Brian Carless, Gleaner Writer

Automotives had the chance recently to check out the Flying High RC Club. It's a hobbyist club for persons who are interested in a different kind of speed - moving at scale speeds of up to 200 mph while keeping both feet planted firmly on terra firma.

The world of radio control planes, helicopters and cars is vast, technologically sophisticated and expensive! Model scale ratios range from 1/20 to 1/ 5 - and the speeds that the planes can reach far exceed almost any car on the Jamaican roads.

Both gas (semi-diesel) and electric power were being flown for an average flying time ranging from 8 to 12 minutes on a tank of the high octane fuel that they use in these miniature flying machines.

The fuel is a mixture of methanol and nitro methane. It can't be used to power your ride, but then again, you wouldn't want it to as the stuff costs $2,500 per gallon. The engine sizes range from 0.30, 0.50 and 0.90 cubic inch piston driven engines - that is really small stuff but the power and performance they put out is enormous. The planes are made of composite material which includes wood, carbon fibre and fibreglass.

Transmission process

The helicopters on show were also powered by dino fuel, the cleaner battery power. Hand-held transmitters convert the pilot/drivers inputs into radio waves, and these are received by a receiver on the aircraft/car. Transmitting on the FM band, the range of the devices controls the craft over great distances, but has to be in line of sight. Out of sight equals a pile of busted parts.

The owners of these machines are really into their stuff; all the high-tech goodies such as testers, gauges, high octane fuel - and they even have a speed gun that they use to clock the speed of these high-flying machines.

But the aircraft that really caught Automotives' attention was the BVM King Cat which is a jet engine plane. This 30lb plane, with a wing span of four feet, has motive force coming from a small jet which provides 35lb of thrust.

This is a cat with feathers; it can surely fly. It has a top speed of 200mph, but Automotives witnessed this flying Cat clocking 162mph. These are some truly awesome miniature flying machines; in the hands of their operators they can do just about any aerial acrobatic trick you can think of. Hovering, a helicopter manoeuvre in which the craft is airborne but motionless; barrel rolls, loops, back flips, flying backwards, upside down, you name it this craft can do it.