Cuban8

Posted by Paul Marsh on 28/03/2015 08:54:54: Others took longer, longest was a YT Spit, which has some issues, being fiberglass and fitting problems - also made the tail dual elevator, as a single pushrod is wrong for a 120 size warbird. Took four years on my YT Spit - admittedly it was an early version, and the quality was appalling so I gave up with it and stored it away. Eventually finished it and got it flying - and to my surprise and delight, it performed very well! Met its demise after a dead stick landing off the patch (caused by broken crank pin in ASP 120 - that's another long story) and the model broke its back. Subsequent investigation revealed the fuz behind the wing TE was nearly all gel coat - not good. Rebuilt the engine (at an extraordinary cost for the spares I might add) and fitted it in a Hanger 9 P47 along with the gear from the Spit. The Spit's wreckage made a spectacular fire in my garden incinerator and the P47 and engine still perform really well

Amazing.............with postage, almost fifty quid at the moment for a heap of rusting, rain soaked junk! Must see what I can garner from a fly-tip for Ebay. ££££££.

Having never been in a position to justify the expense of a top end pumped 4st motor - OS or whatever - I can only say that all the normal 4st motors that I have used (ASP and OS) over getting on for 30 years now, have been utterly reliable and a joy to run. Can't see the need to complicate matters particularly for sport/scale flying.

The Victoria Cross - For Valour. Inventions that changed the World. The Greatest Raid of All Time. PQ17 Arctic Convoy Disaster. I Don't like 'Top Gear' and find JC's antics tiresome..................However, when he's got his 'serious head' on he makes great programmes like the four I've listed above. Rather than being a 'Marmite character' he's actually a 'Curate's egg' . I hope he drops the overgrown schoolboy image that he cultivates far too much but has made him very wealthy over the 'Top Gear' years.

John. Agreed it's not exactly a simple click to comment operation. When logged in from the Home page.... Click National 'Centre Study Update' in the News flash column From the News Page click 'See here for the article' From the article page click Post Comment at top RH side of page Click the comments number (the one in brackets) or the main title. Scroll to bottom of comments already posted and fill in the form - click post     Edited By Cuban8 on 26/03/2015 09:27:28

Static dischargers I think you'll find..................................Hong Kong eh? Hope you get the opportunity to pick up some modelling bargains

Gangster's list of checks is spot on . However, when I've had this sort of 'is it / isn't it' issue in the past on 35 meg gear, I've had the TX drive two sets of RXs, batteries and servos, side by side, in order to really nail the problem area. If both receiver installations exhibit a problem simultaneously, then the issue is external to them - if only one of the two shows the fault, then that lets the TX off the hook. Edited By Cuban8 on 24/03/2015 10:02:50

I need to replace my eighteen year old 7Ahr 12V starter battery (wrote the date on it when I got it!) and I'll think I'll go with a 3S Lipo this time. I think I'll also fit one of those little 3S monitors with the LEDs and buzzer to my flight box so the Lipo isn't ruined by over discharging and will warn me when it needs a top up.

If I had to choose six guests they'd be...........Douglas Bader, Adolph Galland, Eric Brown, Martin Shaw, Dave Boddington & Dave Bishop. A full and frank exchange of opinions would be guaranteed.

I always use adjustable aluminium engine mounts these days. From my engineering perspective, Nylon mounts are just springy without damping IMHO....................

Some years ago a friend of mine started producing glassed glider fuselages (epoxy and polyester) as a sort of cottage industry business supplying some well known kit producers. Working in a small heated shed which was well insulated against variations in temperature, the ventilation turned out to be inadequate. Unfortunately, dally exposure to resin fumes over a period of only a few months destroyed the delicate lining of his upper nasal tract which resulted in a reduced sense of smell and taste, as well as being very painful for a long time afterwards. The damage was irreversible and sensitized him against working with those materials ever again. As they used to say in 'Hill street Blues' "Let's be careful out there"............................

Posted by john stones 1 on 19/03/2015 21:39:27: Posted by Andy Symons - BMFA on 19/03/2015 17:59:12: No worries John! This may be of interest to some. **LINK** On this link you can click on and leave a comment, should you wish to. John Interesting to see that so far with 61 views, only four members have bothered to place comments.

Clouded out here in Colchester but getting dark and very cold. Photo of the eclipse from my daughter via Skype in Derby.

Cloudy in N. Essex

I think the problem is that the magazine is called "BMFA News" but to all intents and purposes has a minority of its contents as news of the BMFA, its doings and its members. Trying to copy the style of the commercial publications is really a waste of effort and filling it with lengthy articles on very specialist areas of the hobby, despite the best efforts of the authors, will not appeal to most readers, so why bother? The publication needs an overhaul, as at present, given its impact, it represents poor value for the not inconsiderable outlay to the BMFA's coffers. I do think regular communication with the membership is vital, but what we have at the moment is missing the mark both in content and form, and it's a shame that those that are spending considerable time and effort writing about what they love about our hobby, is for most members something to be merely glossed over. IMHO, the mag only needs to be published quarterly, perhaps thrice yearly. Drop the regular specialist pieces, but have occasional articles on Aerobatics, FF and Vintage but covering the disciplines in a more general and less technical manner. Publish it on-line only, I know this will upset some, but hard copy to 30000+ members really doesn't make sense coming from what after all is quite a small society. How about having some input from professional freelance aeromodelling authors? I'm sure the very popular Alex Whittaker and others could occasionally put something amusing together, but with a leaning towards society matters.

Posted by mark ewers on 18/03/2015 16:21:51: Thanks for your replies, as mentioned, I shall go along to a club, there are two within a couple of miles of me, so that seems the best place to start, also a flight simulator sounds like a good idea. I'm still drawn to the World Models Piper Cub J3 as a trainer, has anyone any knowledge of these ? Hi Mark. For what its worth, start out with a standard 40 size high wing trainer and make your mistakes on that rather than knocking about a pretty Cub! In any case, trike undercarts are easier to cope with first of all and access to the engine is far easier rather than having it all cowled in. A purpose designed four channel trainer will cope much better in windy (not too windy to start with!) conditions, whereas the cub will quickly become a bit of a handful and may well limit the flyable days you'll get, given the way our climate seems to have gone recently. Plenty of time to fly scale type models once you've really mastered a trainer (including basic aerobatics) and in the long run it'll make you a better flyer. Good luck

Bought a Dyson some years ago - biggest waste of £150. Brittle plastic, just fell to bits. All that tosh about not losing vacuum...........Our 'Henry' is miles better and if it does lose a bit of suck when the bag's full, it's not noticeable.

After spending the last few seasons flying all electric, I'm in the finishing stages of this lovely Seagull 'Sea Eagle' F3A style machine. Only a bit over 5.5 lbs in weight and will fit ready rigged in my Mondeo Estate. Powered by my trusty ASP 61FS transplanted from my equally trusty (and well flow - now retired) Hanger 9 Aresti 40. Edited By Cuban8 on 17/03/2015 11:35:58

Posted by Martyn K on 17/03/2015 09:49:50: Posted by David Hardaker on 15/03/2015 19:49:37: If Mode 1 was good enough for the Wright brothers, it's good enough for me ! I learnt to fly Mode 1 - because like many people we started on 2 channel radios on Gliders. When I came back to flying a few years ago, I 're-learnt' to fly using Mode 2 - and in hindsight, I think it was a mistake. I still have problems with Rudder control (I think) due to mentally force freezing my left hand while I was in the relearn mode. Martyn Just curious, but what was the reason behind relearning on Mode 2? Like you I started with a two channel twin stick outfit (Futaba Medallion) in the 1970s hence remaining on mode 1 ever since. Edited By Cuban8 on 17/03/2015 11:23:20

Return it to Horizon and they'll do a good job at fixing it up. However, although they'll get it going, there's no way that they can be 100% certain that there isn't a subtle fault caused by the trauma of dropping it, lurking somewhere that might only show up later. At the very least, test the unit thoroughly when you get it back - maybe just fly some simple foamies for a few weeks until you get some confidence in the unit. It's a difficult one, but I'd not be happy to trust it again.

Posted by Cliff Bastow on 15/03/2015 16:01:00: Posted by James Middleton on 15/03/2015 11:50:06: I guess there's "nowt as strange as folks" For my part, I was self-taught and started with a slope-soarer...I couldn't afford an engine! I would "chuck-it" from shoulder height (with my left hand, being a "lefty" ) leaving my right hand trembling with the Tx "balanced" with the aerial wedged between my second and third fingers so I could get use of the elevator with my thumb on the left-stick. Hence, I became, by default...a "Mode1er". It just seems right (no pun intended) to fly with ailerons right, elevator left. What a crazy mixed-up world, eh? They don't have this problem with real (full-sized) aircraft!...do they? Edited By James Middleton on 15/03/2015 12:05:48 Edited By James Middleton on 15/03/2015 12:06:21 As far as I am aware they dont have this problem on full size, but I am sure i remember that on American aircraft all the switches are the other way up to ours. Ie up for on down for offI also seem to remember reading somewhere that French designed aircraft have the throttle the other way, that is backwards for full throttle forwards for closed throttle but i cant be sure of this. Can anyone confirm this? Not just aircraft, AFAIA the convention for all electrical switches in the 'States is to have 'down for off'. The reasoning being that in an emergency it's more natural to make a rapid down stroke with the hand. Over here circuit breakers (home and industry) work the same way.

Posted by Cuban8 on 15/03/2015 15:47:55: At a fly-in a couple of years ago a young chap (you know the sort, cap reversed & baggy trousers almost falling down) spotted my mode 1 tranny and accused me of flying the "gay mode" (I kid you not). Presumably he was referring to how happy I appeared when flying my aeroplanes. "and I suppose you fly Mode 2" says I to the street dude............."Yeah mate, it's da wicked mode innit" (again I kid you not). "How dey fly dem real ones innit" he added. Aeromodelling in safe hands I reckon............innit Oops double post................remembered he said "wicked" rather than "cool"! Edited By Cuban8 on 15/03/2015 15:54:33

At a fly-in a couple of years ago a young chap (you know the sort, cap reversed & baggy trousers almost falling down) spotted my mode 1 tranny and accused me of flying the "gay mode" (I kid you not). Presumably he was referring to how happy I appeared when flying my aeroplanes. "and I suppose you fly Mode 2" says I to the street dude............."Yeah mate, it's da cool mode innit" (again I kid you not). "How dey fly dem real ones innit" he added. Aeromodelling in safe hands I reckon............innit

No previous experience of these servos, hence my question. I have another model that could benefit from one of these servos so I might get another one and compare performance.

Thanks for the reply.