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Final pictures - maidened this afternoon - very nice flyer (as expected ? ) just need to spend lots of time on the sticks to learn pattern... the Wayfarer in the background is also mine and also a splendid flyer especially in hooligan mode. Twins Bill and Ben the pilot men each eagerly waiting their turn. 1930 watts on my meter 87Amps drawn at full chat. 15 x 7 APCE prop Landed at 7 min Zippy Compact 6S 6200 mAh pack with 30% remaining Very happy indeed.

How about a complete list of UK kit manufacturers, i like to buy British if i can and have bought from Warbirds Replicas, Cambrian and Cambria Models over the last couple of years, who else is out there, i know of Cloud models and the Vintage model aircraft company plus PB models. Can anyone post the definitive list plus links? How about making it some sort of sticky so we can help these companies survive and hopefully prosper?

Here is yet another, my new DB 57" Tiggy. Laser 70 for grunt and at 6 1/4 lbs flies quite well. I need a larger diameter and lower pitch prop than the current 13x6 to tame it down a little. Built from scratch from the Sarik plan.

Of the above I can personally recommend Phoenix Model products. http://www.phoenixmp.com/acatalog/Stan_s_Kits.html if you want a link.

Thanks Richard and after a spot of flying this morning it was shed time with the Focke this afternoon. Actually the shed does not have enough space to have the wings on and sit on the C of G stand so I have to use the kitchen worktop. Sue's very tolerant after not fancying the cold workshop to build her Ohmen during the winter build so I have have a special exemption. Anyway results are in! Measure the C of G with tanks full and gear down to see where the C of G actually is (90mm dry and gear up), Very surprising with gear down and tanks full the C of G only moves 7mm forwards. I am going with Richards UC drag theory as a significant factor. Measure the engine alignment as both bulkheads were disrupted in the second crash. The engines already have 1.48 degrees of down thrust compared to the wing Recheck the wing incidence as its been reduced from +2 degrees to close to zero. This came out at 1.25 degrees Plan for the next flight Add a little down thrust assuming its not incorrect (if incorrect then just set it to where it should be). Thinking I'll leave this where it is Add a packing plate to the TE and bring the wing down to 0.25 degrees as this was the last change before and seems to have made the biggest difference + it will effectively change the thrust angle anyway. Set a mix up on a switch with gear to elevator on the TX knob, I have a feeling its going to pitch up when the gear goes up (same a the ballooning with flaps, but more of that later) If the above helps then I might try moving the C of G forwards say 4 mm at a time and see what happens Tomorrow looks like another reasonable day for weather and wind direction...report due post flight!

The thing is Chris , if we dont keep pushing the boundaries , as painful as it is , how can we know what we are capable of ? Whatever happens , you've learnt a lot .

The skin components of the fin, tail plane and elevator cut out in 3 mm Depron. Although the tail plane has a tapered shear web it is too flexible so will be given the Ezedope/tissue covered treatment as will the elevator halves to give anything like an appropriate stiffness. The fin should be ok being smaller, thicker and in part supported by the fuselage. The fin and tail plane have a substantial streamline 'body' which will have to added later.

Lifted nicely from the mould but the lay up was not really substantial enough, so replaced and added a further layer of the carbon cloth.

Cutter in action and finished results.

Thanks guys for the continued interest and advice as it all adds to the overall analysis and ultimately the plan of what to do and when. With comments so far, plus club members who have contributed the plan will be to fly it again with the goal to trim it with the gear up but first as Richard points out a few things need to be checked. Measure the C of G with tanks full and gear down to see where the C of G actually is (90mm dry and gear up), could be as far forward as 55mm as flown Measure the engine alignment as both bulkheads were disrupted in the second crash Recheck the wing incidence as its been reduced from +2 degrees to close to zero Plan for the next flight Add a little down thrust assuming its not incorrect (if incorrect then just set it to where it should be) Set a mix up on a switch with gear to elevator on the TX knob, I have a feeling its going to pitch up when the gear goes up (same a the ballooning with flaps, but more of that later) If this does not help then packing plate under the TE of the wing and take a bit more incidence off (to a definite zero, only concern is the wing does have washout and not forgetting it effectively drops the thrust line as well). give that a go and see what it flies/looks like The take home is that its now just about flyable which allows hopefully many more flights to sort it out The great Eric "Winkle" Brown only flew the Ta 154 with the gear down due to hydraulic issues and the rescaled plans flew with fixed gear, hence I think there could be a lot of work in progress before its fully sorted. Still pleasantly surprised it take off with no flap, lands like any 17lbs warbird would and the UC stood up to the side thrust (drifting test!). That was all my fault as I wasn't on the ball with the rudder once the wheels touched !

Very nice!

Hours? It’s supposed to be a clock??? What? I’m not tracking.

Nice to compare. Mine is the LDIIs (the long one) weighs in at 8lb all up with 6s 5000mA. I'm on 16x10, 1200W and 60A max use 50% at 6 mins. Not ballistic but big loops and 'enough' power.

Here’s my Warbird Replicas Lavochkin 7, built by me over the last year. It’s got a Laser 80 in it but is unflown. As I work abroad that won’t happen until the end of the summer. Its been painted by a friend, the colours are a bit off, a result of the photo being transferred several times and then printed. However, he’s made such a good job of it that I don’t care. Maybe it will be easier to see in flight. It weighs in at 10lb 10 oz, 2 oz overweight to the figures give by Richard. I’ll touch up the control horns and dirty it up a bit, add panel lines too. But it was easy to build and looks great.

Last preparations for the cartridge collector and gun camera. It took a while to get the proper shape from photographs (drawings were not accurate). And then I had to make some corrections since the airfoil thickness of my model is not perfectly scale and their height shouldn't be too different. Timo

This is by far the best wire for foam cutting, it's specially made for the purpose. I recently got a reel of this stuff and it's immensely strong and thin. I made a 1m long bow with some carbon fibre tube I had lying around and sprung it with a bungee strap. You can run it at red heat if you want and it doesn't loose strength even at high tension. I used 18 gauge aluminium templates and it is no noticeable heatsink effect. being very thin it cuts a breeze through a large block of EPS. Anyone serious about hot wire foam cutting should seriously consider using this stuff. https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/321161359058

Perhaps some thin ply plates let into the fuselage sides using a servo to 'pull' them open against a band, somewhat like the fuselage air brakes on many jet aircraft. Going further with the parachute idea, if it were mounted in a streamlined fairing on top of the wing, it could be located at the CG to permit a vertical descent? Given the band on wing, it need not be a permanent fixture. Just a thought.

Personally I would say that the elevator would not have the authority to put the model into that complelety stalled attitude that a dethermaliser does. But it is an awfully long time since I did any serious free flight flying. A Calypso Major at the RAF Champs in the late 50s