Richard Harris

Simon, Brave project. Could you not increase the wing size, get it flying then slowly reduce the area down to its true scale?

Another is ready to maiden, this one is 90% 3D printed (including the blades) by Ian S who is a bit of master with the plastic autogyros. It's turned out a little heavier than the traditionally built versions but should still have a lightish rotor loading. The weather is looking favourable but a little chilly over the weekend, fingers crossed.

Chris, Looking good, I must try that sanding jig. I've got a final sanding block that I 3d printed which works well but it's in PLA so you have to be careful not to create too much heat. Hang on to that spare set of blades, I will soon be back on track with my 118. The ED is ultra keen on it as you can imagine. Let us know how it goes, don't forget your camera. You lost me with Farthing...............

SIG Rascal for me Ron, a beautiful aeroplane. Why not a double build?

Hi David, Yes, it's a common fuselage with optional wing plans shown for both on the plan. Each are covered in the article. On another note I've been looking at drone motors, some are 6s capable! You can also purchase small 6s packs that would fit in the fuselage. From the thrust figures and the weight of Shifty you would be able to accelerate vertically! My maths maybe incorrect though. Not sure the airframe could take that sort of stress without significant strengthening. But it would be fun......

I sent the Shifty plan to Rich E as he showed interest in it after flying mine the other week. He's sent me a couple of photos today of his cracking example, not bad for 8 days work. Hoping to get the 3 pre publication models together when the balmy spring weather arrives 🙏

Yes, lipo up the front followed by the esc and the receiver just below head servos on mine.

I've had a quick look and I built a Sarik version, though only had the formers. It looks like mine is a 3/8" mast and its been fine. If you do want to go 1/2" you could always stick some sandpaper to a piece of 1/4 x 3/8 " spruce and lengthen the rectangular hole by sanding it? should be pretty effortless I would think.

Tim, Its been I while since I built one, let me double check the mast size. You will probably be OK with a mast that size so I wouldn't worry to much.

Not sure but the finished slot should be for the 1/4 x 1/2" mast to slide into tightly. I double checked mine before committing to afixing the 2nd 3mm light ply outer.

Louis, Generally SARIK hobbies include the magazine article with a purchased plan. The link that Tim added includes alot of information. The tail boom on the Revolver II is removable via two screws through a fibre glass plate mounted to the boom. These are shown on the plan. Here are a few photos that may better explain, hope they help.

I've gone through the Shifty footage from last Saturday and made a short video of the pair flying. Despite them throttling back I found it quite hard to track them against the strange low light sky. No launch footage as that was the camera man's job. Great fun though....

No problem, Will let folk know when I've got a stash of empties ready to shrink. 🙂

Luck more than judgement Chris......😅

Sorry to hear this, I met him a few times at Cocklebarrow Farm, nice chap, RIP I've got one of his aircraft and have a 3/4 built super sized Coquette that is built from one of his plans (I think).

Your best to speak to SARIK, I only ever had the formers to test fit and the canopy after making the mould.

Excellent, I didn't know. No problem Ken, your top of the list mate regarding the canopy. We need to persuade the Wease to have a crack!

Here's a bit of footage of the 3 attempting to fly together last Sunday. Not easy to do, especially with the low sun as they all became the same colour at distance! Great fun though which is what it's all about.

Both great simple to build models 😎, you will like Shifty I will get a materials list together in the next few weeks and post it on this thread, I am unsure of when the article will be printed though. I will also start collecting empty 2 litre bottles in case anyone wants me to make them an optional canopy, I wouldn't want anything for them just the cost to cover P+P (doing our bit for the environment and all that).

Thanks for all the info gents and for the link to your excellent teferb thread Roy. The mini Jim I have is from the stock that was present at the time of the shop fire. Here is the other kit gifted, you can see the smoke damaged on the box but the contents are as new.

The weather finally improved for a few formites to get together for an afternoon of flying. Steve's Shifty looks even better in the flesh and is a credit to him I did manage to get a couple photos of it in all its glory but the light wasnt great. We set up mine on Rich E's transmitter and he had numerous flights along with Steve's in formation (ish). I did get some footage but will need to go through it all. The good news is that I've got to make another canopy for Rich E. Here they are after flattening several batteries. We had a good comparison over both of the models, Steve's CG is about 10mm forwards of mine which seems to make little difference. His motor is about 6mm lower which may be the reason for this, he's going to reposition it to match mine which is line with the canard and wing centre line. As for trims neither have any dialed in which is reassuring. One thing that was discussed was the ballast weight added to each, there is enough room to possibly fit a larger capacity lipo to give an even greater duration. Hopefully a video to follow. Rich

Met up with a couple of mates today for a flying session. Rich has now finished his Gyroo II and has made a super job. Here is a video I took of one of his many flights. A few photos. we also managed get 3 models into the air, I need to go through my video footage to see if I captured anything. Great fun

I'm not jealous, honestly............

Interesting, must have been the normal thing then with pre built fuselages. I always thought the Slim Jim was the bigger version to the one I have.

I've been gifted a couple of old kits, a Graupner glider and a Mini Jim ARTF kit. My dad informs me they were bought by his friend from a place called International Stock in King's Heath Birmigham. They sold the smoke damaged stock from Jim Davis Models after a fire apparently. They have to be at least 43 years old as around the same time my dad and his friend used to fly off John Bonhams land in Cutnall Green and he passed away in 1980. What surprises me is that it's an ARTF kit that is more than likely late 1970s. Although in single figures at the time I do remember the Slim Jim trainer as it was quite appealing, so I quite fancy getting the Mini Jim up and flying one day and save it from the bin. The kit comes with a pre built fuselage typical of its age and is quite heavy for its size (as are the tail components).The wings however are looking a bit sorry for themselves. Pretty much all of the veneer has come off, I would like to save them if possible so as to keep most of its authenticity. The veneer is scrap along with leading and trailing edges but the foam cores may be OK. I'm thinking that if they are ok I could sheet them in 1.5mm balsa. My dad used to use copydex years ago, is there a better adhesive for undertaking this task? A few photos of the old girl, if anyone knows more about these models I would be interested to know a little history.