Shaun Waters

Yes, you too Colin, now you know what I got so excited about last time ! Aren't they a great bunch down there, they really want to make sure you are king for a day ! Supremely professional. Lars told me that he has been to other places but he thinks Boultbee are way ahead. Only one problem....................how the hell do you follow that ! Answers on a postcard please..............

Hi Colin, Went straight to Tangmere after we left you, thanks for the tip, great place, what a lovely bunch of people there as well..............and a proper cup of tea ! Boultbee had a no show for a 50min flight ( can you believe it ! ) so I upgraded. Lars, my pilot, ( Norwegian fast jets ), gave me the stick as soon as we got to the Channel and I flew it all the way along the Solent to the Needles, we did two wicked circuits around the Needles then back along the south coast of the island to Hayling Island. THEN we did the aeros, I don't really have a benchmark other than my previous flight last August ( which was gentle in comparison ) but he really put on a show, the G forces were incredible, I thought my head was going to explode and my back is still really sore this morning. Lars said afterwards that even to guys like himself flying a Spitfire is a massive dream, he has RC models himself and agrees that they are harder to fly than real ones. I took my big Swordfish with me and it turns out that one of the guys there had 100hrs. on the full size A2A so they had it on the apron for loads of photos, then another guy wandered over to take a look at it, he introduced himself, Chris Foss ! Just passing through. WHAT A DAY ! I really never thought that I could top my day there last August but yesterday that was achieved in Spades ! Cheers, SHAUN.

Looks very nice Colin, strikes me as an opportunity to make a few changes and finish as SM520 after you have your flight in her. Would make a very unusual model, I've never seen a two seater modelled. another one for the to do list !

aahhhhh..............the eternal to do list ! It will pale into insignificance after your flight Mate ! May the 4th be with you............

Hi Colin, Shooting is over, skied last week, Boultbee next ! Only about 60 sleeps to go, looking forward to seeing you there. Cheers, SHAUN

Look here at routes..............some of them might be coming near where you are ! http://www.battleofbritainday.co.uk/#!aircraft/c1vpn

Apparently Prince Harry is in the back seat of the Spitfire I flew in last month. The atmosphere down at Goodwood today must be incredible, wish I could be there. I'm going for another flight on May 4th. next year so I hope he doesn't damage it !

Top Man ! Probably have a better chance for weather then, I just looked myself and I guess that May will be for me as well, Birthday on 27th. so pretty good excuse ! They don't seem to have a problem selling bookings ! Need to though, SM520 is just coming up to it's 500hrs. and they have a rebuilt engine waiting to go into her, £300K !!! so she needs to earn £600 every hour to cover that alone !! ENJOY !!

Good Man yerself Colin !! You will not regret it ! PM me and I'll give you my number and we can have a chat...... Best thing ever I promise you !!!

Hi All, Not been able to access the web since yesterday so wasn't ignoring you all ! Cuban8 and Ryan, that is the link to the Boultbee guys who I flew with. Miketgd, I was so blown away with the experience that I'm not sure exactly where we went !! I do know that we did most of the aeros over Chichester harbour and would have been over there at about 12.00. Don't think we got as far as Southsea but we might have done ! I had the stick for the best part of 10mins following the line of the coast at about 4,000ft...........talk about response ! you can fly it with the tip of your little finger ! Adrenaline, emotion, the lot ! It's hard to fly with a tear in your eye ! Colin, Don't think about it.............DO IT ! Sell that lovely old bike in your picture and get up there, cancel your holiday, cancel Christmas, whatever it takes just do it ! Boultbee is a fantastic place, real quality, supremely professional, welcoming, fun, fabulous people with unbounded passion to make you king for a day. You will tick every box and put a giant red ring around it ! Jo............Who am I ? Well, as briefly as possible, I have had a pretty good life, horses, hunting, polo, shooting, power boats, motor racing, rallying, skiing, gliding, flew the 737 sim at Coventry, ( note, no fishing in there, too slow ! ) a few beers, and now back into modelling after a 40 year break ! ( check my photos ), and my business owns and operates the Coke Christmas Trucks amongst other things, but there is no doubt whatsoever in my mind that my hours with the Boultbee guys yesterday tops the lot, and then some ! I am a very lucky man. I am going back to do it again and hopefully, this time, soak up some of the things that I missed, I barely looked at the instrument panel to check height, airspeed, ROC, etc. simply looking out over a Spitfire wing and seeing the South Downs and the Channel below you on what was a glorious day with fluffy cumulus at 5000ft, blue sky and sunshine, little wind, that's unbelievably special and really hard to absorb, sensory overload ! Goodwood airfield is a pretty cool place as well, some absolutely gorgeous art deco buildings ( which is a passion of mine anyway ) and plenty of interesting aircraft, saw Chipmunks, a couple of Harvards, a Mustang, a Stearman, busy place on such a nice day. Will upload some video in a couple of weeks when I get the cockpit video from Boultbee. Hope I haven't bored you, sorry can't help it, still buzzing ! Cheers, SHAUN.

Glad it wasn't you Tomtom ! Got some video and pics, just need to do some editing and then figure out how to upload video............

Funnily enough the aircraft I flew in ( SM520 ) was found in a scrapyard in Capetown in 1981.

Hi Guys, Yesterday I went to Boultbee Flying Academy at Goodwood for a ride in the back seat of one of their Mk9s. UNBELIEVEABLE !!! Loops, barrel rolls, victory roll, probably the best day of my life, just can't think of anything that will ever top it, not down yet, even 24hrs later ! Everything I have ever seen, heard, or read about this aircraft is true, and then some !! WOW ! Cheers, SHAUN.

Hi Chris, Really nice work there Mate. A Mossie is on my list too, looked hard at the Traplet stand at LM yesterday but might wait for the new TN one.......... I have a 120" ASM Lanc and did a similar job on the U/C on that, I too struggled with power, I spent ages trying to get it to work nicely with air but due, I think, to the changing loads through the cycle ( my gear doors are linked to the oleos as in full size ) I simply couldn't get a nice smooth operation using air, in fact the best I achieved was frankly horrible ! I got some motors from Down & Locked in the States which are fine but then I made another set for a Mate to the same level and then discovered LADO ; **LINK** That link is to the ones I used, they are absolutely superb and I would go straight back to them next time, which hopefully will be for my Mossie before too long ! Hope that helps, will follow your build with interest. Cheers, SHAUN.

Hi All, Does anyone know if there is a chart or formula that equates thrust to model weight / wing loading ?? Thanks for any help guys, SHAUN.

Hi All, Went to East Kirkby on Saturday and saw 6 Lancs ! BOB on it's way home from Belgium flew by, Just Jane, and 4 18ft. models in the air together ! Great day out including a massive bike meet as well......real trip down memory lane that ! Anyway, to the reason for my post, I saw an electric ASM B17 Fortress on the flight line but was unable to contact the pilot ( who, I was told, is a member of the Gee Bees display team ). I would like to make contact with him as I have one nearing completion. Can anyone help please ? Thanks, SHAUN

Hi Tony, Really fancy this, I reckon it will be my winter project this year I showed you my 1:10 Lanc retracts at Wings and Wheels last year and will do a set for this, will your set be air or electric ? I hate air ! Electric are so much smoother especially when there are ancillary linkages constantly changing the load during travel. You've got me wishing the summer away now ! Cheers, SHAUN.

**LINK**   Edited By Pete B - Moderator on 27/01/2015 15:42:31

Agree with that............I can vividly remember the opening sequence with the arm and leg and shop window reflection on the black and white 9" ( yes 9" ) TV, but can't for the life of me remember the title of the programme ( senior thing ? ). It was funny back then, but now................... SHAUN.

Hi Andy, Well................got there at last....why is Christmas so busy ? hardly had any modelling time. Paint match is OK but I realised too late that I should have matched to the fuz colours rather than the original cowl but too late now ! Back to work Monday and I'll get one of the lads to pack yours up and send it off to you. I've pretty much completed all my mods now so can get on with radio, servos, etc. Cheers and a Happy New Year Mate, SHAUN.

Hi Andy, Cookin' on gas now ! Trimming and paint all that's left. I'm off to Devon shooting again tomorrow and Sat so not certain when they'll be finished but hoping for Sunday / Monday. VERY strong, twice the weight of the original but that was intentional. Got the tail wheel finished now as well, ( see pic ) but under NO CIRCUMSTANCES must SWMBO ever become aware of my sewing skills, I have no intention of doing shirt buttons !!

Hi Andy, Yes it is about 65g heavier as I put the servo back there as well for a short linkage and easy trimming on it's own channel, lazy I know but hey ho ! I will set about trimming and painting yours. This is what I did for the motor mount, still got to do some final sorting and then bore some lightening/cooling holes but this will give me an extra 100mm of clear space for the lipos so balancing should not be a problem even with the extra tail weight. Based on forum readings weight up front should only help later on ( I hope ! ). I can now remove most of the original firewall without affecting the structure and allow the lipos to move further forward Cheers, SHAUN.