David Davis

Too cold to go flying so I started work on my other Baron's new wing. I am using depron for the wing ribs. I have never used it before, neither have I used De Luxe Materials' Super Phatic or UHU POR before. They are both excellent.

Thank you for the replies. I used to have a Radio Queen initially powered by an OS 52 Surpass. Pictured below with my much younger self. It flew ok well throttled back but it flew better when fitted with an OS 40 Surpass. I used it to give elderly beginners their first experience of wafting around the sky. I have just consulted the plan and have discovered that the engine bearers are spaced for an ED Mark III 2.49cc diesel engine. I believe that the Channel Crossing model was powered by a 3.5cc diesel. I am beginning to think that perhaps a far less powerful electric motor is the way to go. Something which produces about 250 Watts. Less power, less thrust less chance of violent climbing.

I am familiar with downthrust having flown free flight models in my youth. I will be seventy-six next month! 😄 The model in question is a Ben Buckle Radio Queen, powered by an electric motor and built by my protogé Frans Cooremans, a seventy year-old Belgian. I'm very much an i/c engine man myself but having fitted three electric motors to this model I'm beginning to become more knowledgeable! Initially we fitted a motor with a similar power to that recommended by 4-Max. https://www.4-max.co.uk/po-5055-595.html Even with a 3S LiPo this set up proved to be greatly over-powered. if you advanced the throttle the model would climb rapidly and if you didn't correct things quickly enough it would stall. We installed two less powerful electric motors ending up with an Axi 2820/10 which I had been given a long time ago and while flight characteristics had improved they were not really suitable for a beginner. If I flew it I could anticipate the stall, reduce power and put in down elevator but Franz doesn't have my experience so sometimes he was flying about in a series of barely controlled stalls. We were trying a smaller propeller yesterday when the Axi blew apart on take off. We were unable to find the rotating piece (the can?) so unless we find it we will have to buy another motor. When weighed on my kitchen scales in November the model weighed 5lbs or 2.2 kgs and the centre of gravity is as per plan about 4.5" (11.5 cms) from the leading edge. So some questions for the cognoscenti: Would this be a suitable motor for the Radio Queen given that the motors we've used so far have been too powerful? https://www.weymuller.fr/article/moteur_brushless_protronik_dm2615_1050.html I'm thinking that 50 watts per lb will be adequate for a vintage model like the Radio Queen. If it's not suitable what would you recommend? Should we incorporate some down-thrust, if so how much? We are going to have to rebuild the motor mount anyway. Is down-thrust required only when power is excessive? The original Channel-crossing Radio Queen was powered by an ED Racer and having just inspected the plan, it states that the engine bearer spacing is suitable for a 2.5 cc diesel engine. Incidentally, I had a look at one of the club's four channel ARTF trainers yesterday. It's powered by an OS 46 AX. It had a substantial amount of down-thrust, I would estimate 5 degrees or more.

I have been working on my reserve Baron. Once I'd repaired the wing, the fuselage and tailplane looked scruffy so I removed the old covering, repaired any damage and re-covered them. The grey didn't match anyway because the film was from two different manufacturers. I've used off-cutts from rolls of flourescent yellow and orange. I should be able to see it in the sky! I hope to maiden it this weekend.

Hi Ronron, Thank you for the information but it will be difficult to change the incidence of the tailplane on my models as both are firmly glued into place. I'll consider the modification if I have to build another. My Barons are both powered by four-stroke engines so there is no need for weight in the front. I give a prize to the leading pilot who uses a four-stroke engine in the competition. I won my own prize in 2021 so I gave it to the second man! Please come over and introduce yourself in June. I speak French fairly well. I will be flying the number 247 Baron finished in either British or Ukrainian markings something like in the picture below. There may be another expatriate Englishman in the competition. He lives up in the Somme region. Several of my French club mates participated in the competition in 2019 but they now think it's too far to drive! 😄

Hello. What information are you looking for on which aeroplane? Quelles informations recherches toi et quel avion?

I am finishing off a DB Sport & Scale Auster. I haven't yet decided which motor to fit but a Thunder Tiger 91 FS is certainly in the running. I usually run this engine, and all of my Japanese four-strokes, on fuel containing 10% nitro and I have been given a gallon of 15% nitro. The model is covered in white Solartex which is fuel-proof but which soon starts to look scruffy unless it's coated with something. I was thinking of using a water based polyurethane floor varnish brushed on over the Solartex but I would like to know whether this type of varnish will withstand fuels containing this much nitro.

Boris's newly repaired wing makes the rest of the model look scruffy, besides the new grey film does match the older covering. I have decided to recover the fuselage and tail surfaces too, that way I'll be better able to check for structural damage. I've been impressed by UHU Por impact adhesive. Boris is mounted on a block of depron. You can pick up him up by the head and wave the wing about no bother! I'm looking forward to using this glue on the British Baron with its depron wing ribs. Has anyone used this glue as a canopy glue?

Martial bliss? You'll never get them to bind if they're fighting one anther.

You may find Mark Robinson's video on covering with doculam interesting Mike.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pe2M8UhD8g

How is the Domino's nose-wheel pushrod attached to the servo? I always adjust things mechanically before going to the computer in the transmitter, a DX9 in my case. Mind you I'm Old School.

Thank you gentlemen for all your responses. In the end we found out that we had sufficient Solartex and Oratex to cover the Radio Queen. Having sorted out problems caused by excessive power from the motor, the balance point and inadequate rudder travel, the model now flies very well. We're only waiting for some better weather.

It's change. Whether it's progress is a matter of opinion.

As a matter of fact I have been following his other thread. It would appear that there was nobody at his first club who knew how to tune a simple two-stroke engine. A sign of the times I guess.

Can't help thinking that you'd have saved all this trouble and expense if you'd fitted a decent two-stroke to the model. 😏

Thank you John, I'll do my best to make them as identical as possible though the wing structure will be different. I have discovered several metres of flourescent yellow film in the workshop. Perhaps I'll use that to cover Boris's wing retaining the black and white undersides for the British Baron. Normally the darker covering goes on the underside of the wing doesn't it?

Apropos of wing tips, the standard wing tip of the Baron is effectively a triangle 24cms x 10cms and under-cambered to echo the sort of wing sections in use during the Great War but these wing tips are not compulsory. Last year's event was won by Christian Bolis flying the No.2 Baron which has wing tips and tail surfaces similar a Vought F4U Corsair. Others simply build their wings with squared off tips. So a question for those with superior aerodynamic knowledge. Would there be any advantage in changing the shape of the wing tip on the new wing which I will be building for the British Baron? The Ukrainian Baron will have a stock Baron wing. Video of last year's event attached. I crashed out in the first round and finished second to last. I hope for an improvement this year! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuMm24PTZ_Y

A Vicomte was a Baron made under license by Svenson.

I have decided to repair Boris's wing first. The starboard wing snapped off at the wing route. After a considerable amount of fettling I've got this far. I've simply added two new plywood dihedral braces over the old ones because I doubt that I could have removed the old dihedral braces without damaging the main spars at the same time. This will add a little weight butI don't think it will make much difference. This is the standard Baron wing, it has a total of nine spars including the leading and trailing edges. Four of these spars are arranged in pairs and they are all balsa except for the main spars which are basswood. The rest of the airframe is undamaged though a glue joint at the tail seems to have sprung. I will investigate. I've bought some new grey covering film marketed by Kavan. It is a shade darker than the Oracover which covers the rest of the model, not that that greatly concerns me. I am going to cover the lower surface of one of the wings in black film and the other in white, rather like the early British fighters of the Second World War. This is to aid orientation.

Have you flown a radio controlled model aircraft before Lewis?

The first time I entered they shoved a microphone under my nose and asked where I was from. I said, " La Creuse!" Then they asked me where I was born. I replied, "Shropshire, Angleterre." The man with the microphone said that the competition was now "La Coupe Des Barons International." Apparently a German and a Swiss national are regular competitors and this year there will be at least two Englishmen competing if all goes well. PS. I haven't taken French citizenship though I know several who have. I have a residency permit until 2031!

I rebuilt the club's Seagull Boomerang trainer in twenty days in December which is a record for me! Before and after pictures below, build blog here: https://forums.modelflying.co.uk/index.php?/topic/54030-repairing-an-artf-trainer/page/2/&tab=comments#comment-985092 I'm currently getting two Barons ready for La Coupe Des Barons competition in June. More info here: https://forums.modelflying.co.uk/index.php?/topic/54099-la-coupe-des-barons-2024/&tab=comments#comment-985643

Thank you Robin. The Ukrainian Baron, Boris, has a stock dihedral which makes it easier to fly than the British one. It also has the standard Baron wing construction consisting of five spars and two turbulator spars. Of these five spars, only two, those at the wing rib's widest point, are made from basswood. The starboard wing had snapped off at the junction of the centre section in a crash. To repair it simply involves repairing one of the balsa spars and the trailing edge and cutting two new wing ribs before joining the wing back onto the centre section. I'll post a few pictures of the job later. I must drive over to La Chatre to buy a gas stove to heat the workshop. I intend to build a complete new wing for the British Baron, Bertie, with the stock dihedral or a little more. The model is currently in flying condition but as I have said above, it is not very pleasant to fly with its reduced dihedral. However, I intend to change the construction of the wing quite radically. Three balsa spars arranged a la Super 60, ribs at 3" centres as opposed to the standard Baron spacing of 2" centres, fully sheeted D section at the front of the wing, depron ribs with cap strips and a fullt built-up trailing edge. I'm hoping that this form of construction will produce a lighter wing and with the increase in dihedral, it will be a more pleasant model to fly. I may even make the leading edge out of carbon fibre tube. I know that this will increase the weight but it may help in a collision. Thesae are not unknown in La Coupe!

The temperature is forecast to drop to as low as -6C here and not to rise above freezing point till Wednesday. No wind though! Think I'll stay indors and repair something!

I have a strap-on Kavan silencer which should suit your engine. The strap is probably not serviceable but it's yours for the cost of the postage from France. PM me if interested.