David Davis

I believe that P&R silencers are no longer made. Just Engines used to supply BCM strap-on silencers but they are showing "out of stock" on their website. However, they still sell the straps o if you can find an old silencer you may be able to strap it onto your engine. https://www.justengines.co.uk/shop/exhaust-systems/two-stroke-exhausts/bisson-custom-mufflers-by-engine-manufacturer/universal-strap-on/bcm-strap/?v=11aedd0e4327 Otherwise I'll see what I have amongst my souvenirs. I've owned several Enya engines, my Enya 50 powers the club's Boomerang trainer, and I think that I may still have some of the exhausts. If I have any you may have them for the cost of postage from France,

Thank you for all of the advice gentlemen. There's no easy way to reduce weight as both models are already built and despite all that I've written above, I've decided to repair the wing of the Ukrainian Baron first. Apart from basswood main spars it is absolutely stock then I'll decide what to do with the other wing.

Still getting the pop ups. Don't know haow to ad block.

Well I've certainly experienced enough repaired models to realise that the weight of the repairs can adversely affect the performance of the model but I've looked into the question of wing to tail area ratios and the consensus seems to be that a tailplane with 20% of the wing area is adequate so I'm going to go ahead and make my new wing 10% longer in the hope of gaining a bit more lift. It only amounts to adding an extra bay to each wing. I will also use more dihedral on this new wing than I did on my first wing in order to make the model more stable, something like one inch for every foot of half-span plus an inch, so about 9cms (3.5 inches) under each wing tip. PS. They are accepting ninety entrants this year, nine groups of ten pilots and yes, a four stroke engine of up to 0.56 cubic inches is eligible. Two strokes are limited to a 35. It's a pity they don't allow 36s to compete as there are some strong engines in that category.

Thanks for your reply Chris. I have two Barons. The one in the Ukrainian colours is stock. The one in the RNAS colours has a shorter nose but it's only about 1 cm shorter than stock. It also has a wing with a lower dihedral. This makes it less pleasant to fly hence the idea of making a new wing. The new wing will have the standard dihedral but I haven't yet decided whether to make the 10% longer because the tailplane will be proportionately 2.2% smaller and that might make the model less stable. At the moment the Ukrainian one has a broken wing but with a bit of hacksawing, some glue and some covering film it'll soon be back to flying condition. The fuselages on both models are sound and I'm reluctant to start hacking them about to move the engines back because I want to get on with finishing off my Galaxy Models Mystic and my DB Sport and Scale Auster. There is no minimum weight rule in La Coupe. Some people even fit wheels intended for indoor models.

A question for the cognoscenti of aerodynamics. The wing are of a standard Baron is 3720 sq cms. The tailplane area of the standard Baron is 25.64% of the wing area. If I increase the wingspan by 10% to allow for the extra weight of a four-stroke engine which is permitted under the rules of the competition, the wing area increases to 4080 sq cms, so the tail area is now only 23.2% of the wing area. Will increasing the wingspan by 10% make that much difference to the model's flying characteristics? Will the proportional reduction in tailplane area (2.2%) make any difference to the model's flying characteristics? Or should I stick to the tried and trusted wing and tail?

Apparently classic cars are ULEZ exempt.

I've cut out the wing ribs for the new wing out of depron. I am going to make up a D section wing with a third spar halfway between the main spars and the tailing edge. I will be using a film covering so will fit cap-strips to the wing ribs to protect them from the heat. I am thinking of using carbon fibre tube for the leading edge. I have bought some UHU POR glue for the balsa-depron interface but which glue should I use to fit the carbon fibre tube to the wing ribs and the balsa leading edge sheeting to the carbon fibre tube?

Evening Graham. I never got round to finishing my own BE2e, other projects and repairs have got in the way. Instead I have flown the BE2e which I bought from an estate sale but in my opinion the cg position shown on the Roy Scott plan is too far to the rear and it should be under the observer's cockpit. That's the front cockpit in the BE2 of course. While mine flew with an aft cg, I was playing a piano sonata on the transmitter! I resorted to melting some lead into a sardine tin and this made the model easier to fly. I've attached a picture of the lead which I glued to the under cowling and a picture of the model in flight. I am using an OS FL 70 which is lighter than your Laser.

I've only two things to say to you!

He probably said that she wasn't one of us!

How unfortunate for you Mike, but wait a minute! I happen to own a 1974 Rover 2200 SC. It requires a polish but is otherwise very useable. Yours for £4500!

Not really a new model but a few weeks ago, while doing a bit of instructing, I failed to take over control of the club's Seagull Boomerang quickly enough when it was a long way off down wind. Both my trainee and I lost orientation and the model hit the deck. The wing on the Boomerang II is fully sheeted and was only cosmetically damaged. Twenty days ago I started the repair with a fuselage ripped open like a banana. Yesterday I flew it again. By my standards that's really quick!

Twenty days to get the model into flying condition. That's fast by my standards. I flew the model this afternoon. It flew quite quickly because of the larger more powerful engine and the ailerons were very sensitive for the same reason. I'll dial in a little more expo on the ailerons. I may even replace the original engine and just put up with the long take-offs. The landing was rather hot this afternoon and I damaged the propeller. I was running a 12x6 which may have been a little large for the Enya 50. The new covering makes the old wing look scruffy but uniquely amongst ARTF trainers I've seen, the Boomerang II's wing is sheeted top and bottom with balsa. The model is a tool, an advanced trainer for trainee pilots so I'm not too concerened about cosmetics.

See my thread, "Repairing an ARTF Trainer" for current activity. Once that's done I plan to finish my Galaxy Models Mystic and DB Sport & Scale Auster. Happy New Year Gentlemen!

Beginning to take shape. The red covering is old Solarfilm, the white is Chinese film sold by Kavan. It's not the best covering job I've done but it will make the wing look scruffy! The up-rated main landing gear has been installed likewise the Enya 50. I hope that I do not regret my decision to change the engine but on the other hand it's probably better that these much admired items are actually used rather than have them lie about in a box until I die! I have fitted a balsa block across the nose to tie in the nose cheeks. I have done this with many ARTF trainers in the past using either block or sheet, ever since an ARTF trainer I was flying ran out of fuel and landed in a field sown to spuds. The haulms unpeeled the fuselage like a banana! I need to do some repair work to the fin but I should have the model in flying condition by the weekend.

Quite so. I won the four stroke class in 2021 and finished second to last this year so I've got a reputation to defend. It would be nice if the other two expat Englishmen were to enter as well. I plan to build a new wing for my model increasing the wing area by 10% to allow for the extra weight of the four stroke engine.

I know what you mean. I hate driving long distances myself these days. Just need to steel myself for this one!

That's nothing! It's a five hour drive for me and one of the other blokes lives in the Somme department.

Perhaps I should have explained that the other two Englishmen are both French residents so not so far for them to go.

Merry Christmas Everybody!

La Coupe Des Barons 2024 takes place on 15th June next year at Ste Marie d'Alloix between Chambery and Grenoble. I will be campaigning my British Baron featuring a new wing based on the structure of a Keil Kraft Super 60 but with wing ribs made from depron. I also plan to increase the wingspan by 10% to lighten the wing loading. The Ukrainian Baron will be my reserve aircraft in case I damage "Bertie" shortly before the event. Two more compatriots are building Barons so there may be three British pilots at this year's event. I have attached a video of the 2017 event for those unfamiliar with La Coupe Des Barons. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-e&q=La+Coupedes+Barons+2017#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:97830b33,vid:vYlLvJC-MuE,st:0

I don't know for certain but I was told several years ago that the farmer wanted the field to build a house for his parents but whether that's the reason or not, I don't know. I have many happy memories of flying there. Perhaps the best was that morning when my Flair Hooligan hit the top branches of a tree! More in hope than expectation I pushed the throttle stick forward and the engine, an Irvine 46, burst into life! I brought the model back to a safe landing on the patch trailing foliage from the undercarriage! Picture below. Offending tree in the background, foliage in my hand!

According to the Shropshire Model Flying Club's Facebook Page the club will lose its field at Forton Aerodrome near Montford Bridge on 31st December after having flown from this site for more than fifty years. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1612183335718984/?hoisted_section_header_type=recently_seen&multi_permalinks=3620925571511407 I was a regular member of the club from 1995 until 2015 when I retired to France. Several members have joined neighbouring clubs and the search is on for another flying field. Shame. I recall flying my brown and yellow Veron Cardinal off the field in 1960 when I was twelve years old and the last time I flew there was in August when I was in England helping my mate to build a garage. I gave my Big Guff an airing.

There is an old boy called Percy, a South African who has a chateau near to my home. He's married to a French lady and spends the nortern hemisphere autumns and winters in South Africa and the spring and summer here in France. While not a member of our club he usually donates some money to the club and likes to see us fly. Earlier this year he brought along an electric powered control line stunter which he'd built and he flew it at our field. While looking on Facebook this morning I received a friend request from Percy. "Funny I thought, are n't we already FB Friends?" I accepted anyway then got a message in Dutch or Africaans asking me whether I'd heard the good news. As a youth I studied German to A Level and as all three languages are similar I worked out the meaning and replied in German asking Percy to tell me about his good news. I got an immediate reply in German to say that he'd won 400,000 Rand on a Facebook Prize Draw and my name was on the list of prize winners too. I should have smelt a rat before this because I've only ever spoken to Percy in English though he does speak French, so I replied, "Sounds like a scam." Percy then posted on our club website to tell us to ignore any friend request purporting to come from him. Someone appears to have hacked his FB account. How do I report it?