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Nick Cripps

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Posts posted by Nick Cripps

    First taste of the sky

    in Beginners

    Posted

    3 minutes ago, PatMc said:

    The wrong kind of bigger thrill if you're model is a gllider & the water is part of the North Sea !! 😳

     

    That's very true but there is a very active group of waterplane flyers in Scotland who hold events at least once a month on the many lochs there. Have a look for "Seaplanes Scotland" on facebook.

    • Like 1

    Aeromodelling Quiz

    in All Things Model Flying

    Posted

    That makes sense, C8.

     

    I flew control-line in the mid-to-late '70s but some of my friends dabbled with racing 1/12th scale electric cars and they used DEAC packs. At the time, the 6-cell Nicad pack was charged from a 12V battery via a resistor, switching it off manually after the appropriate charge period. When one of them found his DEAC pack low at low voltage one day, he connected it up to his charger for a quick top-up but then forgot about it while he went off to get a drink. Some minutes later there was a loud pop as his DEAC overheated and burst open!

     

    A quick search shows that DEAC is a trade name - Deutsche Edison-Akkumulatoren-Company GMBH.

    Aeromodelling Quiz

    in All Things Model Flying

    Posted

    Questions 16 to 19 are straightforward and you either know them or not so not much to discuss there. Here's an explanation for Q20 for those who may want it.

     

    The nominal capacity of a battery is defined as the current to discharge the battery in one hour. This applies to all batteries regardless of their voltage, 'C' rating or even chemistry so the only information you need to look at in the question is the capacity (2200mAh) and the current (11A).

     

    For some unknown reason all model aircraft batteries are quoted in milliAmp-hours (mAh) which we first convert to Amp-hours by dividing by 1000 to give the capacity a 2.2Ah so that we have consistent units for the calculation.

     

    So if the battery can give 2.2A for one hour and we are discharging it at 5 times that rate (11/2.2) then it will last for 1/5 of an hour or 12 minutes.

     

    This is theoretical of course as you would never normally completely discharge a battery (especially a Lipo) and, in the real world, the capacity of a battery is dependent upon the rate of current it is being discharged at - the higher the current, the lower the available capacity.

     

    Hint for Jon: the formula is given in the units 😉

    Aeromodelling Quiz

    in All Things Model Flying

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Martin Harris - Moderator said:

    I think I’m confident of 5/5 this time - for those struggling with the last one, without giving away the answer too easily, you may find it easier to think of how many C is being drawn and work from that. 

     

    Do you mean the 30C in the question, Martin? 😉

    First taste of the sky

    in Beginners

    Posted

    That's good advice Andy.

     

    I was at the field today and flying alongside a fellow club member who was practising for his B certificate. He was obviously a competent pilot but I noticed him struggling to align his landing with the centre of the strip. After he landed I explained the visual cues that I use (tall tree, 3rd cooling tower on power station, etc) and he realised he had been making his final turn much earlier than was ideal. He was initially surprised how late I left the turn but was convinced when he saw my model go straight down the runway every time.

     

    As I was packing my models and equipment in the car he was walking around the patch, eyeing up the visual cues for other wind directions.

    • Like 5

    Autumn's here, who's been flying?

    in Flying Field Reports and Chat

    Posted

    Looks like it was pretty good right across the country, it certainly was here in the East Midlands.

     

    I had a couple of flights with my trainee who has returned to the hobby after a 30 year break and, while he quickly got back into the routine of flying circuits, he needs a few more sessions to get back his confidence on the approach and landing phases.

     

    The good conditions encouraged a few people to maiden new models which had been held back due to the high winds of late, including the Telemaster Coupe below flown by club member Paul. He picked it up at Don Valley when he visited the open day over the late May bank holiday weekend.

     

     

    PXL_20231111_153922561.jpg

    • Like 2

    Aeromodelling Quiz

    in All Things Model Flying

    Posted

    Sorry for the delay and distractions, let's get back to the real point of this exercise with the answers to round 3. Before I post them, however, I want to make a comment about this round.

     

    I compiled this quiz as a bit of fun for a club night but chose to include a round on model flying regulations as a learning/teaching opportunity. I was aware that some of the club members (as on this forum, it appears) were not as familiar with the rules as I felt they should be. Anyone who didn't score well in this round was encouraged to go and have another read through of the BMFA documents relating to Article 16.

     

    I would agree that some of these questions have additional clauses attached for different model weights or types, but taken on face value, the answers to 4 of them are straight out of the Quick Start Guide supplied by the BMFA. For the fifth one (Q13) you would have to dig a bit deeper into the Article 16 Authorisation, accepting also that it may not be relevant unless you fly the model disciplines listed.

     

    None of this is very difficult and the BMFA even sent every member a copy of all the relevant documents upon membership renewal.

     

    OK, I've stepped down now from my soapbox as I know some don't take kindly to being preached to.

    'Club' Aircraft

    in All Things Model Flying

    Posted

    2 hours ago, steve too said:

    Why is the instructor the operator?

     

    Why not? This is just a suggestion as to how it could work. I think there still needs to be a named individual if the club was to register as an operator so who would that be? The chairman? Secretary? Training co-ordinator? It seems simpler to me for the instructor to take on the role and responsibility of the operator during the time he is using the model for training.

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