john s

Thanks Phil, I'll try a couple of meters to experiment with, the Spacewalker is 91" span with a light but quite strong structure so not looking for much strength in the covering. Interesting thread hope its OK to butt in. John

Posted by Phil B on 15/11/2019 16:07:48: Also as an aside, I do lots of glass fibre covering, but I have found nylon and dope to be probably better for covering sheet surfaces, especially on this type of model. The polyester comes from eBay if you search Plain Habotai Silk Lining Fabric 100% Polyester Material Dress Lining You will find it. £1.80 per metre 158cm wide, approx 50g per sq m. I will update tomorrow after some trials. Hi, following this with interest as I'm getting near the covering stage on my Tapsfield Spacewalker and was thinking of using polyester. Had a look on Ebay can only find 40g sq m, is that OK or do I need to look harder. John

Been following this thread from the beginning and find it absolutely fascinating, the quality of your work is outstanding. John

18650 e-cig batteries are Lithium Ion I think. Martin is correct my Life po4 receiver packs come of the charger at 3.6v a cell 7.2 v total. When I first started using Life packs I was a little cautious but now think they are brilliant , I particularly like that you can leave them for a few weeks and they still have enough charge to go flying.

Yes I guessed that was the case David but thought it quite good to get the general idea. I feel fine with the kit quality and am no longer concerned with the wing joining method, and it fits my car!!! So the only thing left to do is get the RAF trainer once I open my wallet, always the hard part!

I phoned Slec this afternoon to ask a few questions about these kits, and they could not have been more pleasant and helpful. Found a very informative build thread on RCU well worth a look if if you haven't seen it already **LINK** Still humming and harring Edited By john s on 22/07/2019 17:41:38

That's even better! Its flight handling is praised in almost every build thread I've read and is a big plus for me.

That's good to read David, I'm pretty well sold on one now just have to decide which version to go for. I looked at the photos in your collection and particularly liked the elevator trim tab and u/c legs, nice work! john

Hi, I'm thinking about buying one of these kits, probably the RAF trainer version. The main question I have is about the two piece wing, I've found some old build threads where people have abandoned the idea due to it being a flimsy and impractical arrangement and just glassed the the wing halves together, as I need it to be two piece can anyone tell me how they find it works for them. john

Just a follow up for anyone thinking of this combination. I've flown the Gangster a couple of times now with the Saito 62 and I think it's a really nice combination, I'm running the engine in on the wing so it's set very rich but still has plenty of power for this light airframe. The Gangster itself brings back happy memories of the original many years ago and is a delightful and easy model to fly.

I'd try steam Jason, just use some protective clothing and gloves to make sure you don't burn yourself.

Thanks for that Richard, I'll try it out tomorrow on my Gangster it's covered  all red and want to add some white trim. john Edited By john s on 30/06/2019 22:14:36

What a nice looking model! I also have been using HK film and find it great value for money, can I ask how you applied the red trim over the white base, john

Just an update for anyone thinking of buying one! The kit was an enjoyable build all the laser cut parts fitting together nicely, the wood selection is good with no warps or twists to deal with, the laser cutting is clean and accurate. I used the servos Jeff recommended for the ailerons the JX PDI-2506MG they are fast and centre well. I've only flown it a couple of times but already like the way it flies with the Saito 82 loads of power yet not feeling over powered or heavy and floats around at low throttle nicely. All in all a great fun plane to build and fly. John.

Thanks guys the Saito 62 is probably what I'll go with then. I've had a Saito 115 for several years now and its a great solid performer, and I do like 4 strokes. Nice covering job Jim, I'm ok with covering but clueless with trim!

Hi, I'm about to start a Gangster lite that arrived a couple of days ago and was wondering if a Saito 62 would fit and provide good performance, I don't have an engine for it yet so would be grateful for any suggestions/advice. john.

Hi, I've had a couple of DLE 20's where the carb internal filter has become partially blocked giving me start and constantly out of tune problems, the filter is under the carb cover that is held in place with a big central screw, it's cup shaped and about 10mm in diameter and has to be pried out of the main carb body with a pin, on initial inspection they appeared to be fine but when held up to the light there was a sort of grey glaze on and between the mesh of the filter. If you haven't already looked it 's worth a try, I replaced mine using Walbro carb kits from Ebay but guess they could be cleaned. Still no idea why this happened I'm very careful with my fuel! John

Is it OK to post a link? hope so. This is a link to a build on RCGroups, I think its the same plan, the guys going electric but you might find some useful info **LINK** John

I use Isopon Davids fastglas from Halfords it's a polyester resin but fine for fuel proofing and reasonably inexpensive, I also use it for glassing wing joints. John

Hi Bruce, yes I use around 30 expo initially then if the plane survives tune in expo and control throws to suit the way I fly. I have tried higher expo rates but found them to be too unresponsive around stick centres for me.

Forgot to mention that I also reduced the low rate control throws from recommended by around 20-25% for its first flight, it still had plenty of elev authority but was not at all twitchy. I agree with what the other guys are saying about adjusting the bolt holes on the offending wing and adjusting for the best compromise, worth a try and you may be pleasantly surprised. john.

Gone a bit quiet!! Flew mine this morning with some trepidation, I'm not a very good flyer!, and was pleasantly surprised by its handling, I only got one flight in as I broke the wooden prop on a quickish landing running into long grass at the runway side, but it flew and landed well requiring only a couple of clicks trim on elev and ailerons. I set the C of G very carefully at 135mm from the wing root leading edge, this is quite a bit fwd of Seagulls recommendation, I'm not saying this is perfect but it gave me a comfortable handling machine for its initial flight. Right off to buy some props! john.

Thanks Jeff, I'll order a set from Banggood I've used them before and been happy with the service, plus the bigggy for me is their post system, if you pay a wee bit extra the delivery is v good from China typically 6-9 days. Bit difficult to categorise the Panic john

I was looking at the JX PDI-2506MG on the Banggood site and there is a cautionary note "It is not suitable for the transmitter that can not set up pulse width.(like RC car or RC boat)" Anyone know what this means? The servo spec is impressive, I guess the ones on Ebay for a tenner are fakes! john

I need the 4 wing bolts as my fuse is a bit out of shape and without all 4 I end up with big gaps at the wing leading and trailing edges but it all pulls together OK, the front ones are a bit fiddly. The plug cap thing is a bit easier if you leave out the big internal spring whose only function in life is to make the cap more difficult to fit. Was out flying my Hannibal today, now that is easy flying!