Aeromodelling  is the art of making and flying non man-carrying aircraft. The aircraft can be a scale model of a full size aircraft or a design specifically for the hobby. Model aircraft can be anything from un-powered and uncontrolled, free-flight gliders, to multi engine radio controlled aircraft with wingspans of six or more feet.

Non-flying models are also termed static, display, or shelf models.

Flying models range from simple toy gliders made of balsa wood,  card stock or foam polystyrene to powered scale models made from materials such as balsa wood, bamboo, plastic, styrofoam, carbon fiber, or fiberglass and are sometimes skinned with tissue paper or mylar covering. Some can be very large, especially when used to research the flight properties of a proposed full scale design.

Static models range from mass-produced toys in white metal or plastic to highly accurate and detailed models produced for museum display and requiring thousands of hours of work.

 

Flying model aircraft are generally controlled through one of three methods

• Free flight (F/F) model aircraft fly without external control from the ground. The aircraft must be set up before flight so that its control surfaces, and weight allow stable flight. Most free flying models are either unpowered gliders or rubber powered.

• Control line (C/L) model aircraft use cables to tether a plane to a central point, either held by hand or to a pole. The aircraft is then flown around the point in circles. Usually two cables are used which tether the model and also, through a bellcrank connection to the aircraft's elevator, control it in pitch. Some u control planes use 3 cables. The third cable controls the throttle if the engine is so equipped. There are many different categories that u-control air planes may compete in. 

• Radio-controlled aircraft have a transmitter operated by the controller, sending signals to a receiver in the model which in turn actuates servos which manipulate the model's flight controls in a similar manner to a full sized aircraft. In traditional aircraft, the radio has directly controlled the servos. However, modern aircraft often use flight controlling computers to stabilize an aircraft or even to fly the aircraft autonomously. This is particularly the case with quadcopters.

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