Romeo Whisky

Hi Tosh, Mine is probably an older DX9 than yours - it doesn't give MOT as a mix option and also THR is Channel 1, whereas your MOT seems lower down the list. I notice you also have MOT set at -150% - why is that? I presume it might be for Throttle Cut, but that -% is not necessary for Throttle Cut (should be -100% with Throttle Trim Setting set to zero) and that might be affecting the mix.

I have used throttle to elevator mix on my DX9 with no problems at all although I would have thought that 45% mix is excessive - I would suggest 20%, and be ready to switch it off if even that is excessive. (I see you've designated switchA). However, I am intrigued that your mix says MOT>ELE instead of THR>ELE Tosh. Surely it is Throttle>Elevator mix you want, so would suggest you try that. Set offset if you want the elevator to only start mixing in at a higher throttle setting than zero.

I've made several small models from Proplex, which is essentially similar to Correx but thinner. Available from Wickes in large sheets for about £2.50. In fact I flew this little Delta this morning. It's covered in self-adhesive shool-book film.

I have several ARTF foam models which are "glued" together with something that looks likes silicone bathroom sealant. (ST Models, Eflite etc). This adhesive seems to have the benefit of clean breaks when things like undercarriage fittings come adrift, with very little collateral damage to the surrounding foam. eg. I have had two models in which the plastic undercarriage bearers came away cleanly as a result of a heavy landing but were very easily repaired. I have made the repairs using hot glue, but I would prefer to use the silicone sealant (or whatever it is) if possible. It seems quite "rubbery" compared to some bathroom sealants I have used. Does anybody know what this stuff is and where I could source it?

Has your Club been assessed for Business Rates? Out of the blue we suddenly find ourselves being assessed for business rates although we just rent a field and put a shipping container on it, but are in no sense a commercial enterprise.

Fair question - but the model CG is only just forward of the edge of the workhorse and I've used the rig for over 12 years with never an issue. It has never even looked as though it might keel over but has always been rock steady. The workhorse stand is quite heavy with spayed feet. It is quite versatile and I use it for everything from lightweight foamies and even ultra-lightweight profiles shockies right up to my largest built-up models. However I only have a couple bigger than the illustrated P51 and they're all electric. Of course the wooden frame design can be adapted as required to suit your own models. By the way I use a wooden "bridge" across the tops of the shelf bracket. This is attached with pipe clips and is used to mount and support my wattmeter so I can read the LCD screen while the motor is running. Hope that's helpful.

I set it up for full house (R/E/A) and here is it in flight.

This is what I use for bench-testing models at home. Our Club flying field has restrainer benches so there's no need to take one to the field.

Here's a simple restrainer design which can be adapted for different size models. A tent peg through the frame anchors it to the ground as shown.

Here is my RC converted baby chuck glider from Lidl. £3.99 for the glider. 105g AUW - a great little flyer and a bundle of fun for barely more than the cost of the electrics!

Maidened the new baby Flidl this morning - flew a dream. Over 4 minutes on 2S 180 battery, zipping around the sky on full throttle. On the third flight the wind got a bit gusty but it even handled the wind well. Loved it! Just sorry there was no-one there with a camera to get flying shots. £3.99 for the glider + 3 sub-micro 5g servos, 6A ESC, FlySky 4ch RX @ £6.50 - great flying on a shoestring, and even looks nice in the air. Balanced out at 105g AUW with just a 5g weight under the rear fuselage. A tight fit to get everything under the cockpit cover though.

Like Denis says Digger - the ESC is part of the power train and it all depends what the other parts are, including the prop. I love these little Banggood Racerstar motors and I have one on a lightweight own-design foamboard profile model. It has an 8x5 slow-fly prop and runs on a 2S 850 battery, with only a 10A ESC. If you go for a bigger prop or 3S battery, obviously you'd need a higher rated ESC. Sounds as if you don't have a wattmeter - really a must-have if you're speccing your own power trains. They're not expensive. you don't

Here are pics of my most recent sub-250g model, which also flies really well - on anything from 2S/180 - 2S/450. (The sunglasses are to indicate size) If you really want to keep costs down you need to improvise a fair bit. For instance, never throw away old plastic store loyalty cards - you can cut them up with scissors to make control horns, motor-mounts etc. Also some bottle tops and the tops off Bovril/Marmite jars make brilliant motor mounts. See both of these ideas on the Flinger Delta in the pics. Use UHU-POR glue (not standard UHU which melts plastic and foam) to stick everything together. The Lidl Junior Glider is very small so a really small motor/6A ESC/prop system is needed, as well as a very small lightweight parkflyer receiver. I bought all my sub-micro servos, motors, props and ESC's from HobbyKing. They are quite cheap but their stocks are up and down so you'll need to get them when they're in. Another good source for electrics is Banggood, but you'll need to be patient because they come from China. Robotbirds usually keep stocks of sub-micro servos. If you need a good but really cheap transmitter (TX), look at the FlySky i6, also available from Banggood (about £40 for 6Ch TX with 20 model memories - great for park-flyers). They also do a great tiny little 6 channel receiver (RX) for about £8 but you'll need to order it separately, as the TX comes with a larger one which is too big for micro models.

With a 2S battery, you'll need a reasonably high Kv motor (say 1700-2100) although the larger Lidl glider pictured above uses a cheap 1540Kv motor. A 10-12A ESC is fine but use a smallish prop (say 5x3). I've always sourced motors and ESC from HobbyKing for these lightweights, but of course it depends what stock they've got. I've since made a small delta wing from Wickes Proplex sheeting covered in self-adhesive book covering (The Works sell this in various colours). Again it's a sweet flyer. I've just started electrifying the new Playtive Junior chuck glider currently on sale from Lidl at £3.99. Real flying on a shoestring. If you want a simple kit that's small and light that flies really well, look at the Crack Wing for about £25. (Robotbirds and others sell it). They'll sell you all the innards too. Takes off vertically (yes really!) Great little model.

My i6 came with Software version 20.0.16. The latest FlySky website Firmware version is 20.0.17. but it doesn't say what the changes are. Does anybody know what has been changed in the newer version?

Unlike the larger Lidl glider, this one has the aileron positions marked out with grooves. I set up the larger one with just rudder/elevator on the big one, but for this baby one I plan to use just ailerons/elevator ("bank & yank"). The cockpit cover was fairly lightly hot-glued on with a small blob front and back so it wasn't hard to remove cleanly with a long narrow blade. In the middle is a moulded lug on the fuselage and matching indent under the cockpit cover. Obviously it's necessary to scoop out the cockpit foam from both the cover and fuselage for the electrics. It will need a very light RX and ESC as well as a tiny light motor. For aileron control I plan to use a single centrally mounted micro servo just behind the cockpit, and then decide where to mount the elevator servo and pushrods to get the balance as good as possible without adding too much tail ballast.

Just bought a couple of the new Playtive Junior gliders from Lidl. Smaller than the one we're all familiar with, weighing in at just 45g Should be possible to electrify this one well under 250g AUW (I never managed to get under 250g with the larger one). There's a 9g ball-bearing glued under the cockpit instead of the steel bolt in the earlier model. It'll need a very small motor up front to balance this one.

Welcome to our wonderful hobby. There are several interesting learning curves ahead of you, and learning to fly the model is only one of them. There is a lot of useful information on our Club website here ... https://dmfc.org.uk/articles and the website also has links to many other sources too.

I've just updated the email address on my BMFA profile, but it won't let me change my logon Username from the previous one to the new email address. Does anyone knbow how to change the Username in the User Profile?

OK - I can now delete photos from my Profile using the Settings (cog) icon from the enlarged image (indeed Deletion is the only option from the settings icon), but as soon as I delete an image, the system dumps me out of my Profile to a list of other peoples' albums. What's that all about? Why should I then be dumped out of my Profile? At that rate it would take an age to delete numerous photos. Image Tools still only offers the option to use the displayed image as my profile photo - surely that would be a one-off or only very occasional action. Surely it should be possible highlight several photos at a time and delete them at one go?

Am I right in thinking that it is not possible to delete photographs from our Profile? (I can't see how to do it). If we can't then this could raise GDPR issues so needs to be addressed.

How about a Sky background like this https://dmfc.org.uk/

My wife took these two ...