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

Why did I say Se5!! The puppeteer is significantly heavier than the moth. Perhaps it is because last week I bought an electric SE5 with a power 46 and a 14x6 prop already installed. For info I rang 4Max today and they suggested an 800kv with a 14x7 prop and 60amp ESC running on a 4s battery. Took the plunge this pm and laminated the front fuselage formers with aliphatic. As the Chinese say, every journey starts with the first step. Les

Thanks Andy that's interesting. My 55" Tiger Moth has a 4Max 770kv swinging a 12x6 prop on a 4s 4000. Has so far only flown once as only just finished but after a 6 min (or so) flight at only half throttle it had 40% left so I think your set sounds just right as the SE5 is slightly heavier than the Moth. Les

Andy the hinged cowl looks superb. How do you propose to fasten the top to the main fuselage. I cant see any bolt or screw and what motor are you using. Your method certainly leaves a huge battery space. I don't think I can match the quality of your work but I like the hinge solution. Les

Hi everyone, thanks for input so far. Hadn't thought of vertical batteries or removable/hinged front so already a lot to think about. Any photos would really be appreciated. What motors/props have you used. I am assuming about 550kv and 16" prop by, say. 6 or 8. Will also chat to 4 Max who have supplied all my power trains for the last few years.

Hi guys I have just bought a Puppeteer kit and am proposing to build as an electric model. Before starting I wondered if anyone has photos of a conversion, in particular where to place batteries and place the shelf or box, how and where you have made the hatch and any of the motor mount. Any advice would also be appreciated. Not sensible to re-invent the wheel if there is already a working solution out there. Many thanks in advance Les

Hi guys. I balanced the tiggie at 5" from leading edge of top wing as per your calc Tim and it only reqd 10oz of lead instead of the 24 I mentioned in my first post if I had balanced where the model diag says to do it. What a difference. Without the wings it balances at the same 5" back point which to my simple brain confirms your calc Tim unless my logic is wrong!! Incidentally I kept looking at the wings and thinking they don't seem quite right but couldn't put my finger on it. Wing tips wrong, so obvious, what a plonker I am. I haven't added rib caps or the riblets and just feel the end result is a little weak but the first bad landing will confirm or refute that. les

Thanks guys there is a lot of info to digest here but the consensus is that the C of G for this model is a bit far forward which is why I was concerned in the first place. I think the fact that the fuselage is all ply means that the rear will be heavier than usual so perhaps rear cabane strut is just too far back . I will go with Tim's position as a start and thanks for all your help. Tim, I know that as you are doing this you will be preparing an article so you wont want to know issues in advance but if you want to compare notes as you go along to see if things are consistent between kits please feel free to contact me on [email protected] Les

I should have said balances without the extra weight at the rear cabane strut.L

Hi guys thanks for the advice. I have a smaller tiggie and the C of G is at the rear cabane where it meets the upper wing - as above. This model shows it on a vertical line from the front edge of the lower wing touching the front of the rear cabane strut where it exits the fuselage and is about 25-30% from the rear of the top wing centre section. Funnily enough the model balances at the rear cabane as you both say and in line with my smaller one. However am worried about going with that because that's not what the instructions say and if it is wrong then it will be very tail heavy!! The difference is a good 1.5 ins so it is significant. Les

Hi all, has anyone built the 56" span Tiggie by a company called ELERC and sold by Ali Machinchi (hope spelt right) and flown it. To balance it as per instructions mine needs 1lb 8oz of lead in addition to the 4s battery which seems an awful lot - or am I just not used to building models this size. The fuselage is all light ply so the rear is heavier than a frame construction which may account for this. Any thoughts would be appreciated. Les