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Stuart's video of North Leeds Record Attempt...

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A total of 32 successfully in the air at noon in the North Leeds club - 21 RC fixed wing, 4 quads and 7 chuckies. A magnificent day organised by Nigel, Jeremy and Bruce, marshalled by Bruce and Steve. A few pics to start, will try to add video later... Quote from organiser Nigel, as sent to the BMFA: 21 fixed wing planes, 4 drones and a handful of chuck gliders all in the air at the same time from one fairly small runway surrounded by rough moorland. What could possibly go wrong?? Well in fact nothing did. After a call to arms thirty-two pilots and several ground support staff volunteered to participate. The free BBQ and talk of a bottle or two after the event obviously had nothing to do with the high response rate. Not to mention the fame fortune and pride that was sure to follow. A plan was drawn up with models divided into four groups, powered gliders with long duration, large petrol models with long duration and good visibility at altitude, general sports models (glow and electric) and light foamy type models. Each group would fly at different altitudes with a flight director and his assistant directing operations. Then there were separate autonomous groups of hovering drones and a few balsa chuck gliders. Two fairly young, fit and sensible ‘fetchermites' were press ganged (sorry volunteered) to clear models from the runway. A BBQ master was installed and a couple of people looking important in high vis. jackets were deployed on the nearby road to warn any horse riders or nervous humans of possible short lived high noise levels and falling debris. Our recently retired club doctor was at the ready to administer medication to over excited members and the gathered throng of admiring spectators. I might be exaggerating a bit... A practice session with a high turn out was held a week before the big day and we refined the plan. It soon became obvious that we could get all models into the air in much less than the 10 minutes we had envisaged. We also found taxiing the models off to the side before cutting throttles and engines was a very effective safe and quick way to clear the strip. Fetchermites were only required for models encountering problems. May the 15th 2022 duly arrived and models were checked, test flown and at the ready. The pre-flight briefing went well with a surprising lack of questions or opinions. No more excuses, takeoffs commenced at 6 minutes to midday and the last model landed at 6 minutes past. A faint mizzle hung in the Yorkshire air but we are tough. The only incident was a dead stick (after midday) suffered by a glow powered Acrowot which landed out with no damage. Blinking was a dangerous occupation as each fixed wing pilot kept their beady eyes glued to their model. Several people with IC engines suffered dead stick paranoia!! It was surprisingly hard to be sure that yours was definately running with so many engines on the go! The sky seemed very crowded. The call to a group photo came immediately after the last glider arried back on terra firma as the smell of freshly BBQ'd burgers drifted over the runway like an invisible magnet, not to mention the popping of a cork or two (not for designated drivers or those intending to fly later of course). The event most definitely brought us all together in the planning and execution of a safe and satisfying day. In fact it was the first big club get together since the start of the pandemic and we look forward to defending our record in the future against the rest of the world. Models downwind... and upwind... Aplogies for the legs... Successful!

Knebworth Model Flying Club, we managed 17 aircraft and 3 chuckies in the air, a fantastic turn out from our small club. Only one casualty who we won't name........Peter

As we are ( long term ) aiming to relocate to the New Forest, as a model flyer of many years I started to research model flying in/around the New Forest. I was unsurprised at all the old arguments against model flying over the country’s uncultivated/common land trotted out by the usual suspects, with ground nesting birds their Ace in the Hole. As a countryman I have seen the reduction in the population of our ground nesting birds since the end of the Second World War, changes in agricultural practices are largely to blame, but our uncultivated areas such as the New Forest are a different matter. Increased public access, especially with poorly controlled dogs will be responsible for example for the decimation of our Curlew population., add to that the increase in the number of foxes ( never known to refuse dietary supplementation with discarded take-aways ) and finally the t.v. naturalists favourite - the Badger, omnivorous, never known to turn down a nest full of eggs or nestlings via hedgehogs and lambs ( live or dead ) to carrion, and they REALLY go for Lapwing nests - a farm can’t have Badgers AND Lapwings, and the ( protected ) Badgers always win. With all the above, a few models, a few hours every few days are a minor distraction. Sloping on the Long Mynd I have had Buzzards and Red Kites formating on my aged Impala ( and a Police Helicopter! ) our electric field is shared by several Sky Larks and both Buzzards and Red Kites intermittently visit our power field overlooking the Severn - nothing seems to worry them and they eventually get bored and stooge off looking for edible pickings. In other words, except in extreme circumstances, responsible model flyers and our native wild birds whether nesting on the ground or in trees appear to co-exist quite happily.

The Tadcaster club launched 11 - 9 RC and 2 Chuckie's. Several were very nervous about so many being up at once but all was well, not even a close call.

The British Waterplane Association managed to get 5 models in the air at midday; 3 others failed to ROW in the strong crosswind and required the services of the rescue boat. Good fun though, when's the next one?

The Ami is a specific solution to a specific problem - a small, cheap, slow vehicle for urban hops that doesn't even reqire a license to drive in most countries (it's classified as a Quadricycle). Most will never leave a 30mph zone, so the top speed really isn't an issue. No, it won't suit lots of people, but it doesn't make it rubbish. It is better seen as an alternative to a cargo ebike than a traditional car tbh.

Horsham club had 11 r/c and 3 chuckies. The rain eased just long enough to complete the challenge.

My thoughts on the format used ? Spot on, I see youngsters and ladies involved, RC and chuckies, all done with a smile and humour in your reports, great effort by all. ?

Here's the Aberdeen and District Soarers effort. 11 pilots successfully taken to air at Lynne of Skene.

At least it comes with tinted windows ...... so nobody can recognise you.

An impressive turnout from all the clubs. My view is that the record should exclude chuck gliders from the total claimed for the record as it will be only too easy for someone else to arrange a whole lot of paper darts to be flown and steal the record. For example Putin or Kim Jong Un could order all his army to chuck paper darts at noon and 'nick' the record! Be far more difficult to arrange thousands of RC models as all the clubs now know having just done it.

21 at South Norfolk MFC and one of the members made carrot cake! Really brought the club, friends and family together, helped by great barbecue.

Paul, you're becoming repetitively tedious.

With 2 sticks and 2 hands you already have all the mixing you need. Just practice by starting a turn, then seeing how much rudder you need to pick the tail up. It should not take long for it to become 2nd nature.

We had 12 aloft at my club. Variety of ic and electric planes and some drones which doubled as camera ships. Perfect timing too as the rain came shortly after we were done! Very positive comments from the guys who took part as most had never flown in such a large group before and they found it rather exciting.

Plenty of decent balsa available down under. During last years lock-down the Australian Govt. gave many of us $250 to stimulate the local economy so off went my order to Balsa Central and a week later a big box arrived full of lovely balsa of the exact cut and density that I asked for. I did ask the company about shortages and they confirmed that some PNG plantations had been purchased by Chinese companies but there was no chance of that happening to them. I was also told that they shipped to a major UK distributor but due to the pandemic and shipping container shortages, coupled with huge container rental price rises people overseas were going to see higher prices The plantation in PNG is Australian owned by Auszac and provide jobs for the local population. I hope that your traditional builders manage to obtain some decent wood soon. Chris

On any "normal" flying day there would be perhaps at most half a dozen cars parked down the lane! Basecamp established. A big thank you to all those involved in providing us all with some very good food and great company. After the mass event we were treated to a display by @Peter Jenkinswho flew his pattern ship in fine style, much appreciated by many. After the main event it was back to normal club style flying. I for one had a great day, relaxed, well organised by @Ron Grayand the whole day went like clockwork.

Great fun, thanks Simon, an inspired idea. At Maidstone MFC the rain stopped just in time, so we managed 12 in the air, with flyers ranging from 15 to 85 in age.

Record Attempt low res.mp4

Members new models thread, like the gentleman said, leave the brand bashing please.

Also tried function and it’s all good, the fuselage hinge needs adjusting but apart from that it’s all good. Looking forward to getting these done. IMG_3730.MOV

Actually I have realised exactly why the flaps wont move manually, the servo arm is in line with the horn at full down travel, ie mechanical lock. Obvious really, anyway it is nice to test wing servos with the cable ? Cheers Danny

I don't often get involved with this sort of discussion but this time I will. I 100% agree with Jon, use both sticks fully - if you are inhibited in this (disabled?) then please ignore the whole of this comment. Creating a aileron / rudder mix will NOT cure the issue you are having. There is something else going on with the tail dropping which you need to resolve. Neater turns - solution - fly more often and focus more on flying one model until you get it right and feeling right.

Well done Nick!

Your wish is my command? Steve

Looking good, Steve. Don Valley this coming weekend?

Shaping and refining the tailplane pylon. I have photographically removed some elements fron the plan for clarity.

I would suggest a record for the most mid-air collisions within a 10 minute period but, from reading reports, there were none. My club (Concord MFC in Kent) achieved a total of 17. Would have been 18 but one pilot had radio issues and landed a couple of minutes before 12.00.

That was an important part of our planning, it helped hiring 2 Portaloos (one specifically for ladies) for the occasion.

Hi KC, I do see your point however my original aim was to engage as many BMFA members as we could at local club level to come together and set a new record. It appears that we have achieved this and I am very impressed with the effort made by all of the clubs who participated. Many clubs have restrictions on the number of models in the air at one time so to allow for maximum participation darts were allowed. I wanted this to be an activity all could take part in. There are specific records for paper darts. Simon Vaitkevicius

That is apparently a design feature! The front and rear panels are interchangeable as are the two doors, one front hinged, the other rear hinged. I do wonder if whoever proposed it was having a bit of fun and assumed it would get the chop at the concept stage.

Well that didn't take long, for my arm to ache, but not being happy with the results I tried again and again then again eventually boredom set in? Started covering, bottom first with red and cub yellow. The tape gives me a line to work to, the yellow overlaps the red. I leave a small gap between the covering and the tape. Some nice compound curves to practice on. Looks better trimmed. Ready for the sides next. Steve

Cracking video - really well produced…does Stuart do this sort of thing for a living?

Hi leccyflyer, thanks for the quick reply. Although I have no doubt these packs would perform ok in use, I am considering sending them back anyway. This only because they are new packs showing an IR more suited to ones that have had many cycles. Have a question in to the supplier via Amazon. Will see what they come back with. In your post you said that HRB's you have are showing 2-6 milliohms, which is what I would want to see on new packs. Definitely something wrong with mine. We'll see Jeff

Excellent photos @Kevin Fairgrieve- up to your usual high standard and thanks for the credit but there were at lot of others involved too, there was a lot of organisation! But that bloke with the red and white jumper really does need to eat more!

Presumably it is obvious that that the two halves are misaligned at the root Andy? If the two wing panels are aligned at the root but there is twist in one of the wing halves at the tip (warped) then obviously there is not a lot you can do about that, apart from build another wing, like you say. It could also be worth checking the lateral balance point of the wing, for if one wings is significantly heavier than the other (not uncommon with epoxy/glass wings) this will also affect the lateral trim. In addition! A twist in the fuselage can cause roll (further effect of yaw is roll) requiring aileron trim to correct. I just thought I would add my two penny worth to be clear on what is causing your problem before you saw your lovely wing in half! ? If you can’t live with it the way it is, then there is nothing for it but to saw away, through the spar and all. (if there is one). I have made several foam wings over the years and usually I make a vertical slot in the wing roots and then cut a full-depth ply web (1mm thick) as a dihedral brace, which I securely epoxy into the foam. A layer of glass cloth and epoxy across the joint should render the wing pretty indestructible.? I hope you get it sorted Andy and good luck.

Whilst flying my Gyroo saturday I had my motor drop off in flight, luckily the model floated down nicely with minor damage to the tail but it took 10 mins to find the motor. On inspection the motor mount was still in place on the bulkhead, clearly I hadn't tightened the countersunk bolts up enough so worth adding a spot of loctite on these. All repaired and I managed to fly it today at 12noon along side rc fixed wings, drones and competition FF gliders, I think around 40. Good fun and glad it got back in one piece as it was pretty busy up there. Rich

A nice day out for puppies too Always watch out for flying models! 6eafb48a-f901-46f2-97e7-82854a506330.mp4

Some pics Chuckies mass launch!

But SLEC and Balsa Cabin do get balsa lumber and saw it down into sheet, strip etc and grade it. So they are in control of the stuff at the top of the supply chain in this country and I've bought wood online from both and am always happy with their wood selection and grading.

Had a really good attempt and weather was acceptable. 12 fliers flying a mix of RC power, glider FF and I managed one circuit with my ornithopter! We fly from an active airfield so thanks to the club for allowing us 30 mins to fly. No accidents and no black bags needed ? Just got to tot up the results now and report later in the week. Simon

With the whistle worked by the horn and I want a Guards whistle blown when you engage drive just before you set off and random blasts of safety valve letting off steam when stationary in traffic together with the steam water injectors operating..

You only really need Bearing Fit on the OD / outer case of bearing to stop it turning in its housing , as the alloy housing quickly wears if too loose. The shaft should be a sliding fit into the ID of the bearing an NO bearing fit needed. If the shaft is a very loose fit the either it's the wrong bearing ( possible) or the shaft is knackered ( highly unlikely) Hope it helps .

I agree Piers; it could be any one of a number of possible causes. Truth is, we could discuss this at great length here and may or may not reach a conclusion. I will do a load of logical tests here and try to find a smoking gun. Otherwise, the ESC will also be on the naughty step and will go into the bin! I don't want to name names because without a specific cause, it will create more heat than light and may result in someone doubting their own gear unnecessarily. Also, we will quickly get off topic! Appreciate all of the kind comments regarding the model. It certainly doesn't look how I always expected foamboard models to look, and flew very well. More will follow, if I can find the room!

The winter project, a Dane-RC Leprechaun V3, saw light of day on Good Friday, and flew well. Review in the mag' in due course.

Another variant of a laser cut egg box construction wing. This is the dane-rc Wisel which I managed to finish and maiden just before lockdown.