Rob Ashley

Lovely planform shape of the wing.. Well done Peter.

Marvellous Peter! I love the shape - it's so different. Test flight this weekend? Best Rob

Hi Tim, We have at my club. I sent an email request for members to read and fill it in, providing all the relevant links etc. It will be interesting to find out how many completed it. Rob

Starting to look very birdlike there Peter. Your building speed is still impressive, alas work gets in the way of my progress. Looking forward to seeing this airborne Best Rob

Thanks to you Peter!. John - I was very happy...

Posted by John Lee on 26/08/2018 20:28:50: I think you are looking at it a bit too narrowly. The consultation will also be completed by the commercial drone industry and their customers, I don't think it's unreasonable that they have the means to express their opinion in this area. We just have to be sure that we make our case heard. I see what you are saying John and get the fact that both casual and commercial users are able to respond to the consultation - I did read it and didn't infer commercial operators shouldn't get a say. Problem is the questions are poor as lack decent definition or were too direct missing vital information. They have tried to write questions that fit all camps, but they don't. As a military aviator and modeller I have a vested interest over a wider perspective than most, as drones (I use this term to define quad type off the shelf systems) have significantly increased the risk to military low flying aircraft and of course commercial aviation, generally near airports. This is mainly due to the average user who can buy one, take it out of the box and fly it with zero knowledge of the Air Navigation Order - the questions in this consultation did not distinguish between these types and responsible modellers or indeed identify the need for education. Perhaps the data collected will reach that conclusion and common sense will prevail. The consultation was not well written, in my opinion, and I think would have been better had it made some clearer definitions to start with and even a separate question bank for casual and commercial operators as they have very different needs. There are many rules and regulations in the flying world already and there is a good system for notifying where and when drone / model activity will take place so why not focus on educating people to use the system correctly - which is available online - instead of spending tax payers money on a new system that requires development and testing - the system is already there. Best, Rob

Thanks Chris.

I'm glad it wasn't just me that exclaimed when I was asked to project commercial drone growth - it was a bit of an ask. Hopefully common sense will prevail.

Certainly does Tim. I'm also quite chuffed I completed the 2018 Mass build.

She is very aerobatic a delight to fly very smooth upright or inverted - I'm already thinking she will become one of my favourites. She flew sans canopy and I will add some vents to the nacelles - the TE vents I have work but I guess more cooling wouldn't hurt. As you can see I was quite happy. Picture credits go to my good friend Steve.

In slightly more interesting news I did manage 2 flights yesterday. She flies excellently! Zero rudder and aileron trim required but I did need quite a bit of +ve pitch trim. I have since moved the CG back 5mm and see on the next flight. Rolls are very axial and she will loop from level flight at half throttle - so my concerns about the power I was getting from the 3S setup were quite unfounded. This model is a real credit to the designer - well done Peter Miller!

OK so with the rain set in for today I thought I'd take the time to add some of the trim. Just needs a canopy and I need to order the letters. Saw tooth cut individually using a ply template. Wasn't hard to do apart from taking time to reduce the number of air bubbles between the two coverings. Yellow is Oracover and blue is Easycoat.

Nigel - IPA? That's a beer where I'm from

Hi All, Peter - thank you for the link for the lettering I will give them a look later on ( have some jobs to finish for my wife first). Nigel - Yes she is a little yellow at the moment isn't she. I wanted to fly her first and make sure all was well before completing the covering job. I intend to compliment the blue underwing with something on the top surfaces similar to Peter's original. Likely including painting the canopy the same shade blue and add some lettering etc. plus that means I don't have to do cockpit detailing... I hadn't thought of cyano on the prop shaft - thanks for the tip I will give that a go. Piers - I have swapped the original prop nuts for loc nuts, oddly it was the adaptor that came loose and the nut was still tight when I picked up the bits. I replaced that adaptor and so far the this one seems fine, but as Nigel says a drop of cyano should help matters. I do balance my props and think it is important to do so, there are quite substantial differences in manufactures tolerances sometimes. Anyhow - it looks like time for a maiden flight - hopefully report back later today.

Have to admit the dog doesn't look that impressed, but I am quite happy with it. There are still some lettering I need to source and add on the top wing - I mean it must have a name right? I need to change the deans connectors to XT60s and I need to mould another canopy and paint it blue to match the underneath but otherwise the jobs list is complete and ready for her maiden flight.

Ok, new motors in and tested. Didn't go that well as I hoped, as no matter how much tightened the prop nut the prop shot off the motor and smashed into the cupboard door, splintered and scuffed the transmitter I was holding at the time. Hey ho. Motors are holding about 31A at full chat and producing 330ish W, but more interestingly the model weighs 2.9kg with a static thrust of 3.54kg - so should be ok. What I found interesting here is the thrust is greater than the manufactures' quoted but the watts are less. Still thrust / weight ratio is a much better performance indicator than watts / weight. She has moved under her own power for the first time - I managed to taxi around the garden for a while, setup the failsafe check for loose items and conduct a range check. Edited By Rob Ashley on 24/08/2018 18:44:12

Eflightray, Nice model you have there sir - I understand that Miss LIzzy is an 'eyeballed' scale up of the Tequila Sunrise with some enhancements to the fus, I think a NACA 2412 instead of symmetrical aerofoil and reduction of the strip ailerons. I'm sure a 4S leccy setup will motivate the 150% Tequila or Miss Lizzy most comfortably.. As I said they have excellent characteristics and I love flying mine. Geoff, I even used my TS as a camera ship about 10 years ago. Rob

Posted by Geoff Sleath on 17/08/2018 20:02:52: Looks great Rob. Details needed - size, power source? After seeing pictures of the Tequila Sunrise in Peter's book 'Designing Model Aircraft' I always quite fancied it and your example only serves to encourage my interest. Geoff Geoff, This particular one is 150% of original which gives a wingspan of 52" and powered by an OS32 SX covered in solartex and painted. I have also CNC machined two 200% size kits at 68" span for 2 club mates and my own 200% size is still on my 'to do' list. I test flew one of the 200% models for my club mate and can happily report it flew perfectly just like my smaller size! I was comfortable doing inverted low passes on the maiden flight - showing how well this plane flies and the confidence it gives. If you do decide to build one you wont regret it. Best, Rob. Thank you John Stones 1 for your comments.