Brian Cooper

Unfortunately we are at the mercy of the weather. It is one of the major drawbacks to having a pastime which is mainly conducted outdoors. Having a dismal, wet-and-windy summer can really put a dent into making progress. Then again, we struggled to fly at this time last year because it was too hot to be outside. British weather.... 🙄

Well done, Graham. It was nice to meet you today. 😉

At a rough guess, probably 90 minutes' life is used. .LOL. . . Actually, it is probably less than that in real terms as the servos aren't under any stress. The test is purely to establish that the electronics are reliable. But as said earlier, I haven't had any "moody" new servos or receivers for at least 20 years.

^^ All of the above. ^^ Plus, personally, I "soak test" any new servos for about 90 mins on a tester. They are just left running back and forth. In times gone by, if something electronic was going to fail, it generally failed in the first hour or so. If it didn't fail, it was probably good for a long life. It is a system which found a couple of dodgy servos in the dim and distant past but I have to say I haven't uncovered any naughty ones for about 20 years. With today's modern electronics, the soak test is probably no longer necessary but old habits die hard.

Most birds aren't bothered by model aircraft but I have encountered some aggressive responses from a couple of Red Kites if/when they see my Funjet Ultra dawdling around at low speeds. The model has a fairly aggressive appearance and the Kites probably see it as a threat. Never mind. . . . Ramming the throttle open and climbing vertically at about 160mph tends to make them change their mind about engaging in combat. 🤣

I designed this little beauty, Screamer, in 1980. Fast and very manoeuvrable, it was (and is) loved by pilots who enjoy high performance flying. The one pictured here was built in 1997 for my boy, then aged 11, to stop him constantly nicking my one.. Lol. It is still going strong.

A 26 cc petrol engine could be a viable alternative.

They laughed when I said I was packing my job in to become a standup comedian. But I actually followed through and did it. . . . They're not laughing now.

Men doing the housework. It can be tough getting the vacuum cleaner started, eh..