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Adrian Smith 1

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Posts posted by Adrian Smith 1

    Spring is here again - who's been flying?

    in Flying Field Reports and Chat

    Posted

     

    Lovely flying day today if you don't mind the cold and a 10mph+ NNW crosswind blowing across the strip.

    Just look at those clouds!

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    Today was the day I found out how good my use of the rudder is. Landings were quite tricky bearing in mind the pitch\diameter of the prop are no help in slowing her down (23x12). Adding to the landing speed was the only help the wind was in the cross leg and not on finals, hence she came in like a racing car. It doesn't help that the throttle needs to be kept on a bit otherwise one can see the stalling wing waggle beginning to develop. That said I managed to get it right by the third landing . Lovely day never the less.

    • Like 3

    Weston UK Capiche 50cc Revisited

    in Build Blogs and Kit Reviews

    Posted

    As I had a few days to my kick heels in the work shop due to bad weather I decided to do a job on the Capiche I have been promising myself for a while. Partly due to my  wanting to save costs I put a set of HV Macgregor digital servos with a stalling reading of 21kg/cms at 8.4v in the Capiche. In my defence I was guided by the manual which was written for another time which featured a similar recommendation for most of the servos around this sort of level.  Well after a few flights I thought a move to more powerful HV 31kg/cms at 8.4v servos was more appropriate as per the rest of my 50-60cc squadron. Well in my musings in the W/S I notice my SkyWing 71' Edge 540 sporting an equivalent 35cc Dualsky motor on the front has these more powerful servos installed. A bit of an overkill possibly. Anyway the current servos in the Capiche would be just fine in the SkyWing Edge. Therefore for I set about swapping them out both planes this morning. It was a fiddly job mainly because of the elevators wires going through the fuselage, but in the  event it didn't take too long to do the job. I am looking forward to the next outing for both and I will report back here. 

    • Like 1

    Spring is here again - who's been flying?

    in Flying Field Reports and Chat

    Posted

    Just gagging to fly today given the recent poor weather conditions. I was greeted at the strip by sparking sunshine and a nice steady 7-8mph SSW breeze. You can't wish for anything better so on with my varifocal over shades and off we go. 

     

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    When I was clearing up one of the full size flying boys came across for a chat. This time of year it's the RV8 MOT and service. Apparently, apart from the weather, they are grounded because of the delay in spares being delivered. Something that has never happened before. Their bad luck is my gain in the short term I guess. 😀

    • Like 2

    The future of ic engines in our hobby.

    in IC Engines

    Posted

    Well the decision to be made by transitioning from I/C was a simple one. Having graduated from glow to some of the larger petrol engines required for large scale beasts it reached a point where the decision to go all electric was reached. Until recent years the battery technology just didn't measure up as far a duration and performance was concerned.  That's all changed now along with the advent of great performing Opto Escs rated up to 200A and top of the range supplier Hacker we prominent. As a philistine I disliked starting I/c motors in cold weather and pre petrol the mess and fuel ingress glow engines left behind. Noise became an issue where I am based even using good silencers and tuned pipes surprisingly. Electric transforming it had to be. I agree the upfront cost of electrification is quite substantial, but I was fortunate to be able to do it. It is eminently possible to fly 60cc sized models using good electric gear. The duration may not always match 10-15 minutes of glow or petrol, but 8 minutes+ for me is enough for my concentration! I accept that with some of the larger electrics emit some noticeable prop noise, but nothing like my old I/C engines. I can't say I have looked back since. 

    • Like 2

    Transfer of model memories by SD card to a replacement Futaba TX

    in Futaba

    Posted

    I currently possess a Futaba T14SG TX which is still giving me excellent service (9 years) I must add. However, without wanting to tempt fate, I fancy an upgrade and using the current model settings in a new Futaba TX. For argument sake I quite like the Futaba T18SZ and both have an SD card socket. Is it a straightforward process to transfer the model memories from one TX to the other using an SD card? I understand the SD card will need to formatted in one or the other Futaba device for this to work. Anybody done this recently and what are the pitfalls? 

    Spring is here again - who's been flying?

    in Flying Field Reports and Chat

    Posted

    I managed get out for a session today. I decided to take out my electrically converted Capiche 50cc. She has only had 9 flights so far and now I have sorted out the trims today was a good day for a test. Light cloud, wind 4-6mph down the strip.

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    On the first flight when opening to WOT in the air I noticed a short high pitch wine which disappeared at lower throttle settings. I thought may be the timing was too advanced or the thing was about blow up! Landed and after examination on the ground at full throttle I notice a 6-7" loose of seam covering on the starboard leading edge flapping around in the slip stream. Out came sellotape from my tool box and put that right. And viola on the next flights not a peep so all good now. I am sure this has happened on a previous model some time ago. Anyway the session continued without trauma and I must say I am warming to her. She is very precise and always stays in the position you put her in until the next TX input. 👍I think one of our regular contributors, Peter J.  is right in saying she is a bit porky in his experience. I do think she could benefit from a bigger motor (mine is a Dualsky 6000.8 model)  as largely all the weight is in the front with the power packs well forward. Something to think about.......

    • Like 4

    First taste of the sky

    in Beginners

    Posted · Edited by Adrian Smith 1

    I am a bit surprised at your initial impressions of Overlander ESCs and number of them that don't seem to work, Toto.  I speak as I find and the ESC gear and lipos from Overlander have been bullet proof and proved faultless. (albeit more expensive than some). Given the poor strike rate, the ESCs should go back to the retailer to check and testing. Hopefully you can resolve things to your satisfaction. However, I always go back to basics and check and check again when installing ESCs and soldering is involved,  also check the correct power packs are applied. I mainly use HobbyWing ESCs now and they seem to be top notch in my experience (not cheap though) .

    Weston Capiche 140 RCM&E - cowl

    in All Things Model Flying

    Posted

    Halsey, you might be able to source one from Carbon Copy if you give them a call. I bought some spats from them not long ago so they are still operating. The don't do online payments so it's done over the phone with the card only being charged when the item is posted. Depends if you are comfortable with that. Failing that I am sure I have a couple of used examples down the work shop so I can look there this week if that's any use? 

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