Steve Colman

Good to know spares are still available

Many thanks for that info Simon. Makes things much simpler for me.

Paul, do you have the rigging wires on the Tiggie? Have you flown it without? I have one I started years ago but didn't finish and I have no idea where the rigging wire is. I hope to finish it this spring/summer.

I also had problems with Zippy yellow lipo's from 3s 2200's to 4s of varying capacities.

Me too!

KW, I'm sorry, I don't have the model any more. From memory I think it's 4mm but I could be wrong.

I've proposed such days at my club on many occasions and there's been no interest at all! 😒

Very good point there Konrad. I've never liked this type of connector myself. Might be passable on small foamies but not on a model like the Angel. I have both 2mm and 3mm threaded rod and a variety of ball joint connectors and clevices from which I will fashion some new and improved control rods.

Thanks Learner, I think I've made the right choice too.

Keep your chin up Colin and be patient. You never know what's around the next corner.

Thanks John, I thnk so too 😁

Thank you Peter. It does look very good and with that and the price I just had to take the opportunity despite the distance involved. I have read that the Angel is rated better than the wind on many occasions. Re setting up the model, perhaps I will need to get myself a copy oy your book?

Very good news that I want to share with those of you who kindly gave me lots of advice on this subject. I have secured a second hand Sebart Angel S 50 evo for 450 euros. I have not seen it in person yet; I will be picking it up on Saturday 7th December - entailing a return journey of some 800 kilometres but I think it will be worth it. Comes with recommended Hacker motor and ESC, Graupner digital servos and a Spektrum Rx. Photos of model below.

Two years ago I had 35 models ready to fly of various kinds, some have been sold and some of those have been replaced with others. I currently have 27 in flying condition with 7 others in various states of completion. I'm trying to slim down the fleet and concentrate more on quality over quantity but, there is always a new temptation around every corner and I get bored very easily. However, storage is becoming a major problem and more models have been put on the for sale list. Also, keeping track of all the batteries of different sizes is becoming something of a headache.

I can relate to this post Konrad; it's exactly the same at my club in every detail. I am no expert by all means when setting up a model, but I do put in the time and effort via many trimming flights to get each model flying as best as I can. The weekend warriors, many with years of flying experience, turn up time after time with models that are very poorly set up it beggars belief. Then, they bemoan the flying characteristics of the model and wonder why theirs doesn't fly as well as my example. Some listen and make adjustments to their models while others just aren't interested and don't want to take the time and effort required to make improvements and continue to blame the model - especially so when they ultimately crash it! As the phrase goes, you can take a horse to water but you can't force it to drink. I also wonder why some buy a nice scale model and proceed to fly it like some demented 3D model. We have one guy who recently bought an E-Flite Beechcraft D 18 and he flies it in the same manner as his sport aerobatic models with no thought to the nature of the real aeroplane. He is also one of the group that takes little heed to what anyone else says, often flies with disrespect to others and seems to care little about basic safety. He is, of course, also the guy that has the highest crash rate of models in the club by a big margin!

This should get your feet tapping

Thanks once again for your reply Konrad.

Konrad, do you fly with 6s or 5s ? I read somewhere that the sweet spot is using 5s with a 15x10 prop. Given that if I were to buy one and I will be sport flying is 6s really necessary?

I have a mix of foamies and balsa/ply models, and while I have experienced some issues with foamies twisting and bending (shape shifting ) for the majority of the time it's not a big deal if the models are well cared for. I can understand that as we're talking of precision pattern planes any deviation in the models shape is undesirable. But, as Peter mentions, is a small change in shape going to be noticed in flight by your average club flyer, and that includes me? Probably not. However, I do try to fly smoothly and accurately and loved the way my little Angel 30 flew; I certainly noticed the difference between it and other similar models I've flown, both foamies and built up. With reference to my postings here, I'm basically looking for something to replace the Angel while upsizing a little in the process. For me, the 50 size Angel would have been ideal as probably the simplest and cheapest good quality model in it's category. However, I have to be realistic now as that particular model is more or less unobtainium now, and I can't justify spending close to 1000 notes on something else at this moment in time. I am exploring the second hand market though, but with no success at the moment. Therfore, I'm realising that one of the two foamies I have mentioned may be my the only realistic choice I have if I wish to fly this type of model. Foamies they may be, but I'm not going to compete and would be purely flying for my own pleasure only. To complicate matters further, I've only found 1 FMS Olympus in stock across the numerous retailers across Europe. With 2 suitable lipos it will be around 500 euros which is really the top end of my available budget, but I would be happy with that. The smaller, and less desirable " Initiation" is available RTR for 280 euros and I have the exact flight batteries for it so no extra cost. Choices, choices and decisions, decisions.

Just realised that the Inspiration is also marketed and sold by Juan Rombaut here in Spain so I may get in touch with him.

Thank you all very much for your input. Whether I end up with a Focus or an M3 I don't know. I'm still conducting research into each option and have put feelers out concerning second hand models. If I can find something along the lines of a Sebart Angel/Wind/other of similar size that doesn't stretch the budget too far I will go for it. However, if that proves not to be fruitful, something along the lines of the FMS Olympus will probably do all I want and more. I've also seen the "Inspiration" foamie kit, as sold by 4-Max. I have all the necessary electronics including batteries to kit one of these out so that may be another option.

Thanks Peter, and as you surmised, unfortunately it's way over my budget. I'm selling a couple of models in order to fund the new model. I do follow Juan's youtube channel and find it very interesting and helpful. Although I live in Spain I have not met him and no-one in my club flies F3A. When the club organises an event it tends to be Jet Turbines of all descriptions because that's what one member flies and the whole club tends to be run around him and his wants.

That's a very timely remark Learner. I emailed Sebart this afternoon about the availability of the Angel 50. I received a reply that stated that the Angel 50 and the Wind 50 are no longer in production, leaving only the Mytho S 50 pattern model in this size. Of course, the Mytho airframe is more expensive and requires 5 servos as opposed to the simplicity of the 4 standard servos needed for the Angel. And, many say that the Angel was the best flyer ot the three. Now, the only way to get an Angel is to find a retailer that still has one in stock or find a second hand model and take a chance with it. Sad times. I guess this does make my decision somewhat easier towards getting the Olympus? We shall see.

Yes, I know this. I have suitable servos so would need just a motor + ESC which should be attainable within the 200 additional cost.

The prop will most likely be replaced by an APC and will definitely be properly balanced