Leslie Crane 1

Hi, I too built the Chris Golds Defiant which appeared in the RCME Feb or March. Mine is the all black night fighter version, also 6S 5000. It has not yet flown and only has a manual turret. I still have to balance it and set control surface travel and dual rates just in case. Obviously don't know the all up weight yet. Delay is due to finishing the RBC Tempest V which maidened last week and flew lovely (see video on SRFC/BMFA website) and completing the final setting up of the Tony Nijhuis Typhoon which is now waiting for better weather (lighter winds) for my test pilot to maiden it. Have to say your Defiant looked great in the flying vids, hope mine looks and flies as well. Les

I have invested in a A3Pro 6 axis gyro but am baffled by what the instructions omit!! They say remove all mixes before attaching the gyro, ok no problem. What they do not say is what do you do with settings for expo, differential, trims already input,etc. Do you leave these alone or set everything to neutral and adjust after the gyro has been fitted. I should point out I am a real technophobe so need spoon feeding! Les Crane

Well, the answer is simple if you accept the inevitable! There is no way to get air into the cowl without surgery irrespective of the appearance so the bullet has to be bitten. The RCME build article of 2008 had a number of photos which showed that TN had, indeed, cut an inlet into the lower cowl so I have copied that - why didn't I look more closely at that first!!. The rest is easy. There is a 1" hole in the firewall just below the motor mount to which the ESC is attached for the battery and other cables to go through and this can easily be widened without affecting the integrity of the firewall or motor mount. From there it is only 3-4" to the wing in which to cut 2 holes, 1 either side of the centre rib for the air to escape into the wheel wells and out. Distance from cowl inlet to wheel wells is no more than 7-8". Time will tell if it works ok, should be ready for maiden in a week, weather permitting.

Hi guys, I was lucky enough to get an unflown built Tony Nijhuis 62" Hurricane for very little at my club auction last night. I am checking it out as it has all electrics etc. The motor and ESC are both attached to a motor mount inside a removable cowling and I wonder if anyone has experience of this as it strikes me that overheating could be a significant problem. There is no air inlet or outlet in the cowling making it an enclosed space and whilst I can cut some holes that will do little for its appearance!! Any thoughts or suggestions or am I just going to have to take the knife to it and try not to notice it too much....ugh. Les

Mine was the first post on this thread. I did not in the end split the fuselage. I cut an extra firewall which is bolted to the original and mounted the motor and esc on the front of that inside the cowling. Plenty of cooling. I cut a hatch on the top of the nose between the cowling and the front struts for battery insertion and removal. Additional lead is inside the cowling. Flies on a 4s 4500 with a 14 x 7 prop. Motor is 580kv with a 60 esc. Flies, as all Flair planes, really well. It has the markings of Lt. Kawaida of the Japanese army air force May 1921. I will try to add a photo but if it doesn't come off there is a picture of it in flight in the latest RCME mag. Just finishing a Traplet plan 'Bloody Mary' after which I will be starting the Flair Bristol F2b fighter the kit for which I got for an amazing price of £80 Sadly cant get photo. Les

I agree with one sixth

Rich2, you have ribs either side of the wood so substantial triangular gussets should be fine. Les

Problem solved after e-mail to Myhobbystore and plans are on the way

Hi Joe the plans can still be obtained from the RCME plans service myhobbystore. It is a new release again. I just tried ordering it. It says it will be printed to order but when you try to order it the site says 'insufficient stock to add to basket' and wont let you order it!!!! I have e-mailed myhobbystore to find out how to order the plans as I cant find a telephone number to ring. Incidentally SLEC will laser cut the parts if you send them the plan, I rang them this pm and they do all the kit cutting for RCME and the costs sounds reasonable = better than all that tracing and cutting at home! Les

after considering all suggestions I made a fully circular firewall that exactly fits the cowl and bolted the motor to that and then fixed the firewall to the front formers with bolts and blind nuts so that it is removable if I need to get to the motor or ESC which is also inside the cowl. I have then made battery a top entry between the cowl and the first cabane strut via a removable hatch and with a battery tray attached to the front former just above the protruding rear motor shaft sloping rearwards and downwards and supported on the next former back. Tight 'ish but it works fine on the bench - proof of the pudding still to come but it looks neat! Thanks for all the help guys. Les.

I inherited a foam Wot 4 in 3 pieces after a crash. The owner was just about to jump on the pieces! The wings were also split, the motor shaft was snapped and he took the ESC for another plane.. Its remarkable what foam safe glue and liberal use of cross weave fibre glass tape will do. I let someone else have a go and it came back in 3 more pieces with split wings and I have also ploughed it in during a club timed comp but it mended well and flies as good as ever. In fact I have a new one but mainly use the older one. It owes me nothing and if it does finally give up the ghost I will still have the power train and servos. I also agree that old models should be flown regardless as they give so much pleasure to others as well as to the pilot. I fly my 40 year old tiger moth whenever we get calm enough weather - tho it did only have its maiden flight when it was 38!!! (I built almost all of it in 1976 but let it fester in the garage until a couple of years ago) However I agree the sentiment, mine is on a pedestal in my mind.

Hi Geoff I have done this/had it happen to me a couple of times and one of those was on my Riot. The interesting thing is that on both occasions I had done nothing to the plane or the transmitter since previous flights which were fine. On both occasions I was using a Spektrum Dx6i. I have had others say this has happened to them with their 6i and that it is a known fault. I haven't checked this out but it would be interesting if you also used a 6i. Good job it didn't happen on your recent DB Moth maiden you told me about. Les

Hi Geoff really pleased to hear that you also had success, there is huge satisfaction in flying a model you built yourself and the relief after the maiden is enormous!! The DB Moth is larger than mine and I suspect more complex to make - I say that being in the early stages of building a Flair Puppeteer. I seem to be specialising on bi-planes having built the Moth and a Fokker DVII last year and bought an electric Flair SE5a two weeks ago, as well as the current Puppeteer build which will also be electric. If only I could find somewhere to keep them! I think it is magnificent the way modellers freely offer help and photos to others in need. Thanks to you all for the help you have given me Les

Tim thanks for your help last year with the CofG of the ELEC R/C model which you are serialising the build for RCME. I balanced at your recommended point and it took 9oz of lead. It was maidened a few weeks ago and flew beautifully on a 900kv motor, 12x6 prop and 4s 4000 battery with a 60amp ESC. If it is used a friend has sent a photo to RCME today Les

Hi David many thanks for the photos, it is really interesting to see a top hatch conversion. If you have a single 4s 4000 you may get a slightly better performance. 4 Max advised against running batteries in parallel as if not in sync as far as cell charges are concerned, 1 battery pulls the other down performance wise thus losing you power. Les