
kc
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Everything posted by kc
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Why do interesting threads get pulled or locked?
kc replied to Christopher Wolfe's topic in All Things Model Flying
Jon, Well actually the earth is flat -- pause for laughter to subside -- in a photographic magazine ( Camera User ) an article 'proved' that the curvature of the earth is such that is actually flatter than the flattest thing that technicians can possibly make - an optical flat ( specially produced optical glass for scientific use I think ) Probably not worth wasting time to prove that is correct or incorrect but it's an interesting conjecture worth considering before dismissing someones facts about anything! So just as everyone knows castor is bad for engines and the earth is round everyone needs to allow for other opinions or more recent information. For the record - nobody here disputes that the earth is somewhat like a sphere! -
Why do interesting threads get pulled or locked?
kc replied to Christopher Wolfe's topic in All Things Model Flying
The point is free speech is far more important than anybody who is offended by anything! Civilisation depends on free speech. -
An article in the BMFA magazine in the last year or two showed how the UK team made a packing case to take their models abroad. Otherwise consider a 'self store' facility to keep your models until you can come back to take them in your own car. When I last moved house the vendors allowed me to store stuff in the garage before completion even though they wouldn't allow access to the (empty) house. Seems using garage is not the same legally.
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Not many or any books on latest electric flight with brushless motors and Lipo batteries. Info is all online. However older books are still relevant for construction and flying. Peter Hollands 'Model aeroplane Buiding Sketch by Sketch' is available secondhand on Amazon for about £3.60 at the moment and is very worthwhile. It has all the hints and tricks. Also available online free from RC library. Any book by David Boddington is worth reading - try this one. Also his Scale Model book is very cheap secondhand today - inspirational but not what you need just yet. Sarik Hobbies have current books by Peter Miller which are well worth reading. ( Peter died a month or so ago but was a good friend to this forum - many of his designs are worth building or just studying the plans for detail info. You can find his comments and designs throught this forum )
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I cannot see that a plan for another model will help too much with the T180. However Outerzone has plans for all types of model ( but not the T180 ) and they can be printed at a copy shop or printed at 100 percent via Adobe Acrobat using 'tiled print' to print on an A4 printer and join together or the detail browsed on screen. An experienced fixed wing aeromodeler would be able to spot any problems with your plane checking for good alignment, good glue joints, proper hinging, firm wing bolts & dowel plus many other points. And be able to advise what size of servos have been fitted - standard size or mini -possibly mini in the wings and standard for elevator& rudder. Save time & effort fitting similar size again. Double check that ailerons work in the correct direction too- it's easy to reverse the horn in error. . Beware of problems like black wire corrosion in switch harness ( invariably causes disastrous crash if not spotted )or even servo extensions in an old model stored in maybe damp conditions. Throw any suspect wires out. You probably won't need a switch for electric flight anyway ( disconnecting at Lipo plug for safety ) Getting wrinkles out of film can be done with a domestic iron set on medium or low heat to start and holding maybe 1/4 or 1/2 inch away without even touching film then gradually increase heat if needed. Proper heat guns are available - hairdryers too cool and paint stripper guns often too hot -but need care as it's easy to damage some films. Stripping film off is messy and often the colour sticks. There should be no need to remove film to fit servos, but you might need to cut hatch so you can replace Lipo every flight. Beware electrc props can start instantly and injure. Setting up and adjustments are always done with prop removed for safety.
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If the cost of freight is high then it would be worth checking if several kits could be sent for the same or similar freight cost - maybe buy a more popular design as well such as the Dirty Birdy or Curare 40 etc, etc which seem a bargain.
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There is a suggested electric motor/ESC/ Lipo setup shown here on 4Max website. There are probably many other motors/ESC/Lipo/prop that would work too and they may well be cheaper. Consult your local club instructor to find what make of radio the club prefers for training so you can get a suitable Tx to use as a buddy box.
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There are also other short kits mentioned by balsaworkbench but all the prices are in dollars so presumably from USA. Be interesting to know what these cost if shipped to UK. The quoted prices seem very cheap compared to UK sources of short kits.
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Chris Foss Wot Knot - Build Thread
kc replied to Martin John Painter's topic in Building from Traditional Kits and Plans
Jonny, very neat workmanship. The idea of putting the electric motor on threaded rods is quite ingenious but it would not allow the Lipo to get far enough forward to balance without lead ( in my opinion ) Far better to move the bulkhead forward and get the Lipo right up behind the motor. Of course if bulkhead was fretted out to clear the Lipo and the threaded rods were spaced far enough out that could also work to get Lipo right up front. Very often the weight of electric motor and Lipo is about the same as the equivalent glow motor, but the weight is mostly in the lipo while the glow has all the heavy bits - crankshaft,bearings etc right at the front. It may be worthwhile to make a temporary lashup to see exactly how far forward it will be necessary to put the Lipo ( probably a 3S2200 ?) to balance without lead. -
Grrrr! Can't remember model name! Help! :-)
kc replied to Jerry Cashman 1's topic in RCM&E Plan Builders
Tony Nijuis Designs sells the Aerovan plan and moulded parts -
Covering wingtips etc needs extra length (about 3 inches ) to hold onto whilst persuading the film to adapt to the rounded shape. Alternatively instead of the balsa bracing parts consider filling in the tips with white foam and sanding to a nice rounded shape. Use brand new coarse glasspaper and it will shape easily. Tips could then be covered with brown paper and dilute PVA which will then form a smooth surface for paint or film. Try a test piece first.
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You are correct it does say .8mm / 1/32 ply - I just assumed it would be 1/64th as the lightest ply available. As the curvature of the ribs is very slight ( and rather unusual ) it might be easy enough to get 1/32 to bend to suit. As the spars are shown as 1/4 spruce it should be strong enough with 1/16 balsa and the u/c bearer goes right across the centre too. Not going to be a lightweight wing with 1/32 ply!
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Help please - Wot4 Mk3; tapered veneer/foam wings.
kc replied to MAD Dave's topic in All Things Model Flying
At 5lb 8 oz Kevin's model would need a .60 ! Aim for 4 pound something if possible! You might be interested in the link to electric conversion data on the Chris Foss website. -
Chris Golds 1525mm span twin EDF Douglas RA-3B Skywarrior
kc replied to Highroller's topic in Electric Ducted Fan
The November issue is available from Magazine Exchange and it's less than 2 pounds. It's worth knowing that Sarik Hobbies can often supply copies of the article when you buy plans - sometimes included in cost sometimes extra cost depending on magazine - so ask about that when ordering. -
The Snark looks an interesting model although I wonder whether the 53 years since it was designed might have produced better small aerobatic designs for todays use......... The very narrow ailerons are one item that seems unusual. The 1/64th ply covering much of the wing is another - that ply is £7 sq ft today and it looks as though it needs about 4sq ft at around £28 for the wing. ( 1/16 balsa is about £2.80 sq ft = 4 inch by 36 sheet ) 1/64 ply is nice material to work with and all the offcuts are useful for reinforcement on other models too. However I do like the one piece elevator - no joiner and the chance to have the elevator pushrod straight down the fuselage with no bends in the linkage. Might be a nice model if it really does fly well. Not to be confused with the RCM USA 48 inch Snark or the 63 inch glider - all plans on Outerzone
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The 1 piece elevator is distinctive ( good idea of course ) Could be a Seagull Boomerang perhaps?
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A discussion at the flying field yesterday about a flying wing being flown by a club member reminded me of the Simitar designs by Bill Evans that are actually flying wings but look more like conventional planes. Nicest example is probably the Pole Star. All the Simitar designs have no tailplane so no tailplane to build, no elevator joiner or pushrod - much less to build! I have never seen a Simitar design flown here in England - they were published in US magazines from the 1970's to 2000. Various names - some are Simitar others Wise Guy, Tracer etc. Various sizes from 2ft span to 8 foot. Most of the plans and articles are now on Outerzone. Worth considering for a simple model or a club build?
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Interesting to revive this old thread. I see that the Wight Crusader plan has now appeared on Outerzone and they too have used my old photo of my plane. The quality of the photo has deteriorated even further with constant copying from one website to another - it's got even worse now but does show the lines of this design which is highly recommended by me.
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As with all kits I suggest before starting to build you draw around each component onto paper - lining paper or even wallpaper- noting grain direction and thickness. Then any item can be produced to repair any future damage. This is particularly important for planes that are no longer produced and don't have proper plans like this one.
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Are you looking for a plan or the complete fuselage? A couple of complete planes on Ebay today.
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Well it does say they still have a branch in Scarborough, so it's not as bad as it first seems ( unless you live nearer to York )
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To get the best price you should specify what the engine is and if it's unused. 'New in Box' engines fetch the best price of course. Also specify what the servos are - the 5 Futaba boxes - if they happen to be the expensive servos rather than standard it will be more attractive. Just state the number on the boxes. You should consider selling the engine separately from the kit. Probably get a better price that way - the kit is a very rare item now and all Flair kits are unobtainable new so highly sought after , engines are common and easily sent by post. While it is much more satisfying selling direct to an enthusiast 'Collection Only' reduces the available buyers , so it may be worth stating a postage price. Best way to sell might be to put into the next BMFA auction - engine as one item, kit as another. Or put an advert in RCME magazine ( they recently had a series of articles on Flair kits )
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Plywood types - what do I buy?
kc replied to Jon Chippindall's topic in Building from Traditional Kits and Plans
Birch ply is likely to be the stuff used in old designs before liteply was common. Also birch ply cuts and drills much cleaner, so it's easier to make intricate components. Buying in smaller sheets from specialist suppliers like Balsa Cabin or SLEC is likely to get you a really flat sheet. Liteply is useful for many purposes in smaller models. Liteply of 2mm or 3mm thickness can be cut with a Stanley knife and steel rule using multiple light cuts - this is more accurate and quicker than sawing. -
I see the stated purpose now is to record development in fields- this might be considered to come under the commercial use in the CAA regulations which does need insurance. Also flying above workmen not connected with the flying might be illegal and anyway alert them to consider thieves might be inspecting the site for equipment to steal! They probably use CCTV to guard the site. I would expect the police to take more interest in you than they do for pure hobby flying, so you need to ensure you have all the correct ID and permissions. It would seem this sort of info from the makers or vendors is out of date or misleading.
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Well Don & PatMc are of course right - we should build light and not build to withstand a crash. However the one item I would err on the side of strength is wing spars, hence the suggestion of spruce instead of balsa. The weight difference is slight - a 3ft piece of 1/4 sq balsa weighs about 1/8 of an ounce ( balsa is of course very variable - this piece is fairly hard ) while a 3ft piece of 1/4 sq spruce weighed 1/4 ounce. So one would use less than 4 lengths for spars ( upper and lower spars ) in a 63 inch wing and the weight difference would be less than half an ounce- for 1/4 sq spars. But have a stronger wing for half an ounce. You might save that half ounce by not putting stickers on the model or by wiping away all excess glue etc etc. Moving the gear well forward might be an easy way to save half ounce of ballast! Note that spruce is not easier to repair than balsa ( spruce doesn't glue as as easily as balsa - depends on type of glue )- its the wing spars might remain intact in a crash which makes repair easier! Broken spar might well cause wing to be scrapped.