Robert Parker

Hi All, I went up to the attic this morning before it got too hot up there with the intention of removing all of the RX batteries from my models ahead of these high temperatures they are forecasting, they are forecasting for me around the 36 degree mark and thinking if is going to be 36 degrees outside then inside the attic it going to a lot lot more and I got a bit of a surprise in doing so and soooo glad I did. I found two LiFe batteries puffed up with one looking as if it would burst The Nimh batteries all appear fine. The one on the left came out of my Top Flite P40, the middle one is new just for size comparison and the one on the right came out of my Balsa USA Taube. Both batteries are now cooling off in a bucket of salt water If it had bust into flames I could have lost my house and worse. From now on I think all batteries will remain in the workshop in sight Regards Robert

Hi All, Recently finished my TN Sunderland and took some photos last night Just for fun I made her some legs and trolly scaled up from the Airfix kit. Wingspan 72" weight: 3.7kg or 8.15lbs Covered in encapsulation film and sprayed with Halfords white primer and Flair Spectrum paint on the upper surfaces Power uses the 4 max setup and a 3s 6000 and plenty of pull on the bench I made some access hatches in the nacelles to get to the speed controllers The cockpit lifts out to get at the battery now waiting to maiden Regards Robert

Hi All, It's photo time I gave her some legs, scaled up from the Airfix kit, static only Meet the crew We had our club meeting last night and instead of our usual venue we held it at the patch and I took up the Sunderland. She created a lot of interest. Another model to add to the list awaiting a maiden flight. hopefully it won't be too long but will have to wait a little as I have an issue with my transmitter, no screen text. I hope you all have enjoyed the build as much as I have That's all for now regards Robert

Hi All, As I stated in my opening post I intended to see this to the finish. I can now say that my TN Sunderland is now complete and awaiting the photo shoot, which will take place once I can manage the stairs with a model in my hand, I'm off work with a injured knee. I have added a little detail which makes a nice touch I feel, which will look better in the photo rather than me describing them to you. Balance, wow, spot on slightly nose down with a 3s 6000 in the nose and near perfect laterally. All up flying weight is 3.7kg (8.15lbs) which is 0.1kg of Tony's Sunderland. Well done Tony for a great kit. My Flair Black Magic is also nearing completion, my next model has already been purchased, a slightly unusual model bought on ebay and a kit I had not seen before and an ideal candidate for my OS 70FS more to follow........... That's all for now Regards Robert

Hi Guys, Thanks for your comments and support. I'm going ahead with touching up the scratches and pressing on. Though next time I'll use the plastic primer, I even saw it on the shelf when I bought the white primer. Oh well live and learn. Decals have been ordered and have been posted, not much imagination on my part, just followed the ones supplied with the airfix kit. My Flair Black Magic is just about ready for final assembly and covering. That's all for now Regards Robert

Hi All, After spending some time away from the Sunderland I have returned back to her and she is now almost painted but I have a bit of a problem. Having covered the airframe in encapsulation film and rubbed it all down with 800 grit wet and dry to give a key to the paint, well it did not work that well. The main colour being white I used Halfords white primer then masked off for Spectrum dark sea grey. On carefully pulling away the masking tape some of the white came away too. Today, my original intention was to paint the dark green, but instead I masked off the grey using "frog" tape, a low tack masking tape, and touched up the white, this too pulled away the grey. It seems like an never ending cycle. So frustrating, and the pulled away areas are not in the green. What to do. Live with it and have it looking tatty very quickly, or strip it back and start again? That's all for now Regards Robert

watching

Hope so Graham could do with some.

Hi All, Today was the day that I maidened the Junkers. Here's how it went. All the control movements were guesstimated and having a Spektrum radio I had three rates available to me so I set them up as low medium and high. The engine had not run for a couple of years and was fired up almost straight away with no adjustments needed with plenty of power, range checked so all looking good. Being an unusual model it gained a lot of interest from my fellow club mates, I handed my camera over to our chairman for some flying shots. So off onto the newly mowed strip, weather conditions were good sunny skies light wind. Take off no1. nosed over after around two feet, wheel went into a rut. The u/c may be a little too far back, as soon as the tail gets above level she will start to nose over without power. so back to the pits to restart and try again. Take off no 2. she flies but OMG, the rates were all on low and the ailerons were not effective and not enough speed and she ended up in the rough very ungraceful One of the advantages of band on wings that plus a low speed arrival. On checking over the model and all seemed well with no apparent damage done. Take off no3. After a short break the model was lined up again and this time I had all the rates set to high. Take off was fairly short having to keep up elevator to try to stop her nosing over but as soon as she was in the air I backed off well she was a real handful needing a lot of aileron trim and flicking the elevator trim to medium Whilst I was trying to trim out Ian got taking some flying shots The colour scheme looks good in the air It was shortly after this photo was taken that disaster struck with the right wing coming off leaving the aircraft crippled and uncontrollable all I could do was to close the throttle and collect the pieces. On bringing back to the pits and on examination the dihedral brace had sheered, damaged undoubtedly by the previous arrival. Note to self use thicker ply for braces. So that is it the end of another model, at least the engine is ok and I have salvaged all of the electrics for another model. That's all for now Regards Robert

Hi All, Well time has certainly flown by and the fuselage is now covered this went on very well, again using the encapsulating film it was all very uneventful and came out really well, so we move onto some detailing. Back in October, I ordered a set of turrets from a well known provider of pilots and accessories. I have now given up on them despite a having chased them up, so going as per plan as Tony drew them. The model works out at around 1/18th scale and the crew were ordered from the Vintage Model Company and promptly arrived these are unpainted so I have been giving them some paint, not quite finished yet. I have made the machine guns and glued to the turret bases and the cockpit. The dorsal turret sits off centre and faired in using balsa and "Freddies formula" and blended into the fuselage Meet the crew a fine bunch of lads. They need a few more touches of colour and then gluing in position and finally the turret tops and cockpit glazing can be fitted and painted. I have just about reached the stage where the airframe needs painting and this will have to wait until the weather warms up and the winds stop blowing as I have to paint outside. I still need to fit the servos in the fuselage, I think I can just about squeeze them in. Meanwhile, I have started my next project, something for some relaxed flying, a Flair Black Magic with a SC30 4-stroke up front. That's all for now Regards Robert

I too have had an email from the CAA. I have sent you an email Andy. Regards Robert

Hi All, Finally sorted ? It was not me, well not quite. Having again looking at U-tube and came across one which discussed how to update via USB lead. In this video it also mentioned to do this first as Spektrum have experienced some radios WiFi setups not working correctly. So I followed the instructions as per video and then went on to WiFi setup and entered the password, this time pressing the Back button instead of the scroll wheel and it took me back to the WiFi setup screen and then pressed connect and I'm connected. Thanks to all who gave their advice. My next tasks are to change to Mode 1 and transfer all my model memories from my DX9 once I buy a mini SD card with an adapter Regards Robert

Having had a couple more attempts, with no success I took some photos to show you what I am doing. Starting to enter password Password entered. Attempt 1. On entering the last letter and still highlighted I pressed the scroll bar (long press, short press or click no response) And went straight to the home screen. password entered. Attempt 2. went 1 space so last letter not highlighted and pressed the scroll bar (long press, short press no response) And back to the home screen. Then going to the WiFi utilities selecting connect to Network I get this sometimes, new to me. Then it tries to connect and then I get this on either attempt. I have also tried the "Saved Networks" only not to connect. Just a note that I have upgraded from a DX9 so the Spektrum system is not new to me. Regards Robert

Hi Both, I have registered the NX online and all available WiFi are shown and correctly identifying my own in the process. I will try again later tonight Regards Robert

Hi All, I have just bought an NX8, and I am having trouble getting the WiFi to set up. I have tried several times now and getting a little annoyed with it. So I go into WiFi Utilities, connect to network and select my WiFi, so far ok, I then select password and it takes me to the password screen, I use the scroll wheel to enter the correct password. (At this point it is me I think), I press the scroll wheel and it takes me to the main screen. I then go to the WiFi utilities screen, credentials and highlight the connect and press the scroll wheel, it tries to connect but fails. The password is correct, I have entered it correctly. Is pressing the scroll wheel the way to enter the password after the last character has been entered? I have tried about 5 times now even with my 15 year old son at hand and still to no avail. The instructions skip this bit, just enter the password it says Any advice welcome I have registered the set online though I don't see this would make any difference as it will not connect Regards Robert

Got the field for the first time in over 13 months yesterday, only me there very cold and very wet ground too. I took two planes, one the engine refused to run evenly or at full revs, I did manage to get two 20 minute flights with my Bi-stormer but on landing the second time I discovered that we had a camouflaged arrestor system in place for overshooting disguised as a small bush which ripped off the u/c. Repaired today the bi-stormer and replaced the "O" ring to the carb on the extreme so should be good next time. Regards Robert

Hi All, And a Happy New Year to you all. Well I was convinced that I had glass cloth somewhere in the cupboards, but after a good search through nothing was found, so I ordered some and it finally arrived yesterday. Whilst waiting, I gave the hull a coat of sanding sealer, the dope based type not the water based type, and sanded it with wet and dry. So, with no time like the present the cloth was cut and I applied a coat of Poly C through the cloth and then two more coats after it had dried. Poly C is great stuff applied in thin coats, however, back to my earlier comment about the sanding sealer, on a previous model I used water based sanding sealer and what I found was that the Poly C, also water based softened the sanding sealer/balsa to the point that several areas had to be cut out as the balsa had warped very badly. I don't think it would have been an issue here with the hull but better safe than sorry, nothing worse than repairing a model whilst still building it. Left overnight to dry and cut off the excess cloth with a new blade Then a gentle rub down with wet and dry once more Mixing up some of "Freddie B's" filler recipe which is basically mixing all of the above ingredients in equal quantities (ignore the Poly C) into a paste and apply and leave to dry thoroughly and sand away leaving a smooth finish. It looks a mess but it will all sand away as it just fills the holes and weave. Next, Sanding back the filler and apply more if needed. Plus I'll finish off the power cables and solder all the connections now that I have all the bits I need That's all for now Regards Robert

Thanks Ron, it's a great product to work with.

Hi All, Now that the pre-Christmas jobs around the house have been done and Christmas has past, time to get back to the Sunderland and as all the weather wants to do is rain what else is there to do to pass away the time. The elevators and rudder are covered and fitted, for the elevators I ended up using some scrap pieces of Oratex left over from my DH71. I had tried using laminating film but this failed twice. I have used it before on an open structure (only to try it out and it worked well ). The rudder was covered in laminating film and no problems at all. I bought 10m of laminating film from Ron Grey earlier this year intending it for another project, when I decided what to build after the Sunderland. However, looking at the eye watering prices of Oratex and the size of the Sunderland I thought to myself lets give the laminating film a go, especially as it worked out at a modest 58p/m2 compared to a 2m roll of Oratex for £35 for 1.23m2. I think the savings speak for themselves plus on an environmental note there is no backing sheet of plastic to throw away either, so helping to save the planet as well. At 1.8m wingspan it would take two rolls of Oratex or other iron-on film to cover the wings alone saving me £66!!! Yesterday, I made a start on the wings, yep this stuff is great as easy to put on as Oratex/Solartex possibly even easier as no heat gun required. Just started tacking the film in place. The smaller access panels were a little tricky to cover due to their size Only a few small creases but I'm happy with the results Wing half underside and access panels done Then onto the top side With confidence levels high, I thought let's try a wing float next Before, hardly a flat surface in sight. Starting at the bottom, this was the easy bit Using the off-cuts from the wing panels I allowed plenty of material to give me enough to pull on as I teased the film around the compound curves then trimming it off with a knife/scissors Yes, this is the after shot. One float covered. Float in position cowls cut out and placed in position just the nacelles to cover. Just a note, I found that the film stuck very well to the wing bandage which some films do not stick so well. Next, finish covering the wing and cut out the remaining access panels, that's todays task. I have given the fuselage some thought regarding the covering, the hull I'm going to use glass cloth to give added strength and durability as this is going to take the all of the take-offs/landings and for me this Sunderland will be a landlubber. The rest of the fuselage will be film covered. That's all for now Regards Robert

Hi All, We digressed a little bit visiting my previous models. So back on with the Sunderland, that said, I have not done a great deal since but it is progress, or is it see below. The tails feathers are now glued in place and the rudder and elevators have been hinged. And now for a confession, whilst fitting the tailplane I noticed an error which must have crept in during April, when I was sheeting the upper fuselage, up until this point everything was straight and true, however, shortly after sheeting I glued on copies of the tailplane on each side of the fuselage using the top edge of the side sheeting for reference, and had gone un-noticed until now oooops I had hoped this would assist me with cutting out the incidence. But no, when I cut out for the tailplane as shown and fitted them and the wing in bolted place an eyed them through that it was very obvious that something was amiss, a twist had happened in the very rear end throwing the tailplane out, I could have left it as per pet Millers recent creation but not on this one. I alter the slots and cut some small wedges to bring it in alignment with the wing. I think it would have been too much to try to un-twist it. The rear gunner will be on a bit of a list, I'll see if I can tweek it a bit so it is less obvious, there again when she is in the air flying by it be hardly noticed ? Perfect here (March) This is when it must have happened, wished I check it then could have done something about it. A wedge to the turret floor to start with. Yes the fin is square to the tailplane 342mm - 342mm from tip to fin to tip I checked it twice. Next, the elevator fairings, covering the rudder and elevators then on to the fitting of the cowls and finishing of the electrics. That's all for now. Regards Robert

Hi Manish, I did a build thread on here at the time called "building Tony's Beaufighter" if you want to see how it went together Regards Robert

Hi Manish, I got mine from Traplet publications these plans are available from Sarik Hobbies, Bristol Beaufighter (70") Plan(MW2605), they have the cowls and canopies all £56.76. I asked Bel air to make me a short kit from the plans and done very well too. Hi Leccyflyer, one day, one day, I promise myself they will all have at least one flight before I hang up my transmitter still plenty of time to go, I hope. Regards Robert

Hi Paul, The 4 engined wing in the background is from the Sunderland's stablemate, the Stirling, my own design at 72" span and all electric using the same power train as the Sunderland, I put a build blog on this forum, "build and design Short Stirling" which starts with the hand drawing of the plans right through to maiden flight. Built 2016 Maiden flight, a very short flight indeed that resulted in some repairs to the u/c, just like the full size. Still waiting for the second flight. I've been holding off the second flight as I wanted to photograph both the Stirling and Sunderland, I think that would make a cracking shot. We have the same taste in aircraft, here's my TN Beaufighter with a pair of Irvine 46's up front The torpedo is on a servo operated spring release. Built 2014 and still waiting to be maidened. Keep meaning to make stronger u/c legs these were my first attempt and look a little flimsy. Thank you Murat. Regards Robert

Hi All, I have made the tail plane, wing tip floats and cut out the fin/rudder. The tail plane was straight forward, a simple fully symmetrical built up structure built flat on the board with the upper most side being the underside to give it some dihedral and then the tips added to it and shaped and sanded. I forgot to photo the open structure before the sheet went on. The wing tip floats are made up of laminations of 1/2" balsa and shaped. Front view A matching pair, these will slot into the wing, only 5g difference in weight. The fin/rudder is from solid 3/8" balsa, shaped and sanded to profile when done I'll cut out the rudder. This then will slot into the fuselage after the tail plane is fitted and the closed loop guides installed. Next, I'll be fitting the tail feathers to the fuselage and hinging the rudder and elevators. That's all for now, Regards Robert

Hi Mick, She weighs 6.1lbs or 2.8kg, if that helps with your electric motor set up Regards Robert