John Roberts 9

Almost 3 years on and I am just about to get started on my Mini Jazz build (I know I am a slacker but 3 house moves conspired against me!!).   I am building from the MHS plan which shows the wing and tail feathers both constructed at an incidence of about 4 degrees. Looking back through the various forum threads I can see a number of different views expressed on this subject and I was wondering whether a firm consensus ever emerged on the best approach?   My inclination is the leave the wing as shown on the plan but modify the tail feathers to 0 degrees incidence. Did anyone build and successfully fly the Mini Jazz as per the MHS plan with 4 degrees on wing & tail feathers?   All views, information & experiences on the topic gratefully received.   Thanks. John Edited By John Roberts 9 on 09/09/2016 16:17:51

This is quite a well known scam but a while ago I discovered a new variation on the methodology employed. I had a broadband problem which I reported to my ISP (BT in this instance) who said they would look into the problem and get back to me. Later in the day I got a 'phone call from someone claiming to be my 'internet support engineer' and that he was responding to my 'computer problem'. He was able to quote some information about me, my account and the problem I had reported but there were enough gaps/mistakes in his knowledge to make me very suspicious. He was plausible & polite at first but he bluntly told me to 'Go Away' (in rather more forceful terms!) and slammed the 'phone down when he realised he had been rumbled. My strong suspicion is that some of the call handlers in the support centre were passing on information to their scammer friends. This valuable information makes it a great deal easier for the scammer to persuade you that they are genuine. Beware! As I recall the fault I reported turned out to be a BT network issue and nothing to do with my PC or router etc.

I have my AcroWot set at 75mm (no tail weight required). However, I use 4 different makes of 2200 LIPO which are all slightly different weights. Having just checked on my balancer I can see that the CoG varies from 71mm up to 75mm depending on which make of LIPO is installed. There is no discernible difference between the batteries in flight.

On second thoughts the motor may well have been a 35-48 NTM / 60A esc / 3600 4S....................I can't be certain until I unpack everything in 4 weeks time! Good luck

I too did a glow to electric conversion on a Weston Cougar 2000 a couple of years back. Unfortunately I can't look at the model right now for the exact specs because it is packed away for a house move. However, I recall that the motor is almost certainly a 42mm Hobby King NTM, 60A esc and I use 3600 Ah 4S Turnigy batteries. Power is around 900W and feels much the same as the recommended West glow motor that I replaced. No lead ballast required either.

Hi KC, Your experience is similar to mine. The Manufacturers Recommended Price for the car I am considering is around £25K. CarWow brings this down to around £22K. Carfile (who have been around for about 25 years now) are able to save another £1K but best of all is Broker4Cars who reckon on getting if for £19.4K. A couple of dealers are offering extremely low mileage pre-registered ones for about £19K. The saving offered by Broker4Cars looks almost too good to be true and might indeed prove to be if the car isn't UK spec or perhaps is a zero miles pre-registered vehicle supplied via a lease/fleet management company. I suppose if this turned out to be the case I could simply decline to take delivery but that inevitably means a tons of hassle.

Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to add their thoughts here. If nothing else the cheapest car broker offerings may provide an indication of the maximum possible discount that is likely to be achievable from a Main Dealer. Unlike some I don't mind the haggling process and this kind of information represents a good figure to aim for. The Motorpoint business model described by Steve above seems to be increasingly common nowadays presumably because it offers the dealer considerably more profit margin than the car itself. The cost of some of these 'add ons' is staggering but this tends to be disguised because it only appears to add a few quid to the monthly payment.

Hello Percy Oddly enough my starting point was to look at buying a nearly new secondhand vehicle or a pre-registered one on the basis that someone else takes the large initial depreciation hit. However, once I started to research the car broker deals I discovered that it might be possible to obtain an absolutely brand new car for only ~1500 quid more than a 'secondhand' pre-register. So, whilst I am not fixated on having a brand new one the relatively modest price difference started to make me think about it. My natural suspicion is that the car broker deals are too good to be true and there must be some hidden pitfalls! Thanks for responding and I will check out Ford Direct. I assume the other manufacturers have their own equivalent or is it unique to Ford?

Has anyone here used the services of one of the online new car brokers to acquire a brand new car? I intend to buy a new car in the next couple of months and would be interested to hear the experiences of others. I tend to be both wary and sceptical about these brokers but the discounts they offer range from 14% up to 22% off the manufacturers full recommended selling price. I understand that some of the less reputable brokers are effectively selling pre-registered (and therefore secondhand) cars (often using a fleet management/leasing company as an intermediary) but other long standing brokers (with seemingly excellent reputations) are selling genuine, brand new, UK spec cars that are supplied and delivered via high street main dealers. Maybe the best thing to do is get a quote from the broker for the car I want and take that along to the Main Dealer and ask them to match it?

Posted by Tom Sharp 2 on 04/05/2016 19:59:50: Some brands of lipo have much longer wires than others, or to put it another way some are much shorter than others. Therefor any calculations fall at the first fence if you take several brands of the same size lipo to the flying field. Whilst I am not qualified to comment on the technical issues arising from lengthening the wires I have to say that my thoughts were exactly the same as those articulated above by 'Tom Sharp 2' in his posting. Batteries and ESCs from different manufacturers will, in the absence of industry standards, all presumably have different length wires and this would lead me to conclude that relatively modest adjustments in length are unlikely to have any significant real-world effect.

I have found the HK covering to be good quality and very economically priced. The only small downside to the HK product is that the colour is in the adhesive rather than in the film itself and if you ever have to remove it (say for a repair) there is a tendency for some of the coloured adhesive to stay on the model. If cost were to be irrelevant I would probably opt for Oracover instead because I find it *slightly* easier to work with but, per metre, Oracover is 4 or 5 times the price of the HK stuff. As others have said, the HK stuff is very popular and sells out quickly. I only buy if it is 'in stock' because HK backorders can take weeks.

Thanks Tim .

Hi Tim, Looks great! Following with interest. Just an aside (and I am certain that someone has asked this question before but my search has been fruitless) what exactly are those lovely looking modelling pins that you use please? Thanks, John

Hi Scott Mine was also built without any dihedral and I haven't encountered any adverse effects. There are quite a few photos earlier in this thread and also in my album. Have fun!

Hi Scott, I built mine with a flat underside to the wing and it flies very well. It made the job of covering the wing much easier too. I have found that covering film is reluctant to adhere properly to an under-cambered profile. The Whizzer is a very nice design. I enjoyed building mine very much. Enjoy yours!

Hello A couple of months back my long serving (& long suffering!) foam Acro Wot finally bit the dust. It was a stalwart workhorse and worth every single penny that I paid for it. My attempts to purchase a replacement haven't been successful. The first two ordered by mail order were destroyed by the carrier whilst in transit. Yesterday I made a visit to my (not so) Local Model Shop and they didn't have any in stock (their web site said they did, /sigh). It feels as though I am being steered away from another Acro Wot by some all seeing, higher being! So the question is what should I get instead? I am basically looking for an unfussy, electric, low wing, everyday ARTF sports hack model using 3s or 4s batteries. I have 2 things already under construction on the bench so something quick and easy to put together is required. It needs to fit into the back of a small hatchback so max wingspan of around 52 inches. All suggestions gratefully received. Thank you.

Hello Thanks for all the replies and additional information . Some very interesting ideas. It is now a question of deciding which of the various solutions offers just the right blend of portability, weight, strength and ease of use. Thanks again for all the helpful contributions. Cheers, John

Hello Does anyone happen to know if the Great Mate Model Stand (or something similar) is still available please? The SLEC one looks good in their photos but the comments above make me a little wary. The link above for Modelstands UK now directs me to Smug Studios who don't seem to have anything whatsoever to do with model aircraft. I already have a foam cradle which works well but I am looking for something that presents the model at a little above waist height (to save my poor old knees!) and, ideally, also has a tray so that my Tx, batteries & other gubbins don't have to sit in damp, muddy grass. Thanks, John

Hi Kev, Thanks for the clarification and photo. Your solution is definitely easier and more elegant than the one suggested on the MHS plan from which I will be building. I am impatient to start mine but moving my existing fleet of aircraft will be enough of a challenge without adding the extra complication of a part built one! Perhaps naively I am hoping to be able to get cracking on it a few days after we move house......................somehow I have a feeling that I will be presented with some higher priority "issues" to resolve before I can start cutting balsa. Cheers, John

Hi Kev, Thanks for the blog of your build which I am following with interest. My own build will have to wait a couple of months due to a forthcoming house move. I am particularly interested in your elevator snake arrangement and I was hoping that you might elaborate a little please? The MHS plan suggests that the two separate elevator halves should each have a wire pushrod. The two pushrods are then soldered together inside the fuselage and connected to the single elevator servo. The more usual arrangement is for the elevator to be one single piece, or perhaps two pieces solidly connected with a wire or wooden joiner. Either way, the control surface only requires one pushrod or snake. The Mini Jazz eschews this conventional arrangement and has 2 unconnected elevator halves. I am curious to know your plans in this respect because I don't really like the soldered pushrod set up as suggested in the plans. Thanks, John

Hi Roy, That looks great. I imagine that you are very satisfied with the end result, especially after the little mid-build "wobble" about the cowl. At 18 inches the boom is still a little shorter than mine (which flies very well) so I am certain that it will be fine on yours. Good luck with the maiden, let us know how it goes. Cheers, John

  Just a couple of shots showing the contents of the HMS CNC Wood Pack and the Additional Wood Pack.   The extra wood pack is a bit skimpy on contents but, in fairness, the overall contents are comprehensive and the wood grades seem to have been quite carefully chosen for their various applications. So, despite being a bit on the pricey side, I think it represents a good choice for first time builders or lazy folks like me who are too idle to cut the bits. For anyone without an existing stock of balsa it would be easy to spend almost as much buying in enough balsa much of which might eventually go to waste if they didn't go on to build something else using the surplus left over from the Mini Jazz build.   I hope to start a proper build blog shortly (resisting temptation for a few days because we might have sold our house and I don't want to have to transport a partly constructed plane!).   Cheers, John         Edited By John Roberts 9 on 31/10/2013 17:12:00