John Hickson

I found the same thing with my T28, it wanted to go vertical even with the battery as far forward as the foam would allow. I ened up using the 300mA cells I use for my Mcpx, just widened the battery slot a little and changed the battery connector. It balanced fine and I get about 10mins flght time.

Here's the latest from those clever kids at MIT: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-08/13/autonomous-plane

Cheers Stuey I will give that a try later too

Hey thanks guys, I'm glad I was on the kinda right track. That powder technique sounds interesting Gary, I will try and fond somethin on the web about it.I was just reading your TN Spit build thread (should be working mind you!) so sorry to see it end how it did. Repainting it seems pointless unless in doing so I can also do the panel lines as it would be the same colour scheme. Would anyone recommend scotchbrite as a way of dulling the sheen of film as a final finish so to speak?

I want a P-51 "JET" plane!

Chaps, I need guidance..... I bought the Escale Seafire, which is OK but looks far too clean and shiny. I want to tone the gloss down, add some panel lines and get it weathered I see (from countless hours reading on the web) that most people add panel lines by masking when painting, thid doesnt seem to be a route I can take as its already covered and the wings arent fully sheeted - I'm assuming the paint would come off here due to the flex of the covering? So I'm working on the assumption that inking on the lines using a permenant marker is my only option. Trouble is this rubs off due to the shiny finish. I experimented with a scrap of oracover and found that if I scotchbrite it the marker becomes pretty permenant. I this something that is done? Whats the best way to achieve that used look on what I have, or am I wasting my time. Your advice would be gratefully recieved. Edited By John Hickson on 13/08/2012 11:05:32

Just rang them, again, they are...Excellent!   Mods, you can delete this post Edited By John Hickson on 07/08/2012 13:20:03

As the title suggests, I emailed them a few days back asking if they were still in business as their site hasnt been updated and their spitfire build links are dead, not heard anything back. Does anyone know if they are still going? I was looking forwad to a spit and others for the winter builds. Edited By John Hickson on 07/08/2012 13:12:50

You need some margin - 40A motor, 50A ESC for example. The motor will pull all it can from the ESC & battery. Going for a 30A motor + 30A ESC leaves no room for error. You should consider a wattage meter if your going to experiment with different combo's, then you will know if your going to blow your ESC or flatten your pack shortly after take off

Looks good! And you have The Stig piloting it

Batteries puffing is a sign of misuse, not an indication of their life. Discharging past 3v is the biggest cause. Most people monitor the internal resistance of the pack to gauge how heathy it is, also look for cells that discharge faster than the other cells in the pack, this is a sign that the pack is unhealthy. I would suggest you read up as much as you can on lipos and then decide how seriously you want to look after your packs. Some people log every detail on the use of their packs, others just obey the discharge and storage rules. When using a new packs, get in to the habit of learning how they perform which means how long you can fly and land without taking the pack past 3.3 - 3.7v. Set your timer a little shorter than you would normally and land when it goes off. When you charge the pack, take note of how much current was put back in, your charger will tell you this if it's a decent one. If you were no where near taking the recommended 70 or 80% out of the pack increase your timer a little next time you use the pack. Keeps doing this until you know how long you can stay in the air and land with 20% or so still left in the pack. Its a good idea to number your packs and record this data in a notebook or there is even app for iPhone

Thanks for the link Steve, it's a good looking kit and won't break the bank either! It's now on my wish list I started off learning on a parkzone micro T28, then a 1m piper cub, a 2 hour lesson with Colin Chapman ( damn nice chap!) and I'm currently fying a 64mm edf. I have the parkzone large spit too but I'm saving that for a better field. I'm also trying to get my head round helis - planes are sooooo much easier! I'm assembling the escale seafire which is my biggest model so far, again that will not be flown till I find a club with a decent strip. Thanks for all the help

Flippin eck that is impressive! Great landing too

A friend of mine had the kyosho, while engine testing the engine flew away while the plane waited on the runway for it to return. It was as funny as hell! More glue on the firewall needed on some it would seem

Try the live chat thing on HK's site, its the only way I have gotten anwhere with faulty items.

Posted by IanR on 03/08/2012 01:18:39: I'm assuming this is the dreaded puffiness I've read about. Is there a danger here? For instance, should I still be keeping them in the house or might they spontaneously burst into flames? Should I fly with them? Should I top them up before I fly with them? Should I chuck them? (via the salt water bucket after discharging them with my Sigma II charger of course) I Yes it is, discharge them fully and then dispose of. I use the same method as Allan B, its a pain sometimes having 8 packs to discharge, but all my batteries are still as good as they were new. Build a discharger that will sink a few amps rather than using the one build in your charger, it makes it much less time consuming

I'm considering using smaller blocks (5mm or so) than those suppiled and trimming the wing former where the wheel sits. I will reinforce whats left of the former with a little cf so as not to weaken the wing, though its only supporting the upper sheeted surface anyway. Does this sound acceptable? I realise cutting wing formers probably isnt recommended If the shallow side of the vac formed (really bad plastic btw, very brittle) wheel well is then opened up the u/c sits quite nicely in the wing and the door is just proud of the wing when retracted. If the uc ends up too short I will turn some slightly longer oleos as there's a bit of room to manouver. I'm happy to make a few while I'm at it if anyone wants some stronger versions, probably stainless steel, but you can have them in what you like as long as its not titanium . I will then vac form something to patch up the opened up wheel well. I was hoping to not use the blocks at all, but theres not enough room for the wheel and anything slimmer might look daft.       Edited By John Hickson on 03/08/2012 08:46:18

Thanks for the advice guys and the link Dean, I am digesting the info now

I just bought this kit, not sure what I was expecting for <£200 but I'm a bit dissapointed. The retracts seem like an afterthought, needing to fit the blocks mean they are proud of the wing. The pilot is like a freakish circus giant and is stuck in with some sort of uber-glue so removal is difficult. No rocker covers either Ahh well, you live and learn A newbie question - why arent the wings fully sheeted? It seems weird to sheet almost to the wing tip, but not all the way - is this to save assembly time sanding the wing tips?

Hi all, my first post, take it easy with me I have returned in earnest to RC after many bad experiences with a Koyosho Concept 30 heli many years ago - Enought to put anyone off RC trust me This time, I have a little more money to pay for repairs, I'm a little wiser so I'm not rushing into things and actully have some time now the kids have grown up to go flying. So after many a happy hour flying some foamy planes, EDF's and a 450 Heli I'm ready for something a little bigger. I'm really interested in building a scale Spitfire, I cant decide whether to go the MR or BT route for their 1/6-ish scale kits. My question is how much guidance is given on the plans? It would be my first build from plans and I'm worried that these kits cant be undertaken by the novice (eg. me). I know there's tonnes of build threads on the web, I'm sure I've read them all, but they are all an overview of the build and I think I will need a step-by-step guide I'm an engineer when I'm not crashing flying planes, so I'm fine assembling things, but I worry I might be in too deep with this idea. What do you think?