Nick Cripps

Finally managed to maiden my Sea Stormer, a David Boddington plan from Aviation Modeller International circa 1993. Here it is at the picturesque Loch Earn where I'm spending the weekend enjoying a waterplane event. 69" wingspan, OS91FS, lovely flyer, as you'd expect from a DB design.

Arrived at Loch Earn this afternoon for a weekend's waterplane flying. Already experienced 3 of the 4 seasons today but managed to get a couple of early flights under my belt while conditions were favourable. Not expecting to see summer anytime soon though.

Excellent. Thank you for sharing that.

I think you're confusing airspeed and groundspeed, a common misconception for learners. A model trimmed for constant airspeed at a constant height and fixed throttle setting will appear to be flying slower into wind and faster downwind, from your stationary position. Whatever you do, don't throttle back on the downwind leg!

Full-size flying boats never seem to scale well to model size, they always appear to have handling problems in the water unless a non-scale step position is used. I don't know why this is, someone with better hydrodynamics knowledge than me could probably tell you! The S6 looks great, would love to see some video of that.

I plan to be there from the Friday afternoon. I'll try not to forget anything this time 😉

Just finished another free-flight model, this time it's a Vic Smeed Tomboy. This was my first attempt at tissue over mylar covering (many thanks to @PatMc for the mylar) with Eze tissue applied using acrylic floor varnish on the wing and some cheap tissue paper on the fuselage. Engine is a Boddo Mills 0.75 Mk2 with Kavan 7x4 prop which should be plenty. First flight will be soon hopefully, once this run of bad weather (must 6 months now!) is finally over.

An amazing achievement, Peter. The first Aeromodeller I bought was in 1974 and contained your article on biplanes for control-line aerobatics. I was fascinated by the subject and must have read it dozens of times and even pencilled in my own design on your sketch showing recommended dimensions. The Duchess published the following month is still on my "to do" list fifty years later! I think an enlarged version for RC would be a great choice for your next design (hint, hint).

DD's link was for Formula Irvine Sport 5 fuel. This is the one you want.

Converting the Tempest kit to produce the Sea Fury seems an absolute no-brainer to me as it would be so easy to do and I'm sure would get plenty of sales so definitely top of the list. Thunderbolt is an interesting idea but not really for me so my vote would go for the Mosquito as the next "new" design. It's about time I had a twin-engined model.

And another at Wollaton Park, on the west side of Nottingham.

Field waterlogged? No problem, take up waterplane flying! Here's a few pictures from our regular flying session at Kitridding Farm on Wednesday. Many thanks to clubmate Mark Newburn for the excellent photos.

It started off bright and clear this morning so it certainly felt like spring even though it was a bit chilly at first. The field was really busy and parking was difficult trying to avoid the soggy areas of the site. I spent the morning flying my Wot 4 ARTF which has been something of an engine testbed having flown with an OS52FS, OS46FX, OS55AX, ASP40 and now a brand new Force 46. I haven't bought a new 2-stroke engine for years (there's plenty of cheap used engines at swap meets) but I thought I'd give this one a try after reading about Toto's trials and tribulations last year. The engine seems to be well-made with a squeaky tight fit initially on the ABC piston/liner set. I had a brief attempt earlier in the week but struggled with a broken throttle trim switch on my trusty (up 'til then) DX9. Today's session went well, running the engine on a Graupner 11x6 prop, Laser 5 fuel and an OS no.8 plug. I had a dead-stick on the first flight but a bit of tweaking of the needles, especially the idle needle, had it running happily throughout all 3 subsequent flights. It could probably go a tad leaner at the bottom end but rain stopped play soon after lunch. Overall a good flying session and I'm happy with the little Force 46 so far.

A shame to hear about the closing of AGC Engineering and Laser Engines. Quality products like this and the level of support provided by Jon are getting increasingly rare in modern times. All the best for the future, Jon, and your new career at Martin-Baker. I hope we will see at Buckminster in September.

A shock to hear this. Hope you make a quick and full recovery.

Sorry to hear this sad new. My condolences to you and your family, Iris.

Like I said, it's not immediately obvious but there is a long-dashed line just below the spar, along the edge of the centre section and along the edges of the cap strips. The sheeting is also shown on the tailplane cross-section. I think it's down to how you interpret the drawing. Certainly I understand it now having seen Steve's build from the supplied parts but I probably would have missed it if building just from the plan.

It's not very obvious on the Outerzone plan, at least at first glance, but the leading edge sheeting back to the spar is shown and is mentioned in the corresponding build article.

Here's a link to the adaptor cable to use the Apprentice STOL battery with a conventional charger SPMXCA326.

I didn't think the rain in the last few days was enough to cause further flooding but the ground here in the Trent Valley has been saturated so much during these winter months that our flying field was again under several inches of water. Our starting benches floated off to one edge of the field a few weeks ago and are now inaccessible without a boat(!), and the storms a couple of weeks ago ripped the covering off the work benches. Despite all that, I again took advantage of the good weather today to get the waterplanes out for a great day's flying.

And me, exactly the same thing. Another small transaction (£0.75) but I guess if enough of them get through then the scammers could make a lot of money.

Neat work as usual Steve. Have you thought about using one servo for each elevator half or perhaps 2 snakes from 1 servo?

Good spot, Caveman. The cranked legs should go in the rear slot.

You could put short tailplane extensions on the outside like those on the DH Vampire. PS - a few extra turns required on that studding in the end of the snake 😉

I've seen a few of these flying and they do look nice, especially with the floats fitted for waterplane operation. They look like a trainer but they are not a beginner's model in my opinion as, like all Cubs, you need to be able to co-ordinate aileron and rudder in the turns, particularly at lower airspeeds.