Matt Carlton

The design part is something I really enjoy. It's having the confidence to invest in building it. But as you rightly say Peter, there's only one way to find out.

I was looking at that as an idea Peter. SLEC do spruce and basswood down to 1/32". I'm not sure of the density, but, for example, if one made a typical 'box' fuselage using spruce longerons and 1/16" bass or liteply sides, fretted out for lightness, how would that compare to a more typical 3/16" balsa fuselage side? Instead of thick block decking, maybe curving 1/32" bass over formers would work? Or 1/64" ply? Leading edges could be smaller section spruce. Sheeting with Obechi seems possible maybe? Might need a soak in an ammonia solution, but doable, especially if you used two laminations for a d-box for example? I guess there's as much 'adventure' in that. Then I suppose we have the old "BPCF" method that I think Chris Golds pioneered? I'd love to design more of my own models. I've designed many, but I've never had the faith in them to go ahead and build them. Maybe this is the impetus to do just that. Got a more positive head on today.

I was thinking about Sandown just the other day. Remember how the showline at the 'Nats used to be a place for kit manufacturers to show off their wares? Normal models that the average club pilot could buy. Dear old Dave Bishop and his 'British you see' mantra. Liked what you saw? You could go and pick up a kit from the tent. The whole ARTF/RTF thing is just symptomatic of the demand for instant, cheap gratification. I have 3 kids, all of them are like that to some extent. The idea of patiently crafting something when they could buy a cheap imitation that they can just chuck in the bin is an anathema. I've seen, first hand, people turn up at a field with a sort of park flyer foamy. No idea what they were doing, smashed into a few pieces after 10 minutes, chucked the wreckage in the bin at the park. It's... galling to say the least. There's room for us all of course, but the advertising now would have would be modellers that the newest incarnation of a 'super scale' B-25 with servos hanging out if the sides, painted windows, bright pre printed colours and a better power to weight ratio than an F-15 is the pinnacle of RC scale modelling. The best, the only way to do it. Better still, pay a bit more and you can have an autopilot so you don't even need to be able to fly the thing. The prospect of actually building something taking weeks, months or even years is not even an option that new modellers are even exposed to. It all exists of course, thanks to people still beavering away in the cottage industry, but you have to know it's there to look for it. New entrants to the hobby just don't get exposed to that side of the hobby, so of course they don't engage in it. Sorry for banging the drum, but it's all very well for the modelling community to decry the death of real building, we need to spend our money where we want the investment to happen. Like the people who complain about the loss of the high street, yet do all their shopping in Tesco. There is, or should be, a way through this. Maybe we have to accept that prices go up. We accept that we need to choose quality over price. We need to appreciate that buying one £300 'proper' kit from a UK manufacturer in a year is a better way to ensure that you'll have another to buy next year than spending £100 each on 3 imported RTFs and wondering where all the British manufacturers went. People have got a hold of the idea of spending a bit more money to buy British meat to not only support British agriculture, but get a far better product, even if that means they buy less meat overall. Maybe we need to do the same thing with our hobby. Slow food movement? What about a Slow modelling movement? Show people that there is as much enjoyment in building as there is in flying. Building doesn't have to be a means to an end, it can be its own reward. How much satisfaction there is in building a model yourself. Your own creation, even if it isn't perfect. Maybe, just maybe, there's a chance to really get behind our own manufacturers (and likewise all over the world) and to really celebrate and showcase them. Not just revel in the unobtanium models we generally see at shows. Spectacular as they are, as wonderful as they are, they are so far away from what most of us can do or afford. I'm really sorry to rant for so long, and this is probably so far off topic that it should be deleted. It's just a very shocking thing to be potentially facing the end of the hobby as we know it. Mods, please feel free to delete or change this post if it is too long or inappropriate. Matt

Hi Jeffrey, It wasn't a massive quantity, probably about 20 sheets I guess, including some ply. All the balsa got removed apart from the strip. I'll have another look and maybe try to split the order down. Edit* That seemed to work. Not sure what the issue is but I'm guessing they've had to put a limit on order size? Either that or I screwed up somewhere which isn't altogether unlikely... Thanks Matt Edited By Matt Carlton on 27/09/2020 19:59:04

I think the issue will be that no matter how much Balsa is produced, it will be pre-purchased in vast volumes and at prices the modelling market won't be able to compete with. Trying to find some alternatives is difficult. It should be possible to use thinner stock of a heavier, stronger wood, but I'm not sure how well that would work. In a larger model possibly. Not sure that panic buying is particularly sensible. Had enough of that with toilet roll recently.

No more balsa sheet available from SLEC. Just tried to buy some and it all got removed from my cart at the checkout.

Foam veneered wings are fine, I can see that working. Foam veneered fuselage decks, tailplanes, etc. It's all possible. We used to get FG or ABS fuselages as well, so it's all possible. I was being unduly negative I realise, it's just a crying shame that the rug is potentially being pulled from under all the hard work that 'cottage industry' manufacturers are doing to bring 'old fashioned' builders kits, plans, plan packs etc back to the market. Those smaller companies can't invest in new manufacturing or outsourcing like the 'big boys' can, so it feels like just as they start to get going, there's another mountain to climb.     Edited By Matt Carlton on 27/09/2020 16:02:52

Hope you are right Danny! Apologies if my tone was a bit negative there. I have a spot of depression and sometimes bad news gets a bit overblown in my brain box 🤯

I'm trying very hard to see any future for the RC hobby. We've been fortunate in having a resurgence in building due to the availability of laser cut parts and suchlike, but that's now effectively over. This isn't about a potential 150% rise in balsa cost, I think we could weather that storm. This is about the complete unavailability of balsa indefinitely and irreversibly. I can't see any way in which our 'small fry' market can compete for a limited resource against a background of worldwide government subsidised demand. We've lost most of the glow engine manufacturers, we've lost most of the kit manufacturers, we lost Solarfilm, we've lost most of our local model shops. When the world turns over to purely electric vehicles, we'll lose affordable Lipo batteries due to limited availability of Lithium. I honestly think that within a few short years, the only thing left will be cheap foamy 'toys' and plastic printed models. Maybe. There might be some alternative materials at some point. Plastics, cardboard, paper etc. But in all honesty, most of them look awful. The only alternative is moulded composite, but that's way outside what most can achieve at home. I'm just glad I have at least some memories of the hobby that I can look back on. It's a sad day.

Depends on your skill level, but you could do worse than looking at a short kit from Sarik hobbies. Lots of the free plans in magazines were for similar size engines and many of them have short kits or at least ribs/formers. If vintage is your thing, a Mini Super from Ben Buckle would go well on a .15 Or alternatively, you could cram a .15 into the nose of a slope model like a Chris Foss Middle Phase 2 or a Sierra from PMP. Low drag, light weight and fly it a bit like a slope model using energy management etc. Cheers Matt

I set my CG with the model upright because I put some rather heavy 4" wheels on it, but to be honest, as long as it's somewhere between 25% and the main spar, it'll be fine as a starting point. If you are using a lightish motor, you'll probably need to wiggle the lipo forward as much as possible as the front is lighter on the electric version I believe (abs cowl?). Either that or use a heavier pack. The only models I balance inverted are low wing ones and some biplanes. HTH

Hello All, Thought I'd join in here. Nothing special or fancy, but recently finished this SLEC FunFly. Actually the 3rd one I've had, built as a sort of 'hack' to get back into the swing of things. Old ASP .40 in the nose. It's not actually as wonky on the u/c as it appears! Cheers Matt

Posted by kevin b on 23/09/2020 23:32:20: Welcome back Matt. Don't they do slope soaring in Norfolk ? The way the planet is going I would suggest you start building float planes ! I did manage to find a cliff, but large lumps of it keep falling into the sea. Floatplanes are not a bad idea, but we're ready for sea level rise over here, the only footwear we have is wellies 🤪

Hello everybody, Well, I thought I should introduce myself. I have formerly been a member here, but I took some time out from the hobby for various reasons and recently started again in earnest. I'm Matt, from Norfolk. Been flying RC for the last 25 years or so. I started with and mostly flew slope before I moved to Norfolk, but now fly mainly IC and a bit of Electric. I do much prefer IC I have to say, and enjoy traditional model building. That's about it I suppose! I did post a few weeks ago but I may have out in in the wrong place, so I apologise for that if that is the case! Cheers all, Matt

Hello, Firstly, greetings from Norfolk. It's been a while since I used this forum, but I hope everyone is ok and dealing with the rather odd times that we're living in! Secondly, I am toying with the idea of building a 'Just Junior', a 48" span, 75% scale Junior 60, which would seem a reasonable size for an OS.10FP which I have on the way. Normally, I'd expect to run a 7x4 on that engine, possibly a 7x6, but I was pondering whether an 8x3 might be a better option, assuming that such a thing is available. I'm considering that if I assume maybe 15k rpm on the 7x4, that's a pitch speed of about 45-50mph give or take slip etc. Maybe about 24oz static thrust I'm not sure that I really need that much speed. If I assume maybe 13k on an 8x3, my calculator suggests a 32mph pitch speed, but 31oz thrust. For a vintage model, that seems much nicer. The question is, just how wrong is the tree I'm trying to bark up? Any thoughts or suggestions gratefully received! Matt