IanH

Hello, My father-in-law and I are thinking of attending the BMFA Free Flight Nationals this year (24th-26th May, official page here) as spectators and having not been before, were wondering what it's like for spectators? Is it still a good day for watching free flight or is it really only interesting if you're a participant? Also, is there a day that's generally better for spectators amongst the three days? Given it's quite a drive for us we want to make the most of it. On a side-note, the weather is looking good for Old Warden this Sunday. 2MPH wind, 15 degrees by the afternoon and mostly sunny all day, can't wait!

I got up (very) early this morning with the intention of getting some odd jobs done before the family got up, but sat down at the computer with my fresh cup of coffee, started reading your build blog and couldn't stop until I'd reached the end! It's a truly inspiring build and fantastic example of what can be done with depron. I've bookmarked this blog for reference for when I make my first forays with this material. Thanks again for the enjoyable read your build blog has made (albeit at the expense of my intended early morning house jobs!).

Great, thank you for the quick reply, a simple solution. Hope to see it fly at one of the Old Warden events If a CNC pack for this makes an appearance it might have to be added to my lengthy Xmas list!

Hi Tim, This really is a great looking model. I'd not even noticed this build thread until the magazine popped through the door. I've only just got to have a really good look at the plan, as I reckon this will be one I'll build on my journey towards building your Hawker Cygnet (my favourite full-size at Old Warden). I think most of the Citabria is within my current skill level, although the wing cabane struts will test my metal bending skills I think! I have one question with the plan though, which I've skimmed your article and build blog for and not found an explanation... there's only a left wing on the plan. I can't see that any sheets are missing, and can't for the life of me workout how you build the right-hand wing using just the plan. Is it a case of photocopying and reversing it? Am I missing something? Yours, much confused, IanH

However, using your same search term on eBay, I'm now getting some relevant results, at much more promising prices, so thanks again

Thanks Andy, as I mentioned, I had tried multiple Google terms, but not that one. Are those the sort of prices I can expect to pay for a modern day equivalent?? For a custom Cox 049 .8cc, it's listed at $225!!

Not having much (any) experience of IC engines in general, let alone specifically for vintage free-flight models, I was hoping for some advice on where to look for possible new alternatives to the old engines listed on the original plans of these old models. To give a couple of examples, I was looking at Vic Smeed's Poppet and Tomboy plans on Outerzone, which specify "ED .46 Baby" and "Mill .75" engines respectively. Do they still make engines of similar capacities to this, and if so, where are they because my internet searches aren't revealing much useful information? And if not, is it simply a case of trawling ebay for old engines, and if so, what sort of search terms are best to use, because again, without searching for a specific engine model, I'm not having much luck? Thanks muchly P.S. not sure if this should have been in IC engines or Vintage section sorry, so shoved it here for now. Edited By IanH on 14/08/2013 12:43:48

Thank you for the compliments I just took a look at the Poppet plan on Outerzone MidnightKiteFlyer, it does look quick doesn't it! Quick enough in fact that I might build one for my first "proper" free-flight plane to fly at one of the Old Warden events. I intended my Mam'selle to be able to be used for free-flight with an electric timer and such, but having taken so long to build her, I'm a bit loath to risk giving her to the free-flight gods, so I think perhaps a Poppet might be my first sacrificial offering. Plus I've got a bit of a soft spot for Vic Smeed designs so thanks for the suggestion.

Hi,   When I've had help from a forum by asking questions in a thread, I like to conclude it once I've got something to show for my efforts. In this case, I asked quite a while ago for suggestions on which Vic Smeed plane to build for an electric rudder/elevator jobby. The eventual decision was a Mam'selle.     As it appears my original thread (here) is almost a year old and as there's now a dedicated vintage section, I thought it more appropriate to post the eventual outcome here...         She's not perfect and there's plenty of things I'd do differently, but I'm happy enough with the result.   Considering this was only the second time this year I've had a chance to fly anything I was pretty nervous. The first flight nearly ended in disaster, as after testing the electric set-up on the bench with a 9x3.8SF prop with no problems at all, for no discernible reason I significantly downsized the prop (to the one in the above picture), resulting in an instant dive into the ground from launch... idiot!! No harm done fortunately and with the bigger prop back on she was off and I'm pleased to say she shuffles around very nicely on about 40% throttle. So nicely infact that I got 18 minutes motor time out of her.     Thanks to all for advice given. This forum really is a massive help, both in terms of being able to ask questions and the amount of info already here! In particular Danny Fenton's build blog of his Mam'selle, which helped me no end. I even shamelessly nicked the font he used for his wing decals (thanks to Tim at modelmarkings.com for those, excellent value for money and very helpful). Incidentally, the name on the side is that of my eldest, three year old daughter, who I promised I'd name a plane after. She's mostly just disappointed she can't fly it herself (yet!).     For anyone interested, my electric set-up was:       CF2822 1220KV motor 950mAh 2S Turnigy Li-Po 20A Black Mantis ESC 9x3.8SF Prop       One more photo, post-flight, as the light failed, this time with the bigger prop that lets it actually fly. Looking forward to flying her plenty more in the future!     Edited By IanH on 10/08/2013 22:14:14

Hello all, hope someone can help...   I've managed to bend the motor shaft (part numer PKZ4418) on my Parkzone Radian. The motor the shaft is attached to is the stock 480 outrunner (part number PKZ4716).   I've bought a replacement shaft, and I've been able to remove the rear of the motor casing (containing the magnets) with the original shaft still attached, but cannot now remove the shaft from this part. I've included two photos at the bottom of this post to show where I've got to.   There are what appear to be two holes (one on each side) at the very rear of the motor casing, where I'd expect some screws or bolts to be that would be keeping the shaft in place, but as far as I can see, there are no screws/bolts present (I've tried allan keys of all similar sizes just in case but no luck) and the shaft seems very firmly stuck in place.   Given the Radian is quite a popular plane, is there anyone out there that has successfully replaced the motor shaft on one and if so how? Or do I need to start looking for a replacement motor (The stock one at £30+ seems a bit steep, any suggestions that'll work with the existing 25A ESC and 3S 1300mah Li-Po welcome). Thanks.   Rear of casing, one of what appear to be screw holes (but not) visible on nearest edge.       Motor rear casing innard. The bits of dirt visible are grains of sand. Clearly landing on a beach isn't a very healthy option for motors!   Edited By IanH on 22/07/2013 22:22:03

The assembled Tucanos look good! Even a patch of blue sky in one photo. Hope you chaps are having better weather there than here. Just been out cycling in a 30mph gale with storm clouds on the horizon. Kept wishing I was on a slope with my Middle Phase instead! Here's hoping you all get some flying in

Great stuff. That's good to know thanks. Just thinking ahead to after my (not yet started) Tucano build, I might try Poly-C/cloth and spray paint for my Wot4. Looking forward to seeing what your Tucano will look like when finished.

Looks good. Can I please ask what sort of spray paint you are using for primer and top coat?

Posted by Robin Kearney on 03/06/2013 19:19:58: Looks lovely Nigel, I've just ordered the same Decals from Tim, if mine ends up looking half as nice as that I'll be very pleased! r. I'll second (or third) that! It really looks good. I like the extra detailing you've added on the top of the fuselage and on the fin. Are they just glued on top of the covering? Those photos have inspired me to get out to my workshop-to-be right now and get started on building my workbench, stage zero in my Tucano build!

Well, I have the plans and wood pack but that's as far as it has got so far I'm a one project at a time kind of chap (read that as inability to multi-task) and my "quick" vintage Mam'selle build is taking a lot longer than I anticipated. Still, I'm at the painting stage on that so not long to go hopefully! I expect to be starting my Tucano in the next month or so, which I have to say is a lot less daunting now there are so many excellent build blogs to assist compared with when I first got the plan and wood pack at Christmas, took a look at it all and went "ooh err", wondering if I was a little out of my depth. Recently got the full vinyl & covering pack from Tim @ modelmarkings too which all looks very impressive. As Greenacres was not an option for me anyway (no A cert and not enough spare time to attend either) I intend to make full use of all of 2013 to build this Tucano . Look forward to seeing the photos of those that do make it though.

Will look forward to watching your build blog Olly. I'd like to build one of these at some point after I've cleared the current build backlog!

Hi Bradley, speaking as a comparative beginner myself... As an alternative to the Multiplex Easystar, the Parkzone Radian was what I started with 2 and a half years ago and still have great fun with. Plenty of videos on Youtube for it and the RTF version comes with everything you need. Cheapest I can find the RTF version from a quick search is £182 from rcpitstop.co.uk (whiso might be a bit above what you wanted. I liked the fact with an electric glider I got much longer flights out of it by climbing up to a decent height on power then gliding down and repeating, compared with the comparatively short flight-times you'd get from a purely electric powered one. I found an RC flight sim like Phoenix very useful too as I could plug my controller straight into the cable provided and get used to the controls and orientation without fear of destroying my shiny new plane. As Wolston has already said, 3rd-party insurance through BMFA is a very good idea too but an even better idea, as cymaz has said, would be to visit or at least email a nearby friendly club first to get a more realistic idea about what you can expect from flying an RC plane as a beginner (I confess I didn't do this myself, but in hindsight it would have made thigs a LOT easier). The BMFA website has a very good interactive club-finding tool here and lets you look at the individual clubs' websites to find out more about them. Hope some of that helps and best of luck on whatever you decide to go with Edited By IanH on 24/04/2013 12:45:27

Wow, what a fantastic amount of info, thank you! Some pictures of the "sighting tool" in use would be great if you have some, no worries if not though. Have bookmarked this page in my "RC Useful Info" folder as I get the feeling I will be referring back to this page on more than one occasion! On the downside, it does seem you have proven my old maths teachers right in their insistence that doing things such as calculating tangents would come in handy after school (Managed to make it 16 years without pressing that "Tan" button though!). Thank you for the imperial measurements too Bob

Quick newbie question that I hope you don't mind me asking on your build thread... I've not built a model with side-thrust before so can I please ask how you accurately work out the offset of the motor on the firewall to ensure it will have the correct degree of side-thrust and so that the motor shaft will exit the front of the model in the exact centre (presumably the front of the circular wooden ring shown in Mike's photo above)? Is it simply a case of using a protractor and ruler to work it out? It's something I can see myself messing up slightly. Will it make a huge difference if it is a degree or so out to either side (Presumably a few washers under the motor mount could correct this)? If there's a post or aticle that already covers this then just point me to it One quick question that's become 3 questions, ah well, hopefully you can help. Ta muchly.

Hi Mike, I used Poly-C and glass cloth for the first time on my last model to protect the bottom of the fuselage and leading edges and it was fairly solid when I was finished. I'm sure there are different ways to do it, but I just followed the instructions from the front-page of the website where i bought it, funnily enough called www.poly-c.com, which are similar enough to what Trevor has written above. I think if I recall I was happy after 4 or 5 coats (I left about 20-30 mins between each coat), until I was happy the weave was completely filled, and there was no way it would have easily come off. I also used sanding sealer first. I like Trevor's idea of using talcum powder to help fill the weave and reduce the number of coats, I'll try that next time As Trevor says, it's worth trying again. Good luck!

Looks like you've made a good start already James. Excellent work on collating the useful information from the main thread. I was thinking about doing that soon for when I start mine in a month or so, but now I can just use your index so thanks! Look forward to seeing your plane come together.