Cuban8

Personally, I think you're taking a very risky course to rely on a temporary fix for any length of time (as all these DIY kits are), rather than a proper repair. Tyres undergo a tremendous amount of stress, and plug repairs, foam and Goop etc are just not able to cope with the full range of performance expected of a non-damaged tyre. Fine as a get you home fix but do consider getting a replacement tyre. Annoying, but better than a blow-out. Interestingly, a punctured tyre is not an automatic MOT failure, only an advisory, so presenting a vehicle with a tyre that's had a temporary repair that is evident to the tester shouldn't be a problem if I've understood the regs correctly. I don't think tyre insurance is a good deal for everyone - depends on the value of the tyre and if the vehicle spends a lot of time going to places where punctures are more likely, like builders yards, Industrial Estates and DIY centres. I have looked into it and the T&Cs do seem to be quite straightforward, but seeing as the tyres I buy are nothing special and my mileage now is nowhere near what it was, I don't bother with it.

I watched the YouTube repeat and I have to say that I noted what I thought was frustration on the part of the BMFA representatives with much of the CAA's standpoint as regards 'conventional' R/C flying. Yes, we know that thankfully, we are able to carry on pretty much as usual, but to most model flyers and I suspect the BMFA itself, we all really don't get the rationale for lumping line of sight R/C flying in with the wider 'drone' regulations. Interesting that this appears to be driven by Government policy according to the CAA chaps (who were both modellers, apparently!). Security being a particular worry. This is where it seems to be going......it looks as if the best outcome for us, because of the wild dreams of the airspace becoming black with BLOS commercial drones (when this will be they never say) will be registered flying sites that can be avoided by other vehicles using 'our' airspace. What use or good the registration scheme has been so far other than a money spinner, was not made clear. The 'benefits' of remote ID for model aircraft (especially when flown from a 'registered' site) as mentioned by the CAA chaps, seemed very tenuous and I got the impression that even they thought it was daft. So some hope for common sense after all. BTW I actually saw a fair sized commercial drone hovering over an industrial area in Colchester this week - I guess doing survey work. A rare bird indeed!

Two hundred and eighty quid.....wow that's a lot of dosh, so over a grand for a full set. Worth taking out tyre insurance I'd have thought - only a tenner or so each on the sort of tyres that I buy but I take a chance and don't bother. Obviously dearer on specialist and expensive deluxe EV types, but a moron with a pocketfull of self tappers and a powerdrill could easily do a lot of damage. Set of four mid range tyres for my Mondeo was just a tad under £300 a year ago including a free alignment check and adjustment - a different league. I'd have said the screw in the sidewall was certainly vandalism - right through Bibendum's mouth and an even bigger kick knowing the tyre would be not repairable - very worrying . Kwikfit quote £30 each for insurance on tyres between £250-£300 including malicious damage (must be reported to the police and recorded) - other tyre fitters are probably similar. Worth considering given that it usually covers punctures and pothole damage.

This time of year is not ideal for model flying whether learning or anything else - many do ignore mud, wind, cold, dampness etc and fly whatever the conditions, and that's great if that's one's preference. I don't and I know that 90% of the members in my clubs share the same sentements and don't enjoy difficult conditions - not much fun for your instructor as well. The big advantage of indoor flying if you have a facility nearby! Don't get too worked up over missing lessons at this time of year, if you get a good day now and again during winter then do take advantage, but stop/start flying with weeks between lessons isn't very productive anyway when learning IMHO. With a bit of luck we're due for a good Spring and summer and if you can fit in regular flying sessions over the good weather then you'll soon make rapid progress.

I don't use expo and don't use rates once I've set the model up to my liking. I've only gone down the expo and rates usage route when I dabbled with some mental funfly models with huge control surfaces.

Perhaps he should get into the drone delivery racket - promise of that seems to run in a totally different reality and time dimension 😁

I had a Sonata E for years (one of Cliff Goater's original kits that came in a long plastic bag IIRC) with the curious single elevator...........flew perfectly well but I suppose if you wanted to mod it to a double control surface you could.

The Chinese appear to be going down the route that the Japanese did 50 years ago to undercut and mortally wound most Western motor manufacturers - both four and two wheels. The offerings from MG appear to be remarkable and the very attractive estate car that I saw driving about last week ticked a lot of boxes. At around the £30K mark, a serious option for anyone looking for a family electric vehicle. Not for me though.

How are the Obeche veneered wings holding up? Depending on how the kit's been stored (in a loft with huge temperature swings is very bad for them) I'd check very carefully for signs of the adhesive (usually Copydex or similar) breaking down after a long period. I've seen wings from an unstarted kit where the veneer can be peeled off the foam with very little effort. Once covered, finished and stored normally and providing they've not been subject to deterioration to start with, veneered foam wings seem fine and rarely give trouble. Hopefully yours will be OK.

I recall that Aerotec Kits had a mixed reception as regards their quality and flying performance. I don't recall ever seeing any of their models at my club back in the day. I believe that they could wind up very overweight because of poor wood selection, so be careful and replace any material that looks like it's recycled floorboards😁. May well have got a poor reputation unfairly, so I guess it's a case of looking close at the kit and making your own judgement.

The HK Vampire is the best model that I've ever owned for its sheer fun to fly and low cost for very little effort. I have one of the originals and it's still going strong. A few mates have swapped out the original fan for a more modern and better sounding version on theirs. Why on earth they stopped production goodness only knows. Even a non painted option would be good to allow personalisation and reduce production costs.

Talking Pictures TV on Freeview Ch 82 is showing Jack Hargreaves's later 'Out of Town' programmes from the early 80s at the moment. Wonderful television from everyone's idea of the ideal grandad. Amusing last episode when he tried and failed (thankfully perhaps) to demonstrate an old musket type of hunting rifle in the studio. I suppose the late Bob Symes-Schutzmann who did some really good modelling TV programmes ages ago had a similar style. Most of the latest crop of presenters and 'influencers' simply get on my nerves.

Just a small caveat based on experience.........gliders are more forgiving for the beginner but can still very easily get away from you especially if incorrectly trimmed, and the pilot is slow to recognise what's happening and doesn't take the correct action or is slow because of lack of experience. Commonly, this happens on a day with even just a slight breeze and before you know it, the model has quickly drifted down wind and beyond easy sight of what it's doing. It happens very quickly and takes beginners by surprise, I can assure you. Sport models such as Cubs etc and 'docile' vintage high wingers etc are a different proposition for the early stage learner in that they will even more quickly get away from the beginner due to their better performance and in no time will go beyond recovery without correct intervention. All I'm saying is to get an experienced pilot to test fly your models at this stage, don't be tempted to give it a go and see what happens - a dead simple bit of retrimming on the TX trims to stop stalling or a tendency to pull right or left for an established pilot is highly likely to take a raw beginner by surprise with inevitable results. Think carefully before committing yourself to building a model at this stage. Years ago we had no choice but today there are many first class ready to go models available new and second hand that will take the knocks of learning, without the heartache of seeing many hours of labour wasted over a building board caused by damage or much worse in a crack up. It's demoralising and quite unnecessary these days - plenty of time to spend building once a degree of experience has been attained. Just my view of course.

All good advice and as one would expect, and naturally a little variation on a basic theme given individuals' preferences and past experience. The very best and most important thing to take on board at this stage is to take the very simple and free step of going to have a chat with a local club. Not because we're trying to push memberships per se, but quite simply, you'll be able to see first hand a number of models being flown in one place and have at your fingertips a wealth of knowledge and experience that can be easily accessed. If you're lucky to have several within a reasonable distance, try them all and see which suits you best. Clubs do differ in character and MO and you may well feel happier with one rather than another. Even simple trainer models look deceptively easy to fly in experienced hands, but they are not at all straightforward for the complete beginner. Availing yourself of the help from a club will make the whole learning experience so much more enjoyable and less stressful and WILL prevent you from falling into the many traps that are waiting for the beginner to fall into. Good luck and welcome to the hobby.

I prefer buying my lipos from Amazon these days. Free next day delivery as I have Prime and their prices are competitive.

Charge the battery fully and then either disconnect it from the TX if it has a small connector or take the battery out. Leave it for a week as you've mentioned, replace and reconnect into the tranny and if it's dead, then look at a battery or charging fault, or if it powers up the tranny as normal then it looks like something's draining the battery even when the tranny's switched off. A basic starting point before going further. As Gary W says, more than likely to be a duff battery, but it's good to be absolutely sure before anything else.

Ditto above post. If I was you, I'd visit a local club if you have one, just say hello and that you have an old model that you could do getting a bit of help and advice to get going and to see it flying. You could make it clear that you're not sure if the hobby is actually for you, you have virtually no flying experience but seeing the model set up and flown safely in someone else's hands would be a big encouragement to perhaps join and move on from there. Chances are that someone will give you a hand (most of us like a challenge) to get it going - it's not a very big task for an established flyer to fix up, but the risk of it all going horribly wrong even if you try your very best yourself is too high as you've discovered in the past. Unknown, unknowns and all that. Good luck.

The age issue is relevant and I agree that by far the most new members to my clubs are those who are around 50 and find themselves with the money and the opportunity to take up where they left off 20 or 30 years ago for all sorts of reasons. We're all doing our best to attract youngsters and there are some that take up the hobby and thrive within it. Unfortunately, the numbers are not sufficient to maintain the aeromodelling population - and as with any species in nature that finds itself under pressure, numbers decline, perhaps terminally. A sort of natural selection, I suppose. The comments about engines are sad - I have some quite reasonable glow engines from the estate of my late friend - nothing particularly exciting but about twenty items worth from a few quid to maybe seventy or eighty. As they're old and unboxed but I'd say still quite useable, they're not of any interest. I've oiled them up again and just put them to one side for the time being. Younger flyers won't have a clue about them and oldies will probably already have a stock of their own to worry about.

Correct......a common mistake - does seem counter intuitive to put the coil where Andy says but the box illustration is dead right. The only thing I'd add is to suggest putting a pad of 1/8 or 1/4 hard ply between the top of the coil and the underside of the fuselage. About an inch square or maybe a tad bigger with a notch to fit the wire leg and centre its position a bit to spread the load of the coil, as without it, it the coil tends to bend back and dig into the soft fuz underside. Nose legs do take a terrible battering and once a bit of play in the fixing develops, the effectiveness of the coil spring becomes much reduced. Not too hard a tyre is a good idea as well. Some of the wheels in the old kits were as hard as iron.

Leccy, what would be your estimate on the average age of your swapmeet attendees? I saw evidence that our hobby is not the only one feeling the pinch. I visited the London Motorcycle Show at Excel, yesterday and had an excellent day.........however, the exhibition space was much reduced with fewer traders and visitors compared with when we last visited in 2019. Thought it odd when we parked up and there were loads of spaces still available. Just the one hall rather than two as before. Not much in the way of purchases of kit from the traders and very few folks walking around with bagfulls of goodies as before - most stall holders looked rather bored. As with aeromodellers, bikers are always up for a chat and talking to several chaps when we had a break for some lunch and at other times during the day, they agreed that it was a good day out but noticeably smaller with a much reduced 'vibe' about the place. I'd certainly support it next year, TBH it was nice to not have the place jam packed - but that's obviously a mixed blessing. Very few teenagers around - most attending were in their forties and plenty of old geezers like me in their sixities. I don't think our hobby is doing very much wrong and is far from being unique in the way it's viewed - I can see that things are changing about us.

Modellers should go with what they feel is is best for them - I'm just pointing out an issue that does exist with nimh packs - I've seen it with my own batteries and confirmed with test equipment after investigation........... albeit found rarely. Anyway, if a little extra care saves just one model from being wrecked, it's worthwhile.

I'm not talking about 'memory effect' per se - my concern is that single cells in nimh packs do deteriorate and lose their capacity before the others and need to be detected before they cause an excessive voltage drop across the whole pack in use, with all the ramifications that might lead to. Quite rare for a single cell to deteriorate very badly, it's true, but it does happen and I've seen it in a few occasions in my own batteries over the years. Easily picked up by regular voltage and capacity checks.

I know we've been round this so many times before but..............with a four cell nimh it only takes a single cell to develop a weakness leaving only a three cell pack, that if not spotted by regular testing (be honest who does?) will spoil your whole day at some point. I've found several that could have given trouble if I hadn't noticed. People run old RX packs for years and years and they happily power their model for their usual three of four Sunday morning flights - until say a really nice day and four flights turn into six or seven or the battery is forgotten to be recharged and......oops! A five cell pack does give a significant degree of redundancy and will power a model quite happlly with a bad single cell. Test 'em regularly folks - note the dicharge capacities and act if you discover a significant change. Dead easy to do. RX battery - one of the least expensive components in a model but super critical to safety.

Hmmm....not sure I'm convinced about " it's so easy even I can do it! I still have the original recording of this Horizon documentary that I made 40 years ago on our first VCR - contains some amazing footage at about nine minutes in of Arthur Young's super stable experimental remote controlled models from the late 1930s and early '40s. Rest of the documentary is well worth a view for anyone with even the slightest interest in rotary flight. Made when the beeb was good at producing this stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VOttDBZDWI

It's very easily done particularly when in my experience, the convention is, and for sound technical reasons, to have +V on a centre pin and 0V to the outer terminal or shield. For the sake of a few extra components costing pennies, all this can be avoided, but I guess that the manufacturers like to try to lock their customers into using only their own approved accessories. My old DX7 had a 'reversed' charge port and it was only a couple of minutes work to swap the wiring at the socket to accept a 'standard' Futaba charger. I accept that not everyone will be confident enough or equipped to do the same. My DX8 G2 came with its own charger and an odd skinny plug - I must admit I haven't checked for polarity on it as it's unique to my DX8.