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Seaplanes Scotland choice selects from the weekend. 🏴🇬🇧👌😎 Best flying ever and wonderful company.16 points
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This is my Mark Rittinger 'Super Sportwin. Wings by 'Bill', the rest from stock. 3542/1000 motors, 40A Hobbywing ESCs and Banggood retracts. I found out the hard way that when you build a twin, you effectively commit yourself to building 3 fuselages! I maidened it a month or so ago and it flew superbly. The second flight - not so much... The wing survived, as did the tail feathers and all the hatches. So when I've summoned up the willpower, I'll build 3 more ^%^*&% fuselages (and 'character' as well, apparently...)15 points
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Cold and murky at the patch but a nice breeze in a good direction. Well mannered on the ground and in the air after a short run and still at only half throttle. Four or five clicks of down trim needed and a couple of left aileron and all was good. I probably need to reduce the elevator throw by a fair bit but otherwise I got the sense of a lovely flying warbird. Cloud base was so low I didn’t fancy a loop and was content to do some circuits a roll and a couple of slow 1/2 flap down fly pasts to feel out the approach and landing. The slow speed handling with the huge wing area and tailplane is a new warbird experience for me and she came in like a dream using very little of the patch. Happy days. Credit to our club Chairman Chris for the photography. F6f Hellcat 1/5.3 scale 96” span AUW dry 16.4 kg Engine - Saito Fg 90R3 Jerry Bates plans Slec/Belair laser cut parts Stencils - Flightline Graphics. Cowl & canopy- Fighteraces15 points
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Thanks Chris - the maiden went very well indeed. The new dolly worked perfectly and the Beaufighter flies like a dream. Have already shared some of Derek's pictures on the daily flying thread, but as the Beau is my latest I'll pop a few in here as well.15 points
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Fantastic day today. Set off in thick mist and an hour and a half later climbed out of the mist and crossing the Highland Boundary Fault saw the first hints of a blue sky. Arriving at the field it was still cloudy, but calm and during the morning the clouds moved away, the wind settle to a comfortable 5mp breeze, initially not in a brilliant direction, but then swinging round to a nice SW wind. Not too many of us at the field, which was now bathed in sunlight and with big bright blue skies. The warmer weather recently has caused some late growth in the grass, but not enough to cause problems with reasonably sized wheels. I like to start the flying off with one of the wee Volantex 400mm warbirds and then after a bunch of bottle building flights with my Flightline Spitfire, HK Hellcat, SEMFF Zero and Warbirds FW190 it was time for the main business of the day - my Flair Beaufighter, I'd made a new dolly, which sits between the nacelles and supports the Beaufighter fuselage and wing. I'd also swapped out the 3 bladed Graupner nylon props for 12x6" APC-E props for the maiden flight. The dolly tracked Beautifully and the Beaufighter leapt into the air and climbed out a little steeply, but perfectly in control and with no drama. The model flies perfectly and feels like a much bigger aeroplane. After a series of low and high passes for Derek to capture some images, I threw in a no-drama loop and roll, before setting up for an approach and gentle belly landing. The model behaved impeccably from start to finish and I'm delighted. Thanks so much to Derek for these excellent pictures that he's rushed through to me this evening. Enjoyed several more flights before setting off back into the mist for a memorable day. At home it seems that the mist didn't lift at all and it had been drizzling the whole day.14 points
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Klasskote paint and catalyst finally arrived and yesterday was both warm and dry for a change; ideal for cranking up my old dental compressor. Spray gun is a £30 1.00mm nozzle gravity fed job from Amazon. I am told that Hellcats in dark navy blue came out of the factory in a full gloss finish. My Minsi 3 is a restored flying Hellcat and also has an immaculate finish. For the main colour I have used 7:3 parts of gloss and satin catalyst as full gloss is just a bit OTT for me. Looking forward to adding all the insignia which will be sprayed through masks using an airbrush and SMS model acrylic paint.14 points
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My latest warbird pictured a couple of days ago by lensman Derek Robertson. She's a Hobbyking Grumman Hellcat, which comes in the white, red and gold livery of Reno Racer Lil' Nugget, but which I've refinished out of the box as JV131, an 800 Squadron Hellcat 1, as embarked on HMS Emperor during the D-Day landings. All markings masked and airbrushed, which was a bit of a job - have yet to add the light weathering, but had the opportunity of a maiden flight and took it. The model is very rapid with the recommended 4s1p 2200mah lipo and will loop easily on less than 1/3rd throttle.13 points
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I thought that I may as well share this with you all. I met Andrew White at the Rochdale indoor flying meeting as well as having a chat with him I took some pictures of his fantastic models including The HP42. Steve.13 points
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You might all be wondering what I have been doing on this project . After all , I ask myself the same question on a regular basis . 😬 I have all the motors /spinners/props that people might want but m still waiting for decals as they had to be made specifically . During the wait , I have been experimenting with my new 110 Undercarriage set up . The last set I designed for the big twins was made in a machine shop and really was rather good . However it was too expensive to make and could not really be repaired outside of Warbirds HQ . So this time , my quest was to create an undercarriage system that would absorb upward and rearward impact , be easy to repair/adjust and maintain, plus, use off the peg items for the most part that are available at a reasonable cost . So far I have carried out 30 landings on the 110 . There are still a few tweaks that I'd like to try, but I feel that we are pretty near the workable variant . Each retract unit will have an alloy oleo for vertical shock . More importantly there will be a "spring board" plate for the units to mount on which will allow the retracts to spring backwards exactly as if they had a conventional coil spring in the space between the oleo and the retract unit . (You will perhaps remember that rearward retracting units cannot accommodate a coil spring as the coil would thump the actuating "cylinder " on retraction ) In the picture below , you can see that we started off with a 3d Printed L shaped bracket that provided the spring . The bracket is bolted to the vertical former in front of the wing . On the Guinea Pig 110 , the vertical former is not glued in . It simply drops into slots and is then locked with a small pin . That means that I can change the whole unit in seconds. Paul and I have been trying different materials for the bracket . In my mind, we havent quite found the best version as cold weather seems to have an adverse effect . However , the principle works really well and so for the first variant , we will probably go for a conventional wire spring to create bounce in the "springboard plate " We can all deal with a spring and you cant break it ! After you all receive your packs I will continue to test different plastic options on my own twins . But they do need to be tested in different temperatures . The simplicity of the plastic spring board makes it worth pursuing for the future . The main thing for you chaps to consider is that the more landings and tweaks I do to the set up , the more successful and trouble free your landing will be . On that note , I have to say that the 110 is great fun to land and hopefully , with the undercarriage set up sorted in your models you will get to appreciate that .12 points
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Dreich day today, but the forecast promised better conditions up north and I'd committed to go to my old club field. Loaded up in the dark and in heavy drizzle. That continued all the wat to the hills an hour later - first glimpse of just a hint of blue sky crossing the Highland Boundary Fault, but still a heavy, dense mist on arrival with the ceiling probably about a hundred feet, A huge skein of geese were perturbed to find their way over the Cairngorms blocked by a cloudbase below the hills and circled for ten minutes, before giving up and heading back northwards, from whence the had came. As usual I had my first flight before anyone else arrived, with my Volantex Me109, testing out where the cloudbase was and had about a 17 minute flight, landing before the telemetry announced the battery was spent. As my flying pals arrived a variety of models took to the air, though it was decidedly murky the flying conditions were good, calm and later on stable air with a gentle breeze right down the field. The murk made it very tricky conditions for any photography though, but Derek did manage to capture some atmospheric pictures of the maiden flight of my Dornier Do17, which has been a couple of years coming, since the design and build of the model by Jim Jamieson. The new wee Volantex FW190 was more of a challenge in the murk, but also successfully captured. The Dorner flew beautifully on what was her third flight. I let the take off run use most of the field, to ensure she was up to full flying speed and was careful with the elevator but truthfully she was a pussycat, flying like a big trainer, just like Jim promised - a really workable practical twin. Against the misty hills the big bomber looked ace and the pictures captured the silhouette of the Flying Pencil - that mist made sure that it wasn't a Flying Coloured Pencil though. 😉 These twins are great fun and sound great! Also had a rare outing for my now remotored Trick Razor, which was a bit of a wild ride at first and still suffered a bit of PIO through the flight, courtesy of my twitching thumbs, but was flying better than she has ever flown before and didn't do the usual death spiral. Arrived back home to heavy drizzle and darkness, but very happy with how the day went.12 points
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First outing for my finally completed Flair Beaufighter yesterday. NO maiden flight as the dolly was just too small to allow clearance for the props - hope to remedy that today and get the Beaufighter in the air shortly.12 points
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On a very personal note, I shall pursue this hobby until the day I die, or sooner if I unexpectedly become severely incapacitated. It's no exaggeration to say that it has been the single most important factor in keeping my sanity over the years.12 points
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some people avoid the sun but we play with it. we are flying on a landstroke between waterways, located near the coast and the location is very influenced by weather. this was one of those days with no rain and a lot of sun.12 points
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I'm sorry to report that Peter passed away in hospital on Sunday. He was 87. Ironically I was only chatting to him last week, I gave him a call to see if he'd kept a record of the designs he'd had published and he said it was just shy of 200, the first being in 1974. He'd written for just about every UK model flying publication, several in the USA too, not forgetting his books too. Aside from his prodigious output, I always found him very easy to chat to and work with, a super gentleman. He'll be much missed.11 points
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During a recent perusal of the very informative site, run by Adrian Duncan,for those interested in model I/C , engines, www.adriansmodelaeroengines.com. I discovered information and drawings for this 1950s design in the alphabetical list of model engines in the "Engine Articles"section. As it was possible to make it from bar stock and I had sufficient material to hand, I decided it would be my next project. The article mentions it has been made by several of the "Motor Boys" from the late Ron Chernich's Model Engine News site and includes photos of finished engines. In partiular, it was the photo of Ken Croft's engine that attracted me, with its British Racing Green anodised parts, so it his engine that I have copied. Two sets of drawings are on the site.The original set, all on one page, are from an article published in the, now defunct, Model Maker magazine of June 1952. The other set of six drawings are CAD and produced by Ron Chernich. It is these drawings that I worked with. When trying to start this engine for the first time, I found the ignition point quite quicklywith a 6"x4" APC nylon prop fitted, but it would not go over TDC whatever I tried. It just bounced back and forward. Reducing compression did not cure it and there were no tight spots. The engine was originally designed for tether car use.The old drawings include a flywheel and I wondered if the timing is set for flywheel use. I therefore changed to a heavier 9"x4" APC nylon prop and it started second flick. The fuel tank holds fuel for a two minute run. In the attached photo of it running it is turning over at 5800 RPM, using Model Technics 1000 fuel. No gaskets have been fitted and there are no leaks, Clean oil is from the exhaust, so everything is where it should be. It is a not a very noisy engine, with a sound very reminiscent of the Mills 1,3 cc11 points
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Well it is a forum, but for me personally I find it very sad when things like this happen, last thing I'd want to do is speculate as to the whys n where's, these are well respected people going through tough times.11 points
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I was greatly saddened to hear that Steve Webb Models and Hobbies, plus the ServoShop website was closing. Steve and his family have been a constant, integral part of my return to modelling thirty something years ago. We used to lived just half-a-dozen houses from their family home, so Steve, Anne Louise, Fred and Marie and the staff. have been staunch friends of my family, so today is a really sad day, both for modelling, but also for Frodsham and the surrounding villages. Lots of modellers, in the North West especially, will miss the great service, superb stock and overwhelming helpfulness of the best model shop that I've ever been in. I'd already missed our memorable Friday late night specials, since those stopped ,and more recently greatly missed the frequent visits to both of the Church Street shops over many years, since moving north. The Servoshop mail orders continued to be best in class, but there's nothing to match what was proudly billed as The Little Shop With The Big Stock. I wish Steve, Anne Louise, Ady and their families all the very best wishes for the future and hope that they carry forward those happy memories of coming up to forty years of serving the modelling community, during which time they made countless friends. Thanks for everything, Webbies - you're the best.😎11 points
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Also posted this on my build notes in the scale section. Jerry Bates Plan F6F 96’”, Saito Fg 90 R3 radial for power. First impressions are of a well behaved warbird. Trainerr’esque wing area and huge tailplane combined with a modest weight (16.4kg).10 points
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OK, so this was passed to me after being intercepted on its way to landfill. After failing to identify it,( it was clearly a kit, approx 41”), I had no real projects under way, so I had a bit of a head scratch and decided to see if I could make something of it, as it seemed a shame to bin and was actually a nice build. I determined it was closest to a clipped wing spit, so embarked on rounding the top deck, with depron sanded, and then 1/32nd sheet. Filled in the cut away for IC, and made hatches for electric motor and battery access. Rummaged in the garage for various bits I already had, and treated it to some decals. After a lengthy interview process Snoopy got the gig!, and prop on for flat field, prop off for slope.. What do you all reckon, does it resemble loosely a spit of a MK XVI variety? I think I will call it a “Spitish”... perhaps cartoon scale!, with a cartoon pilot! 😊10 points
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Incredible weather for the time of the year in NE Scotland - almost like a proper Summer's day and with not a breath of wind, bright sunshine and an excellent turnout with fifteen folks at the field. Had a successful maiden flight with my latest - a Hobbyking Hellcat Reno racer, refinished as an 800 Squadron Hellcat 1 - really nice and stable, with a good turn of speed . No flying pictures as yet, but those will come later in the week. Lots of flying and different models on show, including a maiden of Jim's latest Tony Nihuis Spitfire representing the post-war civil scheme worn by MH434 and it was the perfect day for such a beautiful silver, blue and white livery. Murat was having great fun with his impressive Al Tazar flying wing. Totting up the day's flying turns out that I had a dozen flights with ten different models, not counting a couple that didn't make it into the air. A memorable day. 😎10 points
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@Nick Cripps wonderful DB Sea Stormer. For me it’s the perfect anthesis of all that is great and fine in our hobby. Fantastic end of season weekend with the amazing guys at Seaplanes Scotland and more eyesight lost to Photoshop. 🏴🇬🇧👍😎 Top marks @Nick Cripps10 points
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Well it’s official, book it in your diaries now, 1st-3rd August. There will be some ‘special’ additions to the fun so keep coming back here to find out!!!10 points
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Remarkably calm today (Monday 14th) so I took the opportunity to fly my XPS Black Arrows Hawker Hunter F6. Made from 5mm XPS laminate underlay with no reinforcement anywhere so at 16oz is light for its 33" span. It has a rather power hungry but super smooth QX50mm EDF and a modest 1800mAh 3s. Fortunately it flies well including loops and rolls at a good bit less than full power. Easy hand launch, 3 minute flight, no damage.10 points
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A couple of years ago Peter posted this - seemingly serious comment- " Posted December 21, 2022 Well I am 85. I may not qualify for wings on the other side so in my workshop there is a set of wings with a big label which reads. "These wings are to be glued, screwed or nailed to my coffin lid" I am taking my wings with me in case!! "9 points
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Not flying but maybe of interest. Went to Stowe gardens NT nr Silverstone yesterday , for the last day of the Standing with Giants D-Day 80 memorial exhibition. 1475 metal silhouettes that have previously been displayed at the Normandy memorial in Ver-sur Mer. Walking through brought a mixture of emotions! Well worth the trip.9 points
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Best of British weekend at Bucko next August 1st - 3rd. I'm sure that I can fit in a PM designs slot.9 points
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Hello! Had totally forgotten that I posted the question about the Balsacraft Hurricane, so here's an update of the project. Powered by a Roxxy CL 35-42 with Kv 930 rpm/volt and a Beatles 50 Amp ESC Battery i 3s 3300 mAh a propeller 11x7" Maiden flight 30th Oct 2022, ended with a too hard contact with ground, reason was that the aileron servo gave up. Befor that I felt a very well flying model. No major damage so the repair wasn't too difficlut. I decided to install 2 miniservos in the wing Next flight went better but the model stalled from ca 1,5 meter above ground with the water cooler separated. This Hurricane flies absolutely wonderful now. the only thing I find a bit tricky is launching, i must be very quick to pull some elevetor so I mostly ask a clubmate to launch it for me. Oh, and the flying weight is 1370 grams Best Regards Jan Olov Stenberg, Sweden9 points
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I have to say I am probably alone in this but the CAA’s change makes complete sense to me as previously you could be legally competent either by having a flyer ID earned through the caa DMARES test or by doing the bmfa rcc test oorvby using the A/B test exemption. However what caa have realised is that the average enforcing officer is never going to have the knowledge to know about the bmfa exemption routes where you didn’t need a flyer ID, so it is far more logical that those exemption routes mean you are now issued with a Flyer ID, that wayany officer trying to enforce the law just has to ask for ia valid flyer ID to know whether you are competent in the eyes of the law or not! Simple to understand and universally applicable.9 points
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Hello Introducing the new Supermarine Spiteful Scale 1/5 Span 2133 mm length 2000 mm Fiala 70 4T engine with starter Weight in flight order 13.5 kg Wing area 186 gdm2 the 1st flight will be scheduled in spring 2025 following the pilot’s motivation 😀9 points
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Insignia and markings now added. Just the nomenclature and a few other details to go.9 points
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This is a recurrent & depressing topic but one observation I've made over & over is how many are totally fixated one one small sub-genre of R/C, never straying outside their niche. We see it at our club - flyers who will only fly jets - "anything else is a toy" - others who will only fly big petrol 3D models, wouldnt be seen dead with an 'ordinary' model. Some who will fly nothing but scale - "your Wot4 isnt a real aeroplane". And "gliders? Pfft. No engine?" - and so on. Terry's novelty models are amazing, Dumbo the flying elephant, the Witch on her broomstick, Superman, etc but try as he might he cannot get anyone to even try a novelty model. How many here have flown a model rocket? When did you last fly C/L? Its frequently electric now!!! Drones. Yes, they've caused us some difficulties, but they're here to stay and flying one 'for real' really helps develop orientation skills. This self-imposed tunnel-vision is an unfortunate limitation - although its a minority hobby, there are a gazillion avenues to explore. At least a gazillion, maybe more 🙂 Locally across several clubs in the area we've coaxed a lot more into our slope soaring group, including many first-timers - all loving it. The Retro R/C scene shows no sign of slowing - the completeness of flying a 1970s model with a Merco and a Skyleader radio is unbeatable! 🙂 R/C-oriented homebrew electronics is also on the up, it doesnt have to be complicated to be satisfying, and its so easy to share now. And of course our roots - single-channel and Reeds. More than anything, all this is brain food, you never stop learning. Maybe we have too much choice, maybe the options are bewildering - but trying something different to your regular Sunday hack really can be an eye-opener, and ultimately, maybe expand the hobby! 🙂 [/2p] Cheers Phil9 points
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Beautiful weather here today so a second and less nervy outing with Minsi 3. Fortunately our club chairman was there with his camera again.8 points
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The waves of negativity which threaten to engulf the admirable venture which is the Buckminster National Flying Centre and emanate from certain quarters are profoundly depressing. As has been pointed out, it's surely an important part of the organisation to maintain a focal point and somewhere that can house events, be a facility for the membership to fly - presumably the most important part of this hobby. It's several hundred miles away from me and if I ever visited at all it would be a rare visit, so not something I'd make use of on a regular basis, but I still support a portion of my subscription being used to help run the centre, It beggars belief that such an asset and centre point would not be considered a core part of the BMFA - it is NOT just about the Insurance. It's also puzzling that these repeated claims of not being represented, or not hearing about what is going on, continue to be made, when there are many thousands of words communicated every year by the BMFA and these days the committee and sub-committee meetings minutes and live discussion are readily available via the internet.8 points
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Here you go, guys. A ray of hope for the future. Two youngsters, with NO relatives already into R/C flying, came to our club field to see the hobby in action and to have some trial flights. They were absolutely captivated by the whole experience. They will be back for more. Seen here immeresed in aeroplanes... Lol.8 points
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Commemorative Air Force logo and nomenclature now completed A final top coat of transparent Klasskote has been applied to protect the acrylic markings and dry rub decals. All that remains is to bolt in the engine, programme the radio and pressure check the pneumatics. Next week’s weather looks promising, so if all checks go well we should have a maiden.8 points
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The flying events season started for me this year at the end of April with a trip up to Loch Earn, so it seemed appropriate to bring it to a close at the same venue some 6 months later. The forecast was poor for Friday, good for Saturday and dreadful for Sunday but I reasoned that driving up on Friday and staying overnight would give me a chance for a full day's flying on Saturday before driving back in the evening. This was the view from my car on Friday afternoon when I arrived at Loch Earn: Luckily, a brief weather window appeared about an hour later so I was able to get in one flight with the Skipper before the rain returned: Even better was Saturday morning. This was the view when I went down for breakfast at 8am: I was joined by 4 other Englishmen who had managed to evade the border patrols: @Merry Mark and his son Seb, "Geordie" John and "Northstar" Phil. Mark and I flew sorties with our matching Valiants while Seb went out in the rescue boat, John took the record for the most touch-and-goes and Phil had a ball with his Northstars. I also flew my DB Sea Stormer which was maidened here in April and has now racked up 36 flights at various waterplane events this year: It wasn't all a bed of roses though, as my Skipper was brutally attacked by Phil's Northstar when he joined Mark, John and me in a mini "Skipperfest": Luckily the all debris was collected from the lake so it should be an easy fix and back in the air again soon. We found a section of a prop blade embedded in the underside of the Northstar so Phil didn't get away with it completely! My thanks go to Caroline and the team at Loch Earn who always make us feel welcome and put on a great, laid-back event with plenty of amusing banter. I'm already looking forward to going back again next season!8 points
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Thanks to everybody for the nice messages. Chris really liked this forum and I understand why.8 points