Sam Longley

Thanks everyone for the replies. Gangster seems to fit the bill. I will give Mick Reeves a call & check on availability

I have unfortunatelygrounded my Calamito. I have repaired it, but now want something (shall we say) more accurate . I quite fancied a Bolero, or something similar but NOT smaller as my eyes are getting aged. I do NOT like the WOT range of planes having had a few. I have trawled the ususal shop websites Sussex, Leeds, Kings Lyn etc etc But stocks of everything under £zillions is out of stock or high wing or scale. None of which I want. I would like a replacement for the Calamito, but they are like Hens teeth. I do have a 20 cc extra & a 120 Pitts, plus a trainer & a cougar .I want something to sit between. So it seems that the only way is to find something like a nice pattern type ship or sports plan for a OS 55 & build from scratch. With winter approaching the weather will restrict flying & my current health is not too good. So a worktop model from scratch would be fun. But I do NOT want to spend hours building a ringer. So are there any ideas for a good (tail dragger for off grass) plane to fit the bill & where can I get a DECENT set of original plans of the model Any comments Apologies if on the wrong thread- New to posting here Sam Longley Essex

Colin Bliss High St Maldon.Only open Friday, Saturday & Mondays. Out on the field training on the other days.

Took your advice. -THANKS -Cleaned the data for the model. Relinked ( in seconds) Then set expo to same as before ie Zero on tail surfaces but 20% on ailerons left movement on all surfaces on pretty much max. Flew the plane & needed 3 clicks on the ailerons. Perfect flight, but something did surprise me & I am sure it was not just my imagination. The whole thing seemed smoother !!! The turns worked smoother with the sticks as did the rise & falls. I did a few sets of 3 rolls & all went in a nice straight line. Nothing jerky like it was before. Even smoother than on the buddy lead. cannot explain it but I had 2 lovely smooth flights & take off & landings bought praise from the members. So now very happy. Seem to have solved the issue- We hope

So I posted in this forum about problems I had with "odd receiver linking issues." Today at the field I met my instructor who also has a model shop. I explained the problem to him. Now he is a bit off hand about my Futaba transmitter because he does not like me asking for advice about it. We had a bit of a set to one day about this because I had not bought it from him. I explained that another shop had sold it to me for £75-00 less AND included a receiver FOC. So i could hardly not buy it from them. I also pointed out that I had bought a lot of new models from him plus engines & accessories. I had also had 50 lessons at £25-- per lesson from him, so it was not as if I did not favour his shop. Anyway he says I should get my radio checked out or get a new one "Before I kill someone"I pointed out that to send it for repair means that I am without it for 4 months ( I was last time) so a new one is the only option He says that a new 16SG will be over £700.& I will have to buy 10 new receivers. I really find this expensive at the current time. (Bought the wife a new car today) I said that I had looked on line & the programming on you tube of the FRsky X20s looks easier than my Futaba & at £570-- plus the receivers looks a better deal He immediately went into a rant saying they were rubbish & advised me not to touch them. He said he has heard of loads of crashes with FRsky. I said why & he said well you only have to look at the price. They are made like junk. I asked if he sold them & he said NO they can only be supplied through certain outlets & he would not sally his reputation training people who used them So now I am in a quandry No one in our club has one- All Spectrum & Futaba so I will not get any help in setting it up. But there is plenty on line info But are the top of the line FRsky sets really that bad or is the rant just a Futaba user slagging off the opposition because he cannot sell them Is the bad reputation really because of the cheepo ones & does it apply to the top end of the range? Is there anyone who has experience of a group of users & how they perform, or is this a small manufactured niche item that really is rather bad & there are few about Am I being influenced by a bad shop keeper Help & opiniom PLEASE because I need to get something if what he says is right. That being said , My transmitter worked OK today on a different plane & receiver so I do not know what to do. But I am leaning to a new one as this one is now 10 years old

I am going to another thread re the FRsky x20s

Today, I deleted all data in the "Calamito" section & then turned on the receiver & transmitter & they linked within seconds. The rudder, elevator & throttle controls work OK It was indoors ( too cold in the workshop!!!) so I could not connect the wing. What I will do next is see if it has had any effect on my other 9 models. Still worried as to why it unlinked after several flights.

Thanks. That is cheaper than forking out for a new tranny. Will try options first.

Denis That is what I will try later today. If that does not work i will get another transmitter. But i might look at FRsky. No one else in the club has one which will make getting help difficult. However, the videaos seem to suggest that it is much easier than Futaba. None of the members have a good word for Spectrum. Most ex spectrum owners having changed over. I just wonder if there is natural animosity against the mainstream manufacturers & if Frsky is any good or not. I need to search this forum for comments

No my mates checked that. That was one of their queries. Plus I had already flown it for 4 flights over 2 days as Calamito & I had just done one flight as calamoto. When one turns the transmitter on it automatically shows the last plane used & one has to select it or physically change it to another.

His is a is a futaba 18 channel. he has a number of them. He is a model shop owner & does 3 days a week training as a commercial enterprise. i might add that I have had over 40 lessons over the years. However, first for my A test then I often buddy up when flying a new plane for the first time. In the past he has set me up with new rates before handing it back, not on the buddy. On the buddy i tend to have it on higher rates so I can practice better rolls loops etc. ( because he will get me out of trouble if necessary) & then when i go on my own I start off a bit lower for a while. So I have never noticed the issue of swopping one to the other myself before.

Futaba 14Sg transmitter. 2 No 617fs receivers,( not crashed, new in planes) Calamito low wing plane On transmitter logged into transmitter as " Calamito. plus top wing trainer plane logged into transmitter as "Trainer Del" Because I have not been flying for some time I have recently paid for 5/ 1 hour training sessions with an experienced trainer at our club on the Calamito hooked up as a buddy system with connecting wire to instructor's transmitter . I have also done some flying on trainer del without instruction as it is so docile. Last saturday I decided to fly the calamito on my own. This meant linking the receiver to my transmitter as in buddy mode it was linked to the instructors transmitter. When I did this I found that the control surfaces were wild. ie build instructions suggest aerolons 7mm up/down & mine were 25mm each way. Elevator was also very wild. Expo was 5%. I rang instructor & he said that all I needed to do was link the receiver & there would be no issue as these were the settings that I had been flying to with no problem. So I should not worry. Incidentally I have the transmitter set so I have to select the model every time I turn it on. All batteries are charged & have good current- We checked. First flight was terrible. All surfaces made plane want to crash & I had to call for assistance from an experienced flyer who adjusted my trims whilst i tried to control the plane. With trims on max I was able to effect a landing. The flyer then looked at the plane & adjusted my trims on the transmitter ( I find the Futaba almost impossible to understand as being so user unfriendly instruction wise) I did another flight with him by my side & we got the plane flying true. I did another flight OK Today I did one other flight Ok. Now here comes the problem. I went to do a second flight on the calamito & the receiver had unbound itself. No amount of help from other Futaba users at the club could get it to link. I rang the shop where I buy most stuff ( but not the transmitter so they are a bit unhelpful & they say transmitter is shot) to speak to the instructor, but he was not there, but an assistant suggested range checks etc, but no point as it would not bind I thought that I would try my trainer del plane to see what would happen with that receiver As soon as I turned it on ( Note that the calamito was still turned on) BOTH receivers were immediately linked. BOTH plane@s controls worked on trainer del I also realised that the mad controls that I originally had when I switched from the instructor's controls to mine were the trainer dell controls. Ie the elevator on trainer del DOES have wild movement & it DOES have 5% expo because on the trainer I do not need expo & I like lots of control movement as it is so docile. I flew trainer del & it flew perfectly So my problem is this-- How can I make my Calamito work correctly . Why would it unlink? Why would it suddenly change to Trainer del from calamito ? Is the transmitter really Knackered, or is this just a known software glitch due to the change from the buddy lead? Is it just a case of deleting the calamito settings & re entering them again? What i do not want is for it to unlink in flight Any ideas, suggestions please on the best way to proceed. I do not want to send it back to Ripmax, Last time I did that it was gone for 4 months & ended up in Germany & cost £ 175-00 I am told 14sg's are not made anymore, a new transmitter needs to work with my 617fs receivers Sorry for the length I need to explain fully

Where are you buying glow fuel at £ 13-10? I have to pay £28-00 for 5 litres (5%)at the local model shop

Where are you based? I machined one for a friend's super Tiger recently, but I really need the 2 parts to get it accurate. The silencer aperture is a different size to the engine aperture, so the hole had to be tapered to keep gas flow correct.

James Latham Ltd--- But from my joinery days, aircraft ply wood ( as it was often listed under) used to come in 1.500 * 1.500 sheets. I never recall getting sheets 8ft * 4ft I used to buy a pack of 30-40 sheets at a time, for laminating in curved stair strings. But that was 25 years ago. Things may have moved on a little since. I see that Chiltern plywood show it at £37-00 per sheet? Chiltern plywood Loads of other suppliers if you google "aircraft plywood" James latham have a number of branches these days so you may well be able to collect. They used to deliver all sorts of timber & ply to me

Now out of stock

As an upate to my earlier posts. i found an experienced club member who could not tune the engine after a few minutes. His suggestion was that the 2 stroke oil had gummed the works after a 2 year lay up and the filter was possibly clogged. I have since removed the cover & he was right about the filter so I have blown through with carb cleaner. He felt that fact that it started easily, but ran poorly, pointed to the diaphragm being Ok but as a service kit is so cheap there would be no harm in changing. He put me onto a contact & I rang - Gas Guzzler on 01536 510136 ( am I allowed to state companies on the forum?)- Their web site show lots of DLE parts but not all. The phone call put me on to a chap called Paul who immediately knew what I wanted. He has sold me the carb service kit, some 2 stroke formulated for models & a new NGK spark plug . I expect to receive all this tomorrow. I will report further when I have installed & changed the fuel

Cheers . That first link is a great help. Very detailed. I have printed it out & will take it to the field & study it when I next get to play with it. So thanks again Sam L

I am watching the comments with interest & I thank those posting for their attention. I have a couple of points. 1) I used a 2 stroke oil from a garden centre presumably as used in a strimmer Would users like to recommend a make of 2 stroke oil easily obtainable in the UK that would be better. I wonder if that might be an issue.I have no clue about additives etc. I have to say that I am not convinced about degradation of the petrol itself, but I will change it & start all over again if that is going to solve the issues. 2) I can understand the diaphragm issue & would like to purchase a service kit. I saw the comment about cloned parts & wish to avoid this. Can anyone suggest a reliable UK source for the stockists of parts for DLE engines. My local shop would not stock such an item due to low demand so I need to find the UK supplier who can supply by return. 3) Finally, no one has yet explained the starting procedure accompanied with jet adjustment within this. I assume that most just assume that I should know. Perhaps I should & that is seriously remiss of me. However, getting it confirmed from someone who actually knows would really help I am sure that I am not the only one who might benefit from this info Or perhaps it really is just me !!!!!!! Sam Longley

I have a DLE20RA in an MX that I bought several years ago. The MX came with a YS but an experienced friend swopped it for a the DLE that I had used a few times before. The plane has been successfully flown by 3 experienced fliers & trimmed out by my instructor, but I have held back flying it because I wanted to feel capable first. So it has lain unused since some time before the first lockdown Today I decided it was time to fly it The problem I have is that the engine fired - after a while. It ticked over of sorts, picked up after it warmed up then after 15 secs cut out. This happened several times & i followed the instructions & GENTLY adjusted the jets. After all it had run beautifully before so should not need too much adjustment. In the end I gave up & bought it home, took off the cowling, placed it in a well tied down stand & tried again. I cleaned the plug first. The fuel is 1:30 mixed about 3 months ago. I set the jets to factory settings & was surprised that in lieu of the suggested one turn out, they both seemed to be more like 2.5 turns.!!! The engine started after the suggested choke cycle. I have no problem getting it to fire up & give a few seconds or more running, sometimes a minute. However, different starts produce different revs even though I might not have changed the slow running needle or throttle. ie sometimes it runs fast, sometimes slow. When I adjust slow running to get an even run then accelerate I sometimes get high revs for 15 secs then it cuts out. Opening the needle even quite a lot does not seem to make any difference I know that the engine has run very well, so I suspect that it is the way that I am going about setting it up from the beginning. (The servos are set properly with good linkages) Can someone who really understands these engines be good enough to run through how I should go through the CORRECT, FULL procedure please. The instructions are a little vague It would be most apreciated Thanks from a frustrated Sam Longley

Posted by kc on 10/10/2020 17:33:58: My pet hate is to confuse 'lose' with 'loose' or 'there' with 'they are' or 'their'. Nowadays people are forced to stay at school 3 years longer than in previous years and they still cannot write correct English or do mental arithmetic! I cannot agree that pointing out someone's errors is bullying!   One has to take care when criticising others. I may well be wrong & do not claim, by any means, to be an authority but:- Do you not mean " write the English language correctly" & "carry out" mental arithmetic". However, is a very long time since I attended grammar school. To each his own. Edited By Sam Longley on 10/10/2020 19:35:06

For the record- 3 different planes with 3 different sets of gear. Transmitter is out of warranty, I assume, as it is over 2 years old. If I buy another tranny it will mean another load of receivers if they do not match the transmitter. I bought the 14SG for backward compatibility & now have about 10 receivers, so cost is not inconsiderable. I do not think that a 6EX would work on the higher spec receivers (forget the numbers) only on a 617 receiver. I think that is correct although I have not checked. So it is not the case of just buying a new tranny. A new 14SG is £ 379-00 on its own I did not know about the service chap mentioned above & if I get the tranny back I will follow the lead, so thanks for that one.   Edited By Sam Longley on 29/07/2020 10:01:42

I expect that this will break forum rules but I do feel that experiences with suppliers should be aired if true & fair Following 3 unexplained crashes in different planes , one just after take off when I was hardly touching the sticks, my Jive went from a gentle glide into a sudden uncontrollable spin. The clubs senior instructor, having watched it, suggested that my Futaba 14SG was almost cetainly the problem. So on the 16 June I sent it to Ripmax. Now I understand that until the beginning of July they were on Furlough, but at least a nice lady (working from home) did return a call to confirm that they have received it. Since then I have had only one reply to a request to information,(from the same nice lady) confirming that they did return to work end of June. However, now the phone is constantly on answerphone. I understand model shops find Ripmax a pretty difficult company to deal with, but this is just  frustrating & as a private user I have no leverage. Surely they can tell me if/when they intend to look at my transmitter. At least give me a contact so that I can open a dialogue with someone about progress. I cannot afford a new transmitter just yet. That means that my flying has come to a halt. If it means a new transmitter, it will be one bought from outside the UK & not from this company. Edited By Sam Longley on 28/07/2020 18:48:30

Posted by Christopher Morris 2 on 16/06/2020 20:07:27: Posted by Jason Channing on 16/06/2020 18:31:49: Use a generator Laugh, i sold an old honda generator 900watt about 2 years ago as It got in the way & hadn't used it for a few years. Talk about shot yourself in the foot. I would kick myself if i hadn't shot myself in the foot. Still got mine. It was my fathers & must be 50 years old. Really quiet runner, but not what one would lug round a flying field, me thinks

I used a jump start battery pack. It was lighter than a battery & so I also used it for my engine starter on my IC engines. Seemed to work OK for field work & the odd lipo charge on the field. Until I accidentally let the 2 clips touch & cause a fire & burn the lot out. Cost about £ 50 from Halfords. Handy for jump starting the car when battery flat as well.