Do the unlimited racers have.....

[1:1 Scale]

Auto pilots? Certainly not for the races, but for whatever day to day (ha!) flying that they do?

I'm thinking that it wouldn't be much of a stretch to have an AP kick in at a predetermined G threshold, level the wings and set a modest climb rate. This could give an unconcious pilot time to wake up. However, it could just send a plane off to crash in a more populated area

Anyways, the wheels were turning and I thought I'd share with the group. Thoughts?

[MRussell]

Re: Do the unlimited racers have.....

Typically no, especially on the purpose-built racers.

[ezeflierid]

Re: Do the unlimited racers have.....

In many/most autopilot systems the elevator trim tab is the means by which attitude is controlled. With the loss of the trim tab, such a system wouldn't have been able to control the pitch-up. Elevator trim tabs don't (normally) break off from airplanes, so this is a fine method of implementing an autopilot.

[AirDOGGe]

Re: Do the unlimited racers have.....

That would be like installing a cruise control in your NASCAR stock car racer.

[1:1 Scale]

Re: Do the unlimited racers have.....

That would be like installing a cruise control in your NASCAR stock car racer.

Haha, for sure! Just thinking out loud The only experience I have with the mechanicals of an AP setup is in my RV, where the servos are connected to the aileron and elevator belcranks. Certainly in something moving at unlimited speeds, you would need one heck of a servo to control an out of trim elevator, so moving a trim tab would be the lighter weight way to go IF everything stayed in place.