OpenFieldRC
A yellow RC floatplane climbing away from the lake toward the valley, cliffs on the left and snowy peaks ahead, rendered in the simulator

Planes, a field, and the whole sky.

Openflight is an RC plane simulator that runs in your browser. Take off from a grass strip or the lake, fly the valley, land on the water.

Fly Openflight Follow one flight

Fig. 1 Light taildragger on floats, 1.5 kg, climbing off the lake at 18 to 21 m/s. Flown and rendered in real time in the simulator.

One flight, from the water and back.

A floatplane on the lake, flown by holding the sticks the way your radio does. Every frame below is from that one flight, and every number beside it was logged as it flew.

  1. The yellow floatplane taxiing slowly on the lake, sunlight on the water, cliffs behind
    Fig. 2Taxi on the lake at 0:04.

    Taxi

    A little throttle and the floats push through the water at walking pace, the cliffs on the far shore.

    Time
    0:04
    Speed
    1.3 m/s
    Height
    on the water
  2. The floatplane running fast on the step of its floats, spray behind, the cliff wall across the lake
    Fig. 3On the step at 0:07.

    Step

    Full throttle. The floats climb onto the step, the spray comes off them and the drag falls away.

    Time
    0:07
    Speed
    12.0 m/s
    Height
    0.1 m
  3. The floatplane just off the water, nose high, floats clear of the lake
    Fig. 4Lift off at 0:08.

    Lift

    The wing takes the weight. The floats leave the water a few metres after the step, nose up.

    Time
    0:08
    Speed
    16.8 m/s
    Height
    2.2 m
    Nose
    11.5° up
  4. The floatplane climbing away from the lake over meadows toward the valley and its snowy peaks
    Fig. 5Climbing up the valley at 0:16.

    Valley

    Climbing out over the shore and up the valley, the snow at its head and the cliffs on both sides.

    Time
    0:16
    Speed
    19.8 m/s
    Height
    30 m
  5. The floatplane touching down on the lake in a burst of spray
    Fig. 6Touchdown at 1:37.

    Land

    A long circuit later, throttle closed and the nose up for the flare. The floats touch and the lake slows it down.

    Time
    1:37
    Speed
    8.1 m/s
    Height
    touching
    Nose
    8.6° up
0 m10 m20 m30 m40 m50 m60 m0 m200 m400 m600 m800 m1000 m1200 m1400 mTaxi, Step, LiftValleyLandHeight drawn 6 times its scale0 m10 m20 m30 m40 m50 m60 m0 m400 m800 m1200 mTaxi, Step, LiftValleyLandHeight drawn 14 times its scale
Fig. 7 The same flight drawn as a section through the valley: height against distance flown, with the ground and the lake under the path, both from the simulator's own terrain.

The hangar.

Twenty aircraft, planes only. Each one flies on its own model, built from its real span, weight, wing area and power, so a trainer forgives you and a warbird doesn't.

Every aircraft in Openflight, with the figures its flight model is built from. Span bars share one scale. Stall is the clean stall speed; top is level flight at full power.
PictureAircraftSpanMassWingLoadingStallTop
The high wing trainer in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorHigh wing trainerFour stroke glow, 3 channels1,981 mm2,722 g74.2 dm²37 g/dm²7.2 m/s23.1 m/s
The park flyer in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorPark flyer2S electric, 3 channels1,176 mm420 g32.6 dm²13 g/dm²4.4 m/s10.3 m/s
The light taildragger in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorLight taildragger3S electric1,400 mm1,320 g28.0 dm²47 g/dm²8.1 m/s22.4 m/s
The light taildragger on floats in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorLight taildragger on floats3S electric1,400 mm1,532 g28.0 dm²55 g/dm²8.7 m/s20.2 m/s
The stol bush plane in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorSTOL bush plane4S electric, slats and flaps1,555 mm1,700 g36.1 dm²47 g/dm²7.2 m/s27.2 m/s
The stol bush plane on floats in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorSTOL bush plane on floats4S electric1,555 mm1,934 g36.1 dm²54 g/dm²7.7 m/s25.3 m/s
The night stol aerobat in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorNight STOL aerobat4S electric, lit inside1,200 mm1,698 g28.7 dm²59 g/dm²9.1 m/s23.6 m/s
The motor glider in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorMotor glider3S electric, folding prop2,000 mm980 g35.5 dm²28 g/dm²6.5 m/s26.5 m/s
The discus launch glider in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorDiscus launch gliderNo motor1,490 mm213 g19.0 dm²11 g/dm²4.4 m/s41.0 m/s
The flying wing in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorFlying wing3S electric1,219 mm723 g26.0 dm²28 g/dm²7.4 m/s36.8 m/s
The twin boom cruiser in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorTwin boom cruiser4S electric, pusher1,800 mm2,100 g36.0 dm²58 g/dm²9.2 m/s29.3 m/s
The sport plane in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorSport planeTwo stroke glow, 4 channels1,567 mm2,722 g51.1 dm²53 g/dm²9.5 m/s28.3 m/s
The 3d aerobat in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulator3D aerobat4S electric1,308 mm1,510 g36.9 dm²41 g/dm²8.3 m/s30.3 m/s
The precision aerobat in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorPrecision aerobat6S electric1,702 mm3,629 g55.5 dm²65 g/dm²10.6 m/s33.1 m/s
The giant scale aerobat in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorGiant scale aerobat120 cc petrol twin2,680 mm12,474 g115.0 dm²108 g/dm²13.9 m/s42.5 m/s
The vintage free flight model in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorVintage free flight modelGlow .049, 3 channels1,118 mm560 g21.3 dm²26 g/dm²6.5 m/s12.5 m/s
The vintage biplane in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorVintage biplaneTwo stroke glow1,803 mm4,649 g87.7 dm²53 g/dm²9.5 m/s23.2 m/s
The warbird in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorWarbird4S electric, retracts and flaps1,450 mm2,350 g35.4 dm²66 g/dm²10.1 m/s26.6 m/s
The sport jet in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorSport jet70 mm ducted fan, 6S878 mm2,116 g21.5 dm²98 g/dm²12.0 m/s45.8 m/s
The four motor transport in flight over the valley, rendered in the simulatorFour motor transport6S electric, four motors3,077 mm6,728 g104.9 dm²64 g/dm²9.7 m/s28.6 m/s

The stall, computed.

Every curve here comes from the flight model's own tables, the numbers each aircraft flies on. Pick an aircraft and see the angle where its wing stalls, and how far it glides.

Aircraft
−8−40481216202428−0.8−0.40.00.40.81.21.6Angle of attack, degreesWing lift coefficientTrainer: the wing's lift coefficient against angle of attackMotor glider: the wing's lift coefficient against angle of attack3D aerobat: the wing's lift coefficient against angle of attackWarbird: the wing's lift coefficient against angle of attackStalls at 13.0°, most liftStalls at 8.3°, most liftStalls at 14.5°, most liftStalls at 14.3°, most lift
Fig. 8 The wing's own lift coefficient against angle of attack. It climbs in a straight line while the air follows the wing, rounds over to its most lift at the critical angle, where the wing stalls, then breaks; some wings hold that lift for a few degrees first.
0.00.10.20.30.4−0.8−0.40.00.40.81.21.6Drag coefficientLift coefficientTrainer: lift against drag, the polarMotor glider: lift against drag, the polar3D aerobat: lift against drag, the polarWarbird: lift against drag, the polarBest glide, 8.6 to 1Best glide, 18.9 to 1Best glide, 7.8 to 1Best glide, 9.9 to 1
Fig. 9 The polar: the whole aircraft's lift, wing and tail, against its drag. The line from the origin that touches the curve marks the best glide, the most lift for the least drag.

The four aircraft, from the same tables: the critical angle from the wing alone, best glide from the whole aircraft. Sea level, no prop wash.

AircraftCritical angleStall speedBest glideWing loading
Trainer13.0°7.2 m/s8.6 to 137 g/dm²
Motor glider8.3°6.5 m/s18.9 to 128 g/dm²
3D aerobat14.5°8.3 m/s7.8 to 141 g/dm²
Warbird14.3°10.1 m/s9.9 to 166 g/dm²

Learn to fly.

Three guides to the three things every new RC pilot has to get right, written from the same flight model.