Leaderboard

Great day ....... mission accomplished. 4 flights today. Quite strong crosswinds across the runway so not taking off in the usual manner. Slow start to get the steering straight allowing for the wind. Gradual increase in speed, rear end lifts then apply more throttle and elevator .....up and away. Learning to compensate the ailerons in order to keep the plane flying straight ( circuit wise ) albeit with the model at a 45 degree attitude due to the wind. Two windy but decent flights ..... then the wind all but disappeared. ..... then the fun began..... flight 3 ..... good take off, some decent circuits then my 5 minute alarm sounded ....... let's try lining up the approach ... all going well ...... let's just go for my first landing ....... no problem... a little hard as I had not flared out well enough but no dramas, no damage ..... and we are down. Flight 4 .... more of the same ... successful take off ...... some decent circuits ..... and a better softer landing. Much better. A little jolt of over steer when I landed but corrected with no issues. Definite progress. I would have appeared to have completed the whole loop today twice from start to finish ......... over the moon and finished today on a huge high. I'll sleep well tonight. Toto

Great project, and delighted to see another chap raising the foam/ foamboard bar. You've probably seen my 6th scale spitfire (74", or 1880mm). This is built from B&Q insulation, some balsa, lite ply and ply. If it helps; this is 9was) my approach: 1/6 scale was chose due to the availability of a canopy from Mick Reeves; I actually made use of some other accessories from Mick, so this was a good start I found a suitable plan (or 3 view; not fussy) which turned out to be Brian Taylor's Mk1. I scaled this and got it printed at my local print shop. I then scribbled all over it with the structure I felt would work I started the wings by thinking about strength in the middle section out to the retracts. The structure I settled on was based on a conventional structure using 6x6 pine (from B&Q!) spars with 1/16" balsa sheer webs. In the centre, A solid 1/8" ply dihedral brace allowed a solid mounting point for the retracts Remaining structure was basic; foam ribs and balsa false trailing edges for the ailerons so I could use robart hinges. Leading edge is 3 laminations of 6mm foam. Whole lot is skinned with 6mm foam, flaps cut from same and reinforced with strips of 1/16 balsa to replicate the scale details Fuselage is built on a cruciform with a profile and plan taken from the outline, and the whole lot is built up onto this. Lots of formers to support an outer skin. Doublers from liteply for wing seat through to F1, and the centre foam vertical reinforced with 1/32 ply. The whole lot is then clad in 3mm foam, carefully curved and glued with UHU as a contact. You need a lot of patience here to tease it down without cracking it. Cowl is made by laminating 3 or 4 thicknesses of some polystyrene I got free with a fridge! Carved to shape and with a girt big 'ole in the middle to clear the motor. I then gluded it to F1, and finally carved/ filled to get the shape right before stiffening it with 3 or 4 layers of 25gsm glass cloth applied with B&Q water based varnish. Then 25gsm glass cloth over the lot, emulsion paint, and a load of grinning... It's come out very well, weighs a little over 8pounds, and flies beautifully. Good luck Lipoman, and feel free to contact me if you get stuck. Graham

So the P47 and maybe Sea Fury are both contenders . I would like to go to around 60" but light weight as I tend to use 4s packs and many others do the same . But at that size a 52FS could also be employed or Laser 70 . The way I choose subjects may be slightly different . I would look for colour scheme as one of my key "pleasers" . When you consider the Fw190 that we have just been completing , it is semi scale , and quite crude , but when the various paint jobs are applied it takes on a real appeal . In contrast , look at a captured 190 , repainted in brown and green RAF camo . It looks dreadful and lacks most of its predatory appeal . Spitfires have such a beautiful shape that they can pull off any paint job , but that isnt true of most . A plain dark green Messerscmitt 110 is a dull chap , but the mottled grey variant with a Hornet emblem on the nose is fabulous . The next "Litmus test " is to think , "if I were at my field on my own on a sunny still summer morning , what would I want to see do a private air display for me ?" In that case I am looking for something more unusual , because Ive done thousands of hours flying 55" warbirds . I appreciate that is not the case for the newer guys . That is when I dream of a Lightning , a B17 , Whirlwind , Mossie etc . I have a 60" He111 as you know , and that is very satisfying to fly when on my own . Easy , but realistic and majestic . A Whirlwind would be way up my list simply for its unusual looks and the fact that it should have been way more famous than it was . There is even a white nosed version. However, I appreciate there are three things going on here . 1) Subjects I like will not be universally chosen and consequently a loss leader . 2) The experienced builders will want a sophisticated full fat model . 3) The newer guys will want my simpler designs in order to gain confidence . Point three is the easiest to fix . A derivative of the existing Tempest will provide a good Sea Fury without much of my time. I could also do a run of some of my early models like the Yak , La7 or even the early Spitfire along the foam wings and central crutch method of the 190 and Tempest . For number 1 , then the best thing is just to do my own thing . For number 2 , well there's the difficult bit . There is an enormous amount of work involved in producing a proper kit , so It is important that I make something for a market that exists .

Today, 30th was a bright and sunny day with blue skies and white fluffy clouds to perfect for the 190. I tested the dolly on the runway to ensure it ran (fairly) straight on its own. I needed minor tweaks to the tail wheel to achieve this. Then onto the main event which was highly successful. The plane left off the dolly which was retrieved at the end. We're lucky enough to have an Astroturf runway so it's smooth and long. I estimate that the plane was off the ground in 10-15m and that's without ramming the throttle to the max. Anyway, we managed some photos with a mobile as it was on the landing approach so the prop had virtually stopped and the phone has frozen the movement. I was aiming for the grass as it's slightly softer than the AstroTurf. Very pleased with it, a great plane.

Ah, sorry Eric, I misunderstood. For my dolly I made it so that the foam support pads are removable so a new set of larger ones would raise the model up enough to clear the intake. In fact I’ve made some other parts for it so that it can be used for ‘bacon slicer’ pushers too! Prototype shown here

Just starting an experimental build of a Grumman F8F Bearcat. If it gets finished it will be 1.7m span and very approximate in terms of scale detail. The payback will be that it should be a very quick and cheap build. Material will be a mix of Hobbycraft foamboard and B&Q home insulation foam sheets. Plans are being done extrapolating from a 24in span balsa control line design, blown up to 270%. Tomorrow I’ll try building one wing and see if the design works. If it doesn’t I may park the idea. Here goes nothing!

Test flew my new PT Sportser, a reduced rehash of a very old design. Flew well even though I was very rusty. Note the spot on the right aileron. This was a bee which didn't fly away. It stayed on the aileron right through and very fast aerobatic flight an then calmly flew away after the model landed!!!!

The problem with ‘going large (80in wingspan)’ is the cost of a kit goes up exponentially with size. Less demand for bigger kits for that reason. I think Richard has hit the sweet spot regarding size. I built a Blackburn Firebrand from B & Q polystyrene reinforced with carbon strips and covered in brown paper. Super cheap and if building bigger models is your thing and quite quick too. My Firebrand was only 52in span but my next build using this technique will be bigger!

Hi Folks, I'm still creeping along! 🙂 Had a bit more of a fiddle in Fusion and drew up an instrument panel to print to go with the pilot. I also lifted some photos of instruments from the web and photoshopped them into the correct sizes. I am fortunate to have a laser cutter at work so used that to cut them out to fit into the dials. Bit of paint and some clear nail varnish to gloss up the dials and its good to go. I am very pleased how it turned out!!! 😃 Getting to some small changes on the wings now. I wanted to add the small bulges where the wheels sit at the leading edge of the wing root. Time to break out the blue foam and frothy Gorilla glue to fill gaps then shaped and finished with light weight filler (Screwfix One Strike). I have also added the fillet that runs along the bottom of the exhaust area out of scrap as to me it looks a bit bare in that area to me without it. Next on the list is to get the wings covered, then I will add the wing fillet before covering the fuselage. That all for now. I am really enjoying this build and am looking forwards to getting her finished and up in the air!!!! Cheers, Simon

Lovely day on NE coast. Sunny, warm, bit more than gentle breeze. Following my TX16 challenges, I put 3 models onto my emergency tranny..... several others in the club have FlySky stuff and get on with it fine. Everything felt 'jerky' for me when flying. Had a couple of flights with the Hawk and Double Trouble but they were distinctively uncomfortable. Having checked the range on my old Taranis with a few FlySky, FrSky and Spekkie rxs, I decided to ditch the FlySky stuff and put an FrSky rx in the Hawk, and use the Taranis. 5 mins later, the Hawk was back to where I like it! Didn't do the others 'cos the rxs aren't as accessible (subsequently added to the Taranis at home). KM flew his big beautiful Pilot aerobat with his usual gusto, once he persuaded the engine to play ball. IP couldn't fly due to a firmware version conflict between his tx and rx. We too pity and let him fly the clubp Apprentice. With suitable joshing of course. IH was trying out his new contact lenses. Had a couple of flights but decided he needs to go back to the opticians. DS had a decidedly 'roller-coaster-like' flight with his big Ultrastick. On landing, he found that his elevator trim was only working on one of his two elevator servos. 30 minutes later he had it sorted - as well as a similar issue on ailerons, which he hadn't used the trims on. I bit my tongue and didn't mention how easy that would be with EdgeTX 🙂 Looks like being nice tomorrow too. Hopefully a less eventful day!

I inadvertently modified the Hurricane due to a heavy landing wheels up first flight. It now fits on the dolly and looks OK in flight, I had 5 flights with it like this

Simon is right the main spar should go top to bottom, I have used foamboard for spars by putting two close together full depth root to tip and feeding servo wires and retract wires through. I tend to make a hard balsa spar for something I am going to throw around the sky. This picture is how I done the Westland Whirlwind wing no ribs just foam board spars, this is the outer panel 1/16" ply braces were used to join at the dihedral angle Good luck with the project, I will be following.

My only concern with your proposed technique is the foam board box spar is not ideal structurally. The box spar would be better made as deep as possible within the wing section particularly at the root where the bending forces are a maximum. Cladding a wing in a more flexible foam makes sense but it does rather ignore the potential strength of the foam itself. Some of it alter all will be at the maximum possible wing depth on what looks to be quite a 'generous' wing section. This does raise the question as to whether the box spar needs to go right to the wing tip. The B&Q XPS foam sheets do have some strength and like most of this type of material more stiffness and strength in one direction than the other. It is possible to build a complete wing out of just 5mm B&Q foam. The LH wing of an EDF Sea Hawk. I try to work on the principle that sheet foam is a 'thick' material and thus needs far less support than conventional thin wing skins. I will follow your build with interest.

Like the time an American tourist visiting Windsor Castle said how convenient it was that the Queen had the castle built so close to Heathrow Airport.

55-60" is what I'd consider a very practical size for a single engined electric warbird, which, at a push, ought to be able to be transported fully rigged - wings on - in my estate car. Once you get above that size and up to the 80" span range, those would tend to become high day and holiday type models, which will invariably need rigging at the field. I rather dislike having to put models together at the field and especially having to take them apart again to stow them and bring them home. I can live with that, as a special occasion model, but for everyday flying give me three 48" span models that can fit, wings on, all together and be ready to go. That's just practicality in operation on an everyday basis to help make sure that those models get a regular outing. FWIW I think you have impeccable taste in aeroplanes Richard and you have the experience in the market to have a good handle on what can be sufficiently commercial to work out. That is reflected in the recognition that the Lightning, B-17 and Whirlwind, whilst desirable, probably would not sell in large enough numbers. I'd diverge on the subject of the Mosquito there, as such an iconic aeroplane would make commercial sense, especially if it were true enough to scale, rather than some of the slightly weird looking ARTF Mossies that have emerged. If the choice was between a P-47 and Sea Fury I'd have to plump for the P-47 Razorback, though I already have good quality foamies of both, the variety of colour schemes for a kit built P-47 is huge, whist for the Sea Fury, as a warbird are rather limited, albeit very striking, I wouldn't countenance any of the post war racing schemes, as I don't consider those to be warbirds at all.

The wing will have a foamboard box spar, and then insulation foam ribs and skin. There’s a sort of building jig from the rib “offcuts” to hold them in place while the skins are glued on - that’s an attempt to build in some washout and make both wings the same. Not sure if it will work - we will see!

Reminds me of the (probably apocryphal) tale of the American tourist overheard complaining about how far they’d put Stonehenge from the visitors centre 🤪.

Sounds like you have covered the bases. As far as the Flysky FS-16 goes , I'm not familiar with it but toy like or not ...... reliability is king. The repair scenario sounds a bit cost ineffective so I get the dilemma. I'm all charged up and ready to go. The sun is out so looking good. Just need to get my bones moving, feed myself, pack the car and I'm good to go. Another one of my indecision has kicked in though. I've decided not to bother packing the Twin Otter. I think I'll just concentrate on getting as many full flights out of the Supercub today. I'm really hoping to be able to pick things up quickly and get a chance of a first landing today. Maybe wishful thinking though. Have a great day Toto

Chris. when we've had a few more single engined opinions , I will open the multi engined can of worms

Despite a strong wind I re maidened my Warbirds Replicas Hurricane today, fitted with a Racestar 4250 800kv on 4s. I over propped it with a 14x8 which lifted it off in about 8ft Despite the long grass. I had a great flight but after 5mins. the battery was down to 15% so I called it a day.

Dear All, I'm sorry but I'm a late comer to the party. I received my kit in time for Christmas and I only get limited opportunities to build but I've managed to finish my Focke Wolf. I also received an air gun for Christmas and have used Tamiya paints after giving up with water based acrylics. There are no surprises in the build, it went together well, the same as the others. This one has been glassed all over using Easy Composites 25gm per sq metre cloth and their resin. I use a foam roller as this leaves a really smooth surface. I've added weight here and there, a printed fan at the front, a printed pilot from Thingyverse, total weight is 4lb 12 oz (2150 grams) I'm using a 4 cell 3000 lipo with one of Richards motors turning a 12 x 6 prop and hope to maiden it this coming Saturday . I've added far more colour than is scale but it all helps to see it in the air. I'm pleased with the build, I do have a Bf110 waiting patiently in a box too. Bucks.

Thats the thing isnt it ? As much as I like the idea of a totally scale, flying model, with all the whistles and bells , you can have more fun and less pressure with a stand off scale , easy to fly hack . Horses for courses , as they say . If you ignore retracts , you could knock out some wicked looking twins , that flew on the same battery and land on their nacelles . Maybe even a big bomber or jet. Just a thought.

Yep, carefully!

More progress - little jobs done this week! Servo tray cut and fitted, elevator pushrod made up, elevator and rudder painted. I’m using the same techniques used on the fw190 and hawker tempest mass builds - brown paper covering and emulsion tester pots to paint! I don’t think it’ll be winning any awards for scale but as long as it flies and looks ‘close enough’ I’ll be happy!

It spent the whole flight beating up the strip, a climbing turn and then return, the code looked great, even upside down! 🙃

I sometime use a key chsin camera on my aerobatic aircraft mounted using the rear camalyser retention bolt looking aft. On one flight, a fly was sitting on the rear fuselage as I started the take off roll. He hung on until I flew the first reversal starting with a 45 deg upline. As the power came on it either got blown off or jumped! Your bee was made of sterner stuff!

Beautiful plane.

The upside down insignia is correct if he’s flying inverted. Seems close enough to me? 👍

Club member Dave Holdaway flew a renovated free flight model with R/C and converted to electric power. A perect afternoon for some good pictures Great nostalgia an very peaceful to watch

Brilliant news Toto - you really deserved a good day flying today and I'm made up that you experienced the joy of a good landing =it's the best feeling in flying for me. You've earned a debrief with your pal John Smith this evening. 👍😎

Congrats. It s a great feeling isn't it, and still get it when I grease one.

great stuff ernie

I'll try again just the link this time🤨. https://youtube.com/shorts/UhLcYku4FEY?si=ci4oFySIID

I would go something not so common.. I would be happy P47, YAK, LA7 etc. Complexity is not a big issue for me. Zero will be great too..

Very interested to see what techniques you come up with for this mix of materials. 👍

It was indeed, might be helpful to know if there is a pipe with it?

Have not done an update for a long time on here. I got the plane on its wheels for the first time and all seems pretty good. Still having some issues with retracts and getting them to sit in the wheel wells. Hopefully I will try to add more content in the coming months. Hope you all have a good Easter weekend and if you’d like to look at how I got to this point I have a build thread on Facebook as well https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076796093601 Thanks

One of the nicest flying Models I ever had. I have been looking for a built one for years but no joy Bill

Lovely day at WHMFC..... strikes me we are a tad untidy! I flew my Blade and little K110 hslis - usually they only fly indoors. Had great fun doing fast(ish) figures of 8 and circuits with the K110, and slow circuits with the Blade. Had some nice flights with the Spacewalker, Double Trouble Hawk, baby FW190... Kev wrung out his big blue aerobat, and did some beautiful slow passes with his old T-Bolt, sun glinting off the silver covering, and Laser pop-popping away... Great day.

Hi Steve and Guys, I am still working on the CAD files, and will then do some more testing. I just need more time!! Trust me, Xfire will live again. Cheers for now Pete

She flew! And flew well I might add, no flying shots as my photographer was acting as a ‘trim buddy’. The weather was calm after the early frost and mist and all checks completed. It required a decent heave for the hand launch and after some click of trim, she was flying hands free. I only flew for 5 minutes, the battery showed 52% left, it’s a 4 cell 3300. The spinner and prop vibrate a bit so some more work required. Landing was a doddle, I landed her on the very wet and soft grass without any damage! I'll build a dolly for launching it think.

Well.... all painted...at last! Just want to put on a light clear coat of satin varnish. As I fly early it is usually damp grass and the underside gets covered in wet grass. Well... now what's next ??????