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History of Atmocraft

   Atmocraft is a family business dedicated to applying current materials and technology to provide affordable radio control aircraft for the hobbyist and aerial photographer.  William La is an immigrant engineer with an interest in mechanical systems and photography, who has developed an omnidirectional wheel system for land vehicles and a simple method for creating and displaying stereophotographs.  His twin sons Richard and David, native residents of Silicon Valley, have enjoyed racing R/C cars and flying R/C airplanes since childhood.  They fly regularly at Rancho San Antonio Park in the foothills of Los Altos.

   Our early forays into R/C flight were rather frustrating on account of many factors, among which were the high cost in money and time associated with building model after model that didn’t survive inevitable crashes, the unreliable performance and difficult operation of noisy small gas engines, the cost of model engine fuel, and the need for large and remote flying fields.  All these obstacles notwithstanding, we could see that given the right circumstances, flying a radio control airplane is an extremely exhilarating experience.  We suspect that for many hopeful youngsters, the acquaintance with this hobby meets an early demise after a patiently built masterpiece returns from its maiden flight as a collection of unsalvageable pieces.  We also suspect that many parents have been discouraged from furthering this line of activity in their child after seeing an expensive Christmas gift instantly smashed to bits after a brief and dangerous excursion into the atmosphere.

   We have long sought a way to decrease the financial and emotional burden of this hobby.  Over time, we have experimented with different inexpensive and easy-to-build model airplane designs.  We converted a $5.00 foam glider generally available in toy stores to R/C flight.  We also built a simple flat-wing covered-balsa flyer held together by rubber bands, with modular wing- and elevator halves that would cleanly detach from the fuselage upon impact and survive more severe crashes.  These efforts helped alleviate some of the problems that we set out to solve, but did not produce aircraft that flew well.

   The ideal R/C aircraft, in our opinion, must offer the following benefits: inexpensive ownership and operation, simple and fast construction, ease of repair, usability in small spaces, and versatility of flight style.  It must deliver the most fun for the least cost, the longest cumulative flying time for the shortest building and maintenance time, and the longest air time for the shortest ground time.  To that end, it should have the following features:  uncomplicated design based on low-cost materials, capability for aerobatic and 3D flying, and prolonged flights between stops for energy store replenishing.  These in turn require that the airplane inherently have high power-to-weight and energy-to-weight ratios, large control surfaces with wide throws, and low wing loading.  An incidental advantage of these characteristics is that the aircraft can also be used as a vehicle for carrying a payload such as a photo or video camera, at an acceptable cost to maneuverability.

   Recent advances in R/C equipment and methods have made it possible to deliver such an ideal device to the hobby market.  Airframe construction using flat foam or corrugated plastic sheets reinforced with carbon rods is inexpensive, simple, sturdy, lightweight, and repairable.  Quiet and efficient brushless electric motors are becoming more affordable and available in smaller sizes.  High-energy density lithium polymer rechargeable batteries are similarly coming down in price while pushing up in power rating.  Improvements in radio control electronics, including incredibly small and capable receivers, servos and speed controllers, add up to an aircraft that flies surprisingly well despite its lack of an aerodynamic wing airfoil.  It is now common for us to fly for hours at the field with a handful of batteries with an endurance of 15 minutes per charge, doing continuous all-out 3D maneuvers.  On days when outdoor flying is not feasible, we can actually practice hovering in our living room. 

   We believe that this confluence of technological and market factors will allow us to introduce a much larger segment of the public to the wholesome pleasures of R/C flying while sparing them the heartbreaks that we encountered in our introduction to this activity.  While a number of other hobbyists are selling similar products, we wish to offer our contributions to the field based on our own experience.  The market at large is yet to be tapped, and our collective efforts at developing it will help lower the barriers and advance the art, to the benefit of vendors as well as consumers.

   The Atmostar™ 3D airplane was developed with the above criteria in mind, with a full stab elevator for added maneuverability.  Its size and power are sufficient for carrying a small camera for aerial photography or videography.  The MyFoamy™ construction set gives the experimenter some latitude in designing his own flat foam 3D airplane.  The Atmopod™ VTOL aircraft is able to take off and land in its own footprint, with a protected propeller for increased operator safety.  It is well suited for the role of "tripod in the air".  For the long term, we envision developing accessible flying objects that eventually will be able to fully use the six degrees of freedom of motion afforded by the atmosphere for pleasure or utility, drawing from interdisciplinary advances in R/C modeling, robotics and digital imaging.