-
Posts
4,888 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
14
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Gallery
Calendar
Downloads
Everything posted by Phil Cooke
-
FMS Alpha Jet 2ch R/C conversion for PSS
Phil Cooke replied to Phil Cooke's topic in PSS Build Blogs
-
FMS Alpha Jet 2ch R/C conversion for PSS
Phil Cooke replied to Phil Cooke's topic in PSS Build Blogs
-
FMS Alpha Jet 2ch R/C conversion for PSS
Phil Cooke replied to Phil Cooke's topic in PSS Build Blogs
-
A few photos here from our most recent weekends flying upon the Great Orme 28th/29th May. https://www.flickr.com/photos/98511435@N05/albums/72177720299519645
-
A short event review has been added to the PSSA website covering all the highlights at our April Fly-In and 2022 season opener... https://www.pssaonline.co.uk/.../a-wealth-of-new-models.../
-
The PSSA 48 Hour Build Challenge! - 'One Sheet is Plenty!'
Phil Cooke replied to Phil Cooke's topic in PSSA General Chat
-
As BMFA members, you will have recently received an email providing details of how we can each take part in the ‘BMFA 100’ Centenary Record Attempt – where the aim is to get as many models airborne simultaneously across the country at 12 noon on Sunday 15th May. By chance, we have a planned PSS event at The Bwlch, S Wales on that day, so we’re able to take an active part as a group – and we need your help! As the nominated Record Attempt Co-ordinator for our flying site location that day, PSSA member Al Gorham has been provided a unique Flying Site Location Code and will be logging pilot and aircraft details and submitting them on our behalf to the Record Verification portal shortly after we have achieved our goal. Our models must be flown in accordance with the BMFA and local flying site rules. If you’re at The Bwlch on Sunday 15th May and would like to take part, please ensure you select a model which you are happy to fly on mass with many other models at the same time as the skies are likely to be far busier than we’d normally allow at a PSSA event. I’m hoping every pilot in attendance can bring a suitable model for a mass fly of this nature and we can achieve a healthy number to submit to the BMFA! On the morning of the event, Al will register your name, your BMFA membership number and the name of the model you’ll be flying during the record attempt. At 11:30am we will group and capture a team photo with all models and pilots for verification purposes before we commence the record flight in good time. Remember we all need to be safely airborne on the stroke of midday so launching early and flying through that moment in time is what we need to do! Once we’ve achieved our goal, Al will submit the forms and photo(s) and sign the declaration form required as well as providing a short report of our activity – this will later be written up by the BMFA so we will see our Association name listed having helped achieve the record! Any questions ahead of the event please email us at [email protected] – Big thanks to Al Gorham for taking the lead with our registration and the associated admin burden. We look forward to seeing you at the Bwlch in May and flying with you as part of this Record Attempt!
-
Some photos from our 2022 season opener this weekend up on the Great Orme at Llandudno. Saturday we enjoyed good strength winds and sunshine all day - good conditions for us despite the NW wind direction forcing us to land in the little field by the cafe... not everyones cup of tea - but great flying non-the-less!! A number of the 48hr One Sheet Build Challenge models were on show and being test flown too - lots of new models on show! Brilliant. https://www.flickr.com/photos/98511435@N05/albums/72177720298042693/with/51998713760/?fbclid=IwAR23zuMTVMd0I1L_JSqx02N5t7UDeins2ahSxpYk7SLRR87qsH2QfXOLn6Q
-
Perfect weather this morning for a full A-10 rig and a good walk-around to refresh my mind on the 'still to do' list - which despite a complete looking airframe, is still quite extensive before we are ready for the slope. Fuselage sections all went together well and the engine pods were fitted for the first time in many years! The nose section still needs all the cockpit fitting out with seat and pilot before the canopy is trimmed and blend fitted. The rear fuselage still needs the wing incidence bars fitting aft of the main wing joiner, and the huge wing root fillets still need to be added. On the top of the engine pylons there are complex fillets needed too between the pylon and the nacelle. Once all thats done the tailplane incidence needs to be fixed and a belly pan made for the tailplane. The wings are effectively complete ready for glass, but I still have to fit the wingtips which were taped on here for effect - the routing of strobe lighting cables is all thats stopping those being fitted. Fully rigged in this guise it has an AUW of 30lb. Theres still a few more lbs to add, with 8 servos, 2 batteries, wiring, seat, pilot, glass and paint etc.
-
We’re pleased to release the dates for our planned series of PSS Fly-For-Fun events throughout the 2022 season. More details for each weekend will be added to our websites Events page very shortly. https://www.pssaonline.co.uk/about-us/events/ A huge thanks to committee members at both LMAC and SWSA for their invaluable help in establishing these confirmed dates!
-
The PSSA 48 Hour Build Challenge! - 'One Sheet is Plenty!'
Phil Cooke replied to Phil Cooke's topic in PSSA General Chat
IDD15 and Dad_flyer I think you are both thinking about correx board, whereas the brief really is to use blue or pink foam in block form, sanded and shaped to make a more scale airframe... -
Weather was poor today with freezing fog throughout most of the day - so no rigging and no photo in the garden... Instead I final sanded all of the tailplane, elevators, fins and rudders and gave them all their first coat of filler primer. The foam was placed inside the servo bays to avoid overspray. Quite happy with the finish, there are a few pin holes now evident in the fins where I was too tight with the resin (I glassed these some time back) and some damaged/pulled weave areas in the cloth on the tail - a little 3M putty will sort all those out before another sand ready for the final grey primer. I did a little more canopy fitting and alignment checking to the front fuselage too, still some work needed here... the canopy is formed in quite a thick material - almost 1/16" - I somehow need to blend that edge into the fuselage all round.
-
With our latest Mass Build project all wrapped up, a group discussion over a few pints of Tim Taylors Landlord had us thinking about a different way of building in an attempt to have some fun over the winter break and producing some exciting new PSS models to test at the start of the 2022 flying season. The focus was on a relatively small, cheap and quick to build scale model and we came up with the concept of the 48 Hour Build Challenge – ‘One Sheet is Plenty!’ The aim is simple – Using only a single sheet of high density foam board and a single sheet of balsa – each modeller will scratch build and finesse a scale R/C model fit for use on the slope within a 48 hour build window. The model must be representative of a full-size powered aircraft, and after the 48 hours are up it must be in a fit state to fly from the slope. The choice of subject, it’s size, scale and complexity are left completely up to you, your only limitation is the raw materials used for construction and the overall time allowed for the build! Typical R/C fittings and hardware can be utilised in the build as needed but the primary building materials must be limited to the foam and balsa sheeting! Work on the design concept, plans and preparation for the build can start now in advance – the 48 hour limit is solely for the build! Ideally the model would be a bespoke ‘Own Design’ creation but builders can also adapt an existing plan if that’s less daunting. As with the traditional Mass Build concept we’re all in this together and the aim is to build simultaneously over the chosen weekend of 5th and 6th March. We will run a pre-event Zoom call on the Friday evening for anyone who is keen to register and take part. The Zoom call will enable us to introduce our chosen subject matter and show off any drawings you may have already compiled to aid your build. The build itself will commence from 6am on the Saturday morning and will run until 6am on Monday 7th March. Monday evening we will aim to repeat the Zoom call to show off the fruits of our labour – no doubt with a well earned beer! For anyone wanting to take part who’s unable to match those exact timescales due to work or family commitments – please join us and pick your own 48 hour window as close as you can to the target weekend – we’d really like as many members to take part as possible! The aim is to bring all of the 48 hour build models together when we meet for our first event of the 2022 season on The Great Orme on April 9th and 10th. So that’s the plan – we’ve already seen a lot of interest in the concept and I think we should have a good collection of bespoke hand crafted foam models at the slope in April – who knows what types of PSS model it will generate!? Use the time now to choose your subject and get drawing/sketching so you can commence your build running…The clock will be ticking! If you would like to take part in the Zoom call at 8pm (UK time) on Friday 4th March please drop me an email to register and I will add you to the invite when it goes out – [email protected]
-
Some more work achieved today on the tailplane mount which now all aligns and bolts up nicely into the rear fuselage. I still need to set the incidence of the tail relative to the wing but this will be done later after more work is completed around the wing-root. Tailplane has a pair of carbon rods for location dowels at the front and is held in place now with 2 x 5mm nylon bolts reacting against a ply load spreader towards the rear. Captive nuts into the ply housing - positioned here for the camera - they have since been reversed so the bolts pull them through the ply when loaded. All nice and square and secure. With this now fitted I'm hoping for a full rig photo this weekend if the weather is kind enough.
-
It's been some time since I've done any work on the 2 fins but now the interfacing tailplane is glassed these needed a bit of work to ensure they still fit snugly. Whilst I had them on the bench I fitted the 2 rudder servos and the aero covers which required some little hardwood mounts cut from the type of block you buy to mount cowls on fuselages. The small green tool I made to aid with fitting the blocks with the right recess - it was a right angle of the same thickness as the white plastic cover - shaped to allow you to hold the block in place with the green alignment tool flush to the surface - once each block is positioned you can remove the green tool and add some glue - worked well. The little fibrelgass rudder horn still needs to be fitted in the slot to the right - these parts are then ready for a final sand and primer.
-
Hiya Pete - yeah I used the same sauce mix on the PSS Sabre - and although I was very happy with how it went on, how easy it was to sand and the initial finish it provided for the top primer and paint - I've seen over time it isnt as hard as the resin, in fact my Sabre fuselage is very susceptible still to minor surface damage - seen in storage and transportation already... I just thought for this bigger, heavier model which is bound to be manhandled at the slope I would make it as tough as I could - hence resin and paint only - a conscious decision this time.
-
yeah Grey primer will go on top - this high fill stuff is really just used to fill any evidence of weave as on these gliders we dont tend to use the second 'flow' coat with the epoxy resin... Ill sand the yellow back smooth then add the grey before final paint.
-
Another good session today on the A-10... The recently glassed nose section was cut back with medium paper and has had 2 good coats of filler primer with a focussed sanding in-between after a 24hr wait for it to fully harden. Surface is looking pretty good, just a few low spots still to address... In between waiting for the primer to harden each time round I've done a bit more glassing - tailplane lower surface this time and I've added some resin to the lite-ply end caps on the elevators and rudders - areas that dont naturally receive glass but still need to be painted. I'll soon have all these parts in primer too now I hope.
-
The brown paper is 'stiffer' - or less compliant - than the glass cloth so at a micro level it 'bridges' the surface finish imperfections of the foam much better - glassing onto foam direct would leave a less perfect surface, slightly orange peely(?) and less durable too... The brown paper and pva is cheaper, builds to a better surface which can then be glassed upon. 1 layer of glass is all thats needed onto the paper. The glass cloth I use is 25g/m2 - and you add a similar amount of resin - I'm not quite sure how this compares to brown paper/pva? Multiple layers of glass/resin would be very time consuming, very expensive and I'm pretty sure, heavier too.
-
Hi Mike, no the blue foam is sanded to shape and the brown paper is applied directly to that surface with PVA. If the blue foam (a dense material) is sanded smooth with a fine grade paper to finish the paper finish is smooth. The glass goes ontop of that very well - the purpose of the glass really is to give a more stable surface to prime and paint onto - although with resins it does harden it all up nicely too - the paper can easily scuff and that would then soak up paint etc.
-
Happy New Year all! I've managed to get some A-10 glassing done over the Christmas period - the nose section is now ready for final sanding and primer as are the fins, rudders, elevators, ailerons and flaps. Started with some fiddly glassing around the battery hatch and gun housing. Then the underside, keeping the seams and resultant overlaps on the radiused corners. The dark patches are where there isn't enough PVA on the surface of the brown paper and it starts to soak up some of the resin... Top section again with the seam position marked on the tight radius for ease of blend. The final piece! A small foam roller was used on the bigger surface areas once the cloth was laid out with the Jenny brush - very effective and leaves a nice even resin coat.
-
Superb way to end 2021 yesterday with a 'high octane' PSS Fly-In upon The Great Orme - 12 pilots I counted at our peak (some of the locals only joined us for a couple of hours) and we enjoyed a sunny, dry, blustery day with epic lift throughout!! Some photos in the link below - the title Image shows Andy Meade with his new F-105 Thunderchief which was bravely and succesfully maidened in winds approaching 70mph. Impressive stuff! Happy New Year to everyone!!
-
Having been watching the weather closely over the Christmas break we have decided upon New Years Eve for our informal PSS Fly-In at The Great Orme - so it's an end of year meet as opposed to a New Years Day meet! The days are very short so we will be up there from first light to make the most of the travel - dont forget your Christmas cakes, mince pies and silly hats (its a tradition!!) See you up there if you can join us!
-
Merry Christmas to all of our PSSA members in the UK and around the world - many thanks to everyone whos helped make 2021 a successful and memorable flying season!
-
Here's a few photos from our group PSSA visit to the superb Newark Air Museum - we took some of our models and braved the cold and the wet for a couple of group photos with some impressive backdrops of Buccaneers and Vulcans!