Antony Wright

ok - Ive put a couple of new pics in the gallery of the fusalage. At lest this time its dont look like a banana :)

Just had a great thought - how about you send some of us newbees a plane to test out - trainers of course. Then you can get a review by someone that is not an expert and see how we really cope :) Yes I know it will cost you to much but hey you have to be checky else no new ideas will happen :)

the lists of you folk make me envious. All I have ready to go is the Arising Star. So here goes: ready to go - Arising Star being built - Flair cub on the list of posisilities - Hanger 9 Mustang PTS piper cherokee Wants - Anything :)

Good job folk - thats just what we need so we can find what we want quickly - keep it up.

Thanks David - I noticed it when I signed in. I can see this hobby is continuing to change. I must admit to liking the idea of having a trainer where you are not confined to the standard high wing configuration.

So in practice - as someone just learning - its not going to make a whole lot of difference.

Ouch!! that sounds expensive David.

I can see that being a big seller as we seem to have a lot of us who are either coming back to the hobby or new to it. Sounds great and just what we need.

Fast, I have to agree with David. Ive just this week taken my first flight. If it wasnt for the fact we were using a buddy lead I think I would have come home with the plane in black bags. As it was the experience was great and my plane is intact. You might want to look at the thread called newbees. There are a lot of us on there who are just begining and sharing our experiences and thoughts with each other.

Can someone tell me what the differecnce is between ppm and pcm and what the advantages/disadvantages are of both please? Im afraid my manual doesnt really explain it and I cant find anything on the Futaba web page.

Thanks gerry. I'll put it on my wanted list and see what happens :)

Ok time for an update. Ive slowed down a little - other things going on like making brides-maid dresses for my son's upcoming wedding. (Yes I do make them not my wife - but thats another story I may put up in the soapbox area at sometime). Anyway the fusalage is built and looks straight to me (I hope!!). Ive constructed the horizontal and vertical stabalisers. I came to sort out the hinges today - the ones supplied are of the maylar type. Going quite nicely I cut the slots for them and started to fit the hinges when an aweful thought struck me. I hadn't fitted the connecting rod for the elevators. Good job I hadn't glued them to the tailplane yet. So apart from having a slot cut on the inner side of the elevators in the wrong place - no real harm done. Ive been debating about whether to cover them before fixing them in place or afterwards. Doing it before would certainly make it easier so i guess I shall go with that. As for colour scheme - well Im not really decided on anything in particular yet except the colour. Overall it will be the soalrfilm antique (basically cream) and a metalic red (which my daughter choose cus she said it looked cool (she wanted all florescent colours originally)). Another choice Ive made is to change the engine I was going to fit. I was originally going to fit the one that is currently in my Arising Star but having had a chat with a couple of the chaps at the flying club at the weekend Ive decided to go for a 46 2st instead. I know its not what the box recommends but experience of the the folk I talked with suggested it would work out for the better in the end. I guess its time I took a couple of new pics so I'll do that in a day or two.

Great - thanks Peter. Id definately be interested to hear how it goes and what you think of it as a trainer. I know the mag gave it a good review but its always nice to have other opinions too - whether good or bad.

Hi Angus. The Flair Cub doesnt really have a plan just a booklet describing each step. Its mainly a ply frame. Once the main formers were fitted in place onto the sides I put the fusalage in a jig to complete it. The kit comes in two varieties - foam core wing or built up wing. The built up wing has a plan for that I believe (I have the foam core wing). Its an easy enough build. So far (apart from having some warped panels) the biggest headache has been fitting the top cowl. Anyway I have another post up about my attempts at building this in the building section on the forum. I shall be updating it soon so you might want to take a look on there for the problems Ive had to date.

Im building the Flair Cub - but its not built over a plan. I dont know about the one you are looking at.

Thanks for the clarification Danny

thanks Richard. I admit to using a pair of cutters but I never gave thought to what it does to the rest of the arm.

Hi Spence prop size? Actually no dont expect it to go faster with a bigger prop. It takes more effort from the engine to turn it so the revs are lower. I thought the same as you but if the engine is turning slower it cant move faster. Antony

Dinning room table or conservatory at the moment. My son is training as a carpenter at the moment and is going to build a workshop in the garden soon. We plan to share the space then :)

Gee thanks Clarky - but Im really only just getting started. But yes the feeling of flying the plane for the first time really is quite thrilling. Antony

David, Im flying the Arising Star with a 40 size engine. I originally had an 11x6 prop on it but was told a 10x6 was far better. Having seen it fly with both props on I tend to agree. Thanks all for the support. Antony

Thats helpful to know - although Im training with ic at the moment I have given a lot of thought to using electric and wondered how it might work out. Thanks

Well - I think one word describes that feeling - WOW!! Pretty windy when I got to the flying site - around 18 - 20 mph. The first thing done today was a thorough inspection of the plane - some of the best advise I received was concerning the type of connectors being used on the servo end of the control rods. The type supplied are the ones with the little grub screws in them which clamp down on the rod. Although they are ok I was advised to changed them to either a z bend or to a 90 degree bend and clip to secure them or even a clevis. Once all was checked - my instructor took it up to check it out before connecting the buddy lead. Then once that was ok the buddy cable was connected and then it was my turn. Talk about being nervous? Having played around with a simulator for a while I soon realised that I was moving the controls far to much. Once I got used to that I started doing right hand circuits. Having refueled and rested we were up again doing some more right hand circuits. That wasnt to bad considering Ive not done it before. Then we changed to left hand circuits - oh boy - was that different! The wind direction made it perform somewhat differently. By the time we had landed, refueled, and rested for the third flight the wind had picked up somewhat. However we got airborn again and continued with the left hand circuits. I began to struggle somewhat more as as soon as the control was handed over to me I kept losing hight. One of the other chaps there came to the rescue and checked over my controls again just to make sure it was the wind causing the problem and not me. He put in a couple of clikcs on the elevators and that seemed to cure it. Handing back over to me I found that it had definately settled down again. Its an incredible sense of feeling you get when you complete that first manovour and take control. Ok I was far from perfect - but I still have a plane intact with no mishaps (apart from me getting over anxious when the wind had the plane going the opposite way to what I wanted to go and over compensating on the controls. But hey it was GREAT fun. What did I learn while flying? 1 Keep movements small and smooth 2 Dont panic 3 listen for the instructor's instructions 4 Dont panic 5 Dont let the wind dictate where the plane is going 6 Dont panic 7 Have fun and oh yes 8 DONT PANIC :) No Im not exagerating by putting in "dont panic" every other item - you really do need to relax and remember if things get out of control - there is always your instructor there to help you out of it. I soon realised that there where times when even I could recognise when I was getting into difficulty. Anyway - a long winded post I know but the feeling you get when you first take control really is quite exilerating. I am really looking forward to the next flight now.