Andy Green

Just googled and found their new web site is http://www.flairmodels.co.uk/ They still do their big tiggie. A

Hi I'm just completing an Alula (http://www.dream-flight.com/) It's white EPP, I've coloured it in with flourescent marker pens, and as BB says sprayed with contact glue (3M 77) and clear taped (I found some 2" sellotape in hobbycraft). I'll post again with a picture in the gallery next week. Andy

I have a few scanned plans (mostly keilkraft) and I use Isiplot to scale and print. Fantastic program and at only 10Euros it pays for itself the first time you use it. http://www.profili2.com/ip_eng/default.htm

Hi Duncan If you can get it photocopied you can iron the copy face down onto wood. It has to be a photocopy (or laser printer if the plan is aready in electronic format), the heat from the 'Dry' iron reactivates the toner and some of it sticks to the wood. Andy

The C of G shown on the plan is just the starting point and it should not be a case of balancing on your fingers and forgetting it. The C of G can only really be set up by flying the model. Andy Ellison wrote a rather good article in the RCM&E Special last year the same method can be found here - http://www.probuild-uk.co.uk/factsheets/trimchart.php There is also a very good DVD on the subject (although it only talks about gliders it does have relevance to all flyers) by Radio Carbon Art called Performance Tuning For Gliders (http://www.radiocarbonart.com/Pages/perftunemain.html).

JOIN A CLUB I taught myself to fly some 25 years ago on the slope (Guess that why I still enoy a good day on the hillside) but it ws only when I joined a club did my flying start to improve. Following on from David's comment about a fixed learning schedule, always have a goal in mind each time you take off, be it the roundest loop, most axial roll or the smoothest landing. Look at the F3A schedules (http://www.gbrcaa.org/schedules.htm) and string a few manoevres together. One last thing; join in competitions especially your clubs ones, they are great fun and offer talking points for weeks later, and they give you that 'goal' the next time you comit aviation. To quote David again - HAVE FUN

If you go down the Poly-C route, a word of caution that caught me out. Poly C is water based so seal the balsa before using. Needless to say I was so keen to try the stuff I had half the fuz half covered before the grain started to show through the glass cloth. And to my knowledge no where does it warn of this (appologies if I am wrong). That said the stuff is quite simply brilliant.

I use Magic Tape for on the field repairs, Use the branded name, and it goes nearly invisible. It can also be used for (gap free) hinges on smaller models.

Its 7 mins from door to gate for regular power flying off grass, and 22 miles to another site (& club) with a tarmac runway for those larger models. I also slope and it takes about 35 min to get to the Malverns.