David Davis

What are we talking about here Dave? The Super Tigre or the DLE? The Super Tigre will run on it's side. You can get a Pitts style muffler for it from here but you may have to wait: http://www.bissonmufflers.com/en/index.html As for the DLE I have no experience of petrol engines whatsoever so can't advise. As others have suggested a 90 fourstroke would be ideal and would sound nicer. I have a couple of Thunder Tiger 91 fourstrokes which have proved to be excellent engines but they are no longer made and spares are unavailable. Mind you the same may be said for the Super Tigre and so many others makes.

I count ten wing ribs on each side so about 3" spacing. If you use depron for the ribs you will need to cap them in balsa top and bottom.

Dihdral of about 1" under each wing tip should be fine. The ailerons on my later Boomerang are 65 cms long and 3cms wide so L450 from SLEC should do the job https://slecuk.com/product/balsa-trailing-edge-915mm-36/. They are very effective. The main spars are usually located at the widest point of the rib profile which is usually about 30% of the way back from the leading edge. The sheeting exends back to cover the spars. You could save yourself the cost of balsa by using depron for the wing ribs. I did this on my Baron's new wing. The Baron is about the same wingspan as the Boomerang. Mine is powered by an OS 52 FS Surpass so we are in the same ballpark. I reinforced the spars with carbon fibre tow.

Not really but you have a fuselage so you could hold a piece of plywood inside the fuselage and draw the bottom of the wing section onto it. You could then produce your own template by reversing the curve for the upper side of the aerofoil. That would give you a symmetrical wing section which is not quite right, the Boomerang has a semi-symmetrical wing section, but the model would fly. Alternatively there is a lot of information on the web about aerofoils. Wing construction? Leading edge, trailing edge, strip ailerons, three or four spars, inter spar webs and sheet top and bottom from the leading edge to the main spars. The wingspan is 1.55 metres or 5 ft. You already know the chord.

Personally I hate noisy two strokes but that's just me. They've been responsible for the loss of many flying sites in England but I guess there's much more room in the USA so it's less of an issue. Even so I can't understand people actually LIKING the sound of a noisy two-stroke engine! Coming back to the Super Tigre 2000, if you were thinking of fitting it into a model which designed for a 20cc glow engine, then the ST 2000 should fly it. OK, an equivalent OS would be a better option or the slightly larger Super Tigre engines which came out soon after the release of the ST 2000, the 23cc and 25cc engines IIRC, but it should fly your model. Which model were you intending to put it in? PS. Weston UK made me a Mini Pipe for an SC32 two stroke glow. It reduces the sound output to a much more pleasant drone while giving me a few more revs on the top end.

What you have there Adsking is an ARTF Seagull Boomerang fuselage and tailplane. I have custody of one, it's one of the club's trainers. Mine is the later version with the fully sheeted wing. It's rather fast and heavy for an absolute beginner but ok for someone with a little experience. It flies well in a wind. Mine requires a ball-raced 46 to take off from our tarmac runway. Seagull used to make a builder's kit of the same model but these are rather rare.

I never thought that the ST 2000 was that bad an engine, like all big two-strokes they drink a bit of fuel, but Weston UK make a mini pipe especially for the Super Tigre 2000. https://www.westonuk.co.uk/Mini-Pipes-Plate-Fixing-Points--44mm/ .

I was quoting the OP!

Weston UK made me a four-stroke muffler for my OS 52 which I use in La Coupe Des Barons. It gives a useful increase in power while producing less noise.

We've been practising!

How about Weston UK? https://www.westonuk.co.uk/Genesis-Pipes/

So do mine!

I picked up one of the New Yamamoto trainers, the one with the glass fibre body which looks a bit like a Cessna, over thirty years ago when I was trying to learn to fly with ailerons. The previous model was a Junior 60! Talk about chalk and cheese! The Yamamoto was far too fast for me at that time, mind you, it was powered by a Merco 61 which I don't suppose helped matters! I got rid of it and built a Uno WOT powered by an Irvine 20 car engine. I learned to fly on ailerons with that. I've heard that the balsa ones flew well but I've never flown one so can't comment.

Work on the Junior 60 has paused because I have been assiduously practising flying for La Coupe Des Barons whenever I've had the time. https://forums.modelflying.co.uk/index.php?/topic/60495-la-coupe-des-barons-2025/#comments However, I have finished the basic construction of the fuselage and have installed the servos and engine. The fuselage now needs to be covered in doculam and tissue. I thought of buying a set of wing ribs from a well-known internet auction site until I checked the price and the cost of postage, so I cut out some ply templates to match the drawing on the plan and started work on the wings. The position of the forward spars does not match the plan, it's a good 3/16" (5mm) further to the rear on the plan but we plough on anyway. I have used thin cyano in the construction of the wing but will use half hour epoxy for the centre section and the wing joiners which will be full depth. I have finally decided to adopt the family Tomboy colour scheme for this model, yellow fuselage, red nose, red wing, tail, fin and rudder.

Concerning the CG, I thought that with having the heavy Laser 155 up front, I could mount the elevator and rudder servos at the rear which is what I did initially but when it came to checking the CG it was too far to the rear and I had to move the servos to a more conventional position. This meant that I had to fill the holes I had cut at the rear fuselage and put a patch of film over the repair which spoiled the immaculate appearence of the model! 😩 The Magician appeals to me too. I have an Irvine 53 which should make it go well.

Well done Ron! They fly really well. I was quite apprehensive when I maidened mine never having flown anything with so large an engine before. Mine is powered by a Laser 155 single but I need not have worried, in the air she's a pussy cat. My OS 46 powered Calmato is more intimidating!

I am in the process of fitting both models with larger but lighter wheels to avoid the risk of a prop strike on take off. I am also making a few cosmetic repairs on Bertie. I have been very impressed by the OS 48 Surpass in the Reserve Baron. It starts on the button, throttles very well and burns fuel very cleanly. I will keep it in the model in case I crash Bertie in practice but afterwards I fancy the engine in something more interesting. I have a Skyways Models Stampe Monitor kit which has been on my shelves for at least twenty years. The 48 would suit the model well!

I expect that four or five won't turn up. Family committments, work, illness or broken Barons are the usual reasons. Thank you Ernie. If I can get through the first round without damage I am confident of doing well in the four-stroke class. Probably. There is a prize for the oldest and the youngest competitor. I hope they have put all of the four-strokes in the same group if only for the sound but I don't suppose they have. Mind you there was talk of doing just that earlier in the year. I am driving up to Chateauroux tomorrow to pick up the four-stroke trophy.

I received the list of runners and riders yesterday. I am Pilot 6 in Group 4. Inscriptions are well down this year compared to the 70-75 who normally enter, consequently there will be six goups of eight, one of six and one of seven. This reduces the chance of a collision but makes it less of a spectacle. I hope they have put all of the four strokes in the same group! 😉

I had the chance to fly both Barons back to back today so I've finally come to a decision. I will fly Bertie the British Baron in La Coupe des Barons on 21st June. Reasons? It's a bit faster and a bit easier to control at low speeds and at low altitude. It's fitted with an OS 52 Surpass fitted with a Weston Genisis four stroke silencer while the Ukrainian Baron is fitted with an OS 48 Surpass with the standard exhaust. The 48 is a little jewel mind you but noticeably less powerful. The painful arm turned out to be a trapped nerve which soon cleared up with some medication.

Barbi is impatient to fly the Auster.

As well as the bikes and the interest in WW1, probably because I was very close to my grandfather who was in the Royal Engineers, I also own a classic car. Nothing so desirable as a jag but it has it's own charm. I'd forgotten that I also sing and strum a guitar. I lead two open mic sessions in two different locations every month. https://www.facebook.com/phil.ferris.98/videos/1380629653109802

I really regret selling the yellow bike. I replaced it with a red 1999 Sprint ST but never really took to it. It's appreciable heavier than the yellow Sprint RS but it's only done about 12,000 miles from new. Once I've sorted out the engine management light coming on I plan to sell it and replace it with something smaller like a Royal Enfield single. Alternatively, now I've got the dog, perhaps a motor bike and sidecar! ☺️

I am very interested in the Great War and I have held a motor cycle licence since I was sixteen. I used to enjoy touring the Western Front on my three cylinder Triumphs. Two of my family are buried there. In 2009 I rode all the way to Gallipoli and back but today these bikes are too tall and too heavy for me.

Thank you for your advice gentlemen. It makes sense. I took both models to the patch today because the wind was so calm and I found that the engine on the British Baron refused to start. I soon started the engine on the other one and flew it about for about ten minutes practising low level passes and high speed flight. Then I turned my attention to Bertie. The engine started but did not run as well as it normally does. I thought that perhaps it would clear in flight but there did not seem to be any consistant response to the throttle. I tried flying low over the patch and operating the throttle cut but the engine kept on running albeit not very well. I tried climbing to altitude and looping the model in order to cut the engine but to no avail. In the end I managed a landing at higher than optimal speed and I ran the model into a crop of peas which abuts the flying field. That stopped it! No damage. Having removed the wing I noticed that the glue joints holding two hardwood bearers upon which the throttle servo is mounted, had all failed so the throttle servo was just flopping about any old how! I'll sort it. Fortunately I was all by myself at the flying field. I also seem to have hurt my right forearm somehow. It's very painful and I'm typing this mostly left handed! Old age creeping up?