In radio-controlled aircraft, Hotliner is a term used to describe a fast sailplane

Radio-controlled glider

A radio-controlled glider is a type of radio-controlled aircraft that normally does not have any form of propulsion. They are able to sustain continuous flight by exploiting the lift produced by slopes and thermals, controlled remotely from the ground with a transmitter...

 with an electric motor

Electric motor

An electric motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy.Most electric motors operate through the interaction of magnetic fields and current-carrying conductors to generate force...

. The range of what is often described as a hotliner varies from a sailplane with ailerons to 7000 watt

Watt

The watt is a derived unit of power in the International System of Units , named after the Scottish engineer James Watt . The unit, defined as one joule per second, measures the rate of energy conversion.-Definition:...

 competition F5b

F5b

F5b is a type of remote control electric model aircraft contest that consists of doing as many laps as possible between 2 poles 150 meters apart in 200 seconds followed by 10 minutes of thermalling, and then landing on a 30 meter landing circle. The laps must be made while gliding only, no motor...

 planes. General characteristics of a hotliner are:

• Sailplane with at least aileron and elevator
  Elevator (aircraft)
  Elevators are flight control surfaces, usually at the rear of an aircraft, which control the aircraft's orientation by changing the pitch of the aircraft, and so also the angle of attack of the wing. In simplified terms, they make the aircraft nose-up or nose-down...
  
   control
• Electric motor
• Ability to climb at an angle of 70 degrees or more, usually vertical climbs.

Hotliners have been around since the early 1990s and became popular almost a decade later.

History

Hans-Dieter Levin first proposed this term in his test of the Aeronaut Sinus in a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

. Originally, it was an electric sailplane with remotely controlled ailerons, capable of flying faster than the models of the period which only had rudder

Rudder

A rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft or other conveyance that moves through a medium . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...

 and elevator controls. Levin tested his Sinus with a Speed 600 motor and an 8x4.5?(diameter(inches)/pitch(incher per revolution)) prop and a 7 cell NiCad battery pack. In this configuration a climb at more than 70° was not possible. However, the term, hotliner, has since evolved to mean models with a fast climb rate. Aileron-equipped electric models which are not so fast are called warmliners.

Typically hotliners are launched at full throttle and reach a high altitude. From here the pilot cuts the motor and starts a series of maneuvers.