Jump to content
Please be aware of scammers when using the Sale/Wanted forum areas

David Ovenden

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,075

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    6

 Content Type 

Posts posted by David Ovenden

    Name

    in All Things Model Flying

    Posted

    See link below for plan. You can check if it matches your model. Looks to me as though your model has fewer wing ribs though, so maybe it isn't a Brooks Bipe.

    http://outerzone.co.uk/plan_details.asp?ID=1647

    Edited By David Ovenden on 24/05/2017 22:58:04

    Edited By David Ovenden on 24/05/2017 23:09:23

    Pilot Bails Out At Low Level

    in The Video Channel

    Posted

    Peter,

    Seems a shame if this thread has died. Although I'm no mathematician I thought this was one of the most interesting threads on the forum for a while. The Wright Stuff said

    "Putting in a (guessed) camera mass of 0.4 kg and just using the default skydiving air-resistance at the very least shows that the 7 second fall could be entirely consistent with the OP's estimate of 100 feet."

    Given your camera weighs less than 400g (only 150g) I would have thought it would have taken longer to reach the ground. So maybe you 100ft estimate wasn't too far off the mark.

    Any more thoughts from the maths/physics depth?

    Hanger 9 Sopwith Camel (Pig) Land-Dings

    in In The Air

    Posted

    Whilst this post is 5 years after the events in question, can I ask if Peter feels that the smaller wheel size was imporant, or whether he feels the lowering of the lead was the key factor? I ask as I am looking at buying a little flown s/h H9 Camel.

    I am impressed by Peter's commitment to fixing the poor landing characteristics of his Camel and the extent of the transformation once he identified the cause of the problem.Great stuff!

    Great Mate Flight Stand

    in Why Not Say Hello....

    Posted

    I too bought one second hand (and at a very good price) which has proved to be an excellent purchase. I have the electric starter bracket, but use mine all the time as I mostly fly 4 stroke powered planes. I put my model box on the shelf/seat and my tx goes in that.

    Like Geoff I also use it in the workshop for supporting models while working on them and even to store the fuselage of my PT19.

    A very well designed and manufactedandl item. Probably too well made to be cheap enough to sell in big numbers though. Shame they are no longer available new.

    hitec minima and tundra not getting along........

    in Other Radio Brands

    Posted

    I have 300 flights with no issues on my Tundra, so they are not all cack. However, sounds like you have a "Friday afternoon" one. If you peel off the tape over the connecter block on the wing underside you can unplug the aileron and flap servos from the wing root connector block. The servos have standard plugs on them though the leads are short. This will allow you to check each servo individually via a separate ext lead direct to your receiver. Like that you should be able to isolate whether if it is a servo, a y lead, or a connector block issue.

    hobbyking tundra

    in Foam models

    Posted

    I use velcro and a foam block that sits above the battery and fills the gap between it and the hatch cover. This reduces the chance of the lipo detaching from the velcro as it would also have to overcome the hatch magnets to come loose. I also glued the velcro to the bottom of the battery bay with foam glue. 300 flights so far with no problems.

    Edited By David Ovenden on 02/04/2017 21:10:30

    Do you keep a log (book) ??

    in All Things Model Flying

    Posted

    I keep a small notebook for each of my models. I record all flights and note any issues, and update with maintenance when done. I find it v. helpful when I haven't flown a model for a while to check back on any issues noted from the last flight. Also helps keep abreast of when the battery, glow plug, switch etc was last changed.

    It doesn't take many moments to do I find - once you are in the habit of doing it.

    Edited By David Ovenden on 01/03/2017 21:25:09

    Opinions please

    in Batteries and Chargers

    Posted

    I would definitely second Matt's suggestion of the Reaktor chargers. I now have 6 of the 250w ones. They have all been brilliant and work flawlessly. Have been using them regularly for a couple of years with excellent results. I regularly charge Lipo 2s up to 6s 5000mah, Life packs for my transmitter, Nimh and Nicads. What more do you want?

    Why 6 chargers, so I can balance charge 6 batteries at the same time and monitor each one separately!

    JR closing down?

    in Spektrum/JR

    Posted

    Piers and Peter,

    Interesting to note that the first 2 responses to my post had the exact opposite response to the "look" of the XG series transmitters. I really do think that the new style really polarised opinion on the latest JR tx. Also interesting that the latest model ( the top of the range 28x) reverted to a much more conventional styling. Lesson learned too late?

    Also interesting is the number of comments about how good the 9X, DSX9, 9303 transmitter design was. I found that everything was in the right place and that the sliders on the side of the Tx were ideal as you can reach them without taking your hand of the sticks. I always use the left hand slider for flaps on my scale models and can have full control of everything at all times. I still use my 9303 (US version of the 9X) with a DMSS module for a lot of my flying.

    I do have an XG11 too, which works fine but the sliders are positioned right at the back of the (large) case and I find these very hard to locate and almost always end up inadvertently adding rudder input as I "search" for the slider. Is it just me? The result is I only use the XG11 for non flap-equipped models. Which is rather a shame on a high end unit I feel.

    Peter, if you use you XG11 on a tray, doesn't that block access to the sliders?

    All of which is a roundabout way of saying I still very much like and use my 9303 and 10X they work so well for me. So maybe looks and ergonomics do play a real part in the success or otherwise of tx design and affect sales volumes in spite of what new gizmos are included on a new model. Personally I don' t think the robot face look brought in many punters. You might expect the design to attract a younger customer, but I doubt it did.

    Edited By David Ovenden on 02/01/2017 18:48:09

    JR closing down?

    in Spektrum/JR

    Posted

    Well I thought about starting a thread with this same title a week or so back in response to the "rumours" and comment on other forums. In the end I didn't want to be the one who started the whole thing off. However, now the topic is up and running I will add my thoughts.

    It would appear that JR, like many other model companies, are feeling the chill wind of competition and changing market trends. I have been a loyal JR user since 1984 and still have my faithful PCM10X set from 2000 in regular use with a DMSS tx module.

    Undoubtable there have been key decisions in the past that contribute to where JR are now. They have always produced reliable, high quality (and usually innovative) equipment and had a loyal but not market leading following. As others have commented, their decision to link up with Horizon Hobbies to use Spektrum DSM2 was one of the key factors. This did have the advantage of keeping them in the game and allowed them to get into the 2.4G market relatively quickly. The downside was that they always (seemed?) the very junior partner in the arrangement and Spektrum quickly developed their own sets to eat away at JR market share.

    Once the decision was made to "separate" JR launched their DMSS protocol. This is a good fast system with telemetry and has been generally well received in technical circles as being an elegant solution to using the 2.4G band for models and meeting new regulations. However, it meant asking their customers to change transmitters and all their new receivers to the new protocol. This was not popular, but once JR stepped away from DSM2/X it was, one supposes, inevitable.

    Linked to this was JR's marketing decision to create a new "look or face" for its new XG transmitters. Previously their 2702, 9X, 10X, 12X etc were a fairly "traditional" style and perhaps their marketing felt they needed to create a new Brand Image. As a result the XG series was developed around the Gundam-style "robot face" look. This was a "Marmite" strategy. You love it or you hate it! Given that we know many RC modellers are now not as young as they once were , this was a devisive move. Some loved the style, others didn't - me included. It didn't stop the sets working brilliantly, but how many were put off by the looks?

    There is also the change away from buying radios from the LMS where potential customers could see and handle a radio, to on-line shopping. In addition we have seen a proliferation of low-cost new far-eastern brands as well as open-software radio like Taranis giving modellers new options and possibilities.

    So in these changing times is it the end for JR, or is there a future for them? I have no inside knowledge. Their statement says they have closed their Japanese factory and hobby production is being transferred to a Malaysian factory. JR says

    “Sanei has proven for many years to produce high quality JR products at reasonable cost, and since current production was far from 100%, it makes good business sense for JR to move all Propo production to Sanei.”

    Given that most JR products have been produced there for some time, there may be no reason that they can’t continue to do so. Equally, there is the example of Graupner the giant German model company that folded a while back. It was bought out by the company that made their R/C equipment. (It’s also a bizzare thought that JR used to manufacture the radio sets for Graupner up until a few years ago) Perhaps Sanei will buy out JR? Or JR may do just exactly as they have stated and restart supplying from the new location.

    So maybe it’s not all doom and gloom and JR will have a future, albeit different from the past. One thing’s for sure, we are living through “interesting” times. In the meantime, as others have said, there may be some tempting JR bargains out there to snap up in 2017. As for me, I will carry on with the reliable JR sets I already own.

    Here's wishing some great flying in this year, whatever brand of radio you use.

    Edited By David Ovenden on 02/01/2017 09:02:25

    Edited By David Ovenden on 02/01/2017 09:04:01

    hobbyking - big changes

    in R/C Retailers / Distributors / Manufacturers

    Posted

    There are still major faults with their site. I tried searching for "tundra" on their site which must be one of their best selling models. It said no results found!

    OK one can trawl through all the planes to find it, but how many people will just not bother?

    I will buy nothing from them until the new site work in a satisfactory fashion. Their sales must be way down since the website was changed. I can't belive that their search facility is still so poor after all these weeks. Don't even think of trying to find lipos!

    Edited By David Ovenden on 06/12/2016 07:01:20

    Ebay sellers...

    in eBay Watchers

    Posted

    Ebay changed the categories so it's now impossible to just browse through all aeromodeling items as before. The new categories are full of boats, cars and all manner of stuff I'm not interested in. So I have stopped browsing. Only worth searching for specific items by name now. It was the random and unusual stuff that was most interesting. You can't search for it by name because you gave no clue what might come up! I reckon their sales will have gone down as a result of this.

×
×
  • Create New...