David Davis

February 29

The SLEC Fun Fly could be a logical next step providing that you can fly well enough on ailerons. I built one about nine years ago. Mine was powered by an OS 40FP but you can buy one intended for electric flight these days. The instructions were good coupled with many photographs. The only problem was attaching the cockpit to the wing but I still think you'd benefit from having an experienced builder to keep an eye on your build.

https://www.slecuk.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=130_168

February 29

I stumbled on the following acronym yesterday, SABLE.

The bloke was trying to sell some kits because he was not going to live long enough to build them all.

SABLE stood for Stock Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy!

February 29

My club will be hosting a model exhibition in a local village hall over the coming weekend 2nd-3rd March. We have invited neighbouring clubs to participate. Most of the models will be aircraft but we usually attract a few interesting model boats. Details below. Iwill take some pictures of the more interesting exhibits.

February 29

Hooch, in my view, the help of a real live experienced model builder at your side as you start a build is worth 100 YouTube videos. You don't say whether you've joined a club yet but I urge you to do so. I'm sure there would be some old greybeards there who would only be too willing to help you. You only have to ask.

February 25

Morning Ron

I don't know when you intend to call a halt to the voting for your next build but it's eleven minutes past eight GMT as I type this on Sunday 25th February 2024 and the votes on this site are as follows:

For the Mystic: 4

For the Rascal: 4

Over on YouTube the votes are :

For the Mystic: 17

For the Rascal: 9

Aggregate:

Mystic: 21

Rascal: 13.

Over to you.

February 23

6 minutes ago, Hoochykins said:

@David Davis Yep, I have bought myself the basic cub from Vintage Models and I think I will make the BF109 after. Small steps.

Ok Hooch, the Cub seems to be an easy model to build though it's a bit smaller than I would normally recommend. Are you going in for the three or four channel version. If you've chosen the three channel version, I'd advise you to get familiar with a high wing model with ailerons first before going on to the 109. After all the real Bf 109 pilots flew at least two different trainers before they flew the fighter.

February 23

Hooch, the Falcon is the holy grail of vintage models and not for someone new to building. The similar size Majestic Major is a much simpler build: https://www.benbucklevintage.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_5&products_id=17

My fist successful r/c model was a Junior 60: https://www.benbucklevintage.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_4&products_id=13 The Majestic Major is an enlargement of it.

February 23

5 hours ago, leccyflyer said:

Not familiar with the Mystic, but the Sig Rascal is a truly beautiful aeroplane.

This was my Mystic at Christmas. There has been no progress since because I've been too busy building a wing for my Baron.

February 23

Hooch, to build a model aeroplane you will need a building board and a table to put it on. I use a piece of plasterboard for mine. You will also need a modelling knife, I use a Swann Morton scalpel and a balsa saw and Stanley knife for thicker wood. Pins such as the ones shown in the pictures below are a good investment. I use aliphatic glues for most joints but I have been using more cyano recently and half-hour epoxy where extra stength is needed.

You can see my building board, pins and some aliphatic glue in the pictures below. Finally if you were to join a club I feel sure that someone would help you with the build if you asked them.

February 23

I've voted for the Mystic, but then I would, I'm building one myself!

February 23

Then there's this old classic: https://www.benbucklevintage.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_4&products_id=11

It's not a particularly complicated build and more British people probably learned to fly on this model than any other prior to the arrival of foam wing trainers. I've built two and bought a third. The kit is available as a three or four channel model.

February 22

21 minutes ago, J D 8 said:

The set up I had in mine was 120watt and it was plenty.

JDB knows what he's talking about.

February 21

Toto,

Firstly switch on your transmitter, then disconnect the speed controller from the receiver.

Connect a 4 or 5 cell Nimh battery to the battery port taking care to see that the polarity is correct.

Then operate the elevator and rudder sticks on your transmitter. If they move normally, we can usually deduce that the fault lies elsewhere but just to be certain, fit a spare servo to the ESC port. If that moves normally it suggests that there's nothing wrong with the receiver so you can discount this link in the chain.

February 21

I've been on to Horizon Hobbies Europe and two out of the four parts that are needed to restore my Spektrum DX9 to as new condition are not available. It looks like a Radiomaster may be the way to go given the price of Spektrum transmitters these days.

February 20

I've had a bit of a curate's egg of a day.

Took the dog for a walk across the fields and she set up three deer. She chased after them at maximum speed but they were too fast for her.

Then the postman arrived when I was in the shower. He was delivering the vinyl for the Barons which I had ordered from Pyramid Models. I had to pay an extra 11€. Thanks brexit!

I had arranged for my protegé Frans to pick me up at 10.00 before we went to the flying field to fly his Radio Queen. He's at the stage of doing his own take offs and landings but he's a bit brutal on the controls and tends to hold in a signal for too long. He managed two successful take offs and one landing though the take offs were not straight down the runway. On the third take-off he froze on the controls and the model smashed into a small metal hut which we use to store outside chairs. I did not have the time to regain control at that altitude. The model is repairable but it was a good job that we were the only people there, because this is where non-flying pilots tend to sit and watch the rest of us making fools of ourselves. Maybe he'd be better off with a four-channel model and/or a different instructor.

We retired to my house for coffee and opened the parcel from Pyramid Models. Thank you Lee, they look very fine indeed.

I had intended to spend the afternoon doing domestic chores but the weather was perfect so I took my Ukrainian Baron for a couple of practise flights. Besides, the forecast is for wind and rain in the days ahead, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! The first flight was a familiarisation excercise but on the second flight I practised flying left hand circuits at low level. The plan was to fly ten circuits then land. I had completed nine circuits and had just lined the model up for a low pass when the engine cut. I landed it unseen in dead ground but heard the model rolling along the ground so didn't think that the model would have been damaged. This proved to be the case. This is going to be one lucky model! However, the 90cc (3 oz) fuel tank is too small for the Thunder Tiger 54! I'll sort out a bigger one.

After cleaning and packing the model, I took the dog for a walk around the perimeter. We saw a large flock of the Common European Crane flying northwards to their summer breeding grounds in Sandanavia and Northern Russia. This flock was followed by three more and once we'd got home another flock flew over the house.

Picture of the Radio Queen and the Ukrainian Baron minus its national markings below. The Dayglo Yellow really stands out well.

February 15

I am interested in acquiring a good used OS 61 two-stroke to suit a Supra Star which I will build once it comes to the top of the pile!

I already have a 61 SF which is a delightful engine and destined for DSM Aerostar once I get round to refurbing it.

Since the production of the SF ceased, OS have produced the FX and AX range.

Wasn't there a problem with chrome plating peeling on the liner of the FX engines, or was it the AX range? I haven't kept up with the alaphabet soup!

February 15

9 hours ago, Jim Hearnden 1 said:

I have never heard of a club dictating Modes! Generally in the south most fly M2 & in the north fly M1

I suspect this is for training. But you can mix transmitter modes in training.

I do this all the time Neddy.

I am Mode 2 and all the other members of my club here in the middle of France, with one exception, are Mode 1. I regularly train Mode 1 beginners on the buddy box while I fly Mode 2. The important thing is that transmitters need to be able talk to one another. I fly Spektrum so my trainee needs to have a Spektrum transmitter. I have spare Mode 1 and Mode 2 Spektrum transmitters in case the beginner has not yet bought his own transmitter. The club has two more trainers which use Futaba master and slave transmitters.

It appears that your transmitter is one supplied with a plug'n'play model so unless your club has another transmitter of the same make it will difficult to link it to the instructor's transmitter. I'm assuming that your transmitter has a socket to take a buddy lead. Not all transmitters have such a facility.

You will need to change the ratchet to the r/h stick if you're converting it to Mode 1.

Does your club have its own trainer?

February 14

While not so expensive as Jim's problem, I have a little incident to report. I've been trying to teach a seventy year-old Belgian friend how to both build and fly for a couple of years. He was keen to build a model rather than buy one so when a Radio Queen kit became available, he bought it. The Radio Queen is a vintage three channel model with a wingspan of over two metres and I used to have one powered by an i/c engine. It was ideal for giving elderly beginners their first taste of r/c flight. He made a nice job of the build then we reached the stage of installing the electric motor. Now I'm an engine man and not very enthusiastic or knowledgeable about electric flight so we fitted a motor of equivalent power to that recommended for the Radio Queen by a well-known supplier of electric flight equipment.

It was far too powerful, something over 500 watts. When Frans flew it, flight consisted of a series of barely controlled stalls. We tried a smaller motor, different props and a change of cg position all to no avail. Vintage model experts suggested that 50-60 watts per lb would be adequate so we weighed the model and bought a Roxxy 28-34-08 1120kv motor. On a 10x7 prop she produces 320 watts. As the model weighs 4.8 lbs, thats about 67 watts per lb. We had to install a different mouning plate for this motor and we had to do it on Monday last because Frans was going away for a week the following day. Having fitted everything on my dining room table and having glued the mounting plate into position with cyano, we retired to the flying field.

I was anxious that we might not have had enough power and that I would end up driving a car but we fitted the wing, connected the LiPo checked the controls and carried it down to the club's tarmac runway. I progressively pushed forward the throttle stick and the Radio Queen shot backwards! Oh how we all laughed! 😄

I told Frans to swap a couple of cables between the motor and the ESC and we were good to go in the diminishing daylight. The model rolled down the runway, took off and climbed well until I'd reached a good altititude when I was able to throttle back. The old girl floated about magnificently with the throttle stick at just over the halfway point.

So now at least I know something about how much power is needed to fly a vintage model.

Pictures of both my old Radio Queen and my much younger self and Frans' model below.

PS. With a 10x5 prop the motor produces 285 watts which is about 59 watts per lb so it should fly well on that too.

February 13

Shame I live in the middle of France these days otherwise I would have been interested in the ABC Robin

February 13

As I have posted elsewhere we finally got Frans' Radio Queen to fly well on a much less powerful motor which produced 320 watts on a 10x7 prop and 3S Lipo. This produced 67 watts per kilo. We had previously been using much more powerful motors. The new motor is tiny compared to the previous ones and before it actually took off, I wondered whether it was going to be a car!

Having studied the plan I noticed that the engine bearers were spaced for a 2.5cc engine.

Now that would be a challenge!

February 13

Sorry to hear this news.

If someone were to make a list of what is available, I feel sure that it would spark some interest.

February 13

PS. On consulting the Ben Buckle plan I noticed that the engine bearers were spaced for a 2.5 cc engine.

Nuff said!

February 13

I'm just pleased that we've achieved a model which Frans will be able to fly easily. This will raise his confidence and enable him to go on to fly more demanding aircraft.

February 12

This afternoon Frans and I installed a Roxxy C28-34 motor which apparently produces 320 Watts with a 10x7 propeller. This equates to 66 watts per lb. With a 5000 mAh 3S lipo installed we went to the club's flying field at about 16.00 local time. Having checked everything, with the model on the runway I advanced the throttle progressively and the model rolled backwards! Frans swapped two of the cables and this time we had forward motion. The model took off, climbed adequately and I continued to fly it about for several minutes before I brought it into land on the club's tarmac runway.

As I thought, we had been using motors which were much too powerful resulting in unpleasant flying characteristics. The cg was more rearward too today. Not a problemwith a design like the Radio Queen.

February 9

Fine looking aircraft.

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