Klippy

You don't often get the opportunity to watch over the shoulder of a master!

Just found this thread Olly. As I was reading I immediately thought, hatch magnets, they're amazingly strong, put a small coil around one side,p of the pair, pulse it in opposition, and away she drops. I think you've zeroed in on the right way to do it. It doesn't have to be magnets of course, you could use a Heli type ball link fitting into a piece of tube. Cut two slots in the tube and push a 'U' pin in the slots to lock the ball. I'd be tempted to use a 9gm servo to pull the pin, probably lighter than a home made solenoid.

Try reversing your throttle channel. It's the commonest cause of 'no start', with me anyway.

Your Futaba will be no problem, but check the wiring on the Sanwa jobs, as Kevin suggests

Yes, pretty much Geoff. Futaba are different in that they have an orientation key on one side and the Futaba receivers have corresponding slots in the edge. It's easy to take a sharp knife and just pare off the key.

I'm holding thumbs Andy! Do you have a final weight yet, and how does that relate to wing loading?

Hard to say Tony, I take it you are clamped on either the black or red battery lead. Since the waveform of the current you're trying to measure is a square wave, it's possible that the clamp meter won't like it. What you can do is, fully charge your lipo, connect up, and then run motor on full load for say one minute (exactly) measuring the average voltage. Remove lipo and recharge, taking note of the charge returned to the lipo. If you returned 1amp for 11 minutes, then you know your clamp meter wasn't lying.

amas, amat, amum

This argument is at least 40 years old, the model is flying in a box of still air, the box of air is moving downwind at wind speed. The apparent balloning when you turn on to finals is attributed to the eye/brain taking a few frames to appreciate the change in apparent airspeed. (ducks back behind the wall!)

Tony PrinceSouth AfricaNo kit yet

Good to see you back Myron, did the insurers fix the van (oops, mobile home) Ok?

Hi Terence, never mind them! Long motor leads is better. The analogy I like to use is, imagine a long water pipe, when you turn the tap on tou get a weight of water moving through the pipe, when you turn the tap off, suddenly, you have to stop the weight of water from moving, creating large stresses in the pipe. No doubt someone is going to say I'm wrong, but it works for me. In short, do not lengthen the ESC battery leads. You can buy capacitor banks to enable you to lengthen the battery leads, but why bother. There was a long discussion about it on here while you were away. Can't find it right now, but I'm sure someone will post a link.

Yes Martin. when needs must the Devil drives! In Third world countries you often don't have any options. We would send them the bearings clean, and then clean them again when they came back. Anyway Hogster is fixed up so he won't have to resort to 'dirty tricks'

Sadly, it's become standard operating procedure for Manufacturers to fit non standard (read slightly altered) bearings in order to make more money out of spares. When I was in the engineering industry it was the norm for us to get 60% discount on all bearing orders! There's a huge markup!Hogster, if the OD is too big why don't you get an engineering grinders to skim it down for you. Get them to measure the bearing bore in the engine first, they will be able to recommend the correct final size. When you get the bearing back, wash it well in Meths, then Laquer thinners, then petrol, then meths again. Then lubricate with after run oil before fitting. This is to be absolutely sure you get all the grinding nasties out before you fit it. Being in Africa where all machinery is imported we used to go that route often, you can't wait for the parts to arrive! Every hour the machine stands is money!

How about this? Buy model, sneak it home and put it in loft or shed. Borrow vacuum cleaner and find a damp cloth (do not ask SWEMBO for damp cloth). Wipe box with damp cloth and blow a handful or two of dust over the box (the dampness helps the dust stick) Now, be patient, leave it for a week or two! When ready, and when SWEMBO is in residence, announce that you think you're going to build that old model that you've had in the shed/loft for years, and can you borrow a damp cloth to get the dust off! Be theatrical, and let her see you doing it! Works every time

Looking good, you're putting us all to shame. It must be costing a small fortune.

Looks to me as though the engine wasn't cleaned of methanol before storage, methanol is very hygroscopic and you ended up with water/methanol/oil mix in the bearings.

I have to confess it was a bit tongue in cheek, I've done it myself!

Hi Lindsay, I take it you're going to put the horn in place first, then push the tailplane through, then attach the elevators! Unless you've got a special trick?

Ultymate

Hi Ernie, actually it was Daniel that was looking for advice. Me, I just don't take advice, not even my own!

Great news Dan, been in that place myself.

You've opened a can of worms here Daniel, I build lots and crash lots! My advice, buy a cheap SIM, and see just how hard it really is. Then go to a club that has a newbie program and start from there. It takes years to teach yourself if you are just ordinary, like me. There are some hot shots who have taught themselves in short order, but they are VERY special people.

Nice one Simon, all the manuals for the yank machines I maintained used to have 'intentionally blank' printed on the unused pages, often made me think!

I remember  those days Terence! And if the local Bobby gave you a clip, you didn't dare tell your folks, because you got another one, you must have deserved it! You didn't go to school in Torquay did you? We had a maths master there who used a plimsole! He used to go outside into the corridor in order to get a better run up!