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In support of this month's free plan, the Minimoa in action...

Finally competed the ME163. Finished in 2k red with black added until it looked right (to me) with a 2k Lacquer to protect the decals. These decals were very fragile and the off coloured clear bits show (ah well) . The big mistake is i didnt scan the decals in first. Anyone out there with the decals in jpg form? The control surfaces have surface detail added by using tape, priming then removing the tape to form an edge The maiden was to be Saturday but it didnt happen as my os 25FP didnt run too well with a carb mount screw missing (oops - slight oversight). Next time hopefully!

This is another old chestnut that got a lot of attention a while ago. I doubt whether many club members would put up with it and I remember some frank discussions that took place in both of my clubs where it was felt that some people were, shall we say, over stepping the mark. Not everyone lives within a few minutes' drive of their field, so one can imagine the frustration of arriving after a longish journey only to find an empty field and no flying if such a rule existed. Both of my clubs recommend that members don't fly alone but in the end the decision is down to the individual. Have a heart attack or injure yourself on a prop when alone.....not a totally outside possibility, but if one weighs up the risks, understands and accepts them and takes reasonable precautions, I don't see a problem.

Nothing quite like flying at sunset, except the sun goes down in front of me rather than behind at my strip. Sunglasses and occasional squinting are the order of the day when landing at times!

I'm an evening man myself Mike, fields quiet and you get nice Sunsets.

Hornets nest ? Don't want to be there on your own if there's Hornets. ? You can fly on your own at ours till someone else turns up, then you can't.

Thanks Mike, you are absolutely right, and we can leave the gate open a few days per year, But we pass through a field with livestock, having to leave the top gate locked, and the intermediate gate rope catched. I fly power every flying day of the year and support the idea of fewer obstacles and rules. But when something goes badly wrong, you need a good plan and mates. Just my take on the subject.

Yes it is Warbouys, a credit to our maintenance team. I was simply making a comment and not trying to stir up the lone flyer debate again. For my money too many people want to impose rules on others. Because of my work shifts I often fly alone and I accept the risks and act accordingly. Lets leave it there please chaps.

Blimey! If everybody achieved the epitome of personal perfection in our daily lives advocated by some contributors, we could dispense with NHS A&E departments at a stroke! Given that nothing is proof against a sufficiently talented fool, we take a variety of steps to mitigate risks. In my (and many) Club's case, one of them is a 'strong recommendation' that members do not fly alone. And we leave it at that....

Fair enough, and of course you are right, it is very easy to dissect an accident after the event. No criticism intended, other than to say that we (all of us) can be rather complacent about what can be rather dangerous devices. It behoves us to be a bit more thoughtful than we are. On your second point, I also use what 3 words and I have written down what those are, they are also in my contact info on my wife's phone to give to emergency services if needed. I do take your points and I do agree that it is probably preferable to not fly alone. That said, my only model flying accident was caused by another flyer! Ultimately, if person a feels safer not flying alone, that's great, but it shouldn't be something which is imposed on the whole club.

Use what3words!

What next no working with power tools on your own.To many rules for gods sake get on with life and stop worrying about everyone else.

I certainly can't, the blood rushes to my head, and my neck aches.

Chris Williams here...thought I might drop in a share the odd bit of scale gliding info now & again...

Few pictures from earlier. But if a better back drop than my kitchen tiles!

The cockpit canopy is first built in situ. And then cut free. note the offset hatch shape to allow the battery to be placed left of centre to counter the weight of the ESC on the right cockpit wall. With the canopy hatch complete painting can be started. Sky blue underside first. Two coats of match pot emulsion. A Lemon stab Rx fitted but not yet connected up. A bit of a story behind this. The Lemon stab uses the Aux1 channel to switch the gyro on/off. The Spectrum DX6i uses Aux 2 for the left hand aileron in its 'dual ail' setup so Aux1 is available, however my new Hobbyking TX6i uses Aux1 for 'dual ail' so the Lemon gyro is disabled. It took me some time to identify what was happening. If and when the P1052 proves to be a good flyer I will replace the gyro Rx with a basic 6 channel so the Hobby King TX6i can be used.

This on Ebay appears to be what you want andyh, or at least the description should enable you to search wider.

What you are showing is the protective shroud for the pins. As said previously pins cannot be converted to socket, its either male or female. Gender neutral doesn,t even come into it?

Fair enough!

Nope, it's a polarising sleeve in my book. It has neither pins nor receptacles so is gender-neutral. For RC use it turns a plug into a sleeved plug.?

There is a chap who regularly advertises glowplug thread repairs on the BMFA Classifieds . A friend used him and was very impressed. He charges around £18 which is a lot cheaper than a kit. I intended to buy a time sert kits some years ago then the price seemed to jump so never did buy it. Have looked recently and can't seem to find the 1/4 x 32 inserts ? His name is Peter Vidgeon ,located in Surrey and he currently has an add in the services section of the classifieds.

Nope to both. I regularly fly on my own, as do others on here, and I don't want any more rules for the 'fun police' to enforce.

Excellent job and a cheaper alternative than buying new parts . The cups in the screws will probably polish and work harden after some long runs so may need slight adjustment but that should be minimal.?

Great write up Steve but you forgot probably the best of the lot, Laser Engines, still going strong, still producing a great and expanding range of engines and still very sought after!

I got a chance to test fly my Sabre earlier today on the NW slope overlooking Hells Mouth Bay near Abersoch. It all went fine so I thought I'd report on my first experience with the model. The winds were only 12-15mph in strength, a little less than ideal but other models were flying well so I decided to go for it! The model flew well with only a little trim needed on the elevator from the off. It was responsive in pitch and roll using the control throws on the plan. During the flight my initial thougths were it was just a tiny bit tail heavy. But having mulled the flight over whilst driving home I now think that the model was just flying towards the lower limits of the lift required, perhaps it never really got 'on song' - certainly I needed a few clicks of up trim in the conditions to maintain level flight - so I now dont think it was tail heavy, just not quite in optimum trim due to marginal lift. I flew the model for 10 minutes or so before performing a cross slope landing into the heather at the launch point, it was all quite controllable and I eagerly look forward to being able to fly the Sabre again in conditions that are just a little bit stronger! Big thanks go to Andy Meade for the photography today whilst I was sweating on the sticks!

Aaarrr, but I’ve always suspected, we buy plans, as a lady buys a handbag. And a Sarik short kit is the things what goes in the virtual handbag. The demand would cease if you were made to use it, or build it, as the case might be.