PatMc

I've just noticed that the in AM advert in John Lee's post none of the photos show the aluminium cam gizmo. In fact in the main image the spring is clearly shown directly in contact with th prop.

I had a small glass bottle of Solarfilm Solvent as described by John Lee & found it pretty usless. It did soften the colour pigment but took forever to evaporate out & reduced the film's colour opacity, it also had a very unpleasant smell. OTOH Solarfilm's other product called Prymol which came in a small tin was very easy to use & very effective in priming the outer surface of Solarfilm to take fresh Solarfilm off cuts as decals or to seal overlaps. Prymol only needed a tiny amount wiped on the recieving surface & it evaporated quickly with little odour. PS the solvent had an "oily" viscosity but the Prymal felt more like a "spirit".

This linked article by Adrian https://modelenginenews.org/people/dc_ltd.html backs up John Lee's AM evidence for the date being 1959.

I've seen original 1956 versions controled by single channel valve radios, powered by ED 2.46 Racers & similar engines fly without any problem. The radio + batteries would have been about 2 or 3 times heavier than modern gear & the engines only giving around 0.2HP (150W).

I never engage in conversation when doing my pre-flight checks so wouldn't hear you.

I don't know if mine was typical but the quality of the cowl was rubbish. A scratch built wooden or moulded cowl shouldn't be difficult to produce & as Jon says cloning the rest of the model from an existing kit (or even a salvaged write off) would be fairly easy.

40 years ago the scene would have been - one of the above parents sitting on a sofa beside his/her parents looking at a TV screen. He/she would a VHS/Beta Max manual in one hand, a remote control in the other but the the speech bubble would have been the same.

The Empress was a 79" span A2 glider made by "Contest Kits" they also made the 66" span Inchworm A2 glider. I think both were genuine competition models at the time.

Around 1956/57 a clubmate had an original Jnr 60 that he had used for F/F climb & glide comps & a brand new 1956 version with single channel radio. To me he was one of the old guys (probably 40 ish) but a bit more switched on than the others who thought my generation flying C/L was sacrilege. The FF version was either a Yulon 30 or possibly Yulon 49 powered. Straight up climb from launch was jaw dropping to myself & a few other younger members who were the fetchermites. He also did single channel aerobatics with the ED 2.46 powered RC version which were more impressive to watch than any modern day multi channel aeros. I've tried some s/c style loops & a few rolls with my Jnr using full deflection only rudder & (cheating) by using 2 position motor control but no elevator. It's a buttock clenching experience. Aeros using three propo chanels with a Jnr 60 is a doddle in comparison.

A 25 2 stroke is surely more in keeping with the vintage than any small or even glow 4 stroke ? 😉 It's a model I've often fancied as I have a Frog 3.46, although I think it would be grossly underpowered with that. 😒 Back in the dark ages I remember one of the regulars flying a Merco 35 powered full house propo Jackdaw on Newcastle town moor (might have been Paul de T after all it was a Frog produced model 🤣) He kept jacking the engine thrust line up every week until it was probably no more than about 2 or 3 degrees before he was satisfied & I must admit it flew beautifully. 👍

Many years ago I maidened a vintage model powered by a new Indian Mills 1.3. The engine cut a bit earlier than expected (no throttle) so glided down to the strip only to find that the cylinder head had unscrewed & jumped ship. I thought it a bit ironic was that a model called Frankenstien had lost it's head. 😉 A few weeks later at the Primrose Valley modellers holiday week I met Gordon Counsel who used to write the vintage column in Radio Modeler & mentioned the incident to him. Gordon very kindly sent me a replacement head made by one of his clubmates. Frankie was electrocuted about 15 years ago but still flyable today, the Mills is also still in good fettle. ☺️

If you have servos & cylinder heads etc on display ... why does a bit of plumbing matter ?🤣

Paint. 🤣

I think you'll find that static thrust is always greater than dynamic thrust. The limiting factor for a motor is the current produced due to the load at the applied voltage.

In that case what ever power you use don't bother with any fuel proofer. 🤣

Converting it to electric 🤣

Takes even less time if you park in Liverpool & the tyres would also have disappeared !!! 🤣

Were the "plastic" bags actually plastic ? Or could they have been cellophane which is bio-degradable though probably only a little more ecofriendly than plastic ?

I supppose the payment would have been in the form of Rhode Island Reds 😄

Robert is it possible that you have accidentaly selected the "charge - discharge" option instead of "discharge - charge" ? Which of the options is first choice or default on the charger menu ?

Martin have you looked at the download giving the cell characteristics for the 2300mAH batteries in the Overlander website ? Typical capacities are 2030mAH @ 0.2c discharge rate (i.e. 460mA) & 1955mA @ 0.5c discharge rate (1.15A). Minimum capacities, which are a bit lower, are also given but I didn't bother calculating them. These capacities are based on discharging down to 1v/cell where the voltage curve is dropping on a virtual vertical path.

That's a much repeated fallacy. The motor will stall at about the same point as an ic engine would & the ESC will detect no feedback telling it to send the next power pulse.

Electric power of models is no more or less hazardous than any other power source. The primary causes of most accidents are the same no matter what method of power is being employed & all in the brain of injured party.

Apparently swimming is to be banned in many of the government approved Designated Bathing Water sites but you still go through the motions if you really want to.

Boring - great DEJA VU more like. 🥱