(Speaking the clipped, staccato style of a famous early 20th Century American broadcaster...) This is Lucidity, broadcasting live from the news desk at Roswell Flight Test Crew headquarters to Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea.
Dateline: Muncie, Indiana. Flash:
According to the December 2012 issue of Model Aviation, multirotors
exist! I repeat: multirotors exist! Furtive flirtations in previous
publications of the AMA's flagship folio, intimating the emergence of
these new-fangled flying machines yielded to yards of coverage in
the latest issue.
Words and pictures spilled over page after page, in what this humble newsman hopes will be a harbinger, heralding the advent of additional articles and advice on this fast-growing field of aerial RC antics. Stay tuned for further bulletins!
But seriously, folks... I was heartened to see Model Aviation nose over and dive full speed into the emerging multirotor segment of RC flying.
When I first became an AMA member last year, I was astonished by the lack of diversity in the magazine's coverage. There were articles about kit-built fixed-wing aircraft AND scratch-built fixed-wing aircraft. The publication's one concession to the relentless advance of technology was a two-page spread dedicated to helicopters. Multirotors – what's that?
To its considerable credit, the AMA has come a long way in the past two years, updating its guidance on FPV flying and now welcoming multirotors into its monthly publication in a serious and substantial way.
Also, on its website, the AMA recently put out a great article on its Government Relations blog which asks, and answers, the question: “Can I Use my Model Aircraft to do Aerial Photography?” The last time I checked, the comments in response to this posting were both thoughtful and incisive – a credit to the caliber of people who affiliate themselves with the organization.
That reminds me: I'd better renew my membership before the end of the year...
-Lucidity
I was not surprised by the news that multirotors exist, because reading some facts about aircraft innovations, I was delighted to witness what future aircrafts look like.
Posted by: DT-200 @ AvionTEq | 02/12/2013 at 04:35 PM