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This one is from last week, but I only got the piccies last night from Derek. My 1997 RCM&E plan build - Little Mo. Still going strong after 26 years. Derek did a great job to capture Little Mo in flight - not the easiest task, for sure.

Some piccies just received of my KK Outlaw in action from the other day, courtesy of my pal Derek, who's Algebra is the red and tartan glider featured landing in my earlier pictures. It wasn't that hard a landing, honest and my other two clubmates who had both showed me pictures of their Outlaws, flying from the field in the 70's were delighted to see that my 2023 Outlaw had the same retractable undercarriage. 🙂

Everything at the ready ... sandwiches, crisps, chocolate, juice and a fresh flask of coffee made in the morning. I'm planning on getting dug in. The weather gods shall be with me .... they are busy creating my own little micro climate .... nothing can go wrong ...... Toto

Glad you were careful typing that David

Am aware. Years ago, on a course, had to do a stupid lecture on safety equipment. Rubber boots got an astonishing photo of the members of the association of New York Gay Firemen.

That's the major wing repairs sorted out, just the covering and attaching the ailerons but before I do that there's the issue of the discoloration of the wood to deal with. The natural finish polytex will expose the difference in colour quite starkly, looking around the workshop I found this In the previous picture of the wing tip repair I have applied a coat of the paint and sanded it lightly and I think it gives the appearance of being from one piece of fresh wood? Well it does to my eyes lol ! this is perhaps a better illustration Now back too fitting out the fuselage U/C on,simples! Servos fitted in the same position as it was received in,however with the engine it was nose heavy? The joggle, cheap and effective. Works this end as well So far it's cost £20 for the airframe ,a small amount of wood, paint/fuel proofer and covering that I had to hand

I think that they’re specifically designed to prevent ‘run on’ if you land a bit too hot. As I understand it they were the forerunner of brakes / arrester hooks and were unique in that you can adjust the point of break away by increasing / decreasing the retention by the number and strength of rubber bands used. Unfortunately they were really only suitable for use on grass strips, not concrete / tarmac.

Some years ago there was a very young lad, barely able to hold the transmitter, who was fearless ... but they were his dad's planes and his dad did all the repairs 🙂 To be fair he got even better as he aged. His dad test flew my Precedent FunFly powered with an Irvine Q40. It was barely off the ground before he rolled it inverted and climbed away - my heart missed a beat! So ... like father, like son, I guess.

Following the success of my Top Quark design I created a variant I call Bottom Quark. Basically I have switched the wings around so the front wing is at the bottom of the fuselage and the rear wing is mounted halfway up the fin. I have created and flown a Depron prototype in the last couple of days. My intention is to build a balsa version as soon as time permits. Granted, it's not the most attractive aircraft. But when modelled in balsa with a curvaceous fuselage and tasteful covering scheme it will be passable 🤣

And ..... here is my rather inadequate charging point ..... chargers on a tray .... plastic ..... wouldn't stand a chance in a lipo fire. My batteries are exposed when on charge as I need more of these ..... smart extension leads to give me enough length to let the cables reach and enter a charging bag. I'm on to it though and plan to have a better / safer regime in place shortly. thats the theory anyway.... toto

Hi Aidan ..... here is what I am running with at the moment ............ mostly the first two which can both adequately charge two at a time ...... My Spektrum Smart Charger ..... and my ISDT charger .... again can do two at a time ..... and last ..... this big beastie that can do 4 batteries at once at 100watts per channel ...... I have not ventured into the 4 port as yet as I have been so used to using the others and I'm still trying to learn all they can do but once I get flying solo and will have the need for more models and batteries on any given day ..... they will all come into there own. I prefer to charge them on the night before and there is only so many you can get round with the two 2 port chargers. thats where I am at the moment. toto

Sometime ago this chap was diagnosed with cancer. This resulted in him having to go into hospital for an operation a few weeks ago . They kept him in for a week then a nurse visited him regularly at home for several days but then he was soon back at the field showing us all how it's done with the Calmato. He drives a beautiful bronze Jaguar too with cream leather upholstery.

I think, Peter, you won't have a problem if my experience is anything to go by.

OS 55AX ordered, good price http://bit.ly/44U0H37 👍

Flying now in a bright and breezy Southport😁

Yes Sir I'm in Woking Surrey Irvine is brand new in box with receipt I think is twin ball raced and British made a real gem for a collector so I'm told! I've sent you a pm with all my details if you're still interested 😊

We have a large Wilco in Colchester town centre that we'd always visit for household odds and ends when we shopped at the town centre. Trouble is we don't use the town centre anymore for shopping. I don't think that we're unusual in that, certainly in our area the towncentre has been decimated by the rise of nearby retail parks, that have attracted the larger shops away from the high street - at least those that haven't gone bust already. Poor old Wilco's have just become victims of a wider decline in retail footfall along the rest of the high street, not that they were running a bad business. Colchester town centre is a classic case where retail is giving way to fast food joints and coffee houses for its day business and a troublesome night time booze and 'clubbing' industry. The council describe all this as a vibrant and tranforming environment, welcoming of visitors (?|) to our historic town (which they now call a city, just because its got big and over developed) typical of councils' newspeak rubbish. Our huge new retail park near the A12 is very popular and jam packed with shoppers on most days of the week - all built on greenfield land so more loss of agricultural production in order to fill the coffers of farmers willing to sell out. Hate the place myself and avoid it if at all possible.

One of my early trainers used to do that Brian. Fit the engine on a pod on top of the wing modify the fuselage and you will have an amphibian, take off on land, land on water. 🙂

What are you building? (Don't say "wings")

Cost = zero. Most of my models have an accessible carb, and I do the same.

Very enjoyable ... great model. Toto

Another nice flying model Aidan. Looks like you have quite some hangar load. Toto

One from me, if you don't mind Aiden. I've been collecting a few "fuel dot" bits however they remain on my bench until I understand one last thing: I'm in the habit of pumping the tank empty at the end of a flying session. I do this by pulling the feed off the carb and pumping through the "clunk" tube. Is it possible to do that with the arrangement shown please?

Busy places in Donny, folk are a lot more willing to use/buy from them now, less stigma attached to it and a sign of the times.

Yep, been making them for ages, the housings and pins are all available from RS Online, and various model shops also sell them, but you need the crimping tool, eg https://www.fighteraces.co.uk/product-category/airframe-accessories/wiring-connectors/ And https://www.4-max.co.uk/maxloc-connectors.html

There's a B&M in Belper but it's a 10 minute walk from the town centre, next to Morrison's & Aldi, in what used to a B&Q-like place called Focus that I also used a lot but Wilkos on the main shopping street is always busy. B&M is rubbish compared to Wilkos - no screws or nuts and bolts for a start. I really hope it survives. We'll certainly miss it if it doesn't and so will 12,000 employees and their families. Maplins was also a treasure trove. I always visited when I went to Derby. It seems all the interesting shops are going leaving us with nothing but women's clothes outlets and coffee shops. The indoor market in Derby has also closed I discovered when I went in for my cataract operation a week or two ago.

So now I need to make good the area formally occupied by the torque rods, I rebated the damaged area and added new wood Once the had set and sanded flush it seemed a good opportunity for a dual servo setup, after a bit of a rummage under the bench I found a couple of Hitec slim wing servos Of course having removed the wood that was covering the rods left a gap and both wingtips now repaired

http://kyosho calmato 40 The Kyosho Calmato 40

Martin and JR Man You are quite right. The wording is explicit on not requiring the model to be taxied out. But, the point I was seeking to make, and added an incorrect statement, is that the pilot must stand in the designated pilot area for the entirety of the the flying part of the test. You cannot take an A, or B for that matter, taking off standing behind the model. The Examiner should stop you doing that and gently suggest that you practice the take off from the pilot box before asking to be tested again. The point about hand launching is also covered in the guidance notes. Many have commented that they stand behind the model to take off whereas the BMFA require you to demonstrate that you can take off safely when standing in the pilot box. Why do they have this rule? It's the same reason there is the need to demonstrate both the ability to turn left and right as part of the A Test. I've seen an A pilot who had to fly left hand circuits to land even if this meant he overflew the landing area in order to turn left to land. One wonders how he passed his A test. All of these discussions seem to revolve around safety. Well, there is another factor and that's the ability to make the aircraft do what you want it to do which, IMHO, is an extension of safety. If you cannot control where your model is heading during take off then you need a bit more practice. John Lee's point that it is dangerous to take off towards yourself is quite right. I never do that because I'm taking off on the runway heading which is not pointing at me. If at any stage of the take off, it appears there is a problem with me maintaining the runway heading, I immediately close the throttle and abort the take off. For an A test, the wording is clear that you must have a good reason for aborting the take off such as an engine that has gone sick. Losing control of the take off direction, depending on how it is handled and how bad the loss of direction is, may result in a fail. IMHO, if you find that you cannot take off safely, then you need to practise this until you can. I take the point about maidens and I agree that asking for a clear sky makes sense and most pilots tend to want to watch anyway. By the way, I only served one term of 2 years on the ASRC and ceased being a member in 2015 I think.

Had a rare two site flying day yesterday, which was brilliant fun. The forecast wasn't that promising for the morning, with wind and rain, but there was a short window around lunchtime promising light winds and dry, with sunny periods and that is what happened. Firstly at the club site I was able to get a couple of flights in with the KK Outlaw, establishing that it goes every bit as well taking off from the ground as from a hand launch. It does, however need a touch of up elevator to keep the tail round on starting the take off run, which could be an issue for the eventual single channel maiden flight. Anyway the Outlaw is quite the nicest, most stable model that I have in the fleet, practically flies itself , you just have to breathe on the controls to guide here round the skies. Lovely. Might have some in flight piccies later as well. The morning wasn't marred by a test flight with the Schoolboy, seeing if the mod had made the model ambidextrous, rather than being seriously left handed. The Schoolboy reared up and stalled, then hit the long grass vertically. Damage was limited to fracturing the 3D printed motor mount, but that put paid to any further flights. Heading off early afternoon for the more distant ADS site for the afternoon/evening glider session off the winch and bungee, which I hadn't done before, as it's quite a long way off and not really a core interest. Anyway I had a marvellous session, really enjoyed my first goes off the winch with my Easyglider and it was a good call as when the model started to descend a bit close to the ground I was able to have some really nice long flights with a couple of lazy motor runs. The winch itself is a formidable beast and gets quite large gliders up to altitude in seconds. It was a good turnout, with half a dozen other club members enjoying a really pleasant afternoon- @Murat Kece 1 was having great flights with a big 3m+ glider off the winch and I also enjoyed the sight and sound of a flying ironing board zipping about the skies courtesy of @Tosh McCaber, both of this parish. Alongside the winch the lightweight bungee was getting a workout with the lighter. smaller gliders and I had a bunch of enjoyable flights with my wee red mystery glider, which is now flying well off the bungee, after getting properly trimmed out. Fish supper and a two hour drive home left me a bit knackered at the end of a long day, but well worth the trip. 😄

Thanks everyone for your replies. I am pleased to say that a replacement battery has just arrived.

Few times as a kid Paul, mostly on Donkeys on daytrips. 😉

Do you ride? We have two cobs, have access to other horses for exercise, but cobs are steadier. I recently rode an 18h ex-hunter who was bomb-proof until he saw a fox, when he became a madman, lol!

I'm with you on this, but I don't think it is the cost, really, I think it is the crash. If I want to try a roll just after take off because it looks cool, I'm not thinking of the cost, I'm thinking I'm not going to manage it! (My wife and I have come to an agreement on cost, since she keeps two horses which need farriers, vets, and feeding, even if I crashed a plane every month my hobby would be cheaper than hers. Though to be fair, we can share the horses, and taking a horse for a ride through woods and heathland is a pleasure not everyone has experienced, but it is so good. You can cover so much rough ground so quickly).

The following may be of some interest and relevance. We had a seventy year-old join the club last October. He had never flown an r/c aircraft before but he soon learned, passed his Brevet A, the French equivalent of the BMFA A Certificate, a couple of months ago and now he flies his OS 46 powered Calmato with great skill and elan and he's one of the best pilots in the club.OK he doesn't prop hang! Having said that, he's a retired commercial airline pilot and instructor so he has a good understanding of aerodynamics. He also had to learn to fly Mode 1 because out of thirty members in my club, I am the only Mode 2 pilot. He described Mode 2 as "plus logique!" I have been flying r/c for thirty-three years but he's a better pilot than I am. My flying skills are pretty average which is why I limit the aircraft I build and fly to models which are pretty stable. I have no wish to learn how to prop hang. Just sayin.

I dont mind taking on some calculated risks. One of my biggest wishes is to be able to fly low. ( more than anything else ) flying 3 mistakes high doesn't let you view the grace of the model enough. I like to be able to really see the models bank into a turn and do fly by's etc. Some nice rolls and knife edges and even when performing loops, I'd prefer to be coming out of the bottom of a loop at about 15 feet. If I can reach the above, and never get any better ...... I wont be disappointed. Toto

Power is fed to the unit via a pair of pads on the rear of the xiao esp32c3, it is designed to be run from a single lithium cell for 'wearables' and the suchlike. The Xiao then supplies power to the L80 via the 3v3 and gnd connection wires. You could also power the whole thing via the typeC USB socket on the xiao and feed it with 5v. Both devices list their lowest voltage on their power pins as 3.0v. There won't be any room for power sag if you use a 3v regulator, might be better off using one of these or these

Cost of a new 4.8v battery depending on capacity between ten to fifteen quid. Set against the cost of a model, peanuts.