Mark Stringer

Very useful thread - shame it was too late for me but thought i would share my experince of the FL Spitfire. Having flow for 33 years and promoted electic flying since about 1997 i actually have very little free time on my hands these days and also tend to work away from home a lot - so smallish electrics are ideal to take with me for evening play time! So whilst working in Slough i popped into Slough models and saw the Mustand and Spit on offer - the Spit being £5 cheaper than the Mustang - they had no salable ones in stock (pallet had been dropped) so i went back the next week to grab one - had taken RX and batteries with me ready so was planning on a quick job. Got back to my hotel and opened the box - no speed controller, no guns etc., no weights ... back to the shop where they raided another box for the bits - no sign of any weights though - also had to get 2 new servos as none of mine were the right size and they struggled in the shop to find any that were a good fit! Had already read some comments so sanded the elevator pushrod and set the CofG where it should be - made sure everything was just right and off to the field. Got a good firm hand launch from one of the guys - flipped over on its back almost straight away - as i like a lot of movement i manged to drag it back and fought with it for half a circuit until i managed to belly flop it in long grass - not too much damage, just the firewall as usual Determined to get this thing in the air i made a good solid repair on it, added some more nose weight - checked it over again and back to the field - this time it just sank like a brick and made a real mess of the front. Seeing that there was clearly something wrong i make more repairs, changed the motor and prop and speed controller to make sure it would have plenty of umph! and overcome its weight issues. Back to the field - a really good hand launch - rolled on its back again - totally unflyable! So now it sits in a sad state while i decide if i should do anything with it or just put it in the bin! I have flown all sorts as well as designing and building my own planes but have never had anything that flies (or doesn't fly) like this thing. I was pretty unhappy and decided to e-mail Ripmax about it ( i work very long weeks so a phone call just wasn't practicle) - but it appears that Ripmax don't have an e-mail address on their site - or even a contact form - I wonder why! So there you go - got that off my chest - if Ripmax or Slogh models are reading this and want to give me my money back then great - i have heard that the Mustang is much better and looking at it the build and aerodynaics are very different so i can see why So my advice ... dont buy the Spit, buy the Mustang at your own risk

Good one Wolston! Set my router to use those DNS Servers but also had to open up a command prompt *Start - Run and type cmd" and then type in "ipconfig /flushdns" to get my PC tp read the new address and now it works So, if it helps their new address is 72.32.177.37 For anyone who cannot change their router just type those numbers into internet explorer to get to the hobby king web site Hope this helps

Not easy is it?!! But here you go ... Go to RCM&E Extra and it is listed there Link to that page is : **LINK** The actual PDF is **LINK** Hope this helps

Marin - thanks for your thoughts .... Milson - lovely private grass airstrip - if you google map it for a route it says 5.6 miles and 15 minutes from my house so should be perfect! I have flown there a few times - used to be owned by an airline pilot who let me fly when he wasnt working nights but now a new owner who actually flies model aircraft and is there full time as far as i can tell. Just a couple of issues really with Milson which is why i rarely go there .. the google maps route doesnt tell you that it is very tight single track roads almost the whole way so 15 minutes is not realistic (I drive a Navara so not a great route) and the other thing is that although it is an airfield this is the guy and his families home and i do feel it is a real cheek to just turn up there and expect to fly (even though he always makes me welcome - and sometimes the sheep are on the strip preventing flying anyway) - maybe silly but I don't like to impose and a field somewhere that i can just pop along to without hassling anyone is really what I am looking for. When i get a minute i will approach the council again and try and contact the estate owner just outside Ludlow to see if i can fly on his land. Thanks again for the suggestions

Just spent 3 weeks in Colchester after slough and had a great time there too - they have so many sites! Somewhere to fly every day almost Will have to keep digging now that I am back home as I have really enjoyed my recent flying bonanza! Perfect field for sale just outside Caynham for sale - 20 acres - anyone lend me 175,000?

Just an update to this one .... The good old spam filter had eaten thier reply - they are very welcoming and had a great couple of weeks flying with them! Hope to be back for more soon.

Hi - it is me looking for somewhere to fly again! This time i have a job for a few weeks in North East Colchester - right near the A12 / A120 junction. I am hoping to put a few models in the boot to fly whilst i have a few evenings spare but have struggled to find anywhere nearby apart from, as far as I can tell, the Colchester Model Aircraft Club which I believe flies at Nayland - just 7 miles away - perfect! but ... There is no contact number on the BMFA web site, the only web site I can find is locked down to members only, i did find an e-mail address on the web site and sent a message a couple of weeks ago but have had no reply. Does anyone know if it still exists, if they welcome guests and who to contact to see if i can go and play - or anywhere else within a reasonable distance (dont generally finish work until 5.30 to 6 so dont want to have to travel too far and loose valuable flying time!) Need to know whether to bother taking anything with me next week or not Thanks all Mark

David Thanks for that - will let you know if i find anything. I am in Slough at the moment and had a great fly with the club there - such a shame we dont have anything like that available - it is a public park (huge!) but the council have given them permission to use it within guide lines (fly / no-fly zones) and although there are plent of people milling around there doesn't seem to be any issue - everyone knows where the flying takes place and they either keep clear or just come over for a chat - had a great evening! I did have contact with Ludlow council about it a while ago so may approach them again. Will let you know if anything comes up Mark

John A - always fancied that - have a Discus waiting for its maiden plus my Cirrus (28 years old now - the original Graupner rebuilt) - may just pop along one day Rich - thanks for the invite - where are the Kidde sites? It is two clubs or one with two sites? The Clee Hill info is interesting - had wondered if i could fly on the comman land near Cleeton St Margaret - i am only 2 minutes from Clee Hill Martin H - That is one of the first places I thought of so went for a drive around - trouble is it is already shared with a Glof Club with most of the course being a golf course - so i dont think they would appreciate me buzzing around! Your last point I think is the way i need to go - have approached the Earl of Plymouth estates (via the food centre so i hope the message gets through - but will pop down there and see if i can have a chat) but have also seen the perfect field just 2 minutes drive from my house - long, wide, flat, mown grass, no power lines, just the occasional grazing sheep, so plan to find out who owns it and see if they will let me fly there Thanks to everyone so far - great support on here - making my gimbal thumbs itch - if i get it sorted i will be starting the resurection of some of my models that sit neglected - then if i use them all my wife will (may!) understand why i have so many - only about 20 at the moment - that isn't a lot is it? Edited By Mark Stringer on 17/06/2012 18:22:08

Checked Herefordshire and again all about 45 to 50 minutes away Have just noticed Wyre Forrest Model Flyers on the BMFA site - but no link or contact details - anyone know anything about them? BG - i will PM you - Thanks The Earl of Plymouth has a massive estate just outside Ludlow on the A49 which would be perfect (opposite the food centre (also owned by the estate) - e-mail the estates on the address shown on their site but it has bounced! Will try and ring them in the week

The Church Strettin club is actually just outside Shrewsbury - so still 45 to 50 minutes from me unfortunataley - as per the Shropshire model club I put an advert in my local parish magazine asking for anyone with a field that i could use but had zero response I also asked Ludlow Council - they were keen to find me somewhere to fly but only if i started a club to involve local youngsters - i would love to do it but genuinely do not have the time - i work long hours and have a house wife and kids so only just about get time to grab and hour or so here and there- at a push! Ah well - back to the Minium in the back garden!

Tanks Gary - I had done that but nothing within about 45 minutes of me - that means an hour and a half driving time before I start so was hoping to find someone locally with a field that they flew in Thanks for the help anyway Mark

Hi everyone - just joined the site and wondered if anyone new of somewhere very near to Ludlow in Shropshire to fly/ I have a real job these days (I also own Ratby Aeroplanes - Jabberowcks and all that and wrote as Electro Flyer on Flyingsites.co.uk when that was active) so get very little time and really need somewhere i can visit quickly to grab a few flights now and again. I am BMFA B cert and fly mainly electric these days - just looking for a nice field to play in occasionally to keep my skills honed Thanks - glad to be part of the community