Not long ago, riding home during one of the warm days of mid-winter, I saw a man using a remote-controlled plane in a field where dog-lovers congregate and, sometimes, kite flyers. This was the first RC-guy I'd seen. He had an electric-engined purpose-built model, something like the one shown on this page.
Immediately I recalled a time, on a visit to Los Angeles, when I saw a man with a remote-controlled glider doing what I've since learned is called slope soaring. He was using an updraft caused by on-shore breezes at Long Beach where there's a short, steep slope down from the pathway to the beach. This mini-palisade catches the breeze and lofts it. The glider, remotely-controlled with considerable expertise, traced circles and figure 8's in the updraft. I didn't stay to see how long the owner could/would keep the plane aloft; presumably his neck tired from up-viewing so long, as here:
This YouTube video conveys something of the experience. Note the soft landing toward the end where the plane comes to a halt mid-air next to the RC operator.
There are some other good YouTube videos of RC gliders, including this one.
These photos capture some of the fascination of the hobby:
[Update March 5:
modern UAVs grew out of the radio-control airplane scene and the technologies that allow them to fly themselves--gyros, video and other sensors, GPS, digital radio and onboard microprocessors--are now shrinking in size and falling in price at a rapid pace. You can buy a model airplane today for less than $60 that has an onboard computer and basic sensors, Chris Anderson's Long Tail blog has a post on model aircraft that pretty much control themselves -- semiautonomous planes. He says the needed technologies, "gyros, video and other sensors, GPS, digital radio and onboard microprocessors, are now shrinking in size and falling in price at a rapid pace. You can buy a model airplane today for less than $60 that has an onboard computer and basic sensors."]
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