Foxfan

Doc, it would have to be WELL under £100 for me, I'm afraid and the only reason I'm considering s/h is because a club member has offered me his DX7 for £30. I have no need of a 9 function Tx.. I doubt I'll ever use 7 really. I just wanted the one with a screen to do some basic programming and to give me model memories. My current Tx is a DX5e (barely used) and works fine, but I'd rather it were kept for the Pietenpol so I don't have to keep re-binding it to another Rx. in another 'plane. That's why I asked if the Turnigy will work with the Orange Rx. I have in my DB Mascot. I know the DX7 will. Martin

Gangster, I have never liked Futabas, due, mainly, to their overpriced nature for what they are and I have no idea what all the 2.4Gg module business is all about. I have seen the guy fly his DX7 prior to his recent upgrade to a DX9 (I think) as he gets bigger and fancier 'planes. I would still like to know if a new Turnigy will work with Orange and Storm Rxs.? Can anyone advise that, please? Martin

I do know the person, a kind and helpful club member. As to vintage, I don't know that. Martin

I'm wondering about going for a computer RC set to avoid all the rebinding when I swap between aircrft. I am on a strict budget and either go for a s/hj Spektrum DX7 which has never failed or a new Turnigy X9 from HK with an Rx. BUT, will the all singing, all dancing Turnigy work on the inexpensive Orange and Storm Rxs. that I can get from ebay or is it too modern and clever for that. I have been warned off the Spektrum in another place, but there are an awful lot of 'em about. Please don't suggest JR, Futaba, etc. because I don't have that kind of money. Martin

I saw that ghastly programme just once and have avoided it ever since. A typical pairing of a completely useless, Mockney,"money man" and the one who does everything, come what may. Why don't the sellers tell that poison dwarf to bu***r off when he offers them paltry money? (Because the producers have made up the difference behind the scenes so the midget can appear to be a hard bargainer for TV). Martin (privvy to a few TV tricks over the years)

That kind of thing can be taken to current high street menders already, who just replace whole sections of boards, etc. Real skill is required to mend stuff for which there are no available parts or processes and a good repair to a teddy bear takes a great deal of skill, indeed many different skills. Generally the menders in the Repair Shop are skilled, but I do wish they'd learn how to spray paint. Waggling a can all over a surface like a demented window cleaner is NOT the right way to do it. And I still think they tend to skim over difficult stuff like recalcitrant rusty nuts and bolts. They just miraculously appear all sorted for the final reveal, without so much as a mention. Martin

Hi Timo, it was indeed Eisenach and later that day I climbed up to the Wartburg and was blown away by the Romanesque architecture and the HUGE well in the courtyard. While I was there an orchestra and singers were doing a Wagner concert, which was coming out of the open windows. The bass singer was hanging out of the window having crafty cigarettes the whole time, between his songs! I have it all on video somewhere. I always used to go sight-seeing when the work was held up and was never disappointed. Germany is beautiful. Martin

Gordon, I correspond with a chap in the States who uses what he calls a "cuddle box" which allows him to snugly steady the Tx in his left hand while he works a single stick with a rotary knob on top with his right hand. If you have no luck this side, I can ask him to advise for you. Martin

Thanks,Cliff. I'll see if I can find one. Martin

I think that has to be a future project for old time's sake. What motor have you used? Cheers, Martin

I've been several times over the years, but never noticed the cars before. Probably kit cars/replicas, but still nice to look at, apart from the Porsches<G> Martin

Great company. I'm lucky in that they are, but a pleasant toodle from me and after shopping there I can call at the excellent burger van on the corner, for lunch and have a nose round the company that build and restore GT40s and Cobras, next door. Martin

A KK Pixie! My Uncle built me two of them when I was a kid and somehow my Mum managed to sit on both. But not before we tried and failed to fly them. Too heavy maybe. What radio gear do you have in that?And how scaled up is it? Martin

How big would the wheels need to be? Without it looking really odd. I think its light weight is a problem where taxying is concerned. The grass is what ever the grass cutter man makes it. The field is nice and flat, but so is my lawn and it just tipped up immediately. It was practice for rise of ground that I was trying to do, Dennis, but no chance. Don, there's no way I could cart a launch frame about in my little car! I've seen them on youtube. Martin

Thanks gents. As I don't have a concrete strip I'm stuck because even with careful increasing of throttle there comes a point where the thing just pops over on its nose, having gone nowhere at all. I guess it's the weight, or extreme lack of it. Don and John, thanks for the info on take-offs. I also have my big heavy DB Mascot, so I'll use your advice with that. Meanwhile I think I will do a fairly radical mod. to the wee Piet, by taking the u/c off altogether and fitting it with landing skids made of aluminium Tig welding rod. The general consensus is that a hand launch is essential with these tiddlers if all you have is grass, however well cut. And the moment the wheels touch, even on a greaser,the thing stops dead, which buckles fairings and bends u/c wire. Martin

Hi, I have a Flite test Pietenpol which has flown beautifully in the hands of an old, skilled club member who enjoyed it, but when I tried to do some taxi tests it a) wouldn't move on grass, just tipped up and b) on pavement just turned left immediately despite right thrust built in . Any suggestions? Apart from hand launch of course. I was looking for something I could practice on my own with it, especially in the absolute calm of this lovely evening. Martin

Needn't end up with a scrap man, but useless for close cropping. However it will be good for the pathway out from pits to patch or where you park your cars. I restored used one once to cut the sides of a Fenland ditch, but it sideslipped in to the ditch at the same time as losing all throttle control, so off it went cutting underwater reeds until the fuel ran out as it was too heavy a slope to get it back! Lovely old machine though. Martin

When we lived on our canal boat, we used to winter in Market Drayton and the lady who cooked at the excellent Woodies caff/emporium always had oatcakes on the menu and I always had one with bacon and cheese or sometimes coronation chicken. Absolutely delicious, but over here in East Anglia we can't get 'em! Martin

Good luck Andy. Build it as light as you can, especially for electric. Saw one flying yesterday on electric by a chap who was sitting back in a comfy chair while he idled around! Martin

Erfolg, we can pass on the track dependent on what the farmer is growing to the side. The other side is a ditch. We have to use a rickety plank bridge to even think about looking for downed aircraft! Martin

How things are different between clubs.I have been to our club on Friday, because it was a lovely day, Saturday on the promise of a lesson and today because I always go down on Sunday mornings. Each time there were never less than 14 people and as many as 30 aircraft! The barbecue came out yesterday, banter was exchanged as usual and many flights made. One guy lost his little Hercules in the 9 foot high maize, but c'est la vie. Such a tiny thing can go right to the ground in that stuff and no FPV drone can find it. This kind of support and turnout continues right through the year, even if its raining and although the track to our field can be closed to save it from the damage of traffic, the guys park at the end and walk all their gear down. Mention the wind and you're just told "this is....., it's always windy, live with it" And they do! Martin

Ray, I think you have put the cap on the thread, frankly, but it has gone in many a direction, which can only be a good thing. Well, I don't really care what Mark it is as long as a herd of cows hasn't stopped to take a dump on it. First flight chromate, PR blue, even RR white, blue and grey. G-FIRE red and best of all MKXIV bare metal with red lettering. Whatever the Mark, they are all unmistakable. I saw a clipped wing Spit do a fly past/over at a car do in Kettering and it wasn't the exact shape that made it a Spit. It was that unfathomable combination of sound, prop noise and motion that always makes a real fan look up. Unfortunately I have to admit, the sound element is largely missing where the Griffin engined Marks are concerned. Doesn't even have that minor key sound so present in all engines of multiples of 3 cylinders. Triples, straight sixes, V 12s. From the Triumph Trident, through the 250F Maserati to the Colombo 3 Litre In the '64 GTO, but wonderful as they are, they are not FAST, graceful and most of all...UP THERE! Martin Edited By Foxfan on 14/09/2019 21:44:56

Ray, that Depron beauty of yours certainly flies well. Was the lack of washout intentional or just couldn't see the point? And does it land well? If so is that, in your opinion a product mainly of its light weight for its size? Martin

For me, the later Mks are better looking, even though that wing changed a bit. And I like the bubble cockpits. But to me the painting in cowsh*t cammo ruins anything, anyway, so debating the finer points of the aircraft's development pales into insignificance. A Mk IX is sufficiently close to a Mk I to convert one to tother if it matters that much to you. The livery is probably what makes the most difference. My First Flight version couldn't be anything (at a glance, stand off) other than what it pretends to be as no other Spit. had that scheme. But I think, considering the OP, we have begun splitting hairs. I recieved my mag. article and plan by Adrian Britton this morning and am resolved to make it, ready for when I can fly. Martin

Yes, Erfolg, washout would seem to be essential. Not a problem in the build if the correct measures are taken before the wing is set up. Martin