Cuban8

Vampire all together and looks really nice. In the end I decided to use 30 minute epoxy spread very thinly on the mating surfaces, mainly because I've got plenty in stock. Will give Por a go next time. One slight downer............setting up the servo throws yesterday in anticipation of test flying this afternoon, when quite out of the blue I lost power to the RX! Turned out to be the separate BEC unit had died after only an hours running. Mighty happy that it didn't happen in the air. Have ordered a 5A 6V unit from Midland Helicopters, which with any luck will be here tomorrow. Not worth the bother of dealing with Hobby King for the sake of a few quid - just happy about the timing of the fault.

Posted by Adrian Smith 1 on 19/09/2014 08:22:58: Call me old fashioned, but this thread has just reminded me why I won't touch LiPos. I know that precludes me from leccy flight, but the whole kerfuffle relating to charging/supervision just scares me to death. Sad to say it's still NiMHs for me until something safer comes along.       Adrian, you're over reacting. Lipos are perfectly safe if they're used correctly - short them out or 5C charge a 'blown' pack and it's not surprising there's trouble. Lipos are not ticking time bombs that require handling as if they had nitroglycerine in them. I reckon you are at more risk from using many domestic appliances, cooking your chips in a chip pan, driving to the field or working in the garden with power tools if the number of people visiting A&E are anything to go by.       Edited By Cuban8 on 19/09/2014 09:03:19

Not been in favour of the 'safety bags', I think they can instill a false sense of security. Quite obviously from the video, once a lipo ignites flame will find its way out. Only safe way is to charge outside away from flammable surfaces i.e not in the boot of your car when at the flying field But then we all know that, don't we?

My criticism of the organisers is that they must have known that they were brewing 'a perfect storm' as regards traffic on the Sunday and should have taken the clear cut decision to make Sunday entry by ticket only, well before the day and advertised the fact prominently on the website etc. At least those who did have tickets wouldn't have had all the aggravation caused by those of us who didn't, but traveled in the hope of getting in. We attend all of Duxford's airshows (members of the 'Friends of Duxford' and whilst always busy, the roads can manage the traffic without too much trouble. My gripe is that if another very special airshow is planned in the future, and nothing is done to address the fact that possibly twice the number of visitors over a normal airshow will try to attend, then a repeat of the mess that we saw on Sunday will occur. It's not as though this hasn't happened before! Duxford airshows with very special aircraft appearing are only relatively few and far between, and as such are managed as best as they can be on the day (not very well IMO), but attention does need to be paid to the fact that one cannot get a quart into a pint pot, no matter how well intentioned. Edited By Cuban8 on 16/09/2014 11:28:43

Well, against my better judgement the wife wanted to go to see Sunday's show at Duxford which on that day only had the two Lancasters and Red Arrows. Checked IWM website on Friday and they were saying that all advance tickets for Sunday were sold out but there would be room for cars in the adjoining meadow car park for those arriving to pay at the gate. They added that they expected the site to be full “during the morning” and to arrive early – gates would be open at 8.00am. (not actually the case as I've seen some on other forums saying they were parked up on site at 7.00am). We set out at 7.00am and arrived at the end of the traffic queue (about 1.5 miles from the airfield) on the A505 at 8.25! We progressed less than half a mile in the next hour, and heard on BBC Radio Cambridge at about 9.30 that the airfield was now closed to all except ticket holders. We turned around and went home – thankfully only an hour's run for us. We heard on the way home that the Cambridge Park and Ride was swamped and that staff there were being abused by furious travellers unable to go any further. The police had also closed the M11 junction to Duxford for those coming from the North. Traffic was reported as stationary on the M11 northbound carriage way at the Duxford exit. This all taking place just after 10.00am. I suspect that many of those with tickets were stuck in the gridlock and either arrived hopelessly late or gave up in the attempt. The wife and I have been going to Duxford since it first opened to the public and in all those years have never witnessed such utter chaos. Something similar did occur when the 50th anniversary of the Spitfire was celebrated with the largest gathering of Spits at Duxford since the war, but I think yesterday was very much worse. Clearly the management at Duxford have lessons to learn if such a fiasco is not to be repeated, if and when an airshow of particular significance is staged again.   Where I think a mistake was made was not making Sunday's special show an all ticket affair. By intimating that parking would be available to arrivals without tickets, encouraged many to take a chance (as we did) and simply cause early gridlock in the surrounding approach roads. At least if it had been tickets only, then the authorities would have had a known amount of traffic to deal with and the mess and disappointment that we all faced could have been avoided. What little information about travel to the airshow that was made public, was hidden away in the depths of the website and clearly was not of much use. For some unfathomable reason, Duxford have also decided to drop their Autumn airshow this year, and it looks to be missing from 2015's schedule as well. Perhaps another reason that encouraged many to travel yesterday?             Edited By Cuban8 on 15/09/2014 10:22:44 Edited By Cuban8 on 15/09/2014 10:36:40

Having had no experience of UHU Por before, I notice from various web sites that it's used mainly as a contact adhesive. This is not going to work where I need to fix the wing roots into the fuz recesses. Will por work if I coat the mating surfaces, assemble, and leave to set?

Thanks for the info!

Having just taken delivery of my first foamy (Hobby King Vampire) after almost forty years of balsa bashing and the occasional wood ARTF, I'm wondering what the best glue will be to stick the components together? Have always used 30 minute epoxy to join foam wing cores etc but do the foamy experts out there use something else that I'm not aware of? Unfortunately the otherwise reasonable manual in the kit doesn't offer any guidance. Thanks.

**LINK** Enter your HK tracking number here.

I hope in future when you just need a glow plug or bolt on the field, you have to sent an email to Asia to get it! Overheard the proprietors of a stand chatting to each other behind their counter at the recent Nats (name changed to protect the guilty) "Here Fred, I see that Hobby King Have got a load of those !"£$%^&*(^&s in again" Fred's reply.......... "Blimey, (expletive deleted) better get a (expletive deleted) load of them in again (expletive deleted) quick" Fred noticed that I'd heard their conversation and with a sneer said to me " well it's business mate, you know technology" Kettle calling the pot, black?

An interesting side story is that of John 'Cat's Eye's' Cunningham who's unprecedented early success as a night fighter pilot was for propaganda purposes, (covering up the actual use of airborne interception equipment) attributed to his extraordinary natural night vision augmented by a diet rich in carrots!

Having been a service engineer (now retired), ball end Allen keys are great for fitting screws that are in an awkward position to get started, however use of a normal key to finally tighten the screw is really the correct way to do it , otherwise there's a risk the cap head will be damaged, especially if either the key or screw is worn (small sizes will be at more risk such as grub screws) My advice is to get a set of each (ball and normal hex) and don't buy cheap as they'll give you nothing but trouble. We used to use the Facom brand which although not the most expensive did perform well in a professional environment. For home/hobby use, a decent set should last for many years.

The last two orders from the global warehouse have given me the option of delivery by Hong Kong Post rather than the dreaded Malaysia Post. Items via Hong Kong post now back to about a 12 to 15 day delivery (only 8 days for my last order!) so much better than 6 weeks with Malaysia Post. I've only ever been hit with charges from Global twice in 60 orders and in both cases they were fairly large items that were handled by Parcel Farce rather than Royal Mail. My Royal Mail postie delivers the small boxes of goodies with all the other regular mail at no extra cost. The value of the item doesn't appear significant in my experience, but rather its physical size (hence Parcel Farce getting hold of it and adding their "handling charge".......VAT fair enough).

Posted by Colin P on 06/09/2014 14:08:47: Hi everyone, I have been interested in everything aviation related for about 40 years. I live close to Cosford and Halfpenny Green so spend quite some time at weekends at one or the other. I flew a couple of c/l models in the early 70s but didn't progress to radio controlled. Don't let the control line boys hear you say that R/C is "progressing from C/L". I committed that faux pas in earshot of a C/L aficionado in our club who's still competing nationally, and was firmly put in my place

Very nicely summed up, Pete. I think we may be putting too much emphasis on getting the young involved (although it's important to be available to those that are interested). As membership secretary of our club since 1999, I know that the ratio of young new flyers to adults over those years has been very poor, in fact I'm struggling to remember half a dozen school age lads (no girls at all!) who have joined since the turn of the millennium, and not one in the last three or four years. Presentations and displays at fetes, local schools and air cadets by another club that I belong to, rarely foster much more than a passing interest . Until recently, it has been mostly enquiries from those in their 30s and 40s that were mainly prevalent, so I feel that's the age range we'd do best to cultivate, hence the suggestion that BMFA (with trailer and flight sim) should be at some of the full size airshows). Hobby King actually had a stand at the last couple of Duxford main displays and created quite a bit of interest (particularly in the foamy Spitfires!) and I believe the 'Dawn Patrol' displayed their models at an Old Warden flying day, so I think there might be some benefit in flying our flag at those and other venues. At least the audiences are air minded enough to be at an airshow, which is not the case at the local fete. Edited By Cuban8 on 06/09/2014 13:52:37

Well, I suppose we've drifted off the original subject of "Learning to fly in Cornwall" somewhat , but it's clearly an issue that's not going to go away, and looking at the age demographic of many competitors and spectators at the Nats recently (no offense, I'm not so far behind them myself) the effect of not having regular new blood coming into the hobby is making itself more and more noticeable each year. Ideas to improve the situation? Free BMFA membership for under 18s ? Half price BMFA for new adult joiners in the first year? BMFA presence at major airshows? BMFA Youtube channel?

Posted by Phil 9 on 05/09/2014 12:39:17: Cuban 8 They can not go back in time. It is just a representation of the 30?s/40?s to tell the story. If you pick holes in it to that level of detail I am sure you can find many more. Just think of it as sports scale. I really enjoyed the program. It made a refreshing change from the reality drivel and the abundance of American TV shows Edited By Phil 9 on 05/09/2014 12:42:52 Just watched it again this afternoon and remain disappointed, never really grabbed my attention. The BBC are usually so adept at these docu-dramas but this one fell well short of the mark for me. A difficult subject to inject drama into I grant you, but what we had was IMO, rather too superficial and padded out to fill the 90 minutes. Phil, I realize all of these programmes are filled with errors and my comment about the wiring was I admit a bit picky but was really intended to be light hearted (loved the Anson with the sound of a merlin.........oops sorry!) Still, if it gets people to take a closer look at our recent history and to realize how lucky we are today that 1940 was not a defeat, then it'll have done it's job. Not my cup of tea though. BTW, Bawdsey is only a short distance from home for me and the museum there is fascinating and so very atmospheric of the time - highly recommended if you get the chance to have a look. Edited By Cuban8 on 05/09/2014 17:43:07

Got a bit fed up with it and turned it off after 30 minutes........very disappointed. It's still on my Tivo box so will give it another go later. Did notice a technician using what looked like modern blue / brown cable to wire up a bit of kit

Funnily enough I was looking at mate's model that used Metalcoat around the cowl and cockpit yesterday. No problem with the radio as the RX (2.4) was well clear in the rear of the airframe. For a fuz completely covered in the material, I should think it would be wise to treat it as you would a carbon fuz and use a RX with extended external aerials.

Well it seems that normal service (!) has been resumed..............the bits that I ordered on 27/8 and dispatched on 28/8 have just arrived this morning, so about 8 days from Global Warehouse and this time via Hong Kong Post which thankfully was an option at check out. The stuff that came via Malaysia Post and showing as arrived at Heathrow on 19/08 did arrive three days later.

Posted by Rob Jones 2 on 05/09/2014 01:58:11:   My concern is merely that some clubs are too exclusive-Peter is satisfied that his club is restricted to 15 members, someone else thinks £181 is good value for money for a years subs. For that money you could buy a super quality radio system, or foam 2 metre Ju87 electric complete RTF (which newbies may well buy and try to fly).   The £181 I quoted to join our club (125 members) included a joining fee of £80, the reason for which I explained in my post. We offer a £15 discount for prompt payment at renewal time, so with BMFA, existing members will pay only £86. If you fly from a rough bit of ground (with all its limitations) for peanuts then that's fair enough, but we provide two farmers' fields on which the annual rent is approaching £3.5K. One field is our main site and we keep it in pristine condition with a billiard table surface, starting benches, tables and chairs away from the patch for lunch and a free barbecue on a regular basis. Each field has its own grass cutting equipment which requires maintenance, secure storage and insurance, we are responsible for maintaining boundary fences and gates, access roads and also keeping some hedges under control ......this all costs money!! In actual fact, like most clubs we run on a shoestring to provide our members with a facility to fly their models from a grass site that we feel is comparable with the best anywhere in the UK and we are very proud of that. If you want a decent facility to fly from, then you'll need to be realistic about the need to pay for it, and if around two quid a week (albeit with a one off contribution to the previous cost of maintenance) is too much for some people then so be it.   Edited By Cuban8 on 05/09/2014 09:24:22

My club only charges £30 for an under 18 to join, and £181 for an adult new member (£80 one off joining fee, BMFA, and club sub). The existing membership have invested a great deal of money over the years in getting our patch really nice, so it's not unreasonable to expect a newcomer to 'chip in', so to speak. We also find that we were wasting a lot of time and resources on people who were just flirting with the hobby and moved on to something else after a short time. This was very frustrating for those that gave  up their time to teach, so we feel that anyone who's really serious about learning will be happy to invest this amount, at the same time weeding out those with just a fleeting interest. I used to do a lot of instructing and would always ask a tyro "what other interests do you have?", if they answered "motorcycle restoring, stamp collecting, playing in a band and amateur dramatics", "oh and I have a very demanding day job", then I'd be pretty confident they'd not last - sadly that usually turned out to be the case. At least a learner doesn't have to spend months building a trainer from scratch these days, in fact as we all know, a perfectly good foamy electric trainer can be made ready in under a day............. an activity that requires very little practical skill! A good situation on the face of it but I do feel that a lot of new flyers then become limited in their scope as their experience has been confined to the 'big box ARTF'. This can lead to dissatisfaction for some, and a gradual retreat from the hobby. I am not anti ARTF in the least, I enjoy the 'big box buzz' as much as anybody (as my credit card bill from the nats will witness) but I think we can do all newcomers to our hobby a great service by encouraging them to eventually think about working from a plan pack or kit and obtaining the experience and satisfaction of building something a little more individual and learning to overcome the difficulties that arise with every build project - it could just spark a lifetimes fascination with aeromodelling that might otherwise be missed. Edited By Cuban8 on 03/09/2014 09:00:05

Good advice to always use the manufacturers genuine switches and if there's room for the heavy duty type use that. I never mount the switch direct to the side of the fuz where it can get contaminated with oil or cleaning solution and get shaken about by vibration. I always have mine inside the model operated by a wire push rod and have the switch body isolated from vibration with double sided adhesive foam strip. Edited By Cuban8 on 02/09/2014 17:23:46

B cert demo on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_fTx6YJD7s Don't think I'd have accepted the stall turn at 3.30 Edited By Cuban8 on 02/09/2014 09:31:28

Posted by john stones 1 on 01/09/2014 13:36:30: I take your point C8 but the rules and regs of show flying are not what a B test is about for me, its an higher standard of flying and a good standard of safety all round, you don't need to know the show rules to achieve this. To fly at shows need you to commit to learning what's expected of you though. John Then I think we're in agreement. A higher standard of flying somewhere between the A and B but with the oral part based pretty much on the A requirements.