kc

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.

Are you looking for a plan or the complete fuselage? A couple of complete planes on Ebay today.

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 )

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 )

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.

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.

I agree - always build as light as is practical, - crashes are lighter! However spruce spars are the only extra weight I add and I think it's worth just the slight extra weight to have a wing that is repairable.

Of course a training plane will on the odd occasion be highly stressed if a wrong signal is given or someone panics! So use spruce if in any doubt. Spruce will probably make the wing more likely to be repairable when the inevitable prang occurs in training.

Don't bother heating up piano wire- just get a wire bender for 8SWG wire and bend cold.

I couldn't find that info on the Vintage Model Co site - a link to it would be handy. Also other useful links to working with Doculam.

But does it still require a Flier ID if it's a toy?

EarlyBird, those joints look immaculate. If you want to make a deluxe version of the sanding jig there is one here based on the old RCME design. Note that it has a 'safe edge' on the sanding block to avoid wearing away the baseplate edge. ( Permagrit sheet is available for this )

All this does is reveal the stupidity of the situation - those who were tested by a BMFA examiner for flying ability and questioned personally ( A or B certificate holders) and insured as BMFA members are surely the ones to be trusted more than those who merely passed an online test! Yet rather than force everyone who flys drones solo to be insured and take an A Test or equivalent they now discriminate against A cert holders! A complete lack of common sense! If the CAA forced all drone fliers to be insured it would achieve something. ( and improve BMFA membership numbers! ) But no, they just want everyone to take the online test so drone pilots cannot say they "didnt know the rules" when prosecutions occur.

It would be worth seeing how much further forward the lipo would need to go to achieve CG without any lead weight. Try strapping the lipo on at the very front using sticky tape or rubber bands etc just to see what is possible. It's quite likely you could dispense with most or even all of the lead with the Lipo right at the front. Even if you prefer not to modify or lengthen the front to get the Lipo forward it will tell you what is possible in future. Light models crash less often and even when they do they crash less heavily!

I would suggest that a phone call to Home & Workshop Machinery in Sidcup could be worthwhile. Have a chat and they might let you know if they get something secondhand in at at a good price or they may suggest something more mansized.

A Mirage 2000 plan by John Rutter is on Outerzone but it's for .20 to .29 engines. I suppose you could scale the plan up for a 60!

Sorry to spoil the bargain hunters day! I think £125 is still a bit of a bargain and someone will buy at that price. Does anyone disagree with 125 as a fair price? Flybar please see the warning about scammers replying to ads on the forum!

If you were nearer I would have snapped that up at £50 ...... I think you could easily get double that price. I suggest re-offering at £125 plus postage. Up to you of course. Flair kits sell easily and especially those with a metal cowl. Ebay advertise just a set of Baroneette wing ribs for £40 so a complete kit with cowl is worth much, much more!

Do you think side and downthrust are actually needed? Modern thoughts seem to differ from old designers on this point! I remember that Peter Miller thought side or downthrust unnecessary on his designs. A Barnstormer 63 with electric power that I acquired seems to have a trace of downthrust and barely any sidethrust. My view is that such little sidethrust is not worth the effort in offsetting the mounting to make the prop come out in the right place. Same with downthrust. I suggest asking for opinions before committing to angle the bulkhead! The bulkhead might need reinforcement to doubler - I always found balsa triangle unsatisfactory even on 40 size glow models -I used hardwood instead.

Do you mean the thin closed loop wire ( fishing trace stuff ) or heavy Bowden wire? Closed loop needs two wires to each surface ( Push and Pull ) while snakes need just one. The outers for snakes might not suit the plastic inners as standards vary- need to check if they would run smoothly and not bind. If you make any changes it's worth remembering the old trick -- before you pull anything out of the fuselage tie or tape a string to it to pull the new wire/snake etc back in. Much easier!

It would be so much better to move the Lipo further forward to achieve CG rather than add lead to the plane. Even if it changes the looks a little and offends the purists it will produce a better flying plane. Worth trying a 'lash up' first to determine how much further forward the Lipo (and / or the motor ) needs to go.

I don't think many model flying clubs are 'owned ' by anyone- they are all run by members who share the costs. You will find club fees vary a lot - I am a member of one club which charges £15 year while my other club charges £90. Need to be BMFA member on top of that cost. Neither makes any real profit - it's due the cost of renting a field and the number of days and hours one can fly. The club which charges £15 has the use of a council owned sports field and has to share time with other sports. If you want to start a club find the cost of renting ( you won't find a field to buy cheaply in East London! ) and then workout the cost of buying a mower. Then decide how many members would be needed to share the labour & costs!

Woden is another good brand -British and eventually became Record. Some Woden tools were later branded Record. Vice jaws are not parallel in vertical- they are a slight degree or so out so that they grip at the top and take up any slack in the thread. ( the Workbench Book by Scott Landis calls this the 'toe in'. Great book on the woodwork aspect rather than engineering vices and benches) That ' toe in' may be a thing the cheap factories overlook......... The strained vice might just have a little nick on the thread or sliding part that could be carefully filed off to restore.

Personally I don't like 'clamp on' vices but for light use in aeromodelling they might be handy - I came across this British made one for £3 with £4 postage on eBay -only 1 bid ending at 5pm today. Would seem a better buy than the £12 chinese ones.