Romeo Whisky

Just seen your post and that no-one had come up with a response. I would have thought it was possible to make a dolly for any size model. In WW2 the germans used them for full-sized aircraft. I don't have any models that big, but I would think that you could upscale my dolly design which works well. The main thing is to keep the dolly as light as possible, with big wheels for minimum rolling resistance and a fixed tailwheel (NOT castored). Be ready to input plenty of right rudder on the take-off run as torque effect may make it swing to the left (the full-size P40 was a bit of a pig in that respect I understand - hence the big rudder). Hope this helps.

No idea if this would work in a really damp large space, but I've found it works great for other areas where condensation is an issue. Get a few bags of silca gel cat litter from Home Bargains (you get a large bag for a couple of quid). You can make smaller bags of it up using fine netting such as old net curtains (shake the dust out outside) . Then you can put a bag of it inside each airframe. Also works quite well on the rear parcel shelf of car to help reduce inside condensation on car windows overnight. Tip... Avoid the brands of silica gel which are perfumed!

I wonder how many are like me in this respect. When I've just got a brand new model (especially a WW2 warbird), I always seem to go through what I call "the drooling stage", where I just keeping looking at it and admiring it. During this stage I make all sorts of excuses not to fly it, such as the length of the grass, wind speed and direction, multiple bench-testing - anything to avoid having to risk flying it for at least a couple of weeks or so. Of course eventually the deed has to be done and that's fine, but hardly ever without the hobby-room drooling stage coming first. Is it just me?

As Webmaster for my club, I have started to consider what textual changes I need to make for the benefit of prospective new members visiting our website. I have experimented with numerous forms of words (not yet posted on the website) to make the legal requirement to register and take a test seem as innoccuous and painless as possible. However my personal conclusion is that however it is worded, this legislation is going to prove to be a disastrous disincentive for newcomers to get involved in our wonderrful hobby. It's not just the annual £9.00, it's also a pair of legal hoops to jump through and a hassle during which the possibility of legal penalties is raised. If I were a potential newbie considering model flying as a hobby, it would undoubtedly put me off. That said, I think all clubs need to make it crystal clear that obedience to the law is a personal and individual obligation, and that in no way can the club be implicated in or liable for non-compliance by any member or visitor to the Club. Whether a club wishes to police the regulations is a matter for them, but in doing so they need to be careful not to be, or appear to be, in any way complicit or negligent in any situation involving a member or visitor who has bypassed or otherwise dodged the club's vetting processes and failed to comply.

Thanks Steve - yes, that's the other way to get around the issue. Ive tried both. Doesn't seem to matter which method you use, as both work. Important thing is to be aware that the throttle cut setting and throttle stick minimum value are the same to avoid a sudden unexpected motor start.

There is little doubt IMO that using a Throttle Cut switch is a hugely worthwhile safety factor on electric powered models. However a word of warning .... I use Spektrum (DX9) and found that with some ESC's there can be a danger of the electric motor bursting into life as soon as the throttle switch is turned off. Throttle cut sets the throttle at -130 on the DX9 and reverts to -100 when the switch is turned off (with the throttle stick at bottom). However it seems some ESCs read the off position (-130) as their initialisation registration point when powered up, so that when you switch the TC switch off, it thinks -100 is actually +30. It is therefore important to ensure that the throttle stick TRIM button is set to the very bottom rather than at the centre point. When this is done it all works OK and the danger of an unexpected start is averted.

You probably know this, but don't forget you'll need an ESC designed for brushed motors. A brushless ESC won't work.

Hi David. Long time since we made contact. Don't have a source for Depron, but you could consider trying out Proplex which is available in very large sheets from Wickes and very cheap (£2.50 last ime I got some). It is like thin Correx ("plastic corrugated cardboard" but quite a lot lighter than foam-board. I built a little profile model with it (see pic) and AUW is 114g. The clovering is parcel tape. Flies on a tiny 2S 180mAh. Best regards, Richard W.

Although I am no builder, I recently decided to set myself the task of making one or two sub 250g RC models for my grandson, so he could fly them locally and without the new DRES registration. He's miles away from a club, and cost is also an issue, so it became an interesting project for me to make some really lightweight models "on a shoestring budget". My first attempt was made from grey pipe lagging and an old wing from someting I bought years ago. I called it "The Lobster" because of its colours and the fact it needs to be lobbed into the air! My second attempt was to power one of the chuck gliders from Lidl. It flies beautifully but came in in a little over my target 250g. The third attempt was called "Chuckle" (it also needs chucking into the air) and this is well under 150g and is made from corrugated plastic sheeting called Proplex, bought from Wickes. Anybody else been doing this kind of thing? Let's se.

I think the main point you need answering is simply confirmation that LiFe is the common abbreviation for LiFePo4. It is. So your LiFe settings on your charger will be specially designed for LiFePO4 batteries.

1. Patton 2. Tora, Tora Tora 3. Midway (though not the sub-plot) but I also highly rate Dunkirk (original with Bernard Lee), 12 O'clock High, Battle of the River Plate, Malta Story, Flying Leathernecks, The Way to the Stars, Angels One Five, The Blue Max, The Enemy Below, Sink the Bismark, and of course The Dambusters and The Battle of Britain. I love the Mossie flying sequences from 633 Squadron and Mosquito Squadron, but IMPO the storylines are tripe, and Pearl Harbor is even worse.

I've had one of these for a while (almost 150 flights). Great winter hack and flies really well, although I'm not into 3D so fly it really as a sport model. My only issue with it is the short flight durations I'm getting with it. Of course duration is really all about amps draw v battery capacity. I'm using 2217 a 1100Kv 200W motor with 3S 1300 or 1500 mAh battery, 30A Plush ESC and (up to now) a Master Airscrew 8050 prop (although recommended prop is 10x4.7 or 11.4.7 Slow-fly). On the 8050 prop it flies well as a sport model but I've recently gone to a 9060 Master Airscrew prop to give it a bit more grunt. However with the 0850 prop the flight duration is barely 4 minutes and the 9060 it's giving only 3 minutes 20 secs average with only 14% capacity left on landing using the 1500mAh pack. It is hard to see how the larger recommended SF props would make the duration any better, and I've assumed they're intended for slow 3D manoeuvres. The 9060 setup pulls 22.5A at full chat. Fitting a larger battery is a no-go without major surgery and the risk of weakening the ply sub-frame. I'd be grateful to hear how any others are finding the performance/duration and the set-ups they are using.

You might find this link helpful Andy Basic Guide to Electric Flight

By the way, I know the manual for the FlySky is vague about a lot of things - especially the fact the Expo should be negative. There is a good programming tutorial for this transmitter HERE

One possibility that occurs to me is that you've got the transmitter very close to the reciever or getting signal "bounce" inside the garage. Try it outside and stand with the transmitter a few feet away and see if that's better. Don't forget to remove the prop first or restrain the model firmly.

There is an article about this in our Club Newsletter here ... **LINK**

You may be interested to know that the Wright brothers mixed rudder in with ailerons (actually wing-warp) back in 1903. Fact!

Flying inverted means the model being inverted - not you!

In my view a better way than cutting or removing the red wire from the ESC/RX lead is to use a short servo extension lead and simply remove the centre (red) wire entirely from the extension lead and put it between the ESC and the receiver. That way leaves the ESC RX lead intact for future use if you ever decide to use the built in BEC. Edited By Romeo Whisky on 13/05/2019 15:15:25

It is a pity that this poll assumes that the two are mutually exclusive, which in my view they should never be. It implies that by having a Safety Officer everyone else in the Club can completey abdicate any responsibility for safe practice. That is surely an UNSAFE state of affairs. In our Club the answer would be BOTH. (See Safety Matters page on our website dmfc.org.uk). We have a Safety Officer who reports safety issues and violations to the Committee, but our Club Rules point out that safety is everybody's responsibility, and naturally there will be many times that the Safety Officer is not present at the field. Whether he is present or not is largely irrelevant as all members have a responsibility for safety, including tactfully and respectfully pointing out any potential dangerous practices they observe. Ours is a friendly club and members also seem to appreciate that correcting a friend takes courage as well as needing tact and respect, and I have heard members thank and apologise to the person who has pointed out safety issues to them.