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"Spin" The BMFA says quite openly these are difficult times, the numbers re membership are there, the various changes we are fighting against are there. Updates on the NFC and how it's being used and who pays for it is there, the proposed increase of £3 pound is there and the fact that the floor voted it up to £5 is there, and here's where I suspect the "Spin" comment comes from, the BMFA are actively saying collectively that the changes to come we can deal with and survive as an entity, what other position or comments would any sane person expect them to be saying ? We are doomed ? Also there's comment on the various social media containing a constant negative attitude from some, which they feel is damaging to our own wellbeing, I agree with that view. Only thing these people will achieve, is a reduction in our numbers. Article on the Drone photography, I like, here's a positive article someone took the trouble to set in motion and produce, exactly the kind of thing we need. Moaning is easy, dealing with difficult issues takes work.

The nail hit firmly on the head. Very well said. All aspects of society, including our hobby (sport) are full of those who sit back and moan at every opportunity but do nothing to contribute to fixing what they perceive to be "problems".

Or use any opportunity they can find to air their anti-BMFA views.

As has been said many times on this forum, the regulations and authorisations are complex, and difficult to understand for many people. The 'spin' (more accurately called interpretation) is possibly the only information some will take in, so has a purpose which better serves our hobby applauded, not ridiculed. Others will obviously disagree.

Perhaps if you just flicked through the BMFA Magazine before putting it in the bin, you would see that it certainly isn't just adverts and there is even a chance that you might see something interesting, maybe even something important and become better informed about the hobby.

Ultimate head tracked FPV. Looking forward to some formation flights with Red 2 in near future.

Jeeeez... It must be so demoralizing for the authors of BMFA News content to read the negativity in this topic. Paid, or unpaid, if their response was to to say 's0d-it, I'm not bothering anymore for those ungrateful whiners, then it would definitely die a death. Not everything in the BMFA News is of interest to me, indeed, not very much is of interest to me. The least appealing being pictures of various dignitaries posing at some black tie event. But, like having to make polite small talk every once in a while, I do think it's polite to at least thumb through it and have some respect for the effort that's gone into producing it. It is being done with the best intentions and for our benefit. I recently wrote my first article for RCM&E and was astonished that only two or three members of my club (100+) regularly bought the magazine and/or read the article. It takes a great deal of effort, but the majority bemoan even the free plans these days and won't even buy the magazine for them. Being retired, I tend to browse the BMFA News in bed in the morning with a cuppa surrounded by my three cats, or in the WC (when I'm not logging my flights) also surrounded by my cats 😺😸😹 I think that, like a good manager it's best to praise in public and scold in private.

Building my Correx planes to look more scale takes on a new dimension. I thought I’d share a few photos and info on another Correx build I have been working on over the Winter, but this one's a little different for me. As you may know already I have built quite a number of Correx PSS aircraft over the past four or so years and over that time have gradually attempted to transform them from the normal vinyl covered 'fun' plane to something a little more scale in appearance and worthy of gracing the skies alongside more traditionally built planes at our PSSA events. This time I decided to turn my attention to the Aermacchi MB-326 Impala. There is something about planes with tip tanks that just seems to make them look so good in the air. The plans for this particular model have been about for years and are freely available to download, along with many others, from RCgroups.com https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?1445391-Correx-PSS-L39HawkF-18FoxxU-2ImpalaA-10SpitfireF4USeaFuryP-51VulcanFW190-free-plans! The construction method has been covered many times before so I won’t go into detail on that. My build is already complete and now ready for a primer coat. The build was mostly to plan other than my usual approach of using 2.4mm ‘Correx’ for the wings rather than 2mm plus a few adjustments along the way to fuselage former sizes and positions to aid assembly. In my more recent builds I have taken to closing off any exposed flutes to improve the look, either with thin ply, balsa or filler and that is what I have done again here. I have also produced the ailerons with a folded piece of Correx rather than just a single 3mm thickness: this not only reduces the amount of exposed flutes but also makes for a smoother blend between the wing and aileron surfaces. The nose is made from a ply cruciform with balsa infill. When I first commenced this build knew I would want to improve on the tip tanks; to plan they are simply made from a few thicknesses of Correx glued together. Plus there were no air intakes either – something else I wanted to add. These were invariably going to be produced in balsa BUT then, mid-way through December I was offered a second-hand 3d printer – something I had been thinking about for some time..... My builds are never going to be the same again! Much of my past career revolved around Cad modelling so before long I found myself downloading some free Cad software and although it was a different package to that I’d been accustomed to I soon got back into the swing of things again….and then there was no stopping me! The tip tanks are HUGE – 400mm long! But after a fair few iterations I had something that fitted neatly over the ends of my Correx wings. For retention I included holes to accommodate both 6mm and 8mm magnets, in case the 6mm ones aren't strong enough. My first attempts were printed flat on the bed and had way too much infill and consequently weighed well over 100g each. After much help and advice from Tim Mackey (Thanks Tim!) I ended up printing the tanks vertically with thinner walls and a much reduced level of infill. This not only produced a far better surface finish but also reduced the weight by more than half, down to a little over 50g each. This was using PLA+ print filament. A test performed by Tim suggests this weight could be further reduced by another half again if lightweight LWPLA were to be used. For now though I’m happy with what I have. With the tanks sorted my next challenge were the air intakes. I opted to make each one in two pieces; a lower piece which I bonded to the underside of the wing with the upper piece held in place by yet more magnets. My thinking here is that the upper pieces will easily detach, should the wing bolts ever shear and cause the wing to twist out of the fuselage, rather than directly impacting the fuselage sides. These weighed a little over 60g for the pair which didn’t seem too bad. A part-pilot and seat added another 20g The particular Impala I’m modelling had cannons so I decided to have a go at modelling and printing some of those too. Trying to create the correct shape to mate to the underside of a folded Correx fuselage proved quite challenging but I eventually had something that fitted reasonably well and weighed in at around 35g for the set. I made a pair of wing strakes which weighed in at under 5g and also made a little instrument binnacle to suit a photo of the instruments I found. This weighed just 6.5g Another feature of the plane I’m modelling is what I presume is some kind of aerial – a hoop-like structure on the tail fin. Recreating this would invariably result in something exceedingly prone to damage in transit so I wanted to make something which was detachable. I ended up modelling some tiny grommet-like pieces that will be glued together sandwiching the tail fin and with suitably sized holes to accommodate some black wire sleeving (with the wire stripped out from inside). A trial piece suggests it should work. Adding all these detail parts (and filler) of course comes with a weight penalty, something in the region of 250g for this build, taking a more normal build up from around 1400g to where I am now at 1650g (fully balanced to the plan CG point and including 50g of nose weight but without paint). Hopefully it’ll all be worth it though! Here are a few more photos of the whole plane as it is currently. Thin ply and filler used to cover any exposed flutes around the exhaust (Not the best place to be adding weight admittedly). Filler applied at the joint between the turtle deck and fuselage Thin ply edging of exposed flutes and 6mm x 2mm magnets to retain the tip tanks...hopefully! Predominantly balsa edging strips around all tail surface edges. Also visible are 2.5mm carbon stiffening rods inserted through the flutes. Those within the fin penetrate down through the fuselage formers for extra rigidity. Hopefully it'll soon warm up and I'll be able to make a start on getting it primered and ready for the finished colours Phil

Some people just like to rant and complain.....

Maiden flight today. The big foam spitfire flew! Off the ground in 30ft, gentle climb out and flew like a big trainer. Once my vice grip is relieved on the sticks, I'll be getting to know this big beutiful lump of underfloor insulation! Graham

Fellas I have flown my helicopter with it having full potential in the wind,I was a idiot the other day I should have put it into intermediate difficulty mode on the controller so it can push harder and faster,had it high in the sky no problem and it banked and turned in the wind beautifully,handled so well even for a novice like me,these pics don't do it justice at all but it was fantastic,don't need indoors just set it to higher difficulty,I tried top settings but it was abit too much for me yet,but I had the best time 😏

I managed to get down to the patch this morning for the first time for a few weeks. As I am a bit ring-rusty I decided on flying my trusty GW Sbach 342 50cc electric. The conditions weren't ideal with it being dull and a 10 mph semi-crosswind, but beggars can't be choosers. The sun did try and show itself briefly but that was about it. Despite the conditions and a plane that can be a bit lively at times, I had a great time and it was good to blow the cobwebs away. PS. I must work a bit harder on the right roll as for some reason I get her to wobble a bit first session for a while. The left roll is perfect, however. . Cold fingers I imagine. 🥶

To claim that one simply bins the mag without even a cursory glance is, with the greatest respect, rediculous. True, I don't read it all from cover to cover, but following on from my comments regarding 'News', a lot of important stuff that we as members pay the BMFA to act upon on our behalf is covered and needs to be read by everyone.

I suspect that the hard copy version is seen as a positive communication medium to demonstrate the BMFA's commitment to educating the general membership on regulation changes and developments and reinforce the level of professionalism that has contributed to our Article 16 exemptions. The general interest articles may be there in an attempt to make it more attractive and professional than a dry communique about legislation by encouraging the avarage member to at least flick through the magazine. There will always be those who are unwilling to educate themselves...you can lead a horse to water...

My local site has been waterlogged for a couple of months now making the strip unusable. 🥲 However slope soaring has been the answer to getting some airtime, Sunday another excellent day on the slopes and I got to fly a Wild Wing 60 picked up second hand which flew in the moderate to strong breeze very well and was a pleasure to fly.

Regarding the c of g stick to the plan. Mine is about 2mm behind and is very sensitive on the elevator, I have have no ballast also no pilot or any cockpit detail the logic was to fly it then add detail later if it would allow. I have 4s 3600 battery power these just fit in without cutting anything away. The Ali spinner is a great help for adding nose weight, I would strongly advise its use, the main thing is to balance to the plan far better to loose a little performance than the aeroplane. Mine flys well between 1/2 and 3/4 throttle.

Lovely day today - though the car thermometer said 2 degrees C it didn't particularly feel cold - high overcast and an overall bright sky, but the sun never broke through. However there wasn't a breath of wind and that helped - not a bad turn out for a winter Monday morning, with half a dozen of us there. For some of us it was the first flights since before Christmas, such had been the state of the weather this year in the NE. My fifth outing in January, but I wasn't taking any chances with any of the long queue of models waiting for a maiden flight, so the old faithfuls were on parade. Super conditions, lots of blether but lots of flying too - 8 different models logged 14 flights and everyone else had at least 2-3 models each. The day wasn't marred by a couple of retract related mishaps - PZ Corsair twist and turn retract is playing up and leaving a leg dangling, which is a bit disconcerting and only got worse when it wouldn't function at all after retracting it to put the model back in the car. My larger Corsair also tore out a retract unit when I lost power - stretching out the flight to the limit (well beyond the limit) such that I lost power 10m short of the strip and landed in the rough, without time to put the wheels back up. Battery was down to 3.3v/cell when I checked it. A smear of epoxy on the retract mount and she'll be good as new- should have lopped a minute off the flight time to allow for the cold.

Hello Nigel...consider Poundland and Screwfix for Super Glue...good value and does the job. Ken Anderson..... ne....1 ...glue dept.

It's fascinating that each time the BMFA News is published there are the familiar rants about 'waste of money' 'never open it/ bin it' etc. Those people seem to forget that there are other forms of aeromodelling; control line, free flight being the obvious ones. The BMFA supports all forms of aeromodelling. Therefore it is hardly surprising that the BMFA News reflects this in its editorial pages. I would add to that by saying aeromodelling is much more than flying an ARTF foam electric model around gently on a Sunday afternoon. Also to those who feel the slightly increased beaurocracy we have to deal with if we choose to fly radio control models can be overcome by flying a control line model.

Unfortunately many who can’t be bothered to read the magazine when it’s presented to them ‘on a plate’ in paper form will hardly be likely to make the effort to look for it online. Even with an e-mail informing of its availability. It’s a pity that the economics have caused the BMFA to cease sending the paper mags. Brian.

Perhaps these are the people who don’t read the BMFA news and haven’t seen the simplified explanations of the new requirements.

There are quite a number of posts on the bmfa Facebook page this morning about giving up the hobby because of regulations, boring forms to fill in, and complex tests to sit. Although on FB, these folks are presumably bmfa members, so quite where they are encountering all their issues I haven't the faintest idea. I loathe the regs that we are saddled with - the rights and wrongs are quite something else - but it's not difficult to jump through the hoops.

We’ve got a couple of good tosses at my club so will be enlisting their help for the maiden (in the next week, weather permitting).

Here you go . Beta build complete.. Another great model Rich . If it flys like yours I flew last year it’s going to be fantastic 🤟

This morning made the 4th time I've managed to get in 1/2 day's flying in January! That being said, the cloud base was low and marred by even lower clumps of cloud. I had wanted to check on the KE mix, it's no more than 1 to 3 clicks, and to sort out the KE loop mix so that I don't have to lean on the elevator or aileron stick to get a perfectly planar half loop. However, the cloud was sufficiently low to stop that little game but I did work out a tweak to two so that might have done it. The next thing was to work on the roll combination. That is 3 x 1/4 roll in the same direction. So a definite line between each element and then 3 x 1/4 rolls in the opposite direction. Between rolls in different directions the change of direction must be immediate - FAI Aerobatic rules. However, after the first flight, when I disappeared into cloud clumps occasionally, the cloud all seemed to get much lower so I sat for an hour waiting for an improvement. Eventually, one came and I got in 3 more flights before I ran out of time. Only 2 of the roll combinations were dead level with no variation in direction of travel so more practice needed.

Don't think a wot 4 foamie would be a step up. Why not try a Ruckus, think its 20mm shorter wingspan than Riot so in your masterplan you could get all Riots banned for being too big as well!

Do you think your good enough to fly your riot in a 100 ft radius circle?

Here I've sheeted the tailplane. This is a closeup of the trailing edge of the tip of the tailplane, along the hinge line with the elevator. You can see the snake now embedded in the structure. The snake emerges into this rectangular pocket (which I haven't sheeted, for reasons). The clevis will live inside the pocket, as will the rudder horn. Hopefully this will be better illustrated a bit later on. The sheeting over the pocket is done using a 1/32 ply insert. I figured that would give me just a touch more space inside the pocket. This shot is from the sheeted side of the above structure, with the ply insert on the bench. More soon.

My magazine "Flug Modell" commissioned me to assemble and test the Dauntless from Phoenix.The model has a wingspan of 144cm and has a retractable undercarriage

The Dauntless is quickly assembled and is ready to start after approx. 1 week. The building instructions are international and anyone can build the model.At the moment the airfield is still too wet and you can't fly yet. A flight report will follow later.I don't know if you can get the kit in England. If you do, you get a very nice model at a good price. In Germany the Dauntless is distributed by D-Power. The Engine is a AL4206 by D-Power.

You can fly the dauntless with a fuel engine or electrically.Both are included in the kit

Your test pilot should be able to diagnose the fault ie to much or too little incidence. Then simply pack the LE or TE with balsa shims until it flys correctly then go home and build it in by adjusting the wing seat. Simple on an electric model as no oil contsmibation to worry about.

I've just uploaded to YouTube a more comprehensive demo flight of my original Top Quark design, taken at Epsom Downs Racecourse yesterday in 10mph winds. Just to prove it has some moves. As featured in the 'Seven Day Challenge' article in RCM&E Dec 2023. Enjoy.

The router's working fine as it is. I have adequate data speed for both my wife and me to watch any video streams separately and simultaneously. The only s/w updates I want are those relating to security. I've written enough s/w in my time to be aware of the temptation to do just a bit more for personal amusement and satisfaction to be wary of it in commercial environments. I use an ancient version of MS Office Pro (97) which does more than all I need, and an equally ancient version of Photoshop likewise. As hardware gets more powerful, much of the power is absorbed by programmers and data hungry high level s/w packages. I only use what I need or what I find useful.

Bought mine in @1976 and it's still going strong - that was definitely a good year for hot air though!

Yes, very impressive Dom. It's frightening to see how quickly those milliamps get burnt off. 🙂

Like GG said, such external arming plugs have been around for a good while, most often fabricated from various connectors. I have one made from a pair of Deans connectors on my Magnatilla, since that is one of a minority of models that needs the wing to be removed to change the battery and I find it useful to be able to isolate the battery until the model is on the field and ready to go. For larger, more powerful set ups they do have their uses and where there is a separate power supply to the radio control system they can provide an additional safety measure when taking the model to the flight line with no compromise on the radio system and no additional risk to flight control integrity. However, whenever you introduce an additional connector to the power train, you are introducing a further potential point of failure and those sort of connectors do get looser with use over time. Okay for sports models where appearance isn't an issue, but for scale models they would need disguising. Better alternatives include examining the hatch securing method to make something more easily removable "without the use of a special tool" - which also allows the OP ID to be contained within the battery compartment instead of spoiling the appearance of the model.

That’s sad to hear . I have been going every year for some time. It was great to see the traders there as well as other modellers and do some shopping.

Some more background. I've built several twins. The first was a conventional layout (build log - Double Trouble) and the second was a double fuselage layout (build log - Doppleganger). The twin fuselage is the one with the rudder airbrakes. Aesthetically, I was quite pleased with the fuselage shape on Double Trouble... ...so I'm going to base Orthus on Double Trouble. Not a rehash mind, more an evolution. Double Trouble had a constant chord wing and was very mild mannered. This time around, being happier with twins in general, I'm going to use a slightly spicier tapered wing for better aerobatics. I found the overall size of the airframe made transport easy enough (62" span) with a single piece wing. Obviously it will look a bit different with the twin fins. As an aside, I was very tempted to do a kit bash from the Galaxy Warlock... ...but, it's a big bigger than I wanted, it is 74" span.

The paint job is progressing nicely thanks to some help from my cat Willow. She has recently had a hair cut due to unmanageable matting of her long fur each time she went out in the wet.

If you got one, John, you would seriously wonder why you didn't have one before. They are pocket computers- the apps are really useful- whatthreewords (which many of us use to identify slope sites); Google maps; you can get reviews and info on items in shops while you are in shops; sharing photos and videos with family and use your phone to video talk with people; and you can download and install only the apps you feel are useful to you. I resisted for a long time, but found that they are designed to be user friendly and so are not complicated, you start with a virtually blank home screen and then you add the apps you want: your club emails, your personal email, Google, YouTube, RCME, RCG, etc. They appear as icons; you touch them and open them up like you would on a PC at home. At my club, members who first arrive at the field can tell everyone what the flying conditions are like. You can also switch notifications on or off, so you don't receive info you don't want. Once you have bought one on contract for about £20/30 a month the usage fee drops to less than £10 per month. Oh, and you also have a high-quality camera and video built in. If you get one, you won't regret it.

It was -7C here last night but the day dawned bright and the hoare frost on the trees made the world look magical! I took a couple of electric models to the flying field. I couldn't be bothered with i/c stuff as the temperature was only just above freezing but I had a couple of flights with the 2x Tomboy. We then all retired to the clubhouse for mulled wine. The picture below was taken in August! It's forecast to reach a dizzying 5C on Saturady. I may well fly something a bit quicker then!

Flew this afternoon in central France. No wind, 10C etc. Flew my "Russian" Baron and road-tested the ARTF foamy electric trainer.