martin collins 1

A good selection of WW1 models at the club field today with an ASP 160 Twin powered Hannibal, a Four stroke SE5a, and my Puppeteer and Baronette Triplane both electric powered, the Pup on 4s and the DR1 on 3s. SpottyDog the Tripe got through it`s maiden flight with no issues and i pulled off a greaser landing in the gusty conditions which was very satisfying, just got to wait for some warmer weather to get a scale type paint scheme on it.

Nearly ready to test fly now, couple of small jobs to fiddle with tonight and then Baron Von Spottydog will be taken to the strip on Wednesday for a test flight. Balance looks slightly nose heavy which i am fine with for the first flight, once the model gets repainted it should put the balance a bit more rearward. Running it on a 4s Lipo, i may have got away with a 3s and larger prop but we will see, feels a bit porky with the 4s 4000mah in, the airframe itself feels ok, it does have three wings so we will see once it is in the air.

NOW SOLD.

Two Tiger Moth sightseeing flight aircraft are now based there and during the summer months these may be quite busy so shutting the airfield for two days per ModelAir event has probably swayed the Shuttleworth hierarchy, as spread across the year this firm are paying a lot of money into the OW bank.

A lot of trees and undulating ground, not enough open area for r/c or free flight, control line would probably manage.

This sad news arrived this morning, the drawn out negotiations between ModelAir and Old Warden was a warning this may be coming but very sad to hear it confirmed, with the loss of Wings & Wheels at North Weald last year my two favourite shows have now gone. For me in this part of the country it is now Buckminster Events or Elvington LMA that`s it 😓. A statement from the ModelAir team. Since the July model flying event, we have been working very hard trying to secure the future of Model flying events at Old Warden, that we ran on behalf of Shuttleworth, but unfortunately to no avail. Our last course of action was to appeal to the Shuttleworth trustees who have replied as per the letter below, which basically says that Shuttleworth will no longer host model flying events on the airfield. You will see in the letter that the trustees mention the use of the parkland for modelling events. We have thoroughly investigated all the locations proposed to us on the parkland, and it is our opinion that these areas are unsuitable for the majority of our model aircraft disciplines for both practical and legal reasons. Therefore, we do not feel that relocating the model aircraft disciplines into the parkland is a viable option for us. We will, however, continue to monitor the situation at Shuttleworth with regards to any future aeromodelling events. Whilst we explore alternative options for 2026 for a full event, this year, we would recommend all our disciplines, apart from RC, attend the SAM 35 events at the National Centre (details can be found at https://sam35.org.uk/sam35-event-calendar/). These events at Buckminster also include swapmeets for all attendees, traders and car booters to get involved in. We are in discussions with SAM 35 to hopefully bring some of the Old Warden atmosphere to their events, especially at their June event this year. More details to follow. The National Centre also has lots of other events throughout the year to suit all modelling disciplines, so please take a look at the calendar https://nationalcentre.bmfa.org/ We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has supported aeromodelling events at Old Warden over the many decades and if July 2024 was the last model flying event at Old Warden, we are glad it was such a great weekend, enjoyed by so many of you. Emma Chase on behalf of the ModelAir team. All reactions: 20You and 19 others

Yes one on my DR1's has a 120 in it, not sure it may be lighter than the VQ version which is why they are specifying a larger engine than that.

Great flyer with a very reliable engine and all Futaba servos, been flying this all winter and still flying now till sold but i already have a Puppeteer and just finishing a Baronette so time to sell this on for someone else to enjoy. £130, pick up from Spalding in Lincs.

Lovely looking Spit Eric........

I have an unused Laser 150 here though that is earmarked for one of my Flair DR1`s which i have taken a Zenoah 20cc off. Also like the look of their Fokker DVII, a nice size as a 1/4 scale one is surprisingly MUCH larger than the DR1 and a bit big for me to store and transport. Wonder what size Laser would fly that nicely, i have an 80 sitting here looking for a WW1 model to go into but it might not be enough for the DVII, it would certainly fly a Flair one but that is a bit smaller and probably lighter. https://www.vqmodel.com/NewVQModel_60-90size/fokker-dvii.html

Not had a VQ model before, how is the quality, not sure how the weight compares with your average Flair DR1, not weighed mine. You could pay more than that for a Flair DR1 kit nowadays..........

https://www.vqmodel.com/NewVQModel_20-30cc/fokker_dr1_25.html Anyone bought one or thinking of getting one of these, i already have too many DR1`s but they are tempting.............

Three of us enjoyed light winds this afternoon, a bit chilly but what do you expect this time of the year.

Here is my winter fix up project, Flair Baronette, cheap Evilbay buy with a dodgy paint job. I am converting it to electric on 4s, motor mount installed this evening, old servos removed and sheet ply put on the top of the soft balsa servo bearers that were in it. The elevator hinges will need cutting off as they are not secured properly and the elevator joiner has excessive slop on one side, the model was fitted with a 2 stroke engine hence the cut out for the silencer down the side of the model, this has been filled with soft balsa this evening ready for re shaping. Broken cowl mounts will also be replaced, once all these jobs are done i will probably test fly it before painting then re balance as the paint will add weight to the tail end.

Not imagined i read the article too, an impressive model, afraid i can`t help with the issue it was in, if i turn it up before you get an answer i will let you know.

Those box tops were the last type before the company ceased trading for the last time i believe.

I love North Weald as an airfield, i still remember it from the early 70`s when my father used to compete in car club Sprints there and the only other users were the Epping gliding club who were regularly winch launching while the cars tore round the circuits laid out on the hard stands and peri track. The weather was always sunny and the sound of skylarks overhead made the picture complete, the whole site looked reasonably cared for and intact from when the RAF had left, this may be due in part to the filming of scenes from the Battle of Britain movie several years earlier. I have regularly visited over the last twenty years, Wings & Wheels was always a date eagerly marked on my calendar early in the year, it was a sad day to learn that thanks to Epping council and Google 2023 would be the last show held there. I was passing by on the M11 today having picked up a kit in Kent and thought i would pop by the Squadron cafeteria on the far side of the aerodrome, i had heard they had shut the cafeteria but i was pleased to see it in operation again under a new name and by the looks of it thriving. On my way back round the peri track i stopped to look at the C-54 which has been there since 2002 and was horrified to see it being chopped up with petrol saws, the tail lay on the ground and the tail number was being cut from it presumably as a memento. The owner was looking on and seeing me taking pictures and video he came over for a chat and to explain why he had decided that this was his only option. He has owned the C-54 for 17 years having purchased it after a failed film on the Berlin Airlift had left it un airworthy and decaying at North Weald. He said he had been trying to find a buyer for it for 17 years and no one had come forward, he had to draw the line somewhere on the money it was costing to keep it there and that day had come, the fuselage back to where the tail was chopped off has been sold as a glamping pod, so hopefully we will see more of that in the future. The wings and tail sadly will be going to the scrap yard, the engines have been removed and are apparently for sale, i asked if i could have a small piece of aluminium from the aircraft and he obliged by giving me a piece of the outer skin to remember this lovely aircraft by. There was a group who have worked wonders on this plane over the last few years, getting to the stage of having three of the engines running, their dream of returning it to the air was unfortunately never going to happen due to the costs involved and it seems both they and the owner had different interpretations of what was agreed over the ongoing ownership of the aircraft............

Broussard now sold.

As our contract with BT is out we are currently paying about that to BT John, ok it includes our land line but the only calls we get on that these days are scam ones, everyone else calls our mobiles.

We are fairly rural where we live and have suffered from poor broadband speeds and connection with BT over the last seven years, they have been called out several times to fix rodent damage to cables in a box outside our property but hanging internet and getting booted off happen on a regular basis. My wife works from home and has several Teams meetings and video calls with customers each day and getting kicked off the internet during these is very frustrating. Our deal with BT has now expired and we are reluctant to enter into another long term contract with the poor internet that we get here. My wife has suggested Starlink as an option as we are unlikely to get fibre cables installed in our area anytime soon, does anyone on the forum use Starlink, if so how have you found it so far? Or can anyone else suggest a useable alternative to solve the poor Broadband in rural areas?

Overcast day on Friday with mizzle in the morning which luckily cleared enough to enable the Friday gang to get some flying in. Three WW1 type models provided top cover over the field with Simon's foamie SE5, Richard's Flair Attila and my Puppeteer which has now had all the issues sorted which were preventing it from being a nice model. We all had a couple of sorties before switching to the back up models, a Durafly Wildcat for Simon, Flair Heron with a. 10 glow motor up front for Richard and my trusty 6s powered WattsNot, a WhatsWhat knock off. A prospective new member turned up to have a chat and look at the field but got stuck trying to leave, the friendly farmer came to the rescue with his 4x4 to pull him clear. Harldy any frosts this year but plenty of rain, my other site will be unaccessible due to the conditions i guess a number of other clubs have the same problem.

Nice to see some frost and a blue sky Leccy winter as it used to be, all we seem to get here is dull damp weather, never mind going for a fly later in between the mizzle..........

Taxing around cones is a good one, hadn`t even thought of that!

Our club is going to be running a competitions day this coming year, i am going to be co organising it but haven`t attended one before, apart from spot landing what does your clubs Competition day consist of in terms of events? Which are the most popular, fishing for ideas to help us with putting on a good day, thanks for any replies.

Message the guy selling the plans, i did that before when something wasn`t listed, he had just not got round to re listing that particular plan, he listed what i wanted and i did a buy it now....