Kit Davidson

Greetings Josip! Thank you for your interest in Croatia. You are a far more experienced pilot than me. My repeated ambition is to merely avoid the black bin bag. I enjoy ARTFs too. Car trunk space is always a consideration. I also have a Smart Cabrio car. It is possible to drive with quite large models in the passenger footwell and the roof open. If only I could rely upon Adriatic sunshine!

Dear Graham, I was worried that the necessary modification might not be clear enough in the video. To video, I pulled the wings away from the centre section without disconnecting the landing wires. Like yours, they are connected to the aft cabane strut on each side of the centre section. It reduced visibility of the modification. If you have been assembling and dismantling your TM for long, you will be bound to have broken some of the lite-ply tabs which mount the cabane struts onto the centre section. They are vulnerable and fragile in shear. My modification replicates the outermost ribs of the centre-section in thin dural (litho-plate) complete with the tabs. The dural ribs are stuck to the original lite-ply ribs with epoxy. The broken lite-ply tabs are missing. It does not matter. The dural tab is effective on its own. The weight difference is negligible. The resistance to shear in a snagging event is considerable. It enables the cabane struts to be passed backwards and forwards over the tail and its associated control wires without snagging damage. My wing joiners are metal too. I think they are discoloured because they are old and never see the light of day. I have an SC 1.20FS fitted. It is reliable and powerful. I cannot remember what prop is on there, without braving tonight's August deluge. It is a recommended size for the engine. Edited By Kit Davidson on 05/08/2015 21:33:43

The landing and flying wires are not tensioned when the double wing is put aside. They are only tensioned when the cabane struts are are lifted to be screwed in place on the fuselage. The structural integrity of the assembly is maintained by the joiner dowels and pegs. I hang my wing assembly on the wall with 2 broom handle size dowels covered in foam plumbing lagging. It has safely survived intact for several years.

Readers might be interested in my easy, quick airfield assembly method for a J Perkins Super Tiger Moth. I know that it is not rocket science. I know that things appear self-evident once they are demonstrated. Nevertheless, I met a guy at a village show who was amazed to see how quickly I assembled the aircraft for display. He had owned a JP Tiger for years but rarely flew it. He was deterred by the time and effort needed to prepare it for flight. I hope my video is useful. It is edited for ease of uploading but please accept my assurance that rigging took just over 8 minutes. The double wing assembly and the fuselage fit readily into a standard estate car. Mine is a Citroen C5, which is criticised for its lack of loading space compared to a Ford Mondeo. JPerkins Super Tiger Moth - Easy Rigging for Flight from Kit Davidson on Vimeo.

Mannish, thank you for your interest. Of course I will share, please standby. I am out on my bike at present with an iPad in my saddlebag. Someone else in this forum said that similar jury rigs are supplied with the Flair Tiger Moth kit. I have found none. I have one of those built and another unused kit I acquired in my workshop. My jury rig would work well with the Flair Tiger Moth but it is not necessary. The Flair Tiger Moth has half wing assembly roots in the same vertical plane. A simple ply board suitably pegged and drilled will pick up the wing attachment bolts. I can publish photographs here later. The snag with this device is that the assembled half wing is vulnerable with the board removed. It helps to have 2 people when fitting the wings. If you have a J Perkins Super Tiger Moth, I have developed a system of passing the assembled complete double wing assembly over the tailplane and fin to mate up with the cabane struts further forward. I intend a video of this method in the next few days. Rigging of this model also takes only 10 minutes.

Readers of this forum might be interested in my jury rig for holding the wing sections of a Flair Stearman together for stowage, assembly at the airfield or transport. The jury rig allows the port and starboard double wing sections to be removed and fitted with all flying and landing wires ready-fitted and tensioned. A short video can be viewed, which I hope is self-explanatory.   Stearman Jury Rig from Kit Davidson on Vimeo. This video is about Stearman Jury Rig Stearman Jury Rig from Kit Davidson on Vimeo. This video is about Stearman Jury Rig Edited By Kit Davidson on 03/08/2015 15:01:06 Edited By Kit Davidson on 03/08/2015 15:01:32

It was a great disappointment to read Graham Ashby was stowing his DB SE5 part-build in an uncertain future. It was more than a personal project. It was a serialised and photographed build in a magazine followed by thousands of enthusiasts. We waited patiently and sympathetically during stalls of the build which eventually proved to be harbingers of abandonment. Graham composed an honest and prostrating editorial and described symptoms of project postponement that we all recognise. But is all lost? This was a magazine feature. Cannot the ball be passed? If Pete Lowe can see a Phoenix rising from the disastrous ruin of his speared Harvard, he is at least one accomplished and enthusiastic RCME feature writer who might fit the bill. It is a regular aspect of aeromodelling for part-built projects to be abandoned, sold and carried forward by others. Could the editor consider donating the SE5 to a RCME writer or reader, in return for a build-blog worthy of publication?

Posted by David Davis on 25/01/2015 10:48:59: I believe that Laser have stopped stamping buyers' initials onto the crankcase. Hi David, I bought 3 new Lasers in late 2014. Each proudly displays my initials, together with the that of the builder (Jon) and his sequence number for that capacity engine. Do I fit them or just continue to fondle them?

The Halfords Bicycle Hoist is a cheap but handy piece of kit for hanging large models from the ceiling joists. It costs about £15.

I probably received my subscriber copy as early as anyone else on 13 October. I noted I had already missed 7 'forthcoming' events because the dates were already historic. I would not have attended but the utility of advertising past events must be questioned. Nothing daunted, with a little bit of excitement I telephoned an advertiser in the readers' for sale and wanted section. He had sold his model a week previously because he had also advertised his item in a rival RC magazine that was published in an earlier week. Would it be beneficial, if in exchange for free publication of his advertisement, the advertiser agrees to RCME exclusivity? Could the editorial staff please also make a connect between the publication date and calendar events advertising for attendees?

It may no longer be relevant to John but I solved a similar Walbro Carb problem on my Evolution 33. The aircraft had previously crashed. I took the carb off to clean it. I incorrectly reassembled it to the inlet manifold with the paper gaskets covering the tiny drilling that transmits vacuum pulses to the pump diaphragm. My engine had previously exhibited baffling failures to accelerate. They could not be eradicated with leaning or enriching. it is always a simple solution! Edited By Kit Davidson on 19/08/2014 07:43:03

Have you used the right mix of oil to fuel? Some engines vary immensely in mixes. Zenoahs are fine with 50:1. Evolution 33s need 20:1. A rapidly opening throttle will result in a lot of heat to dissipate. An engiine may tick over but refuse to accelerate or maintain top revs because it is overheating and binding before it seizes. Please check for correct mix. If you have no confidence in what is in your can, make up a new mix.

Tomas - what will you do with all your other Winter weekends? It is a splendid unorthodox choice. But this thread is inspired by unorthodoxy isn't it?

Dear Colin, You are as helpful as always but please don't make me explain the joke! Kit

Thanks Colin! I looked first at the Vortex Vac-Form web site as recommended by Nigel Hawes' feature. A canopy for the Can-Doo is not listed. Following your helpful message, I looked again this morning. A canopy for the Fizza is neither listed. I sent Vortex Vac-Form an enquiry by email on 12 November. I sent a repeat enquiry this morning. On a more positive note, my power train arrived from 4 Max yesterday, within 36 hours. My Tower Pro 9g servos also arrived within 24 hours of order from Steve Webb's Servo Shop in Frodsham. i hope my experience is of value to other aspiring Can-Doo builders. Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 16/11/2013 18:36:41