MarkyMarc

Could it be because it's not very good???

Basically, dihedral gives you "wing levelling" stability. If a disturbance causes a roll - one wing low - dihedral effect will cause the plane to regain roll stability and level the wings.   It does this because the rolling of the wings causes a slide slip in the direction of the low wing. This side slip causes the lower wing to present at a greater angle of attack than the high wing - thus the low wing creates more lift and so rises to level out the original roll disturbance.   Too much dihedral causes a Dutch Roll effect - too little and you get neutral stability in roll.   Wikipedia has a very easy to follow explanation.

A truly amazing achievement - because he insisted on using true models - that is a max of 15cc engines and the 5 or 10kg weight limit that was in force at the time.   Doing it with larger RPVs is relatively easy.   Once again though - surprised by the lack of knowledge of such exploits by the average RC modeller.

Mixed bag with me.   I forgot to claim mileage allowance relief for 5 years - and they ended up owing me over £2,500.   They claimed they lost all my letters and faxes, and that sending recorded delivery was not proof of receipt.   Eventually got the full sum and an apology for the poor service.  

@James40 Agree - 3.5 pages on a trolley and recently 5 pages on Mr Whittacker's personal web presence. It's too much.    

Agreed - this forum does need to make somethings much easier.

As ever, an interesting topic wanders off into the HE policies of this and past governments, labour market planning and the use of formula milk in developing countries. Priceless.   Is there a money spending contest in aeromodelling?   Absolutely there is - but as Tim says we are not alone. Car clubs and competition cycling also come to mind.   I used to be guilty of this many years ago as a control line combat competitor. First I sold my grandmother for my first Oliver Tiger - Copeland tuned of course. Then we had to move to Super Tigre G20/15 glows. And then to Nelson diesels - which were stupid money. But this is all dillusional and wasted cash and emotional investment.   Why is there this desire amongst RC modellers to go bigger, faster, higher, further? Do we have any idea how stupid we look to the outside world? Show your mates some YouTube videos of F5B competitions, dynamic soaring and extreme 3D flying. They'll all laugh. Show them a well flown scale model or turnaround aerobatics - and they'll more than likely get it.   I personally get very angry when certain well known RCME writers from the satanic mills of the North tell me how much their models, transmitters, power trains cost, and they're much better than yours, so stay away from my airspace etc.. Who cares?   As with many forum members, I work around 70-80 hours a week and often away from home. To many I earn a good salary - around £70K. But this supports a family, has to run three cars, pay for undergrad and Masters university fees and living accommodation. It provides an allowance for my daughter to work as an unpaid intern on the fist rung of her journey to be qualified. After all this is factored in - I certainly don't have the means to blow £3K on a gas turbine of £800 on a glider. I probably spend around £500 per year MAX on my modelling.   Also, weekends become precious family time after working such long hours. I certainly don't feel it is fair to my wife to spend half the weekend in a field with grumpy old men flying model planes - even if I wanted to.   So, my modelling takes place with park flyers and gliders that can be flown a short distance from home or from some local slopes to and from the way to work.   To the bling merchants - we all salute you. But please don't confuse credit card spend with credibility.   Over and out.

Yes - that's how it used to be done in the 80s.   Highly tuned engines turning silly rpm.   Look up Bob Violet and IC ducted fan on Google

Marmite is fab - all other opinions are worthless.   Even better - marmite on toast topped off with some peanut butter...

Nice dusk flight with a brushless Twin Star with a 3S 4000 Lipo that lasted over 30 minutes - almost dark when I landed.   Also learned that it will bunt out of low inverted passes - very handy as the roll rate is somewhat leisurely.

And there's more...   If you look at the foam Mosquito they're flogging - there's a YouTube video of err - a very large IC powered Mossie that is clearly NOT the model they are selling.   Priceless.

Absolutely, always take off down wind so you are into wind with good speed after half a lap.

I take it all back - I've just been on AW's site and seen the Blonde Person...

The Japanese are an intelligent race -- but why have they built nuclear power stations when they're on the "Pacific Ring of Fire" and the country suffers hundreds of earth tremors every year?   I see that our relatively useless wind farms are now being blamed for disorientating whales. Build the Severn Barrage I say with the hundreds of million pounds we're giving away in foreign aid. But musn't get too political eh.... World population is growing at a rate that is outpacing energy and food production. The answer, in part, is birth controll. With a lower population we could provide all our needs with bio-fuel.   Just a thought, should this forum be so political . Perhaps we should keep clear of politics and religion Groan. Little England Daily Mail readers alert.

Posted by Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 15/03/2011 13:37:28: Well, at least we know who the three people Marky refered to are now   BEB Never thought of that - nice one BEB.

As ever, a great edition, well produced.   However...   Surprised to see so much content given over to Alex Whittaker's journey on his personal web presence. We all know that Alex is a freelancer, and you can see his copy in many other magazines. It's often the same show report - although not a cut and paste job in most instances.   alexwhittaker.com must surely be Alex's sales and marketing tool. Yes - packed with a useful archive of old bits and bobs and videos that enable him to practice his Jean Michelle Jarre film score moments. Freeware in action. But please - let's not pretend it's an altruistic move on Alex's part - his contribution to the Big Society.   Got to hand it to him though. Most advertisers pay the magazine...   Enough already. Something constructive.   How about the endless kit reviews get a bit of a re-vamp? Why not try some comparitive reviews? You know - review three .40 size IC trainers or three electric warbirds together to enable comparisons to be made.   How about revisting the review after three months of flying. What has broken, how easy was it to repair - that sort of thing. It really is laughable that some kit reviews and plan features draw conclusions after two or three flights.   I sometimes think that the whole idea of a three page hard copy kit review has had its day. Most people jump to the internet forums where you can get a whole host of information and opinion that is both broad and has real depth.   How about trying something different?   One final rant. Will Andy Ellison please stop gushing about dynamic soaring speed records. Probably only him and the the three people who have the hallowed model design in this country are bothered.   Yours etc

Utter nonsense, in my opinion.

Posted by kc on 11/02/2011 11:46:49: Surely instead of mentioning these overpaid ‘celebrities’ we should be talking about the really talented people who have contributed to our hobby……such as ( in no particular order ) Messrs. Reeves, McDermott Foss, Kent, Miller, Whitehead, Humber, Tapsfield, Bryant, Taylor, Chinnery, Dowdswell, Boddington, Moulton, Smeed, Butcher, Smith, Gee, Prettner, Kraft, Bridi, etc etc The list of those who have directly influenced our own flying goes on. and on. ( and I am sure I have missed out many worthy names too ) Is there anyone on this forum who has not been influenced by the flying, designs or writing of any of these people? Well a raw beginner may not have been influenced…..yet. All these showbiz people are nothing in comparison to the names I have mentioned     Sorry KC, you've completely missed the point of this thread.   Of course all these names are the pillars of our hobby. But would anyone in the street know who they are? I think it would be great if the Editor's could get an interview with Vernon Kaye or Mike Brewer to talk about their model flying. Even my wife and daughter might take a read!

Here is The story referred to in the above post...

I'm loving more and more David Burton's series on Aerodynamics.   Very easy to understand the concepts - although these sort of articles always bring the pedants and those with a little, dangerous knowledge out in force to comment!   I particularly like how David turns things on its head and "models the design". A few months ago he explained the lift calculation by taking a high wing trainer flying at a certain weight and speed and punching in the numbers came up with the wing area needed.   This month he gave a great explanantion of why the Spitfire is like it is.   Great stuff!

Hey Lee - you're painting pictures with words.   A slimmer of the year doing 42 limbos is a minute. The mind boggles... Is there a model plane involved?   Let's agree to differ. No one want to see people injured or have there flying curtailed. But my personal opinion is that the FPV video held my attention much more than some 3D contortions that pass for model flying.   I'm outta here...

@Pete B Thanks for the balance. Neat yes - ill advised? Certainly!   Somehow, with the Presidents in several Middle East states all being ousted - I don't think this bit of flying and it's video will be top of the CIA's "must monitor" list.Edited By MarkyMarc on 01/02/2011 17:58:39

Come on Lee - take the needle out of your arm!   If you strip away the objections, the legalities - which I know as a responsible flyer you shouldn't - it is a skillful piece of flying in an absolute sense.   and...   As a subscriber and a forum member, I can come on here and say what I want... within the limits of the Code of Conduct.     Edited By David Ashby - RCME Administrator on 01/02/2011 17:46:23

However, I think BEB's comment would be echoed by me if I was to visit, which is extremely unlikely.   Lol!   Sounds like people who complain about a TV programme when they haven't watched it.   "If I had seen the programme, I'm sure I would have been offended by it!"  

How can anyone not be impressed by New York?   Did you not marvel at the marble 3 storey entrance lobby of the Empire State? The beauty of Grand Central Station?   Were you not choked by the Steel Workers Union plaque on the Rockefella Building, thanking him personaly for keeping 5,000 men employed during the depression?   Did you not stand outside the Dakota building and gaze across to Strawberry Fields in Central Park? (work it out...)   Did you not spend an afternoon wandering around the Brownstones of Greenwich Village, people watching from an Italian cafe?   As you can probably tell - I loved it.