David Ovenden

Last thing I won was a set of Lego - I was aged 7!! My turn.

Bonjour Ernie, Sun is shining here too. Our flying field is in the middle of vinyards so there is not much about to cause interference, but I've had no problems on 35mhz, or 41, or 72. My local model shop is Ales Modelisme and the owner's name is Paul. Being English he will understand exactly what you want without resorting to French. The telephone number is 04 66 52 20 22. David

Another French resident here. I'm based near Ales in the Gard department. We have a local model shop and the owner is British although he has lived in France for 30 years now. I use 35mhz, 41 mhz and 72 mhz modules in my JR radio with no problems. Acording to the FFAM website 35.000 (ch60) and 35.010 (ch61) are now all agreed and legal for use in France and the previous users have relinquished use of said frequencies. See http://www.ffam.asso.fr/ct_frequences.htm#Décisions%20ARCEP David

Back in 2005/2006 Duncan described in his Scale News column in RCM&E the design, construction and detailing of his 96" span Cessna Bobcat twin. Since his last column in early 2006 I've not seen or heard of the model. Does anyone how it flew or know where I can find any more details about its flying characteristics, power/weight ratio, comp sucesses etc. If Duncan is a forum member maybe he could let us know. I'd be interested in any feedback as I'm thinking about a T-50 Bobcat as a possible large (90" ish span) twin project for the future.

Let's see now, it must be my turn this time! Here's hoping.

Haven't won anything since the Lego set when I was 10!

It would be lovely to win something for a change.  Maybe this time??????????

Jim, Many thanks for the very useful information. I think I have enough now to plan the hinging system. I will be using 4 servos (each with its own channel) and program the mixing (differential and flap mix) via the Tx. I do also have a JR Matchbox unit as well that allows independent, end-point and throw adjustments of up to 4 servos from 1 channnel, so that might be useful possibility too. However, I won't go in for a "real" cable link between top and bottom ailerons, so as to allow experimentation with independent flap mixing on top and bottom ailerons. ie Flap mix only to bottom aileron or to both. Will use the traditional shiring elastic to give the impression of the cable. The information I have suggestes that in tests around 8 degree flap was used for take off and I guess 15 degree on landing makes sense.(although this is not specified in the article I have) However, they certainly seem to have been pretty effective! "Take off to unstick distance was 363 ft with no flaps, and 190 ft with 8 degrees of flap. Minimum speed with flaps down was only 47 mph. Initial deck landing trials were conducted on HMS Argus in February 1923 and the behaviour of the aircraft was deemed to be exemplary". We will have to wait and see whether the models reacts in the same way. Regards David

Thanks JIm, Once built I will be pretty warry of the flaps until I see what effect they have. I reckon the ailerons will become pretty ineffectve too once the flaps are down - with risks of drag-induced reverse yaw effect. May try mixing in the flap on the lower wing ailerons only to start with. Still would like to know what sort of hinging system the original used! David 

I'm planning a Fairey Flycatcher model (scaling up a 44"  free plan featured in RC Scale International). The full size had ailerons on both top and bottom wings. All 4 could be drooped to act as flaps (presumably as a STOL feature for landing on aircraft carrier decks). By using 4 servos, one for each aileron, I can mix in flap to aileron at the TX and get working flaperons. Does anyone have experience of such a system? I'm interested too in how the full size hinging system worked - anyone know? Were they "freise" type or something different? I picked up the very useful Profile item from Ebay. I also have located an interesting book and a couple of mags with good colour detail and 3-views. However, the flaps are still unclear to me. It would appear that all four ailerons are quite wide and full span. they must have all worked in unison as the cable system linked the top and bottom ailerons together. There does not appear to be a separate inboard flap, so if all 4 ailerons lowered as full-span flaps that would have have quite an effect! The FAA replica would be worth a look, though it does seem to have "disappeared". Anyone got any photos of the wing/ail/flaps on this plane? I've now got the enlarged plans, the 5" Williams wheels, servos and engine lined up. So I need to made some sort of decision regarding the wing/aileron design before cutting balsa I guess! Any info appreciated

Ideal! Just right to replace my ageing TT Cub then. Go great with my Saito 82.

Looks very nice. Just right for my Saito 62!

My chices would be: 1.DH Chipmunk, 2. Fiesler Storch 3. Westland Lysander

Hi, This Tiggie would make an ideal companion to my 52" Hawker Tomtit, All I need then is 4 hands to be able to fly them at the same time! David

All for 4-stroke glow 50-90 size 1) Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber. (Warbird with good wing area and easy retracts with  flaps! & dive brakes) 2) Fairey Flycatcher (Interesting bipe with nice bit of wirework for the U/C) 3) DH Leopard Moth (With folding wings for easy transport) David

Hi John, Yes it went for a decent price, but these kits are getting pretty rare these days. I guess in the future decent scale builders kits will sell for more as demand exceeds supply. You can certainly build from plans or design your own, but there is something special about a kit in its box with accessories. David

John, Since starting this thread I have decided to sell My Tomtit kit and it's currently on the e place> Lots of interest. I decided to sell as my original Tomtit is still going strong sfter 300 flights and I still have the plans. Time is ALWAYS the problem. I guess we enjoy building, or we wouldn't buy the kits. Actually getting round to starting and then finishing the models is another thing. Is it just me, or are there others that find that when you commit some time and energy to building.  progress can be pretty swift. Its just the gaps in between bursts of activity that are problem! Anyone got a 1/4 scale Piper Cub kit they want to part with? I want to modify a standard kit to do a Super Cub. I'm also looking for 3-views and photos of the DH Genet Moth - a DH60 Moth with the 5 cylinder Genet radial engine fitted. Anyone have anything?

Actually an updated version of the Maricado model was featured as a free plan in RCM&E relatively recently. Someone probably has the exact date I expect - and maybe a copy of the plan itself!

Hello, A friend of mine had SERIOUS vibration problems with a Laser 150 in a 77" Hangar9 Mustang. In the end it turned out to be mostly caused by a hugely out of balance ali spinner. I reckon this could well be the cause of a lot of your problem. £27 is a lot to pay for an item if you have to completely re-work it. My friend ended up throwing his spinner in the bin after extensive dynamic balancing failed to sort it out. Hope this helps a bit.

What "traditional" scale kits have you got in your workshop? I was looking at the kits I have stockpiled in my workshop and thinking how lucky I am to have a number of "great" traditional kits to build. Increasingly (or do I mean decreasingly?) it's difficult to find any scale kits that are not ARTF's, so to have a number kits in stock is rather a pleasant situation to be in. My list is Veron Hawker Tomtit, SIG Liberty Sport, a Krick Bucker Bestmann and a set of Laser-cut parts for the Jerry Bates 85" span Douglas Dauntless. What's stored in your workshops?

Thanks for that swift and helpful response David.

As I said in my earlier post, I went to the trouble of arranging for someone to buy this mag for me in the UK and send it to me in France. Why? beacause for ages RCM&E and this website has been promoting this plan and it's availability in this "special" addition. They obviously intended to supply the correctly scaled plan. However, it was a commercial/marketing decision to use the plan as a "selling point" for this issue. In fact if you look at the mag cover you might call it  a "hard cell"! The fact that I (and no doubt many others) bought the magazine as a result of the publicity means we ought to get what we paid for - the correct size plan. To be expected to buy another magazine (in the UK) and get it shipped out here to France so as to have what should have been in the "special" is not really fair. At the very least, I would have thought it would have been good for Magicalia's PR to post out plans to those who want a copy. A doubt all modellers will. I don't think many of you would be happy to buy a package deal of a TV with a "free" DVD player and then find that the DVD player didn't work with the TV you bought. If the manufacturer  then told that if you bought another TV they would give you the correct DVD that you expected in the first place it would be very annoying. If the justification was "well the DVD was free" I doubt it wouldn't make you any happier! Over to you RCM&E /  Magicali

Oh dear, this is not good news! I live in France and have just gone to all the trouble of arranging for someone in the UK to get me the RCM&E Special so I have the Typhoon plan. Now it seems the plan is not correct? A revised plan in another RCM&E issue is not very helpful for me. Shouldn't new plans be posted out to those who bought the "Special" issue in all good faith?

Hi, After 30 years of fixed wing flying, I'm thinking of trying i/c helicopters with a view to progressing to scale helis later. If I go for a Raptor 30 or 50, what would be the best gyro for learning and later use in scale models? I'm not interested in 3D flying or stunts. My tx is a JR PCM9XII so initial thoughts go to the JR G490T (for compatibility reasons), or would a CSM or a Futaba 401 work better? Do I need a fancy servo for the tail rotor, or would one of my existinga JR 811 digital servos work OK? I'd be grateful for feedback from those of you who have the experience. David

Thanks Steve, That was a helpful contribution to the debate. I've learned some useful stuff. david