glider using dynamic soaring.
3 comments from Hacker News
There are some (mostly Brazilians) who would disqualify the Wright Flyer as the first airplane on the grounds that it took off from a rail. Is the engine breathing air really an essential part of the "airplane" definition? Solar Impulse 2 didn't breath air either, yet wasn't it an airplane too? @DuskStar It's certainly a glider on reentry. Now, most speed records for planes are "in level flight" which would disqualify the shuttle during reentry. But if we ignore that it's interesting that the speed record for manned aircraft is held by a glider, and the speed records for RC aircraft are also held by gliders! this video
It's worse, actually. There are motoless gliders that fly up to 545 mph, and then there are tiny jet planes that go up to 465 mph. You can jam the signal, but as soon as someone can put an autonomous vision system on them, it will become an extremely powerful weapon. You don't even need an explosive at these speeds, it can cut your target in half this video
Here's an RC glider doing 545 mph with that technique: this video I don't know how they manage to control it or measure the speed, but it looks legit.